week 2

design elements

     When designing a video game there are a wide variety of genres to consider when implementing one of the base construction levels behind ones overall design. These genres vary greatly but all yield different emotional connotations and affects onto the user as they experience the game. Some, but by no means all, of these genres include action games, strategy games, role playing games, and adventure games.
      Another portion of game fabrication to be examined while designing a game is the formal elements of the game in which the user may encounter as they work their way through the game. Formal elements can include player interaction patterns, internal game objectives, and the overall rules which make up the foundation of the game.
      In order to better explain these foundations of game design two games shall be examined and there more persuasive elements as to why these games are fun shall be explained. The games to be broken down and examined include Nintendo’s “The Legend of Zelda: the Ocarina of Time” and Capcom’s “Resident Evil 4.”
      In regards to game genres both “Zelda” and “Resident Evil” have very similar breakdowns. Both essentially are adventure games where the basis of the game is “the player’s avatar is presented with a deplorable area containing a variety of puzzles or problems to be solved. Solving these problems opens up new areas for exploration or advances the storyline in some way, giving the player new information and new problems to solve. (Rollings. 447.).” Both games display puzzles and key based attributes to which the user solves to carry the story forward.
      A large aspect of adventure genres which both games share very vividly would be the presence to large bosses. While playing either game when ever a mission or temple is completed each level is culminated with a large lumbering boss whose sheer magnitude as a user one cannot even begin to comprehend.
      However, there are two sub genres which also follow those two games, the first sub genre being action games and the second being a role playing game. Action based genres typically have two areas shooters and non-shooters, based on those two descriptions “Zelda” and “Resident Evil” begin to differ.
      “Resident Evil” utilizes a shooter based action genre to carry the story forward. As the narrative evolves and unravels the user is presented with a variety of guns in which they can use to inflict damage and violence onto the enemies encountered. Typically the method of violence which the user sees while playing the game is a wide variety of gore from fighting a slew of zombie like beings. The gore affiliated with the game and action sequences involved ad a great deal of amusement and fun for the user shocking them with obscene images they normally would never see.
      Both “Zelda” and “Resident Evil” contain design elements of action genres demonstrating check points, energy, and collectables. Check points are areas of the game that when the user’s avatar reaches should they die or have to restart a portion of the game they avatar won’t travel farther back then that given point. Energy is the factor through which both main character utilize in either game to represent life force, in the case of “Zelda” that is represented with hearts and in the case of “Resident Evil” it is represented with a life meter; should either one of those become zero the avatar dies. However, there are objects which can be found throughout either game to replace the lost energy, be it finding more hearts or healing herbs. Collectables are objects that can be found throughout the game to augment or alter the game in some way, be it finding ammunition, healing spray or magic; they help the users avatar move forward in the story.
      Formal elements of the games which can easily be examined include player interaction patterns, internal game objectives and the overall rules of the game.
      Player interaction patterns break down the overall interactions which occur between the user and game system present. Both games demonstrate the same player interaction pattern having a single player, the hero, play against the game and the system as a whole. There is never an outside source beside the loan user which alters the game so essentially it is a closed system. This closed system is partial to both the “Zelda” game and the “Resident Evil” game.
      Game objectives are the principles which make up the overall goals of the game and demonstrate the challenges that the user must overcome. Ideally the user should always be presented with an immediate goal, middle range goal and a long term goal to which they must work for. This is done to keep the user enthralled with the game and prevents him fro getting board, aptly stated a bored player is an unhappy player.
      When looking at “Zelda” the immediate goal is exploration based and finding the next temple or level. The midrange goal would be beating that given temple or collecting all collectable pieces from a given temple set. Where the long term goal is the kill the big boss and save the day.
      “Resident Evil” goals are similar yet different at the same time; the short term goal ever on the mind of the player is simply; stay alive. When playing a horror based video game death is a frequent theme present within the game and it becomes common to avoid that theme from pressing unto the user. The midrange goal within the game is to discover what is going on within the world, since horror games are known to house twists and turns; keeping the story straight can become a little difficult as time progresses. Finally the long term goal is to kill what ever is causing this outbreak of untold proportions.
      From a more grand view of the overall objectives between both games the underlying objective is merely rescue and escape based. “Zelda” follows the idea of rescue the princess and escape; where “Resident Evil” is a twist on the princess and instead forces the user to rescue the president’s daughter and escape from danger.
      Rules are the attribute of the game which the user must follow in order to successfully navigate their way through the portions of the game. The rules that make up the game are both expressed in similar ways between “Zelda” and “Resident Evil” on to the user. In “Zelda” the user is presented with a fairy which talks openly with the avatar and the game user outlining different functions as they are encountered. “Resident Evil” however does not utilize a fairy instead it utilizes a com-link between the main character Leon and their home branch, the home branch perform the same function as the fairy and explains functions to the user as they are encountered.
      These are all portions of design elements within games which make them fun for the user, in this case they were the elements affiliated with ““The Legend of Zelda: the Ocarina of Time” and “Resident Evil 4.”