PsychoFish
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Undoubtedly to make the game simpler to learn they will make the game simpler. It will just be a slow downward spiral where Sim City becomes Farmville.
EA: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"
- Thread starter The_Imp_ZA
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Grievous
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Yeah, look I'm not defending their statement, just think the point was missed and we have been talking about two different issues.
brendanvb
New member
Yeah it seems to be heading this way. Bad example but I was quite a Sims fan back in the day when it was actually quite difficult to keep up with your Sim's needs and tasks with the 1st 2 games. Now with the 4th one they've taken away so much of that I found myself bored within hours as my Sim was happy as a chappie with minimal effort on my part and I sort of just had to sit around waiting for them to need something.
The_Imp_ZA
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Was just about to say, what!? All those things would definitely mess it up for me.
Still, hopefully EA just leaves Bioware alone like they did for DA:I, and we'll have a good game on our hands. They keep on saying that they want to make it more like ME1, with a big emphasis on exploration, which sounds awesome. ME1 was my favorite in the whole series, I feel that the later games lost out of a lot of the charm by taking away exploration.
They're also bringing the Mako back, or something very similar to it. I loved that from the first game. It was wonky, but it was fun.
Don't we already have those? I thought Dear Esther was like that...
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PsychoFish
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Strange, I enjoyed ME2 more than ME1, just seemed to flow better
Ser_Bunnylot
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RE Original Article: I sort of get his point, and sort of agree with him. It's more a design issue than anything else. Take Portal/Portal 2 for example. That game is essentially a 6hr long tutorial. From the first minute you know more or less what to do and where to go. You don't need to play X hours before you've become "good" at it.
What I think he's trying to say, is that they need to focus on better game design where the game introduces the player to it's world and mechanics in a more fun and engaging way, with less hand holding and explanations.
That, or he's letting shareholders know the focus is on the casual market.
What I think he's trying to say, is that they need to focus on better game design where the game introduces the player to it's world and mechanics in a more fun and engaging way, with less hand holding and explanations.
That, or he's letting shareholders know the focus is on the casual market.
The_Imp_ZA
New member
Difference of preference. ME1 felt more like an RPG, ME2/ME3 felt more like a shooter with RPG elements, like choice and consequence. If they can manage to meld the two different styles together, I'd be very happy!
My biggest gripe with the sequels was that they scrapped so many elements of the gameplay that had potential. Instead of working on fixing the Mako, the scrapped it and added the stupid mineral scanning mini-game. Instead of working on diversifying the alien worlds, they scrapped the ability to land on and explore most of them, expect those with scripted missions. I understand why they did this, but I still want a proper sequel to ME1. ME2 and ME3 didn't feel like that.
PsychoFish
New member
I think Dead Space 3 kinda really nailed the direction EA wants to pursue. The thing i hate the most is being well into the game and still getting bloody reminders of how to move, jump, aim, shoot, etc...
Ser_Bunnylot
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Did you play the DLCs? Think it was the Firewalker DLC where they brought back Mako v2.0
The Hammerhead
Solitude
Mr. Nice Guy
I like it if a game throws you into the deep end and you have to learn to swim yourself.
The first 10 hours of Final Fantasy XIII feels like a tutorial. They did it smartly by introducing a new concept every now and then but it feels like they just wasted too much time doing that. The amount of fights you have to go through to get to the next concept were way too many.
I think a lot of people also stopped playing Final Fantasy XIII after an hour or two because it feels incredibly simplistic. It's only after quite a few hours that you realise that it's quite a complex system and in my opinion they could have showed you everything in an hour or two. Not ten.
It's as if game developers expect their gamers to be stupid these days. Maybe they are...
The first 10 hours of Final Fantasy XIII feels like a tutorial. They did it smartly by introducing a new concept every now and then but it feels like they just wasted too much time doing that. The amount of fights you have to go through to get to the next concept were way too many.
I think a lot of people also stopped playing Final Fantasy XIII after an hour or two because it feels incredibly simplistic. It's only after quite a few hours that you realise that it's quite a complex system and in my opinion they could have showed you everything in an hour or two. Not ten.
It's as if game developers expect their gamers to be stupid these days. Maybe they are...
The_Imp_ZA
New member
Did you play the DLCs? Think it was the Firewalker DLC where they brought back Mako v2.0
The Hammerhead
Yeah, but those missions weren't very long. IIRC, I read that their original idea was to have a more open game using the Hammerhead as transportation. They didn't have enough time so they cut the scope of the game back to something that they could finish. The Hammerhead was very fun though, the other DLC mission that used it - Project Overlord - was one of the best in the entire series!
It had a really creepy atmosphere to it.
"The square root of 906.01 equals…"
PsychoFish
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That's exactly it Solitude, take the latest Tomb Raider as an example. They teach you a simple concept, then they let you go with it for a bit. Then they introduce something new, etc etc. I think the key is to start with the basic movements and key mechanics, give the player some time to get used to it and then crank it up with a new trick/mechanic. Just don't make it feel forced, try to keep the story flowing as much as possible.
Grievous
New member
I stopped playing because I felt I didn't know what was going on. I felt it was really simple to get by in combat, but incredible hard to really understand the mechanics to do everything well.. I also didn't know where the hell to go sometimes. I kind of just felt lost in the game.
The_Imp_ZA
New member
While doing so, they alienate the group most likely to buy their games. The casual crowd are called casual for a reason, just because your game is easier to play, doesn't mean they'll come running to you.
Yet these CEO's can't understand that... :/
Snare
New member
The CEO's look at the numbers and they understand that the casual game crowd is growing at a faster rate than the core gaming crowd. Now when you look at this situation you can draw certain conclusions and then revise your strategy accordingly. They obviously looked at the data; and concluded that instead of attempting to cater to the core gaming market by making the casuals adopt certain things from core gamers; they went the opposite direction and decided to make the core market adapt to what the casuals want. Is it wrong? Maybe; but until we review the financial data in the years to come and review it in accordance with now then we can only speculate as to whether this change is a good business decision or not.
czc
Thread Killer Mk VIII
Think back just a little bit. When they released Alan Wake on PC there was the option to turn off the HUD to make the game "more scary and challenging" I went for that option. I'm sure I enjoyed the game for that reason. It brought back those memories of long ago, explore a level, try to get through, try again if you fail. A lot of games lack that these days. Running in the direction of an arrow the entire time, seeing at what number your HP is, meh. Alan Wake turned out to be one of the most enjoyable games for me in recent memory because of the turned off HUD and difficulty level.
FarligOpptreden
New member
Didn't Far Cry 2 also feature a very minimalistic, almost non-existant HUD? I remember them trying to create immersion with the whole map and compass mechanic. It worked quite well, imho.
But agreed on Alan Wake being good - it was one of the best and most immersive games of recent years.
But agreed on Alan Wake being good - it was one of the best and most immersive games of recent years.