Must Haves

[princec]

There's nothing wrong with being formulaic if the formula's a good 'un, I say, and this got me to thinking about the "formula for polish" in casual games development. There's some stuff I know I'm not doing because I'm lazy but I wondered if we could have a list of essentials.

I'll start with this little list of stuff, some of which I've sort of decided upon through slowly learning about game dev over the last 3 years:

• Hiscore table where applicable
• One page help screen
• Display help screen automatically on first game
• Mouse control where possible
• Finely tuned demo restriction / nag
• Ability to change music and sound effects volume
• Fullscreen / windowed mode
• Automatic saved games
• More Games button
• Automatic difficulty tuning
• "No thanks" button disabled for a while
• Fade or move HUD if it obscures the player
• Autofire. Never ever require repeated key tapping
• Require use of right mouse button - NO! Not present on Mac OS.

Things I don't think should be on the list:

• Multiple game modes
• Redefinable keys
• Starting by default in fullscreen
• Difficulty levels
• Multiple save slots / slot management
• Cutscenes
• Storylines
• Load your own MP3 list to play
• Online hiscores
• Ability to select screen resolution or any other technical settings

Any more stuff?

Cas

[Grey Alien]

Pretty much agree except, depending on the game Profiles can be a good thing. I had whole families playing XMas Bonus and the husband/Wife/Kids wanted different profiles.

Also I had an option to reduce "snowflakes", particle effects in other words. Admittedly most people would never use this but those with slower machines would get less slowdowns. Alternatively the CPU speed could be measured on bootup and particle effects adjusted accordingly.

Some stuff I put in Xmas Bonus was probably not essential but I thought it was cool (list excludes stuff already mentioned in your post):

- Boss Key (auto minimise when pressed, even from full-screen mode)
- Pause game and stop music when minimised (seems obvious but I've seen plenty that don't).
- Test that alt+tab reloads any corrupted VRAM on ALL screens. Many games crash when I test this on obscure screens.
- When in windowed mode have a close button (X in top right corner), some games don't! Also be able to close it when minimised by right clicking it on task bar and sating close.
- When in windowed mode, make sure left Alt doesn't bring up system menu (or nothing) and pause game.
- windowed mode in 800x600 was actually slightly smaller so that people with 800x600 desktops could see the title bar and the whole game screen, e.g. the bottom wasn't obscured by the Task Bar. This was actually horrid to program as every screen had to be able to position things dynamically depending on the screen size. I won't do this again.
- Same options appear in-game (inc. full screen etc) as on the main menu.
- Ability to select a starting level.
- When game over appears because the user failed to complete level, you can just click Restart Level with a score penalty.
- Restart Level on the options menu. Could be used for cheating I guess except it reduced score.
- Splash-screen/loading bar so they know something is happening.
- fades between screens including music fades.
- not having multiple of same sound effect playing at once at full volume, too noisy!
- mouse cursor with shadow blended with background.
- menus and logos had edges anti-aliased with backgrounds
- didn't use really horridly compressed jpgs.
- download was ~5Mb
- feedback on menus e.g. brighter as cursor goes over and click noise when clicked.
- ability to show instructions each game or turn them off. Ability to view them on an ad-hoc basis via options.
- options saved in ini file so they are restored each time. Plus ini file had some extra settings for video compatibility like a 16-bit colour mode instead of 32-bit and a different way to handle VWait. Probably noone ever used them though ;-)
- Icon on main Title bar same as game icon.
- Installer to have option for user to specify path, icon on desktop, quicklaunch icon etc. Also uninstall option.
- Credits? Mine were in the readme.txt file that noone reads, would have been nicer in game.

I didn't have anything to stop multiple instances loading at onces, that would have been good.

OK that'll do for now, there were loads of other things I did too. At the end of the day, if you get it right the user will never notice! If you get it wrong, they'll go "what hell is that" or "that's rubbish".

There that's my trade secrets, maybe I shouldn't have told you all! ;-)

[Chris Evans]

World Maps seem all the rage this past year too.

If you don't have a world map there does need to be some kind of progress indicator. Just having a text display of "World 2-4" isn't enough these days. People need to know where they've been, where they're going, and how much further to the next goal/milestone.

Another thing I've noticed is that with successful casual games, you can easily burn through 20-30 minutes of the demo time with just your first run. I'm noticing the developers make the game insanely easy to progress through. The first 45-50 minutes is literally a cake-walk. With some games, as long as you move the mouse enough so Windows Power Save doesn't come on, you'll still clear the level. My sister recently played Roller Rush for 60 minutes straight without dying. It wasn't the game that finally killed her, it was the demo time limit. I personally can't play games that are insanely easy like this, but it definitely works in the casual gamespace with the standard 60 minute timed demo. As long as you have at least 2 hours of gameplay this method seems to work with a lot of games.

[Grey Alien]

Good points Chris. I wanted a world map but didn't have enough time. On the easy front, yeah I thought mine was easy but then several people (including Savant) said it wasn't so I made it easier (twice infact!). Seems people want to make progress, not be challenged or punished of course.

[svero]

...Things I don't think should be on the list:...
[*] Redefinable keys[*] Multiple save slots / slot management[*] Online hiscores

I would move redefinable keys and multi save slots to the must have category above many of the things you mentioned. The Multiple slave slots because I believe it's very common for more than one person to use the same computer to play the same game, and the redefinable keys because all manner of keyboards exist. For instance.. using the arrow keys on my laptop is a non-starter if I dont have an external keyboard hooked up.

- S

[Evanstaul]

Two points that confuse me are the online hiscores and starting fullscreen. I thought most good games have at least those two features. Full screen makes the game look more professional, and online hiscores increase replay value?

[Anthony Flack]

Two things that I can think of that work against online high-scores for a "casual" game would be:

Putting people off when they find out they're ranked at #45,489.
Seeing A.S.S.F.U.C.K.A. at the top of the high-score table.

AFAIK most casual games don't support online high-scores. But some games, like Cas' ones, are obviously enhanced by them.

[soniCron]

Two things that I can think of that work against online high-scores for a "casual" game would be:

Putting people off when they find out they're ranked at #45,489.
Seeing A.S.S.F.U.C.K.A. at the top of the high-score table.

That means the high-score code needs to be spruced up. For one, there's no reason the high-score lists have to be all-inclusive. Put 100 players to a Top 10, and create as many Top 10's as you need. Or you can use a tier model. Or a ladder. Etc. And as far as the explitives go, keep an updated string matching dictionary and filter out. It'll take a bit of work, but over time you'll have a really smooth system that requires little maintenance.

[Anthony Flack]

you can use a tier model.

Not a bad idea, that. I like it.

As for the filters, it's all well and good, but A:5:5:P:H:U:K:K:A laughs at filters. So does Kill*All*Jews. It's probably not so bad as that, but I imagine all online high-score tables get the occasional bit of swearing or offensive content thrown at them.

[cliffski]

I would love to see a tutorial somewhere that explained in idiots terms how a C++ guy can implement an online high score table. or even an updated version detection.

[Bmc]

I would love to see a tutorial somewhere that explained in idiots terms how a C++ guy can implement an online high score table. or even an updated version detection.

well it's a matter of just posting to a page on the server and letting a server-side script like php do the work


ps/ download the popcap framework and look at the HTTPTransfer class

[Olivier]

@princec
-Why avoid Difficulty levels? Can raise replay value.
-Same with game modes.
-Redefinable keys: Why not let the user play with it's favorite key config? I personally hate playing with WASD. Especially because these keys make no sense on my AZERTY keyboard.
-I think that a Fullscreen launch looks more pro.
-Cutscenes & Storylines could add depth to the game but it greatly depends on the game's genre. I hated the cutscenes of Magic Match.
-Save game slots are so straightforward to use, it's a good "console gaming heritage".
-I agree with the rest.

By "No thanks disabled" do you mean the user has no other choice than clicking "Buy Now"? Seems a bit harsh.


@Grey Alien
-The "Boss Key" is definitely a good one.
-Pause game/audio when minimized is good too. I already do it.
-I disable the closing X-box and bring the user to the reg incentives. Same with Alt+F4. Demo only of course.
-Click noises are utterly annoying to me. Highlight is suffcient.
-I don't believe in anti-aliased sprites and stuff, but i'll try one day.
-I agree with your overall help mechanic even if it's more oriented to casual games. But I'll work in that direction.


World map definitely gives the player a better and concrete sense of progress. This is really a must have.


1 must have that come to my mind:
A link or something clickable which brings the player to your homepage. Maybe in your credits screen if you have one.

Now back to work.

[papillon]

Temporarily disabled - so that they're forced to stare at the nag screen for at least a few seconds before they can select No Thanks.

[Olivier]

Ha temporarily disabled. Now I understand, thanks!

[Grey Alien]

ah, no one has mentioned those tutorial boxes that pop up as you play? Good or Bad? Certainly if you show them you need a "don't ever show me these pop up's again!" tick box for experienced/impatient players.

[soniCron]

Certainly if you show them you need a "don't ever show me these pop up's again!" tick box for experienced/impatient players.

If you create the tutorial windows in an inobtrusive way, you don't need that. The tutorials in my game pop up, but require no interaction from the user. Once you commit the action they suggest, they disappear. If you don't (if you just do your own thing), they get the hint and disappear, as well. As long as you don't have to pay attention to the tutorial -- like, by having to hit a "Continue" button -- then I can see how you can get by it completely.

[Vorax]

I agree with most of what Cas said, but...

Things I don't think should be on the list:

• Multiple game modes
• Starting by default in fullscreen
• Difficulty levels
• Multiple save slots / slot management

Shouldn't all those things be on the list?

Multiple game modes increases real or precieved value of the game.

Starting in fullscreen is a must in my opinion for several reasons:
- People get confused when there mouse moves outside of the window
- People get frustrated when they click outside the window and something pops up over their game
- Fullscreen is more absorbing
- Fullscreen is easier to see and read
- You can tailor your graphics to a particular resolution
- Windowing will cause people with hi-res settings to be annoyed because the game window may be to small to play on desktop
- Forces people (for the most part) to exit the game via your in-game menu instead of the X

Difficulty levels increases real or precieved value and reduces frustration for people that suck at the game, and increases fun for people that are good at it

Multiple save slots is important for parents/grandparents buying for their kids, or husbands/wives or friends having competitions. Also nice for people that like saving the game at various stages or if they get stuck at a point, they can start a new slot and try the original at another time.

[Grey Alien]

sonicron: good point, I'll bear it in mind!

btw Xmas Bonus starts in full-screen mode.

I'm not convinced difficulty levels are essential, depends on the game type. Also it may actually be really quite hard to program or design levels accordingly (e.g. In Doom there are more monster spawn points) and thus consume lots of time, again depends how it's done I guess.

[Phil Steinmeyer]

Question for those who've implemented on-line high-score systems in a game that has been released, on the market for a while and reasonably successful (i.e. 10s of thousands of players, if not purchasers, at least)...

How hard/time consuming it is to deal with various forms of griefing associated with this? i.e. Inappropriate names (vulgar, racist, etc), cheating (various ways that users can submit bogus high scores), etc.?

[Chris Evans]

For my game Pow Pow's Puzzle Attack, I've had close to 10,000 online scores submitted. To date I haven't noticed any appropriate names. Maybe there's a bad one somewhere in there, but I haven't seen it.

However in my Golf game, I've seen a couple of inappropriate names login into the online lobby. But it's been somewhat rare and I haven't received any complaints.

I think a lot depends on your audience. The people who download my puzzle game tend to be pretty mellow people. Also, the game submits the name that they created with their profile. When they create their profile, I gave an explicit warning to choose their name carefully otherwise they risk losing all their online records and hi-scores. I think with this warning factored in with the type of audience is why I've had so few problems.

However with my next game I'll have to implement more aggressive filtering since it targets a different audience.

[Miguel Tartaj]

Question for those who've implemented on-line high-score systems in a game that has been released, on the market for a while and reasonably successful (i.e. 10s of thousands of players, if not purchasers, at least)...

How hard/time consuming it is to deal with various forms of griefing associated with this? i.e. Inappropriate names (vulgar, racist, etc), cheating (various ways that users can submit bogus high scores), etc.?

Hello Phil,

We get a minimum of 100.000 records posted a week, from those about 50 are bad words or inappropiate, and something betweeen 10 to 50 are cheats). What we do is a regular clean up (minimum once per week). Also when the database is very filled, we clean most records (keeping the best scores only).

Time consuming: not much, minutes per week, (but I guess this depends on how you build your database and who controls it), but must be steady and some times is a pain (cheaters that try and try to send records).