Fundamentals of Action and Arcade Game Design PDF
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Fundamentals of Action and Arcade Game Design Ernest Adams About the Author Ernest Adams is a game design consultant and part-time professor at the University of Uppsala Campus Gotland in Sweden. He lives in England and holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Teesside University for his contributions to the field of interactive storytelling. Dr. Adams has worked in the interactive entertainment industry since 1989, and he founded the International Game Developers’ Association in 1994. He was most recently employed as a lead designer at Bullfrog Productions, and for several years before that he was the audio/video producer on the Madden NFL line of football games at Electronic Arts. His professional website is at www.designersnotebook.com. Ernest Adams Table of Contents What Are Action Games? Action Game Subgenres Platform Games Fighting Games Fast Puzzle Games Action-Adventures Music, Dance, and Rhythm Games Other Action Games Game Features Progression Challenges Player Actions Core Mechanics Features Victory Conditions Interaction Model Camera Models User Interface Summary Design Practice Case Study Design Practice Questions References What Are Action Games? When most people hear the phrase video game, they tend to think of action games. The reason is historical: Almost all the earliest video games were action games, and some of those early games—Asteroids, Pac-Man, Space Invaders—have become iconic representatives of the action genre. However, the genre is vast and covers just about any imaginable activity that can be characterized in terms of physical challenges. In this e-book, you’ll learn the definition of an action game, then go on to study the many subgenres of action games. Following that, we’ll look in more depth at the distinctive features of action games that set them apart from other genres. Action games require good hand-eye coordination and usually require quick reactions as well. The fastest action games are sometimes called twitch games, implying that the action takes place at almost a reflex level. In such games the player doesn’t have time for strategy or planning, so while the stress level is higher than in slower paced games, the nature of the challenges themselves must be simpler. For example, because the player doesn’t have the time to work out a complex puzzle, puzzles in action games have fewer elements than they do in other genres. Not all action games depend on raw speed, however. Some require other physical skills such as accurate aim, rhythm or timing, or the ability to execute combo moves—complicated sequences of commands. Action games are ones in which the majority of challenges presented are tests of the player’s physical skills and coordination. Puzzle-solving, tactical conflict, and exploration challenges are often present as well. Most arcade games are action games because arcade games make their money by quickly defeating unskillful players. Only highly skilled players can play them for a long time without losing. The simple core mechanics and gameplay of action games mean that those games without too much audiovisual content are also well suited to less powerful machines, such as handhelds and mobile phones, and to web browser games. Action Game Subgenres Action games fall into a number of subgenres based, like all game genre distinctions, on the kinds of gameplay that they offer. The most familiar and popular action games are platform games, but the genre also encompasses fighting games, fast puzzle games, and a broad miscellany of others. Shooter games were considered a kind of action game for a long time, but now they are so distinct that they are a genre in their own right. Bear in mind that there is no industry standard for these terms, and other authors may refer to these subgenres by other names. PLATFORM GAMES In platform games, or platformers, an avatar moves through a vertically exaggerated environment, jumping on and off platforms at different heights, while avoiding obstacles and battling enemies. The avatar has a supernatural jumping ability and usually can’t be harmed by falling long distances (unless he falls onto something dangerous or into a bottomless chasm, both common features of platform games). Most of the player’s actions consist of running and jumping, augmented by moves such as flips, wall climbs, and glides and by environmental features such as bouncy objects, wind, or warp points. Platform games use unrealistic physics; in particular, the avatar can usually change directions in midair. The vast majority of 2D side-scrolling games with a humanoid avatar are platform games; Super Mario Bros. is the classic example. The conflict in platform games is often mild and suitable for children. Both Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog attacked enemies simply by jumping on top of them. Stricken enemies disappeared without undue anguish. Crash Bandicoot is one of the more successful 3D platformers; the Ratchet & Clank Future series is another recent example (see Figure 1). The addition of a third dimension makes control and camera management more complicated; the “Controls” section, later in this e-book, discusses this in more detail. Figure 1 Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time FIGHTING GAMES Fighting games have little in common with other action games because they involve neither exploration nor puzzle-solving. They still qualify as action games because they place great demands on a player’s physical skills: reaction time and timing. These games simulate hand-to-hand combat, usually using highly exaggerated moves vaguely modeled on Asian martial arts techniques. Some of them, such as the Super Smash Bros. series, also include ranged attacks and magic powers. (Serious boxing games belong more to the sports genre than to the action genre; they try to model the techniques of boxing realistically.) Fighting games may be further subdivided into those in which characters fight in one-on-one bouts, and mêlée games in which one or two characters fight against large numbers of opponents. (The latter are sometimes called beat-’em-ups or brawlers.) Fighting games also use hand-to-hand weapons, such as swords and staves, and a limited number of ranged weapons. Figure 2 shows a popular fighting game, Street Fighter IV.
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