Fundamentals of Action and Arcade Game Design

56 Pages·2014·0.97 MB·English

by  Ernest Adams [Ernest Adams]

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.