8 Rookie Mistakes Every Video Game Modder Always Makes
6. Unlocking The Toy Box
Risk and reward. Its one of the most basic choices that underpins a players investment in a game, and obvious as it may sound it means that you need to dole our your rewards sparingly, judging what the player deserves for their prize against the hoops you made them jump through. Nowadays, there are two times in games youll see the risk/reward structure be broken. One is during the first hour of the game, which is the length of time most players take to decide whether theyre enjoying themselves or not. Its increasingly common to unlock the toy box for the first hour, in a very safe and scripted way, and so give the player a preview of all the awesome stuff theyll eventually be doing before bonking them over the head and taking it all away again. The other time youll see the rule being broken is in user-created content, and most likely its not content that youre enjoying. The design pitfall is this: using the ultra-death laser rifle is way more satisfying than the pistol, so I should start my player with an ultra-death laser rifle! With a single miscalculation, youve demolished the pacing of your mod. With no greater reward to look forward to, the players got no reason to take risks and, once the novelty of being so overpowered has worn off, the game wont feel as fun. As a rookie, think carefully about how youre going to push the player wholl almost always take the shortest, easiest path to success to take risks, stretch themselves and keep playing your mod to its conclusion. After all, its your efforts going to waste if they dont.
