Intelligence in Games

[aboutasoandthis]

What makes a great game?

You can ask that and get a different answer every time. Some people want to read a good story that they can identify with. Some people want extreme mental challenges. Some people want hyperactive gameplay with lots of replay value. If you were to try to identify the best game out there, you would not be able to please everyone.

You can however show that your game is well thought-out and focused. If one person decides to try out your game, and discovers the intelligence behind it, he will most likely encourage others to play it.

There are four things that I personally love to see in games:
Consistency
Allusion
Symbolism
Theme

If I can find these in a game, and they are used properly, I will come back to play them again and again. First I am going to talk about consistency.

What is consistency exactly? The Merriam-Webster defines it as such...

Main Entry: con·sis·ten·cy
Pronunciation: k&n-'sis-t&n(t)-sE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -cies
1 a archaic : condition of adhering together : firmness of material substance b : firmness of constitution or character : PERSISTENCY
2 : degree of firmness, density, viscosity, or resistance to movement or separation of constituent particles
3 a : agreement or harmony of parts or features to one another or a whole : CORRESPONDENCE; specifically : ability to be asserted together without contradiction b : harmony of conduct or practice with profession

Consistency in a game means that everything from the storyline, to the gameplay, to the art style actually belongs in your game. It makes your game seem well thought out. This encourages the player to continue, to explore, and to think about it after they have put the game down.

So how do you keep your game consistent? To start, try to sum up your entire game in one sentence. This will help you decide which gameplay features are important, and which aren't. The Ico graph here at the top of this page is an excellent example.
http://www.gamethink.net/Shadow-of-the-Colossus.html

Here's one for FF7.
----A man attempts to stop a godlike madman from harming the innocent.

If your game is an RPG, don't try to stuff as much information as you can into one sentence. Just pick something small off the top of your head. Here's a bad one.
----After discovering that he has amnesia, an ex-super soldier who actually wasn't one but was injected with anabolic substances to make him really strong goes on an epic and emotional journey to defeat the evil supposed dead general of the electrical company who is attempting to kill millions of life-forms by summoning a meteor so he can invoke and harness their spirits into an edible substance in order to achieve a higher state of being.

Next, take the sentence and split it up into sections. You will list here anything that reinforces the game.
A man-You can describe Cloud's personality here. You can also ----those he is traveling with.
Attempts to stop-While they do have power, the odds are heavily ----against them.
A Godlike Madman-The man you are fighting has a lot of power. ----Emphasize not only Sephiroth's physical strength, but his overall influence on the world.
From Harming Innocent People-Put Sephiroth's plan here, and why ----he wants to do it. Also write how he killed Aeris/Aerith and others, showing Clouds vendetta against Sephiroth.

Next, only add plot features that reinforce the world of the game and/or its gameplay.

How would the characters defeat Sephiroth exactly? For starters, ----Sephiroth wants to use the life energy of they planet to become a god. You can use it to stop him.
Do a lot of people rely on this energy? Write about Shinra marketing ----the substance and exploiting the population. Also write about how Shinra created a military featuring Sephiroth to protect their interests.
Where does this energy come from? It comes from the planet. Insert ----the fact that enviornmentalist will be against it, AKA avalanche.

There were a lot of aspects of Final Fantasy 7 that were, my opinion, unnecessary. Ultimately, the game was consistent in its ideas, showing that the game took thought. When making your list, try to keep only ideas that enforce your storyline.

You'd be surprised as to how many professional games use consistency. If I had two name two, I would pick Pokemon and Metal Gear Solid in particular.

While both of these games feature bizarre scenarios, they can be summed up in a few short words.

Pokemon-You travel the world while collecting creatures and ----entering them in competitions.
Metal Gear Solid-Using stealth-based action, your hero sets out to ----combat terrorism.

Aside from being able to be summarized so easily, these games hold concepts that keep them consistent.
Pokemon: You play as a pre-teen who travels the world alone. ----Because of this, there are preset routes and police officers everywhere. Also, creature are not considered as slaves but as pets. The Pokemon want to fight and get stronger, but still trust that you will not abuse them. Groups who do abuse them, such as the game's Team Rocket, are considered villains. To reinforce the fact that Pokemon are pets, there are no real animals inside the game. They are instead replaced with Pokemon counterparts.

Metal Gear Solid: The game generally never lets you use super ----powers and/or extremely powerful weaponry. This is to reinforce the fact that you are not Rambo. You cannot just go in killing everyone. You have to think about everything that you do, as it affects the surrounding environment.
 
I admit, almost all of us are using RPG Maker. You can't have several custom systems and incredible art styles without ridiculous amounts of effort. However, you can show the player that you put thought into your game, encouraging the player to continue.

Recap:
-Sum up your storyline in a sentence.
-Split up that sentence into gameplay aspects.
-Add features and characters that reinforce your game.

This is my first tutorial. I may edit this post and add more as time goes on. How did I do?

[Linkizcool]

I agree. I could so see this in a EA meeting or a game production conference. Congrats, dude!

[Vlad Shadeu]

Hmm.... i don't know if i was supposed to put this here, but here is mine. any criticism is appreciated, and in fact DESIRED.PLEASE, CRITICIZE THIS. I NEED TO IMPROVE. this is a comedy adventure, keep in mind.
my small sentence (kinda big i know)

you travel a strange and funny realm filled with many perils and sidetracks in an attempt to take what is yours and depart.


in an attempt to keep with consistency:

You play as a sarcastic type of person, who speaks to himself alot. he travels to save his sister, and also to aid in whatever needs saving, mainly in order to progress. you try very hard to complete your goal, but many sidetracks stop you from this. the list of quirky and unusual antagonists continues to grow, and so does the main characters bond with his friends.

A little side note when you talked about pokemon: i have heard other people thinking this, and i agree. logically, unless all of the characters are vegetarians, the only meat they can get is from the pokemon. as in, THEY EETS POKEMON!

[HackersTotalMassLaser]

You have dissed Rambo... now he feels powerless with his rocket launchers. But he's happy to see you do this tut.

[Phayre]

Excellent.
I was doing some critting for someone *glances cautiously at gemini, turns back*, and was appalled. too many people just take all the "OMGz that soundz kewl" ideas and vomit them into a world that cna't handle them. Your advice is so true: keep it simple.

[Prpl_Mage]

Well, this is pretty much what I did durign my awful vacation.

First of all I created the basics for the characters, I made sure that everyone had their own pretty unusual reasons to follow the protagonist at first.
Then I began to work on their personalities, but not lock them up tight in an iron box that may never be opened and altered.
I thought that I will create the basic idea for the characters, and event that will affect them and who they are during the storyline.

Then I began on the people they oppose, villan is such a harch word. None of them is that bad, they have their reasons and have their powers as well, a zealotily priest might not appear pretty nice but his faith in the trued god is supreme.
What surprised myself the most was that I was almost able to create a nice side of the demon lord from the other realm.
Then I began to form their organization/army, no one follows a madman just like that, they need a reason to.
My zealotily priest occypies a city in the human lands and convert the people into religous fanatics like himself and has succeded with step one, then he uses church-school to force the kids into learning his religion to the bone, if they don't learn then they will not be fed.

Got out of topic...

I loved this, if I wouldn't have realised my own flaws earlier then this would be a savior for me. But I'm pretty sure that it will be to many others.

[HackersTotalMassLaser]

Originally posted by Phayre
Excellent.
I was doing some critting for someone *glances cautiously at gemini, turns back*, and was appalled. too many people just take all the "OMGz that soundz kewl" ideas and vomit them into a world that cna't handle them. Your advice is so true: keep it simple.

I dont think that was really the advice.  Intelligence doesnt always mean simple, nor vice-versa. AS far as I understand from a newb standpoint (and I say newb because there'll be people like "nah it isnt" but they've played the game over 10 times), the FF7 storyline/plot/points w/e you wanna call it, had complexities. But I guess it was how it weas handle through the story that made it so popular. If that was what did it. I still see no fame and glory in that game, but just a regular well-thought out story. o wait i've never liked the game.

I think the advice is to keep your game orginized enough for it to look simple on the gamer's eye.





I have a strange feeling of deja vu.

[aboutasoandthis]

Originally posted by HackersTotalMassLaser

Originally posted by Phayre
Excellent.
I was doing some critting for someone *glances cautiously at gemini, turns back*, and was appalled. too many people just take all the "OMGz that soundz kewl" ideas and vomit them into a world that cna't handle them. Your advice is so true: keep it simple.

I dont think that was really the advice.  Intelligence doesnt always mean simple, nor vice-versa. AS far as I understand from a newb standpoint (and I say newb because there'll be people like "nah it isnt" but they've played the game over 10 times), the FF7 storyline/plot/points w/e you wanna call it, had complexities. But I guess it was how it weas handle through the story that made it so popular. If that was what did it. I still see no fame and glory in that game, but just a regular well-thought out story. o wait i've never liked the game.

I think the advice is to keep your game orginized enough for it to look simple on the gamer's eye.





I have a strange feeling of deja vu.[/B]

Actually, the both of you are right about what I posted. Phayre was talking about how some people like to insert a random event or character when it doesn't really fit their game's style. You Kijuki were talking about how a game should be able to be summed up by the player after finishing it, which is also good.

Vlad Shadeu: Pure comedy games aren't respected very much...This is because the humor in the game often feels random. My advice to you would be to decide if your game is a  pure comedy or a  well thought out game with humor on the side. A great example of this would be Bluhman's RMGame "The Alpha Force." His game is so consistent its ridiculous. Yet even with all of the clear dephth he put into it, it's still hilarious. I think this is because the humor was not his main focus.

If you want your game to be a pure comedy, make a focus sentence on that. What kind of humor will be in your game? Subtle? Race? Flaws of Society? Internet? For this, I would also suggest that you pick a target audience. What kind of person are you trying to entertain? Are they into anime? Are they socialites? Are they into the hacker culture? Try to pertain too one specific group, and others may laugh at it too.

Prpl_Mage: I didn't read it...

...Because that would mean spoiling something that will be completely awesome.

[drenrin2120]

I liked this, gives a person another thing to think about when it comes to making a game. According to this tut tho, is it right to assume some games' focus changes at some point or multiple points during the game?

[aboutasoandthis]

Originally posted by drenrin2120
I liked this, gives a person another thing to think about when it comes to making a game. According to this tut tho, is it right to assume some games' focus changes at some point or multiple points during the game?

What exactly do you mean? Are you talking about a plot twist? If you want a plot twist in your storyline, go for it. Just make sure that it actually fits in the game. Remember how you once asked for a new magic style in your game a long time ago? I suggested the names of stars, and then you responded by saying star names would fit perfectly in your game's storyline.

That is what my tutorial is about. It's about when not to add unnecessary features, story elements, or graphics. This doesn't just go for RPGs. It goes for all games. You also have to remember that this is just advice. The content here isn't a must, its a cool little thing to add that some people will thank you for.

Now for the next chapter.

Chapter 2: Allusion in Games

All story lines, whether in books, films, or games, reflect the world around us. They often reference real life events and other stories. This is called allusion.

Main Entry: al·lu·sion
Pronunciation: &-'lü-zh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Late Latin allusion-, allusio, from Latin alludere
1 : an implied or indirect reference especially in literature; also : the use of such references
2 : the act of alluding to or hinting at something
- al·lu·sive /-'lü-siv, -ziv/ adjective
- al·lu·sive·ly adverb
- al·lu·sive·ness noun

An allusion is usually used in a game in two ways:
-To entertain the player.
-To tell a story.

If a player notices a reference to another medium they enjoy they are more likely think about the game and continue playing it.

With this said, you shouldn't go in adding quotes from every movie you've ever seen or places in the books you have read. You also shouldn’t completely steal another storyline. The best use of a reference comes from when you are not using the original story’s idea.

I remember playing Bully for the Playstation 2, after learning that it was based off of "The Catcher in the Rye." Jimmy Hopkins from Bully is a loner and private school hopper much like Holden Caulfield. The game also makes a lot of references to high-school movies.

While using these references however, the game never really used them to tell the story. They were just there to make you say, “hey I know that!” How can allusion be used to tell a story?

For this, I am going to use Shadow of the Colossus as my example. The Team Ico games are known for their use of gameplay and imagery as a storyteller, instead of dialogue and backstory.

In Shadow of the Colossus, the basic premise of the game is to slay sixteen giants in exchange for the life of a dead girl. The ending of the game presents most of the backstory, but it still leaves a lot of questions. I don’t want to spoil anything for those who haven’t played it, so I’ll only use questions that surface at the beginning.

Why were the forbidden lands so forbidden? Why does the omnipresent voice have dual voices of both a man and a woman? Why is there architecture everywhere that at first glance is dangerous and impratical to use? Why is the ridiculously tall tower in the middle of the landscape called “The Shrine of Worship?”

Here’s a nice little thing that might have some answers. This is a quote of the Biblical figure Josephus, on the subject of King Nimrod, provided by Wikipedia.

Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it were through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power…

Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God; and they built a tower, neither sparing any pains, nor being in any degree negligent about the work: and, by reason of the multitude of hands employed in it, it grew very high, sooner than any one could expect; but the thickness of it was so great, and it was so strongly built, that thereby its great height seemed, upon the view, to be less than it really was. It was built of burnt brick, cemented together with mortar, made of bitumen, that it might not be liable to admit water. When God saw that they acted so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them utterly, since they were not grown wiser by the destruction of the former sinners; but he caused a tumult among them, by producing in them diverse languages, and causing that, through the multitude of those languages, they should not be able to understand one another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon, because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before; for the Hebrews mean by the word Babel, confusion…

If you have finished the game, I’m sure you can see the similarities. Much of Colossus’s backstory is told through Biblical allusion. The passages referenced include the Tower of Babel, the story of Nimrod and his wife Semiramis, the David and Goliath, and the Garden of Eden.

While the game uses many of these Biblical stories, the game still had its own original idea. It just used biblical allusion to help explain the backstory.

Of course, these are Playstation 2 games. How can allusion be used in an RPG Maker Game? For this, we can look to Final Fantasy 6. The game is set in a world based off of the 19th century. There were trains, opera houses, and messenger birds. The game didn’t really need these things at heart. It could have just used castles and knights. It used this period to help create the setting.

Many of the people in the Gestahl Empire were cultured and intelligent. You see the nobles in the opera house. You see the Gatling Gun-like machine in Tzen. You see Setzer with his expensive airship and eloquent voice. Celes and his group talk to him, he is unaware of the cruelty used to run it. The allusion to the 19th century was used to show the ignorance of the empire’s supporters.

The game also made a few references to Star Wars that were appropriate. Locke dresses up like a soldier to find Celes, just as Luke does with Princess Lea. The game uses a Biggs and Wedge. Both feature oppressive empires and because of this a similar tone. At the same, the game used its own ideas instead of directly copying Star Wars.

Recap
-Reference books, movies, and games you know. Try to keep it appropriate.
-Use references to help tell part of the story.
-Never use the original idea.

[Phayre]

Ooh, can you cover 4th wall moments?
Or can I?
Or can someone?
Squee!
I think allusion in RPGMaker games can also be used to poke fun. I'm toning down the amount of in-jokes and fun-poking in my game (it was originally just for my sister), but it can add a wry sort of humor that reminds the player that you're aware of where your ideas came from and you don't particularly give a crap. Or something. I don't know. *sigh*

[aboutasoandthis]

Go ahead Phayre. The more I think on it, the more awesome the idea sounds. I think I might do dual topics for the next one.