Soren Johnson's 8 Things Not To Do in Game Design

[Thunderfall]

Civilization IV lead designer Soren Johnson posted an interesting post in his blog today about the 8 biggest mistakes in game design (in his opinion). In the first part, he posted about four of the mistakes. They are:

1. Hard-core game conventions
2. Repetitive interface tasks
3. Limited play variety
4. Too much complexity

I think they make lots of sense and you can find those mistakes even in top rated games. For example, God of War (PS2) is a very good game with awesome graphics and gameplay, but more than once I felt frustrated and almost gave up because a few puzzles in the game require nearly perfect execution in order to solve within the time limit. Lowering the difficulty level doesn't help as it only affects combat. I wouldn't be surprise if some people quit the game due to those timed puzzles.

Soren Johnson left Firaxis Games in April 2007 to work on Will Wright's Spore project at Maxis.

 

[PurpleTurtle]

Reading this has some kinda wierd thoughts runnin through my head lol. I agree for the most part that clutter and lack of focus really hurt games. I also agree that for most genres the pick up and play factor is quite important. I think he hit the nail on the head with the difficulty setting comment. The crucial part in my mind is to make a soft learning curve difficulty, and then a nice number of difficulty settings ramping up towards a really hard experience. I wouldn't play Civ at all if it weren't for the emperor setting, and I never would have gotten to that setting without Monarch, and so on and so forth. I just hope developers don't confuse limiting the scope of a project with limiting the content. A fourty to sixty hour game really isn't much entertainment.

 

[Watiggi]

Civ is meant to be complex. The dulling down of the complexity since Soren joined (imo) has reduced the games enjoyment and especially the replayability. But hay! It brings in more money for the company.

 

[DaviddesJ]

Civ is meant to be complex. The dulling down of the complexity since Soren joined (imo) has reduced the games enjoyment and especially the replayability.

I don't understand what this means. No one could seriously suggest that Civ4 is less complex than Civ3.

 

[Ghost Ranger]

The only thing about simplicity is that there can be a time when something becomes too simple, and the program/game suffers as a result. *coughcoughmacintoshcoughcough*

 

[gmanne]

I don't understand what this means. No one could seriously suggest that Civ4 is less complex than Civ3.

I agree. How is CIV less complex than Civ III?

 

[TheBladeRoden]

Civilization IV lead designer Soren Johnson posted an interesting post in his blog today about the 8 biggest mistakes in game design (in his opinion). In the first part, he posted about four of the mistakes. They are:

1. Hard-core game conventions
2. Repetitive interface tasks
3. Limited play variety
4. Too much complexity

I think they make lots of sense and you can find those mistakes even in top rated games. For example, God of War (PS2) is a very good game with awesome graphics and gameplay, but more than once I felt frustrated and almost gave up because a few puzzles in the game require nearly perfect execution in order to solve within the time limit. Lowering the difficulty level doesn't help as it only affects combat. I wouldn't be surprise if some people quit the game due to those timed puzzles.

Soren Johnson left Firaxis Games in April 2007 to work on Will Wright's Spore project at Maxis.

3990 B.C.
Worker 1/16
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3980 B.C.
Worker 2/16
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"If you chase two rabbits, you will lose them both."
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3970 B.C.
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3960 B.C.
Worker 4/16
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3950 B.C.
Worker 5/16
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"Hath not the potter power over the clay. To make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?"
<ENTER>
3940 B.C.
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3930 B.C.
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"I, De Gaulle, possessor of one of the largest and finest noses in human history, welcome you to glorious France!"
<"There shall be peace in our time!">
"Something or other"
<ENTER>
"Congratulations, TheBladeRoden! At last your explorations have led you to me!"
<"There shall be peace in our time!">
"Something or other"
<ENTER>
3920 B.C.
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3910 B.C.
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[GarretSidzaka]

reading them...

edit: very nice and left a comment
@rest of u
a game is still just a game (and meant to consume time)

 

[Watiggi]

I don't understand what this means. No one could seriously suggest that Civ4 is less complex than Civ3.

I was refering to Civ2 vs Civ3/4. Civ2 is much more complex and actually attempts to represents real life while the new versions become more 'gamey' and less of a historical simulation. I just find that Civ2 has lots of 'bits and pieces' to put together while Civ4 automatically takes care of most of it for you.

 

[GarretSidzaka]

you do you mean that in the civ 2-3 phase there was more new stuff added then in the 3-4 phase?

 

[winddbourne]

I think what they mean is that civ II was the CLASSIC civilization experience. I know it is the version I get the most nostalgic about, and also the version that people talk about most. It also had the best wonder movies, and the funniest advisors.

Civ 3 . . . was ok, but it took out a lot of things I liked. It took until BTS for us to get back a nerfed version of the civ II diplomat. Even then we're still not able to bribe units or cities, and there are no more suitcase nukes. lol.

Not to say that a lot of NICE things haven't been added since civ II, simply to say that the overall civ II experience is the one I personally find the most unforgettable.

 

[Azander]

You have the option to micromanage your empire. And you have the option to let the AI do it for you. Nothing to complain about, imo.

 

[GarretSidzaka]

I think what they mean is that civ II was the CLASSIC civilization experience. I know it is the version I get the most nostalgic about, and also the version that people talk about most. It also had the best wonder movies, and the funniest advisors.

Civ 3 . . . was ok, but it took out a lot of things I liked. It took until BTS for us to get back a nerfed version of the civ II diplomat. Even then we're still not able to bribe units or cities, and there are no more suitcase nukes. lol.

Not to say that a lot of NICE things haven't been added since civ II, simply to say that the overall civ II experience is the one I personally find the most unforgettable.

i agree. but what is amazing about civ4 and even civ3 is the huge modding and enthusiast communities.

 

[RavenNightwing]

Soren Johnson's "8 things not to do in game design" is nothing new.We call it the KISS principle. The point is computer games are going through the same evoluionary process that the historical stimulations (boardgames and roleplaying games) went through. Computer games evolved from the simple to the complex, the next will be computer that will be simple in design and playable, but are modular enough to allow more complex scenerios to be easily added for the players who want the complexity.

 

[Mergle]

I was refering to Civ2 vs Civ3/4. Civ2 is much more complex and actually attempts to represents real life while the new versions become more 'gamey' and less of a historical simulation. I just find that Civ2 has lots of 'bits and pieces' to put together while Civ4 automatically takes care of most of it for you.

But unfortunately civ2 is completely broken as a strategy game. It's a trivial exercise in cookie-cutter play to win.

Civ4 is really the first game in the series that is a true strategy game - one it's possible to lose. That's why I find all the "AI is bR0ken" comments so funny. sure, the AI isn't perfect, but its a whole different league from Civ1-3.

 

[DaviddesJ]

I was refering to Civ2 vs Civ3/4. Civ2 is much more complex and actually attempts to represents real life while the new versions become more 'gamey' and less of a historical simulation.

Well, since his job is to design games, it's not surprising when they are "gamey". If they were not "gamey" that would be a failure. It's like making potato chips that are not "tasty".

 

[Mirc]

Civ4 is really the first game in the series that is a true strategy game - one it's possible to lose. That's why I find all the "AI is bR0ken" comments so funny.

You should also play above Chieftain...

 

[DrLaban]

I agree fully with the article, especially the point about keeping down the number of options.

I don't agree with Watiggi about complexity. In civ 4 you have to make other choices and the answer to almost all strategical questions is "it depends", a very good grade for a game.

 

[Thunderfall]

3990 B.C.
Worker 1/16
<Press SHIFT-ENTER to end turn>
<snipped>

There is an option that auto-ends turn for you when you have moved all your units, but you don't want to use that.

For repetitive task, selling potions in Oblivion can be very repetitive. A "Select All" option (ex. like the way ) that allows players to select all the potions to sell would be a big time saver (for items players want to keep, they can uncheck them).

 

[PurpleTurtle]

I don't think anyone should be so quick to dismiss a valid concern. Think of it this way, those who play a game on marathon difficulty do so because they want a game that will stretch out over a week or more. I would rather it stretch out even further than that. I like the concept of coming home from class or work to the same game. The reason complexity is important in this, is because with that much time in a game it is much easier to remember everything. I do believe that Civ IV has enough diversity and complexity to be compelling, but it is a close run deal. I can tell you that right off the bat I was dissapointed that they had fewer naval units than did Civ 3. I miss the cruiser being an intermediary between destroyers and battleships.

Ultimately I think that a game should be as complex and deep as it can be without crowding the timeframe the game can be played in. IE if they added more to Civ IV with another new expansion, they should lengthen the game. Imho an expansion taking us into the stars and beyond Earth would be cool. You build your spaceship and get to start an interstellar colony with it, meet some aliens and such(and hopefully still be able to control the empire on earth as well). They would have to lengthen the game a lot to make it work though.