Current Events > IMO, the core attraction to video games is and will always be the gameplay

(+) Yeah! (+)

Gameplay and/or gaming mechanics. Great graphics, great characters, great plots, great level designs and all that stuff is all great too but the most important thing to a game will always be the actual gameplay and the mechanics built around it which can include controls, camera angles, progression build, etc etc.

Thots? Comments? Opinions? What matters most to you?

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It depends on what kind of game you're playing.

The end.

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Big boobies.

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The cute girls

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A game is a game first and foremost.

I like to think of it as designing things backwards. As in, the way the player experiences it is opposite of the way you design it.

For example, take an element system. As the player, first you learn what elements you have, then you learn what beats what, then you figure out ways to manipulate the system to overcome challenges.

But the last thing you want to do as a designer is come up with a giant list of elements that make sense in-universe, then figure out what beats what and finally try to fit some strategy in. You want to start with the strategic goals you want the system to accomplish, design a system that accomplishes those goals, and finally name each element.

Because look, if the game is fun, the player will laugh off something goofy like stone beating fire, but if the game is no fun, having logical element names isn't going to save it.

Story is the same way. It needs to provide context for the gameplay.

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Controversial opinion. Is this trolling?

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Minecraft is like the top selling video game of the last decade... so

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Player experience is the core attraction. Different games offer different experiences. Some involving mostly gameplay, others involving other aspects such as immersion.

Take the horror genre for example. You want the player to feel tense and be scared. You can and should aim for gameplay that induce tension but, if the game looks and sounds like it's straight out of the carebears, it's not going to be a very good horror game. The PS1 Silent Hill games, 2 in particular, are considered some of the best games of the genre. Gameplay-wise? They're really nothing special.

You want every elements of your game to fit the experience you want your players to have but gameplay is not always going to be the most important one.

KyerWiz posted...

Gameplay-wise? They're really nothing special.

I disagree with that. The controls and game mechanics forcing you to either run or fight and brave through the world definitely played into what the genre is.

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Wrong. This may be your core attraction but plenty of people are attracted to them for other reasons. You think porn games get by on their game play? No they get by on their sexy character design and artwork, game play is at most a small extra.

Veggeta_MAX posted...

I disagree with that. The controls and game mechanics forcing you to either run or fight and brave through the world definitely played into what the genre is.

As mentioned, the gameplay should match the tone of the game and Silent Hill's does. However, is the gameplay truly what made those games as effective? Take SH2's gameplay and change everything else, do you think it would have attained the same status?

Squall28 posted...

Controversial opinion. Is this trolling?

On CE it seems to be. People here will shit on a game that plays fine because "muh story" and/or will praise a game that plays awful because "muh story".

Personally I agree with TC. A video game is first and foremost interactive. If interacting with the game isn't fun it doesn't matter if the story is Shakespearean.

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For me it has become escapism, which is why I tend to lean heavily towards big open world games. If I can conceivably lose myself in the game's world, I can even overlook some pretty glaring gameplay flaws

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ApherosyLove posted...

Big boobies.

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I agree
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KyerWiz posted...

However, is the gameplay truly what made those games as effective? Take SH2's gameplay and change everything else, do you think it would have attained the same status?

Yep. Have you played Downpour?

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JE19426 posted...

Wrong. This may be your core attraction but plenty of people are attracted to them for other reasons. You think porn games get by on their game play? No they get by on their sexy character design and artwork, game play is at most a small extra.

Somewhere I must have implied that only way of thinking is the right way thinking. Sorry for the oppression.

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Veggeta_MAX posted...

Yep. Have you played Downpour?

I have not actually, last one I played was Homecoming.

Not if you're a sony or JRPG fan

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KyerWiz posted...

I have not actually, last one I played was Homecoming.

I'm sorry I meant Shattered Memories.

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Veggeta_MAX posted...

Somewhere I must have implied that only way of thinking is the right way thinking. Sorry for the oppression.

Apology accepted.

I was being sarcastic because I implied no such thing.

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Veggeta_MAX posted...

I was being sarcastic because I implied no such thing.

Apology not accepted, in that case.

Veggeta_MAX posted...

I'm sorry I meant Shattered Memories.

I haven't played it either.

Though, in this case, I do believe the gameplay works against the intended experience. Keep in mind that I did not play it so I might be very wrong.

My impression is that there are 2 very distinct phases: exploration and "combat". You are in no danger during the exploration and when it's monsters time, you run. It sounds to me like the player would quickly get used to it and basically feel no tension during the exploration.

An interesting story/setting/premise/art, etc. will make mediocre gameplay tolerable.
A game with bland story/setting/premise/art will remove any interest in even trying the gameplay, no matter how good or bad it is.