Getting Lost

In my course entitled “Computer Games in the Marketplace", the lecture quoted a famous Nintendo developer who stated that one of the biggest issues with 3D games is in making sure a player does not get lost in the game.

The class went on to discuss times they had been frustrated when they also had gotten lost in a 3D game, and how bored they became when they could not find the “action” or where they were “supposed to be".

Follow up:

This struck a chord for me, but for a different reason. I believe that great game design is all about getting lost! If your game is not fun when you are lost, then your game is not well designed. A game does not have to be so linear that “getting off the beaten path” means an end to the enjoyment of the game.

Actually, I think what the developer was really referring to is poorly designed interfaces that make you feel disorientated. I believe that being disorientated in a 3D world because of poor controls and camera angles is what should be avoided, but is an entirely different issue than “being lost".

When playing a game, I don’t like to feel like I am being pushed down a path… or loose the suspension of disbelief because I know I came across something in the “wrong order".

A significant component of adventure is exploration. Technology has given us the ability to create 3D worlds for the player to truly explore. Yet we are still creating “adventure games” based on a linear narrative and a linear engine. If you have any doubt, read/listen to the postmortems on Dungeon Siege.

It is as if we have left the era of silent films, and despite now having “surround sound” capabilities, we still only provide dialog on text placards between scenes. We are limiting our games, not the technology.