Level Up.pdf

162 LEVEL 7 The Three Cs, Part 3—Controls
• Play a “ negative response ” sound effect or animation to make it clear to
the player that this control isn ’ t available. I always liked that the character
in Dark Castle shrugged his shoulders if he was out of ammo or missing
a key.
• Make it clear during your training mode that a button is inactive.
Then make a big deal when it is unlocked. Br ü tal Legend stops the
game dead and shows a full - screen graphic whenever the main
character gets a new move. Just remember (a) not to teach more than
one new move at a time, and (b) don ’ t jam new moves down the
player ’ s throat too quickly. Players tune out if they get overloaded with
information.
• Assign a redundant but related function. If the triangle button is slated
for a projectile attack that the player doesn ’ t have yet, assign the melee
attack to the button until they find that kill - o - zap blaster. The player will
mentally equate the triangle button with combat until the “ true ” move is
unlocked.
With the advent of motion controls like the Wii Remote and Project Natal,
designers now have an opportunity to recreate real - world controls for
moves. But before we get into that, let ’ s talk about how to get the most
reality out of traditional controllers.
One of the best examples of recreating real - world moves using an analog
stick can be found in Pitfall: The Lost Expedition. (Activision, 2004). In the
game, water is health and the player carries a canteen to hold water.
Whenever the player comes across a cistern, he pushes the stick forward
to fill the canteen. When he pulls back on the stick, the hero Harry takes a
drink from the canteen to replenish his health. The clever combination of
intention and animation makes this feel very satisfying. Mapping the moves
to logical control locations helps immerse the player into the game world.
In Maximo: Ghosts to Glory, the goal was to create an “ out- of- game ”
correlation between Maximo ’ s moves and the real - world Playstation 2
controller.