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  • TUESDAY JULY 11 2006 12:15 PM

Bad Game Designer, No Twinkie!

Submitted by Posh

Edited by Posh

Tags: game, design

Ernest Adams has released his list of game design features and faux pas that will leave many a game designer weeping for cream stuffed pastries. Thankfully, Mr. Adams is not a whining know-it-all spewing forth ideas on why he is right and everything else is incredibly wrong. No, he is a freelance game designer, writer, lecturer, and a member of the International Hobo game design consortium. That’s right. Hobo.


Novelty is one of the many ways that video games entertain, and a quality that sets video gaming apart from, say, board gaming. Mahdi Jeddi writes to complain about games that present all their features in the first few levels, and then don’t have anything new to offer in the later stages of the game. As he says, “If they have budget limitations, they can spread the introduction of new features across all levels, and maybe make some special levels for one feature. This way the game will maintain its freshness to its end and the player will be saved from boredom.”



I think this Hobo is onto something. I hate when I’ve unlocked everything I’ll ever be able to do in a game after only having played for a couple hours. I’ve stopped playing a number of games less than halfway through as I’d already reached the status of Grand Master Jesus and was untouchable. Only with the awesome “Psychonauts” did I look forward to new and fun powers after every level.

He then goes on to say how vital translation and localization is

“In the past, very few games were translated to Spanish, mainly graphic adventures, and those were probably the only ones correctly translated. I especially remember the Lucasarts games because they had good translations, and even the American-themed jokes were changed for Spanish-themed ones… Today, with games being more complex and full of multimedia content, I think localization has become a bigger task, and while some games are correctly adapted, many others aren’t.

“I played Call of Duty in English for the first time, and the voices added to the realism,  but in the Spanish version the translation is extremely poor. In the original version the officers shouted orders, emphasizing points; panicking soldiers reflected panic in their voices; hidden people whispered at you, and even different nationalities had distinguishable accents. In the Spanish version, there’s no voice acting at all, it’s only reading. It’s the same tone and pattern for every line of dialogue, no matter what the situation or the environment.”



I can’t tell you how many games I’ve played that were ported to Canada and nothing was done to localize the language aside from a clichéd “Eh!” and “It’s OK if you get shot, we have free health care!” dropped onto the end of every sentence. Well that’s just a little racist and I won’t be sending any of you Call of Duty boys Twinkies. Mainly because I’m lying, but partially because Twinkies are just gross and filled with toxic goop!

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Comments
hey_fukko

hey_fukko

Medford, OR
September 2003

JUL 11, 2006 01:42 PM

MMmmm... twinkies.

Psychonauts is a kick ass game, too. Probably one of the most underrated XBox games out there. It's not wonder XBox Online Magazine said, "Do yourself and the gaming industry a favor. Pick up a copy of Psychonauts."

NinjaTech

NinjaTech

Minneapolis, MN
November 2003

JUL 11, 2006 02:01 PM

First off, +1 for "Grand Master Jesus" That will be recycled.

Second, I would like to echo the sentiment about Psychonauts. The game was amazing. Having Richard Steven Horvitz as the voice of Raz was also a wonderful treat.

I caught this article on slashdot a few days back and it is indeed a good read. Thanks for the paraphrasing, Posh. You continue to be an A+ "story submitter(?)"

zgrat

zgrat

Los Angeles, CA
September 2003

JUL 11, 2006 05:20 PM

mmmmmm... twinkies.... oink

fountainofdreams

fountainofdreams

Batavia, IL
January 2005

JUL 11, 2006 05:30 PM

i hope one of the features he talks about is ESCORT MISSIONS.

good god, i don't CARE if you get back from this dangerous place safely! you're dumb enough to get yourself into trouble, you can die for all i care.

ARGH.

Longpastbedtime

Longpastbedtime

Ames, IA
March 2003

JUL 11, 2006 09:53 PM

You know, I do agree to some extent on the "introducing new concepts later in the game" to some degree, but it also has its limits. I don't like getting most of the way into the game and then getting something that just totally changed the flow of the game. The best example I can think of (off the top of my head) is God of War. You're going along fine, you get to upgrade the weapons and spells you want, setting up Kratos just the way you want Then...

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

In the last battle they saddle you with a weapon you've never used before and all of your previous weaponry and spells have disappeared. The last fight vs. Ares isn't even fun because now you have no selection and no flair, something the game did well until then.


If they are going to introduce new concepts along the way, make sure they add to the experience, rather than either replacing all the former dynamics the game has established with each successive weapon/ powerup. The Metroids are all very good at this, for example.

malkav11

malkav11

Saint Paul, MN
July 2003

JUL 11, 2006 10:06 PM

That example would fall under one of the other things he mentions: not completely changing the game experience for bosses.

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