Gameplay vs. Gamewatch

I freely admit that I am not hip enough to be a Mac guy. The very idea of referring to myself as an "IT artist" kinda makes me want to find a convenient spike to impale in my forehead, and that's probably a good indication that the Mac subculture, as it were, isn't the right place for me. I'm more of an evil, monolithic empire, maniacal laughter and world domination kind of guy, so I feel right at home with Windows.

Moving on. I've just completed the 8th story arc for Sorceror's Stripes, with 2 left to go. (What's a story arc in this context, you ask? Basically just a series of levels with common thematic elements and a common numeric prefix; e.g. 8-1, 8-2, etc., and the associated story segments.)

In this last story arc, I found myself having to present a lot of story material to the player, because there are a lot of plot revelations getting dropped at this point in the story. This had me thinking about the issue of how much time the player should spend playing the game vs. how much time the player should basically just be sitting around, watching a story unfold. Or, to say that in a lot less words, the issue of gameplay vs. gamewatch.

It's an issue that all games have to think about. The genre and target audience are major factors in where the right balance lies. For example, many FPS (First-Person Shooter) gamers have little patience for detailed story presentations and will grow bored and reach for the "skip movie" button if they have to spend too much time sitting around, watching cinematics. Conversely, RPG fans are not only tolerant of detailed story elements but expect them, and will feel cheated if a game skimps on story too much. These are generalizations and there are exceptions, of course, but the point is that different genres should have different gameplay vs. gamewatch ratios. In the most extreme case, there is the "visual novel" genre where there is literally no gameplay and you spend the whole time watching a story, although it's debatable whether these properly deserve to be called videogames.

In the case of Sorceror's Stripes' story mode, I'm shooting for a generous mix where there is a detailed story, but the player rarely has to read through more than a couple dozen lines of dialogue at a time before starting on the next level. (Though there are a handful of longer story segments here and there, the longest of which is in the 3rd story arc.) Players who get bored with the story can just click their mouse (or, in the case of the iPhone version, touch their screen) a whole bunch of times to skip ahead. And then there are some parts where the story takes a back seat for a while and the player goes through a rapid succession of levels with very little narration or dialogue.

The 8th story arc presented an interesting challenge because I had so much story material that I wanted to present, but I didn't want to make the player wade through half an hour worth of story before getting to play the next level. Fortunately, the nature of this part of the plot is such that it was relatively easy to break it into segments and separate those with levels to keep things interesting. But that, too, was a bit of a challenge because I didn't want to sustain the "next part of this extended backstory, now a level, next part of the backstory, another level" pattern for too long or it would become monotonous and contrived. So that, too, required aiming for a good balance to try to give the player the most satisfying experience possible.

To other budding game designers, I would urge you to carefully consider these matters as well. Think about your audience and how detailed a story they expect. Try to estimate your average player's patience for extended story segments. Remember that sitting through too much story at a time can get tedious, and yet so can playing for too long without taking a breather to advance the plot. Balance is key in all things!

- Satellite Observatory (James)