DMOD Design considerations
July 9th 2007, 12:11 AM
RadFrog
1. The first consideration is that a DMOD should be fun. If it is not fun to play, people will quickly lose interest in it and quit.
2. There should be a storyline. There needs to be some logic in progression through the adventure. It can be simple or complex, but a storyline is essential.
3. The player should be made aware of the objective of the adventure. It can be totally unknown at the beginning of the adventure, and clues given along the way. Or, the objective can be established at the start of the adventure. The player's anticipation of overcomming some definate final obsticle should be one of the main considerations in the design.
3. A DMOD should have an intellectual challenge. Having to figure out the next move should be part of the experience. Just going about killing foes is boreing.
4. The adventure should be designed with a definite degree of difficulty. There are Cheats that can be used to override the difficulty intended by the author, but an attempt should be made to even the playing field. I don't believe there can be much player satisfaction in walking onto a screen and throwing an atomic bomb that kills everything instantly. The satisfaction the player gets from defeating a foe wth his battle strategy and movements is a big consideration. If the targeted player group has a wide range of skill and ability, the DMOD should allow choices that fit individual players.
5. The length of a DMOD should be such that it leaves the player wanting just a little more when they are finished. If the adventure is too short, it will be soon forgotten, like the cartoon in yesterday's newspaper. If it is too long, there is a good chance a player will not finish it - and never feel any satisfaction in the accomplishment.
6. A DMOD should not have content inappropriate for the design audience. If it is for kids, and Mary is looking for her kitty, don't include filthy language and/or adult situations.
So, what have I left out?
RadFrog
2. There should be a storyline. There needs to be some logic in progression through the adventure. It can be simple or complex, but a storyline is essential.
3. The player should be made aware of the objective of the adventure. It can be totally unknown at the beginning of the adventure, and clues given along the way. Or, the objective can be established at the start of the adventure. The player's anticipation of overcomming some definate final obsticle should be one of the main considerations in the design.
3. A DMOD should have an intellectual challenge. Having to figure out the next move should be part of the experience. Just going about killing foes is boreing.
4. The adventure should be designed with a definite degree of difficulty. There are Cheats that can be used to override the difficulty intended by the author, but an attempt should be made to even the playing field. I don't believe there can be much player satisfaction in walking onto a screen and throwing an atomic bomb that kills everything instantly. The satisfaction the player gets from defeating a foe wth his battle strategy and movements is a big consideration. If the targeted player group has a wide range of skill and ability, the DMOD should allow choices that fit individual players.
5. The length of a DMOD should be such that it leaves the player wanting just a little more when they are finished. If the adventure is too short, it will be soon forgotten, like the cartoon in yesterday's newspaper. If it is too long, there is a good chance a player will not finish it - and never feel any satisfaction in the accomplishment.
6. A DMOD should not have content inappropriate for the design audience. If it is for kids, and Mary is looking for her kitty, don't include filthy language and/or adult situations.
So, what have I left out?
RadFrog
3. A DMOD should have an intellectual challenge. Having to figure out the next move should be part of the experience. Just going about killing foes is boreing.
I'm not 100% about this. If the action is good enough, it won't get boring. Use I, Kara Gu as a textbook case. The combat in that is probably the most exciting ever seen in a d-mod, and the game thrives on it. I never got bored of it.
Then again, I, Kara Gu isn't your typical d-mod. I'd agree that d-mods with more traditional gameplay should stick to that rule.
I'm not 100% about this. If the action is good enough, it won't get boring. Use I, Kara Gu as a textbook case. The combat in that is probably the most exciting ever seen in a d-mod, and the game thrives on it. I never got bored of it.
Then again, I, Kara Gu isn't your typical d-mod. I'd agree that d-mods with more traditional gameplay should stick to that rule.
Getting past Kara Gu's battles required way more intellect than I seemed to possess. So, in a sense, it sticks to the rule...
I like how the part about intellectual challenge is the second #3.
1) Very true, although what's "fun" can probably not be measured by one person (the author) especially not while still developing. What this means is that instead of a desig consideration, this is probably more of a result that comes from following the other set of considerations, evolving with every d-mod released.
2) Exactly. Even Mortal Kombat, Contra and Gradius have storylines. And if you're creating a storyline, PLEASE think about it for more than 5 seconds.
3) True. Although I feel that the best games usually have an objective that is reached before the end of the game, leading into a new objective that's more enticing and difficult to overcome.
3-2) Hmmm... It kind of depends on the pacing you want for your d-mod... If you want the player to keep moving forward I don't think there's anything wrong with constantly guiding him to the next point. Though sometimes it reaches a point where you're just insulting a player's intelligence, so don't let it come to that
4) I'm a BIG defender of hard games. In fact, many recent RPGs (not d-mods) or even other genres are SO easy these days that I can't enjoy them as much as some other, less beautiful, less perfect games that actually provide a challenge. But as for d-mods, I have a feeling most people just cheat when they die even once or are close to dying (I hope I'm wrong here though).
5) The length of a game should depend solely on the storyline that carries the player along. If it's a simple objective don't needlessly stretch the gameplay to add more game time to it. BUT, if you have a well fleshed out storyline that you want to fully explore during the game, by all means, take your time - the player will most likely appreciate it and stick to your game (if it's any good, of course).
6) That's true for sure.
There are SO many other design points that are left out, but you listed some pretty good ones. There's one other I'd like to add:
7) Keep the player interested throughout the entire adventure. Regularly throw new enemies at him, provide him with new weapons, magic and other items. Don't give the player access to 80% of the items within the first 20% of the game. Space it out, but be careful about giving too little as well. If you have a long game, make sure you have enough items/magic/quests/dungeons/towns to keep the player interested but also provide him with enough new stuff at the beginning of the adventure to make sure he sticks around to see the rest (used in almost EVERY good game out there, but it's the really good ones that can keep it up after the beginning part is over).
2) Exactly. Even Mortal Kombat, Contra and Gradius have storylines. And if you're creating a storyline, PLEASE think about it for more than 5 seconds.
3) True. Although I feel that the best games usually have an objective that is reached before the end of the game, leading into a new objective that's more enticing and difficult to overcome.
3-2) Hmmm... It kind of depends on the pacing you want for your d-mod... If you want the player to keep moving forward I don't think there's anything wrong with constantly guiding him to the next point. Though sometimes it reaches a point where you're just insulting a player's intelligence, so don't let it come to that
4) I'm a BIG defender of hard games. In fact, many recent RPGs (not d-mods) or even other genres are SO easy these days that I can't enjoy them as much as some other, less beautiful, less perfect games that actually provide a challenge. But as for d-mods, I have a feeling most people just cheat when they die even once or are close to dying (I hope I'm wrong here though).
5) The length of a game should depend solely on the storyline that carries the player along. If it's a simple objective don't needlessly stretch the gameplay to add more game time to it. BUT, if you have a well fleshed out storyline that you want to fully explore during the game, by all means, take your time - the player will most likely appreciate it and stick to your game (if it's any good, of course).
6) That's true for sure.
There are SO many other design points that are left out, but you listed some pretty good ones. There's one other I'd like to add:
7) Keep the player interested throughout the entire adventure. Regularly throw new enemies at him, provide him with new weapons, magic and other items. Don't give the player access to 80% of the items within the first 20% of the game. Space it out, but be careful about giving too little as well. If you have a long game, make sure you have enough items/magic/quests/dungeons/towns to keep the player interested but also provide him with enough new stuff at the beginning of the adventure to make sure he sticks around to see the rest (used in almost EVERY good game out there, but it's the really good ones that can keep it up after the beginning part is over).
I agree with every point there RadFrog. And Kyle, your number 7 is good too. I don't exactly like epics all that much. They're okay, but they can get a bit tedious at times. A Quest, or a long Quest is more my style.
July 11th 2007, 11:03 AM
Arik
Point 6 is interesting. I wonder how many people consider who their audience is when making a module? I think I did for Cloud Castle, got it completely wrong and haven't even tried to guess since.
Now that you mention it, "Mary is looking for her kitty, don't include filthy language and/or adult situations." Depending on if the swear filter was used in typing this sentence or not... filthy language and adult situations would be entirely appropriate. 
If Mary can't find her kitty, then there's a problem with Mary.
