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100°

Simplicity vs. Complexity in Game Design

Bedivere from Front Towards Gamer takes a look at the current trend in video game design of making games easier. Is their such a thing as too easy? We all want our games to be accessible, but their is a point when games become dull.

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Quagmire5032d ago WhoDisagree(4)Agree(0)
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TheBuIIetSponge5032d ago

Simplicity creates sales, complexity makes a good game.

iamtehpwn5031d ago

Easy to play, Complex to master.

In other words, Anyone can play it, Not everyone will be great depending on their skill.

OneSneakyMofo5031d ago

Yin yang, man. It's all about the yin yang. Bubbles+

fianno5031d ago

Word for word my friend :D

I love games that need that extra bit of concentration to get that extra special bit from the game. Games that are about more than your reactions.. Like most games atm :(

OneSneakyMofo5031d ago

I disagree completely. Look at Tetris - simple yet complex; probably one of the best puzzlers ever created. Flower - the same; a great game either way you play it.

I think the two can coexist to create a game for everyone.

iamtehpwn5031d ago

is a fantastic example of what I was talking about above.

Rainstorm815031d ago (Edited 5031d ago )

Easy to play doesnt really matter, Fun to play and Complex to master.. seems about right.

games like Street Fighter prove this, not really easy to play but complex to master.

When games are too easy to play it becomes difficult to determine who's good and bad, because everyone is good. Easy to play games kills competitive gaming and turns it casual.

BTW i am describing multiplayer games only i dont think the same holds true for SP games.

Downtown boogey5031d ago (Edited 5031d ago )

Fun is a completely different matter. When talking about "easy" here, it means you can control the game properly as well as effectively and also see your objectives clearly, 'with an ease.'

pippoppow5031d ago

Simplicity doesn't always lead to sales: Team Ico games.

Complexity is something needed more these days. Not only more options but coupled with strategic elements thrown together. Take a game like WKC. IT was way too easy and would have benifited from more complexity. I generally think more complexity is good but only if it isn't shallow. Take a good action game with lots of moves. It may have 100 moves but if only two are required to beat the game the rest doesn't matter.

There are some games where complexity (Mech/Sims/RTS)is good and simplicity(Ico) can be just as good. As usual we need a healthy mix. At least I do.

Chris3995031d ago (Edited 5031d ago )

And there was the whole aspect of character builds, which added another dimension of complexity.

The SP you could beat with one or two moves. GR 8+ quests actually became rather challenging.

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xYLeinen5031d ago

I'm not sure actually.

We all know that simplicity gives good reviews. Easy to pick up and easy to play is apparently very good. I don't think consumers are very patient now a days. I don't really see too many games who are really complex.

What i really miss are hard games. Most of the games I've played recently I have ramped up on Hard difficulty but their difficulty ain't that hard at all. There is no need for the perfect execution of a mission, or to try different strategies to complete something. On my behalf I feel harder SP games gives me a lot more value for my money as well as a better experience.

kneon5031d ago

Too many games now seem to be designed so that anyone can complete them on their hardest difficulty. For the hardcore player this just sucks.

Go ahead and make the easiest difficulty super easy so that almost anyone can play, but the hardest difficulty should be a PITA to complete. It should take skill and dedication. It was only a couple of years ago that games were still challenging. For example COD:WAW and Killzone 2 took some skill to complete at the hardest difficulty. And now we have games like MW2 and BF:BC2 that were both a walk in the park even on the highest difficulty.

Hard, God, Titan, Crushing, Nightmare, Veteran, Elite, Legendary, Insane. These will all soon be replaced by "Even Grandma can ace this" :(

eccothedolphin75031d ago

A game being easy to pick up is always a good thing. I remember 15 years ago when games didn't have the easy tutorials like they do now, and you had to spend hours reading the manuals to get started playing.

These days, the game needs to teach you how to play. You should be able to jump in without any prior knowledge of the game, and be able to learn how to play it quickly.

That being said, the game needs to get past the tutorial. 3 hours in, you should't still be doing the same exact thing you were doing at the beginning. A game needs to grow in complexity as you progress.

CrIpPeN5031d ago

What I hate about Max Payne 2 is that lack of Auto Saving that Max Payne 1 did have. And you can't make your movement more sensitive.

Looks like a straight conversion from PC version.

Man In Black5031d ago

The console versions were bad ports. Plus, the mods are fucking awesome. Made one myself a while ago. I was planning to do another one, but kinda lost interest.

DelbertGrady5031d ago

Portal for example. The idea for the game is simple yet complex at the same time. Probably also while creating the game. Designing the levels for it must have been a chore, at the same time the game mechanics are fairly basic. You only have one weapon that does two things, and all levels have the same goal.

SilverSlug5031d ago

'have more options' in a level does not make it complex if your a good designer. You are discussing Linearity vs. more open level designs where you get more choices to tackle a mission.

I don't see why we can't have the later and why that makes it 'complex'?

pippoppow5031d ago

More options adds to the complexity. From then on it's how those options can have varying consequences.

It's like a character can punch or kick. Now if that character does the same damage either way with the same effect then having two options is shallow. Now if the Punch dazes and the kick knock back and doubles over, now strategic elements are introduced which makes the game more complex.

Linearity vs open world matters little if the game is designed correctly and game-play is focused to represent either style.

Could only imagine the brain spasms when the "complexity issue" arises when designing a game. So many factors to discuss. Respect to those in the industry making good games we enjoy. It cannot be easy.

eccothedolphin75031d ago

More choices is more complex. If I have the choice of fighting, talking, or bribing people to complete the game, that's more complex then if the only option is fighting. It makes the game easier by removing the decision process from the player. Rather than trying to come up with your own solution to the problem, you just do what the game tells you.

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290°

Gamers seek legal win that would stop devs from rendering online games unplayable

The organizer of "Stop Killing Games" hopes to get France and other governments to examine the legality of live service shutdowns. Scott has launched a new website, Stop Killing Games, to rally opposition to the games industry's "assault on both consumer rights and preservation of media," as he puts it.

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-Foxtrot12d ago (Edited 12d ago )

Should probably get them to implement offline mode when it comes to games you can play single player

It's shitty playing something solo and having to be connect despite being offline within the game.

It's worse when you get the games which can't be paused, I remember the doorbell going during a huge fight in Monster Hunter World, it took me ages but realised you couldn't pause. I ended up getting slaughtered after spending so long almost killing it.

Yi-Long11d ago

Driveclub is one of my favourite games of all-time, but once Sony killed it, it's barely playable in offline; Leaderboards are obviously gone so one of the things I liked to do most in the game, Time-attack, is now pretty pointless, and every race you start there's a red text on thr screen telling you you're offline.

There honestky was no need to keep the offline so integrated with the online stuff, and it's made me wary of other games which are now 'always online'.

purple10112d ago

should do what gran truismo on ps54 did, after severs shut, they unlock everything in the campaign to be played offline

there's no need for anti-cheat 'always online' which was always their excuse, thats and updating gamer progression

neutralgamer199212d ago

I didn’t know that. That’s awesome

Jingsing11d ago

and put out a physical version at the end, it is extra money for them at the end of the day.

blacktiger12d ago

Ppl get confused about this lawsuit, this guy has a point, if you don't want to pay for server cause no one is playing that's fine, at least make it PVP, that isn't hard and people paid for the game. So there for it shouldn't be unplayable. Offline is not what he's fighting for but that would be single player. He just fighting for PVP as to dedicated if you going to take it down.

I agree with this one! I hope he wins!

SimpleSlave12d ago

"Offline is not what he's fighting for but that would be single player. "

Always Online does include fully fledged Single Player Campaigns as well. And that's why I think The Crew is being used; The Precedent that covers it all.

Games like The Division 1 and 2 also have Single Player Campaigns, and Ghost Recon Breakpoint is a fully fledged Single Player game but always Online. Which mean that unless uBeSawft patches them they will all cease to exist once uBeSawft pulls the plug.

Again, I think this is why The Crew is being used as the precedent, because it covers all the Online Only bases; Not just the usual Multiplayer PvE and PvP like an MMO or Shooters and their Servers, but also actual Single Player Campaigns that are sadly always online.

Inverno12d ago

Should pin this to let it be on top for a while. This sort of stuff should get some good amount of attention, could actually make some good change in the industry.

HyperMoused12d ago

SP games yes, MP games, its a question of whos maintaing the servers etc and keeing them online.

blackblades11d ago

PvP games it should work. I remember playing black ops offline with AI opponents but of course its funner with real and AI bots. I know some games are server base but I imagine if hard work put in to it that, it can work offline.

PRIMORDUS11d ago

At least on the PC side I say if a company doesn't want to support a game anymore just give it to the fans. They will keep it alive for years and years. Like UT2004 for example you can still play it today, or BF1942. For any SP games I just torrent and keep it forever if they pull the plug. 😊

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260°

Square Enix Already "Hard At Work" On Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3

Development on the next game in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy might be further ahead than we thought. In a video discussing the series, the project leads say they are "hard at work" on the finale, right after launching Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

This comment was made by Remake and Rebirth director Tetsuya Nomura, who says that he and the scenario writer Kazushige Nojima are already working on the next game. Better yet, composer Nobuo Uematsu says that he'd be "honoured" to return for the finale, despite previously fearing that he doesn't have the "strength" for another game.

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just_looken18d ago

So i take it they won't be fixing there last game with the visual/movement problems.
https://youtu.be/B2rHUbqauU...

Just keep tossing them out

Barlos17d ago

Nothing worse than a grammar nazi

_Decadent_Descent17d ago

@Barlos

Nothing worse than those that let others keep on making a fool of themselves and say nothing to correct them. That's why they continue to keep making those mistakes.

Pyrofire9516d ago

I appreciate that many more people are agreeing with the grammar correction and disagreeing with Barlos.

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garos8217d ago

yikes talk about nit picking and strawmanning

roadkillers17d ago

This is something most crtics bring up... but they still gave the game 9+ score. As big of a deal as you are making it, a VAST majority of players were just fine with the graphics compared to waht they got with Rebirth

DarXyde16d ago

Dude complains about everything.

I haven't finished the game yet, but I'm having a blast.

Just negative for the sake of being negative.

dumahim17d ago

While I'd guess they're probably not going to do much else about it at this point, just because they're working on the sequel doesn't mean they can't have someone working on the visual issues for Rebirth. Likewise, it also doesn't mean they're not working on a DLC for it either.
Either way, I'd put money on it that they'll update the game for PS5 Pro.

Exvalos17d ago

Keep up the hatred fanboy, and we will keep playing great games

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GoodGuy0918d ago

Sweet....and hopefully can actually answer all the wtfs rather than giving us more questions that has been happening in these games lol. And I hope they just end the game properly instead of trying to milk VII even more. I'd very much like to see remakes of other FF titles on the same level.

-Foxtrot18d ago

God I hope this is it for VII

They’ve milked it far too much over the years, I mean Wikipedia has its own VII specific page because there’s so much media for it

It’s time for other FF games to get some love

gold_drake17d ago

im all for it, remake and rebirth were fantastic, especially rebirth, my god wat a brilliant game.

i mean, we had 16 and 14 still be a thing.
and 9 is getting a remake too, apparently

FinalFantasyFanatic17d ago

As much as I love FF7, they have really milked it to death, 2 compilations of FF7 which includes novels, games, mobile games, movies and animation...

They really need to put more effort into newer FF games.

-Foxtrot17d ago

@FinalFantasyFanatic

Yeah I mean look at it man, why does anyone want it milked even more when other FF games are starving for attention.

https://i.ibb.co/3mT2TRc/12...

Furesis18d ago

Well when you have Tetsuya Nomura hands on something, that is what you get. Whether you like it or not that's another thing.
I don't think they should make remakes like this anymore, and they won't that's what they said also. It takes too long and it just fragments the game too much for my taste. And i'd prefer a more 1 to 1 remake with maybe a slightly smaller budget so that it would actually be made in a reasonable time rather than these 10+ year projects.

gold_drake17d ago

nomura doesnt ely that much of a role in the trilogy, its Nojima u need to blame ha.

as for the og, there are mods u can use for that.

we'll never get an updated og game. it would take them years to finish it, even if its 1:1

fr0sty17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

nobody will buy a 1:1 remake, they already know what is going to happen exactly... and you can't properly remake a 20+ year old game 1:1 anyway, so much needs to be done to bring it to modern standards, that you have to change some things.

Michiel198917d ago

@frosty that's the same thing the execs at blizzard said about WoW classic and here we are. You think you do, but you don't

dumahim17d ago

They did a Remaster for Crisis Core, which seemed near impossible due to a licensing issue not too long ago. I wouldn't be surprised if they do the same for Dirge of Cerberus before part 3.

I do worry what they'll do with part 3 though. They're not just going to abandon the nonsense. Rebirth was like 98% fantastic, but those whispers moments and their take on what is one of the most iconic scenes in video games ever just upsets me.

Hofstaderman17d ago

80 hours into rebirth and loving it. Bring it on Square.

gold_drake17d ago

i had 118h at the end. with everything done minues the queens blood stuff. and i absolutely loved every minute of it

Hofstaderman17d ago

I just want to say bugger mog house level 6. Will return to that later

Shiro17316d ago

Only one thing I hated it and it was the relic hunt for the sand spot next to the flying saucer. I hated that mini game for the relic. Killing those cactus with Aerith was annoying.

fr0sty17d ago

I like the remakes better than the original that I grew up playing back in the 90s... they are doing it right. And that soundtrack... I still jam the Gongaga theme all the time.

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90°

Real-Time Resurgence: The Story of Shadow Tactics, Stealth Strategy, & Mimimi Games

In this retrospective, we'll cover the revival of the Real-Time Tactics genre and the story of the developers who did it, Mimimi Games.

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DaReapa17d ago

Same here. I got it and its expansion. A shame that Mimimi had to close its doors.