Home » Game Planning and Development Methods | Why do people need video games? _player_design_communication

Game Planning and Development Methods | Why do people need video games? _player_design_communication

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Game Planning and Development Methods | Why do people need video games? _player_design_communication

A game must be recognized by players in order to have a market. Only by correctly grasping the psychology of players can a game be designed that players like. This article explains the psychological guidance of players on the basis of analyzing the psychological needs of game players.

Various services in the game industry are constantly improving and developing towards diversification. Only games that conform to players’ psychology can have high player loyalty and good market performance. Therefore, only by correctly grasping the psychology of players can we design games that players like, which is the most basic basis for game design.

Players are a complex group, and each player has different hobbies, aesthetics, and worldviews. It is very difficult to thoroughly analyze the preferences of players. But from the perspective of the game, players have some common basic psychology. In the game, many behaviors clearly reflect their psychological needs. There are two purposes for analyzing players:

One is to divide the types of players during market analysis to provide a basis for the positioning of the game;

The former is based on macro-level analysis, while the latter needs to analyze the commonalities of needs of different types of players to guide game design.

The game is a kind of entertainment, which is to let the players truly feel the pleasure of the senses, so as to experience the tension, excitement and hearty feeling. For example, what it’s like to be racing at extreme speeds in a racing game (Figure 3-1).

Figure 3-1 “Need for Speed”

The excitement of defeating an opponent with chain moves and nirvana in a fighting game (Figure 3-2).

Figure 3-2 “King of Fighters”

If the game only has the pleasure of refreshing, it will lack gameplay and make players feel more and more boring.

In the game, music and art must first determine the appropriate style and make the player as enjoyable as possible.

As far as art is concerned, the colors of light games are relatively bright and the shapes are cute; while the characters in medium games such as cards and planning are more detail-oriented, highly recognizable, and have diverse and life-like scenes; for adventure or role-playing games For heavy games, the game colors will not be too bright, and the design of characters and scenes will be more realistic and complex. The art team often needs a core member to coordinate the entire style, and other members can create with reference to their style.

In terms of music, different scenes and different buttons must use different kinds of sound effects or music. In order to truly meet the needs of players, the design of music must be gradually optimized and debugged.

2

Safety requirements

It is human instinct to use guidance, rewards, trade enhancements and seek security. Especially heavy gamers, often want to be able to get a feeling in the game that is not available in real life. Letting a new player find a sense of security in the game will allow him to gain trust and dependence on the game.

First of all, let the novice guide really play a role, and clearly state the gameplay, rules, operations and matters needing attention of the game, so that players believe that this is a game that they can operate and be happy. The “safe” game. At the same time, novices generally do not want to fail easily. Therefore, the game must ensure that novices can pass the level safely without any skills or props.

Set up in-game help options, novice rewards, daily rewards, or rewards for completing simple tasks to increase the time players spend playing the game.

In addition, in RPG games, perfect sects, teams, and mentoring rules can make it easier for novices to get started, find a sense of belonging, and gain a sense of security. The reward interface in the game is shown in Figure 3-3 and Figure 3-4.

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Figure 3-3 Game activity reward interface

Figure 3-4 Gold coin rewards in the game

The game is actually the same as the real life. The sense of security is often based on a certain material basis, so the game must have a simple trading system, so that novices can easily buy items that prolong life or improve abilities.

3

social needs

Games need to communicate and give players a feeling of reality. Online games provide players with the quickest and easiest way to communicate. Online games not only provide players with the subject of communication, but also provide space and channels for communication. Different players can not only gain a new spiritual experience by experiencing a new world together, but also gain a social experience of making friends.

Communication does not only refer to player chats in online games, but refers to conversations or exchanges on a topic in a broad sense. In video games, a simple environment where you can contribute as long as you work hard is more likely to cultivate cooperative behavior and achieve a tacit understanding, and can highlight and strengthen the importance of communication, such as the online game “Siege Battle” (Figure 3). -5), “DOTA” (Figure 3-6), etc.

Figure 3-5 “Siege Battle”

Figure 3-6 “DOTA”

For game designers, each player is a stranger, and each player has a different family background, education level, outlook on life, and life goals. The game allows players to realize a second life or a second career in the virtual world that cannot be realized in real life, realize social, respect, and self-worth that cannot be fully realized in real life, relieve and release the pressure in real life, temporarily. Escape from the rules of the real society, etc. It can be seen that an excellent online game should bring players a new experience, intellectual exercise and interpersonal communication.

In terms of social needs, the game needs to satisfy players’ Friendship, love, and other affiliation needs. In particular, domestic players pay more attention to the social experience than foreign players, and sometimes even exceed the sensory experience or basic experience of the game. A social platform can be built into the game to allow players to experience the same space for communication as in real life, and to promote communication and interaction between players; it is also possible to establish an online discussion board for the game as needed, through social software, WeChat, Weibo and Post bars and other methods meet the social needs of players; online or offline activities with game topics can also be regularly organized, allowing players to interact with other players both inside and outside the game.

4

experience needs

Games can give players an experience that allows players to experience a complete story in a virtual world. The most important thing about games is that they can bring people a variety of experiences that are completely different from reality, or even impossible in reality. There are many types of these experiences, including visual experience, musical experience, emotional experience, etc.

Games that reflect the sense of achievement are generally divided into the following four types.

The first category is “Legend” (Figure 3-7), “Miracle” (Figure 3-8) and other strategy and role-playing online games.In addition to the siege battle and other battles between the two sides, the greatest joy for players is to wear a conspicuous top-quality equipment and walk around with a super weapon that is one of the few in the entire server, so as to attract a lot of attention and admiration. Great sense of achievement.

Figure 3-7 “Legend”

Figure 3-8 “Miracle”

The second category is typical puzzle and adventure reasoning games such as Sokoban (Figure 3-9) and Sherlock Holmes (Figure 3-10).This type of game does not emphasize operation. Players must solve the puzzles in the game through observation and thinking to enter the next level. In the process, players will have a full sense of achievement.

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Figure 3-9 “Sokoban”

Figure 3-10 “The Detective Sherlock Holmes”

The third category is “Thunderbolt” (Figure 3-11), “1945”, “Turtledove”, “Counter-Strike” and other shooting and racing games that emphasize operability very much. Players need to make subtle operations.

Figure 3-11 “Thunderbolt”

In addition, many fighting games also emphasize subtle operations, and the sense of achievement of defeating all opponents with skilled skills and winning the first place is very strong. For example, “Street Fighter”, “Tekken” and “The King of Fighters” (Figure 3-12) all attract players with a sense of refreshment and achievement, which are full of cool moves, hearty battles, and the joy of winning. This type of game does not focus on creating a sense of integration. In addition to achieving basic aesthetics, the screen does not have more detailed decoration. This is because in the fierce battle, almost no one pays much attention to the details of the game content and environment.

Figure 3-12 The King of Fighters

The fourth category is “The Sims” (Fig. 3-13), “Simulated City”, “China Inn” (Fig. 3-14), “Pretty Girl’s DreamWorks” and other simulation games.After a long period of training, players can improve their attribute values, and even make a qualitative leap in their abilities through career conversion, or spend a dozen or even dozens of hours building cities, playgrounds, hospitals, etc., watching the crowds inside, The prosperous scene of the endless flow of vehicles will naturally have a heartfelt satisfaction. In fact, the sense of achievement is the soul of current simulation management games.

Figure 3-13 The Sims

Figure 3-14 “China Inn”

Game players have psychologically experienced a process of “repression-release” in the process of the above four types of games. The deeper the repression, the stronger the power released, and the greater the sense of satisfaction and achievement the player gets.

5

respect needs

In the world of games, the need for respect is often the first need for players to play games. Many players hope to find a sense of glory and superiority that cannot be found in the real society in the game, and hope to be admired and respected by others.

To meet the player’s need to be respected, the game should be planned in two ways. The first is to compare the sense of superiority and glory obtained. The game needs to set a minimum level and leaderboard. If the game has a built-in friend system, a friend leaderboard must be established, and the changed content of the friend leaderboard will be regularly sent to the player’s circle of friends, so that the player can see the comparison results, so that the player can feel superior. The bulletin board can set up a public section and allow players to break the news. Secondly, players should be given more opportunities to help each other in the game, and appropriate equipment, gold coins, etc. should be given to players, especially for some senior players who attach great importance to the sense of glory.

6

self-actualization needs

Games are a comprehensive exercise for the brain, allowing players to achieve self-realization autonomously. For example, the fantasy casual game “Star Stone Legend” (Figure 3-15) fights in the way of eliminating gems, while the normal state is a fantasy adventure mode, which is a model that combines a role-playing game experience with a puzzle casual game. Some puzzles or difficulties are set in it, and players need to think and move to meet the challenges. This is a general principle of all games, not just limited to video games.

Figure 3-15 “The Legend of Star Stone”

In video games, the fairer the rules of competition, the more willing players are to compete in them. The purpose of competition is to make comparisons, and with comparisons there are opportunities to show off. Showing off is a potential pursuit of human beings. Everyone will consciously or unintentionally show off what they are good at and avoid their own shortcomings. For example, in the games “StarCraft” (Fig. 3-16), “Total War of the Three Kingdoms” (Fig. 3-17), the powerful show-off soldiers are displayed.

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Figure 3-16 Protoss Barracks in StarCraft

Figure 3-17 The army of Wei State in “Total War of the Three Kingdoms”

It can make players feel self-realization, which means that this game no longer exists in the virtual world, but has become a part of the player’s real life.

The self-realization that each player needs in the game may be different. Some people hope to have fun in the game, some people hope to use the game to kill time, some people can transfer their dissatisfaction with real life, and some people can make friends in the game. In order for different players to realize themselves in the game, the game must try to satisfy all the needs of the players, or have the feeling of constantly improving.

Only when each part of the game can give players a better experience can it be considered a diversified choice, so that each player can independently achieve the need for self-realization.

illustrate

This series of articles is an original article authorized by the author. For reprinting, please contact the backstage of the official account to apply for authorization, and indicate the source.

Example explanation

Game planning and development methods

next notice

gamer psychology

2. Game psychology effect

game numerical design

3. Analysis of the game experience value system

Game Design Documentation

4. Game Design Document Structure

game development method

5. AI Design in Action Games

6. World famous game engine

7

reference books

Game Planning and Development Methods (2nd Edition)

Scan the code to purchase the book

author:Zhang Hui, edited by Zhu Licai;

Dong Jian, Tang Shixi Deputy Editor-in-Chief

Pricing:59 yuan

brief introduction

This book explains game planning and development methods in detail. The book consists of 11 chapters. The main contents include game types, quality requirements and division of responsibilities of planning positions, game psychological analysis and guidance, game world view and background, game element design, game numerical design, game Task plot and level design, game planning document specifications, game development methods, game testing, operation and promotion, etc., are designed to help readers fully understand the principles and specifications of game design, and master basic game planning and development methods.

This book adopts a step-by-step learning system, the theoretical knowledge and practical content are based on teaching practice, and the cases come from the forefront of the industry and practical commercial applications. The structure of the textbook is based on the teaching concept of “combination of work and learning”, and highlights the results-oriented, problem-oriented and demand-oriented characteristics of OBE engineering education. The content of the teaching materials is to achieve the unity of “quality, ability and knowledge” and the unity of “learning, thinking, doing and creating”. The knowledge points of each chapter are effectively integrated into the ideological and political content, and the whole is presented in the form from easy to difficult, from shallow to deep.

8

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Flink programming foundation │ Scala programming primary practice

Flink programming basics│FlinkCEP programming practice

Flink programming basics│DataStream API programming practice

Flink programming basics│DataSet API programming practice

Data Analysis Practice│Customer Value Analysis

Data Analysis in Action│Price Forecasting Challenge

Data analysis in practice │ time series forecasting

Data Analysis in Practice │ KaggleTitanic Survival Prediction Return to Sohu, see more

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