When making a game, both the title and the title screen are important components, but they also are probably something most creators don't give too much thought to. However, unless you already have an established fanbase, chances are high that how 'appealing' your title is goes a long way towards determining if a person so much as looks at your game, let alone takes the time to download and play it.
There is a rather surprisingly large amount of things which can be said about titles, so this will be a multi-part segment. In today's segment, I will discuss 'keywords', words in your title which can have a massive conscious or subconscious impact upon audience expectations or which will almost always attract or repel potential players.
Super: The word 'Super' is a fairly obvious one as the endless torrent of games for the Super Nintendo with this word slapped onto them has made 'Super' tied to the Super Nintendo; if you use 'Super' your game should at the very least 'feel' like a game from the 16-bit era even if it doesn't look like one. Super Meat Boy is a good example of this as it constantly pays homage to both the 16 and 8-bit eras and certainly plays like a game from back then (with a few modern tweaks).
Adventure: This is a word developers love to put into the titles of their games, and for good reason. The word implies an open, or at least big, world filled with various environments, unusual sights, memorable characters and/or events, and just a general sense of 'scale'. It also can be applied to nearly any genre, although platformers, puzzle games where you control an actual character, games with an 'open' world, and the 'adventure' genre are the most prevalent. It is a poor fit for games which take place in a small or otherwise 'same-y' area or which don't have an identifiable character; Adventures of Lolo may be a wonderful game, but it is poorly named as it takes place in identical-looking rooms in a single castle. 'Adventure' is also a poor word to use on its own at this point because games with titles like 'The Adventure of So-and-so' or 'So-and-so's Adventure' have been hammered into the ground; such a title is only 'good' for a game which is meant to be a rather 'traditional' experience or when it involves an existing character and the game has a larger scope and/or more open world than past games, such as Sonic Adventure or Star Fox Adventures. However, 'adventure' can still be a great word when aided by an adjective, even for non-traditional games, as this still implies a sense of the unique, such as with Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure.
Quest/Legend: These more or less function like 'Adventure', except these usually imply a more 'epic' tone and are generally best used for games which have actual combat.
Impossible: Burn it, burn it, burn it! Yes, The Impossible Game is well-known, but defining a game based upon difficulty is a horrible design decision not only for the title, but for the design process as a whole. While 'Impossible' is by far the most prevalent of 'perceived difficulty word' found in titles, this applies to any such word. Masochistic games can be fun, the popularity of I Wanna Be The Guy indicates this, but such words imply a bare-bones experience with little thought put into it other than capturing a specific difficulty. At best, a handful of people may be attracted to trying such a game and walk away with either a feeling of 'it wasn't as difficult/easy as the title claimed' or of 'it was just what the title said it was and that's that'. At worst, it will be instantly passed up as it will be just another game in the ever-growing sea of games claiming to be 'unbeatable'.
Existing Character/Franchise Name: This occurs almost exclusively with fangames where the name of the series or protagonist is used in the title, such as Mario, Legend of Zelda, Luigi, etc. Such name usage in a title is fine, but there are a few things to be aware of. First, if it is a fangame which tries to mimic the gameplay of the source game, the gameplay had better be exactly the same. In other words, if you make a platformer with 'Mario' in the title, many who try the game will go in with expectations that Mario's jump height and the way momentum builds feel 'right'; if you decide to make bigger changes such as giving Mario a double jump and a health bar it will make people wonder why it is even called a 'Mario' game. Second, if it belongs to a different genre than usual (ex: a Zelda shoot-em-up), or intentionally plays differently from usual, it is vital to still get the 'atmosphere' of the series down and to make it very clear through more than just the title that the game does not play quite like the source series; Psycho Waluigi is an excellent example of a 'fangame' which successfully uses an existing character and sticks to the general aesthetics and atmosphere of the source series while still playing substantially differently. Finally, be aware that unless a person is specifically looking for a fangame related to the series/character in question, such a game is more likely than not going to be ignored by most; the amount of fangames related to the Mario series floating around out there is much, much larger than the amount which are even remotely well-known.
Well, that's enough for one day. I'll give more advice on what makes or breaks a title sometime soon!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Game Alert: The Ambitions of Quamuza
While it is far from perfect, I am surprised at the almost complete lack of attention that The Ambitions of Quamuza has received. One glance at the title screen alone would probably be enough for many to correctly guess that this game is a Metroidvania-style platformer. While nothing in particular stands out about the game, there is also nothing in particular which it does poorly, which is, somewhat sadly, rather astounding for such an untalked-about game, especially one which was made in a week for a competition and later "polished up a bit".
So that this entire post doesn't read like vaguely praising with faint damning, I'll get the 'bad' parts out of the way here. Too much of the game takes place in caves which are aesthetically identical in all except color, there is only one boss fight, platform and enemy placement sometimes feel a bit random (although never to an annoying degree), and momentum builds up far too quickly and makes segments which require small leaps somewhat tedious until certain abilities are found.
At this point you may be wondering just why anyone should bother with this game. Well, for a start the four weapons in the game are varied and are all fun to use. In addition, while there may be only one boss fight, it is a rather enjoyable one. The game has a minimalistic 'old-school' aesthetic, but both the graphics and music are very well-done, recolored caves aside. There is also a decent amount of enemy variety for a game which only lasts about an hour and the fast, very horizontal jumps the protagonist, Quamuza, is capable of allow the gameplay to flow smoothly aside from the few parts where more careful, short-range platforming is required.
However, to be completely honest the main reason I would recommend playing this game is there simply aren't enough people playing it, let alone discussing it. What we have here is a generally well-made and enjoyable game which has gone so far under the radar that any searches for it bring back less than half a dozen results despite the game being several months old; it deserves better than this. Not to mention, a more 'full-fledged' sequel which further explores the interesting, though vaguely-defined, universe of The Ambitions of Quamuza with more bosses, more variety, and a bit more polish could easily become an indie classic, but that is unlikely to happen unless this game gains more attention and feedback first. For anyone who may doubt the potential a sequel to an 'ok' game possesses, there are countless examples both within and outside of the indie scene, such as Hero and Hero Core, Jumper and Jumper 2, and Mega Man and Mega Man 2.
So, if you're looking for a fun little Metroidvania adventure, consider giving The Ambitions of Quamuza a shot and if you like it, please spread the word to your friends or give the creators some feedback, since it's a shame to see such potential go wasted and unnoticed.
Link: http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=535311
So that this entire post doesn't read like vaguely praising with faint damning, I'll get the 'bad' parts out of the way here. Too much of the game takes place in caves which are aesthetically identical in all except color, there is only one boss fight, platform and enemy placement sometimes feel a bit random (although never to an annoying degree), and momentum builds up far too quickly and makes segments which require small leaps somewhat tedious until certain abilities are found.
At this point you may be wondering just why anyone should bother with this game. Well, for a start the four weapons in the game are varied and are all fun to use. In addition, while there may be only one boss fight, it is a rather enjoyable one. The game has a minimalistic 'old-school' aesthetic, but both the graphics and music are very well-done, recolored caves aside. There is also a decent amount of enemy variety for a game which only lasts about an hour and the fast, very horizontal jumps the protagonist, Quamuza, is capable of allow the gameplay to flow smoothly aside from the few parts where more careful, short-range platforming is required.
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| Quamuza rarely has time to rest in his adventure |
However, to be completely honest the main reason I would recommend playing this game is there simply aren't enough people playing it, let alone discussing it. What we have here is a generally well-made and enjoyable game which has gone so far under the radar that any searches for it bring back less than half a dozen results despite the game being several months old; it deserves better than this. Not to mention, a more 'full-fledged' sequel which further explores the interesting, though vaguely-defined, universe of The Ambitions of Quamuza with more bosses, more variety, and a bit more polish could easily become an indie classic, but that is unlikely to happen unless this game gains more attention and feedback first. For anyone who may doubt the potential a sequel to an 'ok' game possesses, there are countless examples both within and outside of the indie scene, such as Hero and Hero Core, Jumper and Jumper 2, and Mega Man and Mega Man 2.
So, if you're looking for a fun little Metroidvania adventure, consider giving The Ambitions of Quamuza a shot and if you like it, please spread the word to your friends or give the creators some feedback, since it's a shame to see such potential go wasted and unnoticed.
Link: http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=535311
Friday, June 22, 2012
Game Design Tip: Heads and Ceilings
It's not particularly fun to hit your head on the ceiling in real life, but it's not very fun to do it in a game either. Yet, after trying out several indie platformers, it seems as though many newer game creators disagree with this observation.
Here's the thing: a ceiling is a limitation, it's something players will want to avoid dealing with and which should be used sparingly. Let's look at some NES platformers for examples of proper ceiling-usage. In any of the Super Mario Bros. games, a low ceiling tends to be used for one of two things; it is either a way of limiting movement when confronting enemies, especially enemies with projectiles, or it serves as something which must be avoided in order to make a jump. In the first situation a ceiling is used to increase the danger an enemy or enemies present and players will usually want to use small hops or horizontal leaps to avoid both projectiles and the ceiling while in the second situation touching the ceiling will usually result in a jump getting cut short and Mario being sent straight into a pit. Otherwise, whenever a player touches a ceiling in a Mario game, it usually results in a tangible reward, such as a 1-UP appearing or, in the case of the first Super Mario Bros. of the limitation the ceiling represents quite literally being broken to grant access to a warp zone. In Mega Man games low ceilings tend to be used as a hazard, again the focus on avoidance, such as by having spikes attached to them, by crushing Mega Man, or, like in Mario's games, by limiting movement when fighting an opponent.
However, what is rare in NES platformers, especially in the ones most people remember, is making a ceiling so low that the player is forced to bang his/her head against it when making a jump. This is likely because it's simply not fun. It's not fun to run into a limitation, it's not fun to be forced to deal with a mechanic which makes the controls feel shoddy as a bounding leap is transformed into an awkward half-hop, and it's certainly not fun to break the momentum of a level because a low ceiling as suddenly transformed an otherwise simple jump into a pixel-perfect deathtrap in which the player must ever-so-slowly inch towards the edge of a platform in order to have a chance of making it to the other side.
Yet, too many indie developers who are just starting out make this mistake. It would be forgivable, even unnoticeable, if it only happened once or twice over the course of the game. Unfortunately, too many games forsake creative, careful, and interesting level design for this lazy, tired, and uninspired gimmick of taking a standard jump and putting a low ceiling over it as a cheap way of making a game 'challenging'. It's bad when this same gimmick is employed nearly every level, it's worse when a chain of such jumps is the most creative 'challenge' most levels contain, and it's utterly inexcusable when such a thing is present in a game with a fixed jump height as such a thing is an even larger taboo on its own.
So please, if you plan to make a game, don't go into it thinking 'how can I make it difficult?', but rather, 'how can I make it fun?'. It's possible to make a game that is both very challenging and very enjoyable to play, but if the only thing you can think of to add challenge to your game is to take a normal jump and place a ceiling over it, then perhaps you should just quit before you start.
Here's the thing: a ceiling is a limitation, it's something players will want to avoid dealing with and which should be used sparingly. Let's look at some NES platformers for examples of proper ceiling-usage. In any of the Super Mario Bros. games, a low ceiling tends to be used for one of two things; it is either a way of limiting movement when confronting enemies, especially enemies with projectiles, or it serves as something which must be avoided in order to make a jump. In the first situation a ceiling is used to increase the danger an enemy or enemies present and players will usually want to use small hops or horizontal leaps to avoid both projectiles and the ceiling while in the second situation touching the ceiling will usually result in a jump getting cut short and Mario being sent straight into a pit. Otherwise, whenever a player touches a ceiling in a Mario game, it usually results in a tangible reward, such as a 1-UP appearing or, in the case of the first Super Mario Bros. of the limitation the ceiling represents quite literally being broken to grant access to a warp zone. In Mega Man games low ceilings tend to be used as a hazard, again the focus on avoidance, such as by having spikes attached to them, by crushing Mega Man, or, like in Mario's games, by limiting movement when fighting an opponent.
However, what is rare in NES platformers, especially in the ones most people remember, is making a ceiling so low that the player is forced to bang his/her head against it when making a jump. This is likely because it's simply not fun. It's not fun to run into a limitation, it's not fun to be forced to deal with a mechanic which makes the controls feel shoddy as a bounding leap is transformed into an awkward half-hop, and it's certainly not fun to break the momentum of a level because a low ceiling as suddenly transformed an otherwise simple jump into a pixel-perfect deathtrap in which the player must ever-so-slowly inch towards the edge of a platform in order to have a chance of making it to the other side.
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| This is not ok |
Yet, too many indie developers who are just starting out make this mistake. It would be forgivable, even unnoticeable, if it only happened once or twice over the course of the game. Unfortunately, too many games forsake creative, careful, and interesting level design for this lazy, tired, and uninspired gimmick of taking a standard jump and putting a low ceiling over it as a cheap way of making a game 'challenging'. It's bad when this same gimmick is employed nearly every level, it's worse when a chain of such jumps is the most creative 'challenge' most levels contain, and it's utterly inexcusable when such a thing is present in a game with a fixed jump height as such a thing is an even larger taboo on its own.
So please, if you plan to make a game, don't go into it thinking 'how can I make it difficult?', but rather, 'how can I make it fun?'. It's possible to make a game that is both very challenging and very enjoyable to play, but if the only thing you can think of to add challenge to your game is to take a normal jump and place a ceiling over it, then perhaps you should just quit before you start.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Game Alert: Space Funeral
Space Funeral generated a fair amount of buzz when it was first released about two years ago, but it may be hard to see why. After all, it's a very linear experience with little in the way of secrets and sidequests, the plot and characters are simplistic, combat is neither innovative nor challenging, and to top it all off the whole thing can be finished in about two hours. However, what it does have is charm, and this makes all the difference.
The easiest way to describe Space Funeral is as a somewhat more disturbing Earthbound. The dialogue in the game is delightfully bizarre and at times borderline nonsensical, but the game pulls it off in a brilliantly straight-faced manner without the nauseating amounts of nodding-and-winking found in so many other 'comedy' games. The graphics, though rather ugly, are certainly unique and their grotesque/cartoony style fit the mood of the game perfectly while the music selection is delightfully varied, frequently distorted, and includes one of the catchiest battle themes in any game. Combined, the snappy writing and the aesthetics create memorable scenes and make the game as a whole as enjoyable as it is quotable.
Although Space Funeral is an enjoyable, very silly experience, it raises a rather important question for not just RPG's, but for video games in general, a question with, without giving too much away, the ending really hammers home. Namely, just what is it that makes video games enjoyable? Games continue to increase in size, with many wearing labels of '100+ hours of gameplay' like badges of honor, and more traditional, "JRPG's" are increasingly viewed as outdated and uninspired. Yet, why is it that amidst this push towards innovative gameplay and increased content quantity a short, traditional RPG like Space Funeral, which has nothing particularly special about it other than its aesthetics and writing, could have gained the amount of attention that it did? There is likely not a simple answer to this question, or even just one 'correct' answer, but it is something everyone should think about while playing Space Funeral.
You can download the game here: http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/rpg/space-funeral/3492/
The easiest way to describe Space Funeral is as a somewhat more disturbing Earthbound. The dialogue in the game is delightfully bizarre and at times borderline nonsensical, but the game pulls it off in a brilliantly straight-faced manner without the nauseating amounts of nodding-and-winking found in so many other 'comedy' games. The graphics, though rather ugly, are certainly unique and their grotesque/cartoony style fit the mood of the game perfectly while the music selection is delightfully varied, frequently distorted, and includes one of the catchiest battle themes in any game. Combined, the snappy writing and the aesthetics create memorable scenes and make the game as a whole as enjoyable as it is quotable.
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| A typical conversation |
Although Space Funeral is an enjoyable, very silly experience, it raises a rather important question for not just RPG's, but for video games in general, a question with, without giving too much away, the ending really hammers home. Namely, just what is it that makes video games enjoyable? Games continue to increase in size, with many wearing labels of '100+ hours of gameplay' like badges of honor, and more traditional, "JRPG's" are increasingly viewed as outdated and uninspired. Yet, why is it that amidst this push towards innovative gameplay and increased content quantity a short, traditional RPG like Space Funeral, which has nothing particularly special about it other than its aesthetics and writing, could have gained the amount of attention that it did? There is likely not a simple answer to this question, or even just one 'correct' answer, but it is something everyone should think about while playing Space Funeral.
You can download the game here: http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/rpg/space-funeral/3492/
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