Xalavier
NelsoNJr
I’mafull-time
gamewriterand
narrativedesigner,
withcreditsinside
andoutofgaming.
N
ewGamePlus(styledas“NewGame+”
or“NG+”)typicallyallowsplayersto
beginagamealloveragain,retaininga
significantamountofunlocksand
potentiallygainingnewinsightintoa
game’sworldthroughaddedfeatures.Itallows
developerstoextendpotentialgametimeusing
existingcontentandthe
additionofthismodein
themanyformsitcantake
seemstobepopular–so
whyaren’tmore
developersdoingit?“It’simportantto
understandthat‘thesame
butdifferent’isactually‘different,butsomethingsmight
bethesame’,”saysSpearheadGamesseniordesigner
GraemeLennon.“It’srarelyassimpleastweakingsome
numbersforaharderNG+.Wavetimings,hitcounts,heal
rates,etc,allinteractandallneedtobetested.”Afterthe
successofSpearheadGames’debutgame,Stories:The
PathofDestinies,theybuilttheirsecondgameOmensight
entirelyaroundtheconceptofexploringbranchesand
loops.Thisultimatelytooktheformofasupernatural
actionmurdermystery.“Becauseourgamehasyou
revisitingmanyofthesamespaces,withdifferent
characters,indifferentcontexts,withdifferentevents,it
didbecomereallycomplicatedto
layerallofthescriptinganddesign
elementsontopofeachother,”
Lennonsays.“DoingitagainI’dhave
implementedthingsdifferently,but
isn’tthattrueabouteverygame?”
Speakingtootherdevelopers
experimentingwithsimilarcontent,
thecomplexityLennonencountered
isnotunusual.Thedevelopersof
StateofDecay 2 encountered
problemsthatarealmostthepolar
opposite,fornotjustNewGame+,
butlinearcontentingeneral.
InStateofDecay 2 ,NewGame+
letsplayerstakecharactersthat
survivethefinalmissionanduse
theminanotherplaythroughofthe
open-worldsurvivalgametobuilda
newsetofcommunities.“Rather
thanhavingasinglestory,ourgameisdesignedtotell
multiplestoriesaboutmultiplecommunities,alllivingin
thesameapocalypticworld,”StateofDecay 2 software
engineerJørgenTjernøtellsme.“Wewantedourgametobeabletogeneratenewcharactersandstoriesendlessly,
asplayersstartedcommunityaftercommunity.That
meantweneededtobuildupareallyintricatecharacter
generator,andanextremelyflexiblemissionsystemthat
couldcreatenewcharactersandstoriesoutofwhatever
rawmaterialstheplayersprovided.There’sagoodreason
whymostgamesdon’ttrythis.”Tjernøelaborated,“Most
gameshavetoolsthatare
designedtomakescripted
eventshappenundervery
specificconditions,and
introducingdynamic
elementsisaweird,
disruptivechallenge.We
hadtheoppositeproblem.
Webuiltourtoolsentirely
aroundsupportingdynamiccontentandarbitraryplayer
behaviour,soatthefewtimeswhenweactuallyneededto
makesomethingveryspecifichappen,itwasanelaborate
processtogetthetoolstodoitatall.”Secondplaythrough
TechnicalactiongameLucah:BornofaDreamfollowsthe
moldofgameslikeNier:Automataandmakestheplayer’s
evolvingprowessacriticalpartofthestorythatunfolds
overtwoplaythroughs.Thedynamicknowledgeand
translationsystemsinInkle’snarrativearchaeologygame
Heaven’sVaultcombinefortheNewGame+versionsof
transcriptionpuzzlestoalwaysbenew,andget
increasinglyspecificovertime,ensuringplayersare
constantlylearningmoreabouttheworldthey’vechosen
tokeepengagingwith.ThierryBoulangerofplatforming
adventureTheMessengertellsmehowtheteam’s
approachtoNewGame+changedthedynamicofthe
entiregame,“Theplayergetstopickanadditionalitemto
lock-infromthegetgo,makingthesecondportionofthe
gameshortereverytime.BysomethinglikeNG+14,you
havenothinglefttofetchintheworldsothewhole
adventureisalinearpathtothefinalboss,buteverything
alsokillsinonehitbythatpoint,andthefeetoget
resurrectedissohighthattouchinganythingprobably
meansperma-death.InthiswayourNG+becomesa
meta-gameofhowfaryoucanmakeit,withdynamically
increasingdifficultyandatrackablehighscore.”
Readingtheanswerssentinfromthesedevelopers,
andothersbehindgamesincludingMinit,andArtisan:
GoingHomeAgain,myviewofNewGame+changed
substantially.NewGame+isn’tdevelopedasan
afterthought–it’sdevelopedaround.
It’sasfundamentalapartofthegameasthefirst
playthrough,withevenlessofaguaranteeofbeingseen
bythemajorityofitsaudience.“ourgameisdesignedto
tellmultiplestoriesabout
multiplecommunities”Designing Replay
Using NG+ to build larger worlds in smaller spaces. By Xalavier Nelson Jr
Inside Dev
MAkinggAMESiSHArd