Asvarduil's Gauntlet - The Game Mechanic Pokedex

News & General Discussion
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Introduction:
So, one thing I’ve learned after Sara the Shieldmage (it’s dead. For real this time.) and the First PC Game Challenge, is that I’m the type of developer who works best when I build a game around a mechanic, as opposed to a setting or character.

After some conferring with Gigi on the state of Sara the Shieldmage, I set out to find a new game idea - I like making games. Fortunately, this week, I was on vacation from the day job! It was a perfect time to figure out a new idea! Except for one problem: I have no inspiration, nothing I really want to make.

The Game Mechanic Pokedex
While I’m finding a new game idea, it occurred to me that I shouldn’t let my research go to waste. Thus, my personal Gauntlet: in the next 12 weeks, I am going to produce a research catalog of at least 12 game mechanics. My ultimate goal is finding inspiration for my Next “Big” Project™, but in doing this research I think I’ll find what I’m looking for. I may also help some other designers in the process, which is a nice bonus.

Also, it should be noted: the Mechanics Pokedex won’t just be flat text, for the most part. This is actual research. I’m going to do independent analysis of what makes these mechanics work, what player abilities and feedback are required, what makes the mechanic feel fun, and what makes the mechanic feel bad. I’ll also attempt to come up with a Pokemon name for each mechanic as I find it. I may scribble a picture of the mechanical Pokemon as a memory aid. Last, but not least, I will reference video games that use the mechanic in question.

I’ll append entries to this post, as well as make a subsequent post in this thread about the mechanic I’m researching. Please feel free to refute my findings, or inform me of points I will inevitably miss on this journey.

Finally: Don’t ask why Pokemon is on the brain. You won’t get an answer.

All Pokedex Entries Exist On This Blog!
Some basic information about my conventions is here.

Mechanics Pokedex Entries:

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Do you have a full list of mechanics you want to research already or do you still take submissions? I’d be interested to read some research on what makes “killing” as a game mechanic fun. Or “jumping”…
I’m currently playing the new Mad Max game and I really appreciate that it has a jump button, although it’s basically good for nothing. And I have to say I quite enjoy the ground combat, while I found the combat in Batman Arkham Asylum rather dull and unsatisfying. The mechanics are almost identical, yet one implementation feels far superior to me.

Edit: What about “customization” as a mechanic? I normally don’t give a shit about cars, but in Mad Max it’s MY car. I’ve worked for every single part and the story gives it context and meaning. Imho there is much to learn from that game and a 95% positive review score on steam shows the amount of polish paid off.

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Though it’s unclear where you’re heading, I wish you great success getting there! Go @AndrewGrayGames !
Gigi

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@Gigiwoo - The ‘concrete’ destination is a useful list of game mechanics. The abstract destination is inspiration on my next game. I have a feeling that on the way to my concrete destination (A detailed listing of twelve mechanics), I’ll find my inspiration. If not, I’ve at least made a useful game design contribution!

@Martin_H - I read this on the bus this morning, and I’ve thought about what you’re asking about. The perspective you’re presenting is that of a player, which is good; mechanics fail or succeed based on a player’s interpretation of them. I was approaching this as a designer.

I was originally thinking, “Pssshaw…these are too high level to make the list!” Really though, the things you express wonder about actually are mechanics, just using different language to describe them (in particular, the whole “killing stuff as a game mechanic” thing).

I don’t have a set list, but you’ve added some things for me to put down.

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As a topic of research you may want to read this because I’m going to reference it’s terminology. At that level of minutia, mechanics themselves aren’t the thing that is fun, it’s the dynamics. It’s the dynamics of navigation, to which jumping creates an extra dimension to, that provide the conflict and tension to make jumping fun and rewarding.

A mechanic without context is meaningless. Think about how many skills or weapons you’ve rarely, if ever, used because it was outclassed instantly, or required such specific conditions to live up to it’s potential that it wasn’t worth ever using. Context is king.

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On a principle level you’re doing 1GAM but without the things that make 1GAM work.

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I for one am all for it. Who knows what ideas it may inspire to simply look at mechanics. I’d keep one thing in mind throughout any mechanic you look at. Emotion. How does this mechanic affect people on the emotional level and how, as a developer, can we manipulate that emotion through our mechanic to achieve a desired result. That’s winning at game design! :smile:

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@LaneFox - Not really. 1GAM is about making fully-fledged games in a month. I’m wanting to understand commonly-used mechanics better. In doing that, I may find inspiration for my next game. Also, 1GAM is only helpful to the developer doing the challenge; this is something that will help others as well, regardless of if I hit on a good game idea.

Still, when I get to 12 mechanics, if I still am not inspired, it couldn’t hurt to make a prototype of each mechanic, for reference purposes of course. Sometimes learning inspires; other times, it’s the doing.

One last thing - 1GAM has nothing to do with this. Actually, a better inspiration is 300 Mechanics.

@ironbellystudios - Oh, that’s one thing I’m looking at. I’m not only interested in the circumstances where a mechanic flourishes, but where it feels bad as well.

@RockoDyne - Good read. I agree that mechanics are meaningless without the context of dynamics. A “Timer” system, for instance is represented by a single time value - the target time. The “referee” (be it a player, an external item like a watch, or a computer running game code) provides the current time, and evaluates that to see if the players have succeeded or failed at whatever.

You make me consider something else, too - games expand well beyond digital games. For my Timer mechanic that I’m researching, a good ‘reference’ game would be Speed Chess - cerebral, and Ragnarok-proof.

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Games are a holistic venture, only strong as the sum of it’s parts. If you’ve got a weak link others will suffer, it’s best to avoid focusing on one area…

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Thanks for the link, I already had that PDF in my download folder. Must have been there since 2012 or 2013 and I doubt I read it back then. I did now and while I feel I understand what they are getting at, I don’t know if it actually helps me make a better game in any way.
I think I’m more a fan of seeing a game as a whole like @ says. Let’s take your example of skills and weapons that are quickly outclassed by better ones. The player might not use them anymore, but the fact that they exist and in comparison the player has more powerful tools at hand now, they still serve a purpose of making the stronger weapons feel more powerful.
I guess I’m a player first and designer second. Whether that is good or bad for me remains to be seen.

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Not really. Can a game become terrible for one part of it being atrocious? Yes, but do good games have lackluster parts? All the time.

Symphony of the Night, heralded as one of the greatest games of all time, has so many systems in it that are just… meh. It’s an RPG with a leveling mechanic that you aren’t likely to care about because finding more powerful equipment is easy in the first two thirds of the game. The magic system that works on fighting game style combos is completely forgettable. Using items is entirely out of the picture when you have to equip it and use it in-game. The familiars have one or two serious uses, but might as well be decoration most of the time. Sub weapons have less and less use as you continue. Yet none of this hurts the game, primarily because the player is the one to decide what is or isn’t useful. It’s a kitchen sink approach to game design that gives the player a problem, gives them a workshop full of tools, and says have at 'em.

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Ok I’ll re-phrase. So correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re saying it’s OK to have crap portions of a game just because in your opinion a revered game (which I’m a fan of RPG’s and never heard of) has some stuff in it that you don’t believe works well?

Also if the game doesn’t force you to use these mechanics? Then what has it got to do with the post I mentioned? If it’s not core or central to anything, then what relevance has that got to do with balancing out a good game?

Finally the OP is talking about mechanics for a game, then you’re saying well this game has crap mechanics? What’s the message? That the OP should not focus on mechanics because it doesn’t matter if they suck or not?

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@ - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is something you probably haven’t heard of if you’re exclusively an RPG fan; it’s a metroidvania originally for PS1 that just happens to include RPG mechanics (though, I think this is one case where an XP System is completely superfluous as a mechanic. Hey! I can put XP Systems on my list too! Thanks guys.)

I think you can actually download it on Steam for PC now. I haven’t played it, because the whole gothic horror setting just doesn’t do it for me, but I haven’t ruled it out either. I’ve heard good things about it…

@RockoDyne - …that being said, calling it one of the greatest games of all time is also something I’ve not heard of. I keep hearing people call The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time the Greatest Game of All Time™. I’d disagree with them; it’s good, but personally I think The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is.

@Everyone - As good as opinions are, though, I think it would be more productive for us to focus on game mechanics and their dynamics, over which game is our favorite! I’m doing my research on Timer systems, which should be done shortly.

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I’ve at least heard it put on the “best games of the PSX” list. I should have added snark tags. It’s good, but it’s one of those games you had to have played the ever living shit out of to totally enjoy it (a category I also toss chrono trigger into, yes yes, burn the witch/wizard/warlock, whichever you want to put me in). I only got around to playing it in the middle of the Bloodstained kickstarter.

First off, what the core of SotN is, is like asking what the core of an orange is. It’s not exactly how the game is built.

Going back to the original post:

“Games are a holistic venture” -not when you can safely ignore a good chunk of it, so I have no idea what you actually mean by that.
“only as strong as the sum” - I don’t feel like arguing how dynamics make things greater than the sum of their parts, so whatever.
“[with] a weak link others will suffer” - you can’t have a weak link if it’s not actually chained together.

The mechanics of SotN are actually quite week. What is exceptional about these disparate mechanics is that they resonate and become greater than the sum of their parts. An example is a good chunk of the weapons and shields can be paired with some rod that causes some kind of super attack. There are a ton of these kinds of complementary behaviors, where new possibilities exist when at first glance there’s nothing. Context is king, even for the game that put vania behind metroid.

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If you’re taking suggestions Permadeath has always seemed like an interesting mechanic to me, would be cool to see your take on it.

To me what makes it great is you invest time into your character/game but if you mess up and die it’s all gone. Can be discouraging after you die but it helps you form an emotional connection with the game and what you’ve done in it feels more real because of it. That’s if it’s done right anyway…have played games where it feels like permadeath is just used to artificially extend the length of a game.

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That would be a pretty good one. As much as it is one mechanic, it completely changes your relationship with a game.

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I suggest including Dead Rising into your timer research.

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It’s the 12 mechanics of Xmas, out in time for the holidays :smile:

This should be interesting results to read. Just starting out myself with limited coding ability I’ve been trying to think of an interesting mechanic I can code & then seeing if it is fun & in what context. I have a couple that seem ok for light weight games but I don’t think the individual mechanic could carry a multi-hour game. (Except driving, driving always seems to suck away the time. I’ve heard the driving in the latest mad max game is one of the best bits)

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You may want to read the article that @RockoDyne linked. Mechanics are usually just data structures. Where things get interesting, is getting the mechanics to work in an engaging way.

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It feels heavily “authored” to not make you look stupid, which I consider a good thing in this kind of game. So far I’m 12 hours into the game and haven’t flipped my car on its hood once. To me it feels like they have made it so this just isn’t possible to avoid player frustration due to a situation that feels out of their hands.
I couldn’t say if it is overall “realistic”, but it looks and feels like what you would expect from seeing the movie. Everything has impact and weight, which makes it a very satisfying gaming experience to me.