@2:45 I very much agree that games not treating you like an idiot is a good thing. I just think there are several ways to approach that, and also we should keep in mind that there are a lot of affordances that come along with games like this. A game like Hyper Light Drifter can get away with barely any text at all, because everyone knows how it works right out the box. You have a sword and a gun, and you hit monsters with them until their health goes away and they disappear. Unless this is someone's first video game, it would be pointless to explain that concept, because it is so incredibly simplistic and so incredibly prevalent in the video game world. If you want to design games that are built on radically different systems though, games that don't rely on the tried and true hp/damage concept, then you will probably have to explain things to the player, but that doesn't mean you're treating them like an idiot. It just means you're making something truly unique and different, something that actually requires players to learn new fundamental things about your game in order to properly engage with it. Even then, I would suggest an optional tutorial. I just think it's important to keep in mind why Hyper Light Drifter can do what it does, I'd also imagine that something like an FPS or a Platformer could easily follow the same formula as well.
They’ve actually made another game called solar ash, which I find two also have similar themes to hyper like drifter. And they’re also working on hyper light breaker.
As a developer who has played with the concept of teaching without saying a decent amount, the value of having the player figure it out them self comes at the cost of design space/complexity, player understanding, pacing, game feel and production time. For example, having not played HLD, if you say they never tell you what button to use? Well by doing that you WILL lose a part of your players right off the bat. You push the game to only be accessible to "gamers" and make people who don't have the built up affordances to figure it out on their own. In HLD case this was a good move, the game is targeted to gamers however you can trade the slight immersion break text has(which if used well can actually be intentionally used to craft a pacing curve) to gain players. A common theme in game design theory is to talk about what is the RIGHT way to do it, rather than talk about the merit of different wayS to do it. Runescape's quest are a great example of this. If you look at them objectively there are a lot of really major design "flaws" that break a lot of normal game design ideology, but they still work. And more than work, they would be worse if they did not break those "rules". I really enjoyed your video and feel you did give this a fair shake.
Thanks for the spoiler warning! I skipped :) I really enjoyed the video. My only suggestion would be to invest in a better mic or recording software, your voice sounded a bit tinny/thin.
@2:45 I very much agree that games not treating you like an idiot is a good thing. I just think there are several ways to approach that, and also we should keep in mind that there are a lot of affordances that come along with games like this.
A game like Hyper Light Drifter can get away with barely any text at all, because everyone knows how it works right out the box. You have a sword and a gun, and you hit monsters with them until their health goes away and they disappear. Unless this is someone's first video game, it would be pointless to explain that concept, because it is so incredibly simplistic and so incredibly prevalent in the video game world.
If you want to design games that are built on radically different systems though, games that don't rely on the tried and true hp/damage concept, then you will probably have to explain things to the player, but that doesn't mean you're treating them like an idiot. It just means you're making something truly unique and different, something that actually requires players to learn new fundamental things about your game in order to properly engage with it.
Even then, I would suggest an optional tutorial. I just think it's important to keep in mind why Hyper Light Drifter can do what it does, I'd also imagine that something like an FPS or a Platformer could easily follow the same formula as well.
Your voice and editing is pretty damn good. More videos please!
I like your editing style! It's subtle but really conveys what you mean to say.
"Subtle but conveys what it means to say" That's this game.
They’ve actually made another game called solar ash, which I find two also have similar themes to hyper like drifter. And they’re also working on hyper light breaker.
I Wish I Could Recommend Hyper Light Drifter
Nice! You're so good at analyzing games
very well done analysis!
As a developer who has played with the concept of teaching without saying a decent amount, the value of having the player figure it out them self comes at the cost of design space/complexity, player understanding, pacing, game feel and production time. For example, having not played HLD, if you say they never tell you what button to use? Well by doing that you WILL lose a part of your players right off the bat. You push the game to only be accessible to "gamers" and make people who don't have the built up affordances to figure it out on their own. In HLD case this was a good move, the game is targeted to gamers however you can trade the slight immersion break text has(which if used well can actually be intentionally used to craft a pacing curve) to gain players. A common theme in game design theory is to talk about what is the RIGHT way to do it, rather than talk about the merit of different wayS to do it. Runescape's quest are a great example of this. If you look at them objectively there are a lot of really major design "flaws" that break a lot of normal game design ideology, but they still work. And more than work, they would be worse if they did not break those "rules". I really enjoyed your video and feel you did give this a fair shake.
Is the gameplay sped up? Why did you do that?
Thanks for the spoiler warning! I skipped :)
I really enjoyed the video. My only suggestion would be to invest in a better mic or recording software, your voice sounded a bit tinny/thin.