Game Development Giant

After just thinking for a moment, Jester had the answer in his mind.

In fact, it’s not really thinking, it’s just thinking back on some of my own experiences in this area.

Listening to players' opinions is one of the psychological skills that an excellent designer must learn. It is not difficult to learn. As long as you work hard and really want to learn, I have never seen anyone who can't learn it. Maybe you You would say, this is to make players think so that they can better listen to their opinions, right? In fact, although this skill is not difficult to master, it is not as simple as you think.

Jester didn't speak too quickly.

Actually, I have said so much before, and I think everyone has fully or partially agreed with some of my views - game design is a holistic process, and the specific steps are to continuously add content to the prototype based on feedback. At this point, Jester paused, then smiled and asked a question.

So, if you were a designer, what would you do?

This is a self-asking question, and Jester immediately gave his answer. The answer was also very simple. It was exactly the question that someone asked just now.

If you're serious about doing this, spend a lot of time talking to players. In my experience, it doesn't do you any good to take players' opinions literally. Players respond to games in several ways, and one of them is to provide you with Solutions. Sometimes players provide solutions that are useful, but don't improve the overall quality of the game, so it's easy for designers to ignore those comments.

In fact, Jester was summarizing the essence of what he had mentioned before to answer this student's question.

But designers should think deeply about why players raise these opinions and why players are dissatisfied. Many times you can find solutions that are consistent with your original design ideas. These solutions may not be consistent with the players' suggestions, but they are The problem can be solved to everyone's satisfaction. The designer may also get the opposite emotional feedback: the player will feel that the game 'feels wrong' and 'I don't understand'. In the same way, the designer still needs to figure out why the game causes this Mood, we need to figure out what modifications can dispel negative emotions or enhance positive emotions.”

This actually goes back to what I said at the beginning of this speech...

Jester smiled.

The title of my speech. Everything you know is wrong... Many people may have wondered why I chose such a title before. What does it mean? How does the content of your speech fit with your title? Where is the point?”

As Jester spoke, he walked back to the back of the podium again, picked up the speech again and shook it.

Then he said.

Actually, I really can't think of another question that fits the designer's mentality at the time when developing the game.

I would like to add a little bit to the previous question...

The last key to talking to players is to understand their personality traits. Doing so will help you understand what they really think. Some players just don't like certain types of games and therefore won't be happy no matter what. There's another category Players I call 'Mr. Roadside News'. This type of player insists that something happened in the game, but you know that it will never happen. In addition, some players have a very good temper and are very reluctant to criticize others. , to the point where you have to force them to express their opinions. By understanding the personalities of your test players, you can leverage their experience as a valuable resource for improving your game.”

Next question...

After Jester answered three more questions, he looked at his watch and saw that the time was almost up. In fact, if he didn't have something else to do later, he would do it. He doesn't mind staying here for a while. After all, such lectures and answering questions will not only help cultivate outstanding designers in the future. Moreover, it allowed him to relax even more.

“That’s it for today’s talk and questions.”

After Jester finished answering the previous question, he interrupted the change of questions and then began to speak. As soon as Jester said these words, you could see the look of reluctance on many people's faces.

But there is nothing that can be done about it.

He has a lot on his plate and cannot waste too much time here. In fact, it was not easy for him to spare half a day.

Finally, I'd better make something like a concluding statement to summarize the meaning of what I said today, or in other words, knowing what these are for--of course, you said it is for making games, but in fact On the topic, many of what you are doing may have made games yourself. For example, the reason why I am giving this speech this time is because your previous game works of opinion homework have been recognized by Mr. Sid Meier. , he extended this invitation to me...

After Jester finished speaking, he thought for a moment, probably preparing his words.

So, what's the point of all this? Or what are we trying to do? Not make a game, but what? Really, I think in a nutshell it's about enjoying a game that you've crafted so carefully An epic journey for his players.”

Oh, maybe you think I'm talking big, but actually, that's what I thought when I was designing the game.

“There are countless types of games, and it’s hard to describe how to play them, but I think ‘epic journey’ can sum up the gist of all games. We need to use psychology to make the journey feel more epic, and to make the epic feel more like a journey. There are several tools needed to do this, and I talk about the idea of ​​'interesting decisions' repeatedly. The core of the game is the choices faced by the player, and the journey is the process of exploring various choices.

Do the choices you provide encourage players to think about the future? Do they provide players with sufficiently interesting 'roads not taken'? If the player chooses path a when he first clears the level, he will do so the next time he plays. Choose Path B. These choices are powerful. If you can incorporate these choices into your game, you'll be on your way to an epic journey.

After Jester finished speaking, all the players cheered enthusiastically. (To be continued...)