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Video Game Design: Run or Shoot?

Whatever you choose, remember to scream!

   

When designing a Game one of the most common priorities is making sure everything, from visuals to Gameplay mechanics, is as smooth and polished as possible, this is done to make sure they are not an obstacle to the player and his/her Gaming experience.
 
At first it seems like a logical thought, if the player has to struggle with things like the HUD (Heads up display), the Inventory system or character movement, then he will spend less time playing and more time fighting against those elements, but the problem is that most people tend to quickly discard things that feel "Wrong" or "Clunky" without considering all aspects to that element.

  

As we've discussed previously in other articles (Here, and Here), all elements inside the Game have a direct impact on that Game's universe, it's feel, flow and identity, and as such all aspects and qualities of that element, be them "Good" or "Bad", have an impact too, case in point: "Run or Shoot?"

Unplugged Update: May Recap

Yes! We are back! after a sufficient amount of rest, relaxation and battling giant cyborg-spiders, we are back home, and just in time to say goodbye to the month that passed, welcome, ladies and gentleman, to the Unplugged Controllers May 2013 Recap.

Happy "Pose as a team, 'cause sh*t just got real!" Month from everyone at U.C.!

May 2013: "Pose as a team, 'cause sh*t just got real!" Month:

• An Unplugged Look At: Call Of Duty - Modern Warfare: Starting off this month we travel around the world fighting terrorists trying to find the last logical though that might still be inside this franchise.

• U.C.Comic - 006 Left 4 Chicken:On this episode, the guys fight off the hordes of the undead while teaching us a valuable lesson on loyalty, also, chickens.

• Video Game Design: Gameplay Mechanics - The Invisibility Manifesto: Closing off this month we put on our serious pants and discuss balance in gameplay mechanics and how they shape the player's experience, all of this while trying to break the record for most invisibility jokes in one article.

And that's it for the month of May 2013, see you next time, when we'll talk about the month of June (Seriously, what did you expect?), see you then, and remember:

Video Game Design: The Invisibility Manifesto

Invisibility pictures: unsurprisingly HARD TO FIND.

And with that INCREDIBLE Invisibility joke (First of many more to come)  i welcome you to the second Unplugged Controllers article on Video Game Design, "The Invisibility Manifesto". 

 

Last time, we looked at how Core and Individual Mechanics can shape a game's Identity using the Super Mario and God of War games as an example of this; Today we are taking a deeper look into Gameplay mechanics, mainly focusing on how to add meaningful variety and how this can change the flow of the game. There's a lot to cover, and not a whole lot of time, so let's dive right in.

U.C.Comic - 006 Left 4 Chicken

CLICK HERE FOR FULL SIZE

CLICK HERE FOR FULL SIZE