Will straying far from typical systems put players off?

Game Design and Theory Game Design

Started by CaseyHardman August 01, 2012 04:34 AM

11 comments, last by bvanevery 11 years, 8 months ago

387

August 06, 2012 06:11 PM

[quote name='Ashaman73' timestamp='1343824424' post='4965185']
A good example is dwarf fortress. Nothing is explained and the [s]GUI[/s] UI is , well, clunky ... still the game is very popular, tough the UI turns away many player from playing an actually very interesting game.

Dwarf Fortress also jolly well could have been Minecraft, financially speaking, many years before Minecraft. But due to their insistence on having as anti-commercial a UI as possible, it never happened. I think there's a lesson here about deliberately turning off your potential audience.
[/quote]

Yep. I consider Dwarf Fortress pretty much the best game ever and the one with the most potential, but I don't play it because it's confusing. Then again, it is still only about 1/3rds through alpha. Also, I'm pretty sure he doesn't regret it, but whatever.

DtCarrot

327

August 06, 2012 10:10 PM

How players would accept it will vary. Players do not mind innovative, different systems as long as they are able to understand it. Will the tutorial allow them to understand the full picture. With regards to this aspect, you may have to lengthen the tutorial or introduce the various changes slowly as the game progresses. You also have to ensure that the leraning curve is gentle as some players may not understand everything in a short period of time. Give them time to understand it and giving examples of those situations in the storyline. Sorry English bad.

bvanevery

176

August 07, 2012 01:43 AM

Then again, it is still only about 1/3rds through alpha.

After 6 years of development. So either the authors are too modest about what "alpha" means, are doing low version numbers deliberately to increase the anti-commercial mystique, or they've just dawdled when they really didn't have to. It seems that the game does get some funding through donations, which indicates they could get more money if they really tried. It's a personal choice, but I know I would choose to get more money so that I could focus more time on the game and make it self-sustaining. I think Dwarf Fortress is a cautionary tale in making truly severe UI and game mechanical choices. Make some different choices, do something offbeat, probably you can find an audience and people will pay you. But make truly "out there," totally uncompromising choices? Well, there are consequences, and it seems so unnecessary.

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Will straying far from typical systems put players off?

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Will straying far from typical systems put players off?

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