So is there a definitive answer to whether or not you should model reality in your
game? Of course not, just as there are no easy answers in all of game design, and as
there are no easy answers in art. As a game designer you must strike the balance
between reality and abstraction, weighing what your game needs from a gameplay
standpoint with what your story and setting require and with what your engine can rea-
sonably handle. What is vital to remember, and what many designers often forget, is
that more reality is not always a good thing. At the same time, saying that reality does
not matter and that fun is the be-all and end-all may prevent you from creating a world
that resonates with your audience.
Teaching the Player.............................
Attempting to model reality may be one way to give players an advantage going into
your game-world; through their own life experiences, players will know to some extent
what to expect of your game-world. However, even with the most realistic game, play-
ers will need time to learn how to play your game, and this learning experience is often
a crucial time in a player’s overall experience. The first few minutes players spend with
your game will often make the difference between whether they want to continue play-
ing it or not. Whenever players tell friends about your game, they will often remember
those first few minutes and say, “Well, it was a little weird to get used to” or, preferably,
“It was great. I jumped right into the game and found all this interesting stuff.”
In the past, many computer games relied on manuals to teach players how to play
them. With some titles players literally had almost no chance of success in the game
without first reading a large chunk of the manual. Today many games try to get away
from this reliance on players’ reading ability, realizing that often the last thing players
want to do when they have just purchased a new game is to sit down and read an exten-
sive instructional manual. Players definitely have a strong desire to just pick up the
controller and start playing the game. Now that so many games allow players to do just
that, the importance of allowing players to “jump right in” has increased. If your game
is too difficult to get a handle on within the first minute, players are likely to put it down
and try something else.
This does not mean that your game has to be dumbed down or simplified, merely
that you must introduce the complexity of your game-world gradually through the
gameplay instead of through the manual. For example, at first your game should start
out requiring players to perform only the simplest of actions. Say you are creating a
third-person over-the-shoulder action/adventure game akin toTomb Raider. It makes
the most sense to first teach players how to move the player character around correctly
on the ground. Then, after players have had a chance to become accustomed to the hor-
izontal movement controls, you might introduce a section where the player character
has to jump to cross a canyon or climb up a cliff. After enough of that, you might want to
introduce some simple combat challenges, where players will learn how to use their
character’s weapons.
It is important that during the introduction of these controls players are in a safe
environment that engenders learning. If players already have to worry about dying at
every step and the game is generally unforgiving of players’ mistakes, chances are good
that players will become frustrated quickly. Designer Sheri Graner Ray has studied
Chapter 7: The Elements of Gameplay 127