Game over screens are artifacts of an era long gone, but still feel required for any classical approach. Why change it? Does rewinding the path means it’s the only one available?
Of course, there’s exceptions, as always. But as I said previously, I didn’t want the player to feel the game limitation this much. I’d rather it be seen as an interactive story with action elements or action-fiction. And as I want to address some mature and dark themes, I’ll sometimes need to lean more on the “interesting” part of a game instead of the “fun” one.
You failed. You weren’t good as you could be. Your reflexes betrayed you more and more, as the tension grew, until the final blow, bullet or obstacle. The cops finally caught you.
Don’t get me wrong, it can be good, but in my approach, I’d rather use what stress and pressure can provide, in a more opportune way, for a special game sequence. As for the frustration the game over screen bring, I can’t divorce it from the arcade era. A cheap way to push you to put more coins in the machine. I feel it’s a design element that should be subverted. Or at least, I want to use the pressure/frustration it’s linked to in more deliberate way.
What’s so frustrating about this screen? The concise, brievety and ephemeral nature of what it convey to the player? Should the player succeed, all records of this drawback will be expunged: You were the best after all.
So, what if it was a game over sequence? Heck, why not make it a path entirely? Let’s keep the danger real, and build a cautionary memory around it.
First, I need to make it fit in a diegetic way, and that, I did (won’t spoil it). Let’s say that just because you died doesn’t mean you did (sorry for the cryptic teasing).
Secondly, there coud still be consequences no requiring the player to die. The player will access a “special” path on the timeline the game present. With game sequences not found anywhere else. Of course, the whole experience won’t be pleasant: That’s kinda the point. It will make an impactfull memory for both the player and the character played.
It will open some doors, and maybe close others, and best of all, even if technically still a proof of shortcoming in regard to the player skills, those having walked the same path will understand why it should not be held against them. At the extreme opposite, any player talented enough to completly avoid this path will have to do so for the full game to rip the reward: But will it be worth it?
I know I present this as a devlog, but right now, I’m more about design and the meta than talking about drawing a square on a screen.
I dunno, maybe I was bitten by a Kojima when I was younger
More about it later :)
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