Simplicity defines games. Or so I claim in my Gama article. … What do you think?
It’s called “Simplicity - What Separates Us From Brother Sim” and it starts like this: …
Gigi
Completely disagree. The most boring games I’ve played have been too simple.
Complexity is actually what defines a game. Think about this: What separates a game from a movie? User input.
The more meaning you can put behind that input, the better the game.
QTEs are universally hated. Why? Because it gives your input little meaning. Either you press a button, or you don’t. You fail if you don’t.
The simplest game is a game where you press QTEs in sequence until the end. Would you play that? And if so, is it the GAME that’s engaging you, or the story and visuals? Why not watch a movie then, or read a book?
No, simplicity is not what makes a game a game. Simulations have nothing to do with games, simulations can be a kind of game, or they could be completely without interaction. They are not “opposites” nor are they mutually exclusive. A game is defined by a player’s interaction with it, not by simplicity.
Simplicity is important for a first player interaction with the game. Complexity is player’s goal, you can’t expect players to like your game if all levels are as easy as the first tutorial one. You can’t also start off at same difficulty level of a final boss fight, most players gonna hate first impressions of the game.
Gradative complexity improves player commitment by given an explicit feeling of self-improvement each time a level was beaten.
I think the principle of simulation is to ‘teach’ the player something, doesn’t matter if you having fun or not. So, yeah, nothing to do with games.
It’s not simplicity or complexity … a great game is simple but a whole host of complexity is able to rise up out of that simplicity … take for example minecraft, very simple to build blocks and move around, very open and basic concept, yet look at the complexity it can yield through emergent gameplay. Understanding simplicity is a major bonus in your game design, but it shouldn’t be mistaken for making things BASIC.
Let’s not confuse level of difficulty with complexity or simplicity. Or complexity or simplicity with ease of use.
From a player standpoint, simplicity is like stacking blocks. You see the blocks and you just know how to stack them on top of each other, and if you don’t, you quickly figure out that if you place them a certain way, they won’t fall off of each other.
Driving a real Formula 1 car is complex - accelerating, breaking, shifting, taking the right racing line, dealing with solid objects, dealing with other drivers, the weather, tires, etc. There are so many things to think about, you couldn’t put someone in a F1 car an expect them to participate in the next race without a significant amount of training.
Driving a car in NFS is simple - just mash the peddle, turn left or right, and recover if you wreck that car. Rinse and repeat. You don’t have to be skilled. You don’t even have to have experience driving in real life - heck you don’t even need a steering wheel - just use an xbox controller or a keyboard.
A computer simulation represents something you could do in real life. You could essential go where that place is in the game and given that you had the means to do it, you could do exactly what you saw in the game. Is Madden a game or a simulation? Well guess what? If you had the means to do so, you could go play football on any NFL team and you could do the same things - call plays, throw the ball, run with the ball, tackle people etc. The difference? - PAIN!! lol You don’t need to be a genius to play football. You just need to know the rules and how to play.
Games are hard or easy. Hard because you lack the skills required to advance or accomplish the goal. Easy, because your skills exceed the skills required to advance or accomplish the goal - or your opponents suck. lol
So what is simplicity with regard to developing games? I think some of you need to rethink if the word even applies.
The Author is an idio… oh hi Gigi!
The difference between a ‘simulation’ and ‘game’ seems to be fairly simple to me - a game is designed primarily for fun, a simulation is designed to replicate some environment [etc.] usually for training or study purposes.
I think it’s also important to note that these two terms are NOT exclusive - that’s where games like Sim City comes into it. It is primarily a game - i.e. focussed around fun - but derives that fun through stimulating simulation [oh yeah, baby, build me that power plant].
The perceived complexity difference is just a by product of purpose and reality - simple simulators tend not to have a purpose [can you imagine a can-opening simulator?]
Complexity depends. There are many different types.
You can have simple mechanics with highly complex emergent features. You can have hugely complex mechanics with simple emergent features.
In general the games that I think have always done well excel in just a handful of basic mechanics which then give rise to hugely complex interactions. Look at Go or Chess for example. Or Minecraft. Or Mario Brothers. Or Tetris. The mechanics themselves are very simple—it’s all the possible configurations that make it interesting.
Take your favorite games and break down the mechanics—I can guarantee you that there’s only about 5, perhaps 10 different things you’re really doing at any given point in time, but, hey, 5 things chained 10 times over a couple seconds is roughly 10 million.
Exponential growth always wins, baby.
Or you have crap games where theres 10 million up-front mechanics and you can only do about 20 things.
Most games are linear in that regard, which, well, is always why they’re average. Linear can only do so much.
If your game isn’t taking advantage of exponential growth then you’re always going to have problems.
Yeah, I disagree with the author, he also seemed to contradict himself, he mentioned how complex some games can be (raiding in mmos) and then went on to say that games are more simple than sims.
You could make a basic simple sim of a ball bouncing. You could make a game so complex it takes into account multiple factors in what causes an enemy AI to take notice of you, from the sound of the wind, fog, light, line of sight, color of character, sleepiness of AI, etc…
What obviously separates a game from a sim is what Rico21745 said:
I also think this is common knowledge to anyone who knows what a game and sim is. The author was dead wrong.