Multi tasking features

A good game feature does three things, all at the same time:

• Add a logical function to the game
• Be fun for the player
• Support the game lore/background

Now that was a short post, good job Christian. Not so fast, there is more to this.



The worst I have seen so far, tries to implement this in full force. Literally everything has to conform. The end result is a mess.

I'm not ashamed to say it. I like shooting things. Though I have in real life only ever shot a couple of targets and that is more than a decade ago, I've destroyed a gigantic mass of property and killed thousands in single player and multiplayer matches. The right mixture of long range sniping and the surprise up close combat is just fantastic. The more tactical the better. That's why there is a special place in my heart for the Battlefield Series.

In Battlefield you are one soldier of many, fighting for an objective. Although there are some single player campaigns, the heart of it has always been the multiplayer. In these objectives you have to capture a control point by standing close to it. Yes, just lingering in the vicinity is the mechanic to change that control point. Once captured, your own people can spawn at that point and press the battle forward.

Let's look at our three point above. This adds a logical function to the game, check. It's fun as a player, both to attack and defend, check. Now about that background lore... Yeah, throws that completely into the wind. Does it matter? No, because the fun factor overshadows any shortcomings in the lore. You might argue that occupying a space is giving the lore enough credit, but it's too far removed from reality (or the perceived one in this context) to actually fit perfectly.

My gaming started with a coinop machine of Mario. So the next example is a generic jump and run sample, the spike wheel. Imagine the spiked wheel that turns happy at 10'000 RPM and obliterates players for fun.

It's a logical function of the game, to avoid hitting that wheel. The act of avoiding is fun for the player, as it's an opposing force to deal with. It also could be at the bottom of a pit, at the side of w all or a ceiling, so you have to time your movements accordingly, very versatile. Does it make sense in the lore? Well since this is generic, I say yes, spinning wheels are common here. Now a leap of genre: Half-Life 2. The zombie city with its rotating blades you could use to easier kill off hordes of zombies, prime example of exactly this.

So we all know fun is important, then why have I chosen this order, even if it's not numbered?

 Above all, a feature has to have a logical function. If the player does not see it as a logical function (even if that function appears to be random) then the player will reject it summarily. There can be functions that are not as such fun, but support the game lore (feeding the cat, writing in books), but through supporting the world, will add to the overall fun of the experience.