Today I started building a simple mini game; a single screen maze where you have to get from one end to the other. Obviously, any top-down maze needs obstacles, and this one has three:
The player is plunged in darkness and can only see a few centimetres beyond their own circumference.
The player has to avoid the nefarious spotlights which home in on them if they get too close, and will sap their health if they are caught beneath them.
The player has to make sure they touch as few laser beams as possible, for each beam they touch will cause another spotlight to be generated.
So far, so challenging. Not only do you have to navigate the maze without being able to see much of the maze itself, but the game is also made increasingly more difficult the more mistakes you make. However, the inclusion of the lasers causes a bit of a design problem.
What would you do if you saw a big red laser crossing your path in a game? Chances are you'd avoid it. If you have lasers running across the actual path (which was the initial idea, thus forcing you to trigger at least two additional spotlights in each level), the player is not going to run through it. This means the average, sensible player who is used to game conventions will never be able to complete the level - at least not without being annoyed and feeling cheated.
To get around that, it would make sense to put the lasers only in those areas that aren't part of the path to the exit; this of course highlights to the player the route they should take and makes navigating the maze too easy.
What to do?
Perhaps a more neutral triggering device could be used, such as changing the floor colour. Trouble is, almost any kind of element that distinguishes an area as being something that will cause an enemy to spawn is inherently something a player will try to avoid. If you go the other way and make it look inviting, then you're tricking the player. They might fall for that once, but you'll end up in exactly the same situation as you were with the lasers, except the player is also irritated with the game and less likely to keep playing.
Perhaps there's something to be said for simply generating extra spotlights if the player takes more than a specified amount of time to complete the level?
The player is plunged in darkness and can only see a few centimetres beyond their own circumference.
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| It also helps to distract players from the rudimentary graphics. Slightly. Note that the imaginative room caption is subject to change. |
The player has to avoid the nefarious spotlights which home in on them if they get too close, and will sap their health if they are caught beneath them.
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| The sinister spotlights have found our hapless player; touching that laser will only make things worse. |
The player has to make sure they touch as few laser beams as possible, for each beam they touch will cause another spotlight to be generated.
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| See? Now they're trapped in some nightmarish metaphor about scrutiny. Or, their health is being drained by enemy objects. |
So far, so challenging. Not only do you have to navigate the maze without being able to see much of the maze itself, but the game is also made increasingly more difficult the more mistakes you make. However, the inclusion of the lasers causes a bit of a design problem.
 |
| The international gaming symbol for 'DO NOT TOUCH!' |
What would you do if you saw a big red laser crossing your path in a game? Chances are you'd avoid it. If you have lasers running across the actual path (which was the initial idea, thus forcing you to trigger at least two additional spotlights in each level), the player is not going to run through it. This means the average, sensible player who is used to game conventions will never be able to complete the level - at least not without being annoyed and feeling cheated.
To get around that, it would make sense to put the lasers only in those areas that aren't part of the path to the exit; this of course highlights to the player the route they should take and makes navigating the maze too easy.
 |
| Well, I can choose between going through a big red laser beam, or not going through a big red laser beam. Gee; I wonder which would be best? |
What to do?
Perhaps a more neutral triggering device could be used, such as changing the floor colour. Trouble is, almost any kind of element that distinguishes an area as being something that will cause an enemy to spawn is inherently something a player will try to avoid. If you go the other way and make it look inviting, then you're tricking the player. They might fall for that once, but you'll end up in exactly the same situation as you were with the lasers, except the player is also irritated with the game and less likely to keep playing.
 |
| Are you kidding me? |
Perhaps there's something to be said for simply generating extra spotlights if the player takes more than a specified amount of time to complete the level?
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