Mixing
Do delays after losing and before restarting serve as a defense against burnout, or are they addiction machines?
Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP
.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
In games like Super Hexagon or even Everwing, there's a very brief but noticeable delay from losing to starting over: waiting for the restart button to appear, pressing it, etc...
Is this a defense against player burnout? If there's no pause that separates one game try from next, the game might feel never-ending and burn out the player quickly.
Or is it a way to keep the player addicted? I often suspected this in Everwing, because that game's hardly shy about its avaricious nature. Perhaps there's a psychological effect in making the player wait before they can play again — like building the craving part of a habit?
Or perhaps a lack of this delay is to keep the flow going, so to speak? Ori and the Blind Forest does something similar in its Ginso Tree level. It has very fast restarts, no button or anything, and deaths do not restart the music that's playing in the BG. The result is that deaths do not break the flow of the game, and despite them the whole level feels seamless.
So, are there any studies on this? Barring those, anecdotes? I couldn't find anything, anywhere.
game-design
asked 2 hours ago
Demetre Saghliani
412
 |Â
show 5 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
In games like Super Hexagon or even Everwing, there's a very brief but noticeable delay from losing to starting over: waiting for the restart button to appear, pressing it, etc...
Is this a defense against player burnout? If there's no pause that separates one game try from next, the game might feel never-ending and burn out the player quickly.
Or is it a way to keep the player addicted? I often suspected this in Everwing, because that game's hardly shy about its avaricious nature. Perhaps there's a psychological effect in making the player wait before they can play again — like building the craving part of a habit?
Or perhaps a lack of this delay is to keep the flow going, so to speak? Ori and the Blind Forest does something similar in its Ginso Tree level. It has very fast restarts, no button or anything, and deaths do not restart the music that's playing in the BG. The result is that deaths do not break the flow of the game, and despite them the whole level feels seamless.
So, are there any studies on this? Barring those, anecdotes? I couldn't find anything, anywhere.
game-design
asked 2 hours ago
Demetre Saghliani
412
I don't really think that's intentional, for the most part, a button appearing slowly gives a smooth feeling but also gives some time for the player to realise what happened. Some developers like to have the restart button appearing slowly, others want it to be instant, similarly some developers like to make cutscenes skippable, some want to force them to users.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
@TomTsagk Maybe it's not, but I brought up these games only as examples. I really just want to know whether there is a significant difference between delay vs no delay, and if so what studies there are about it. I tried searching on Google, but seriously, it turned nothing up. Nothing. Nor did Google Scholar.
– Demetre Saghliani
2 hours ago
1
I would guess the reason Google turned up nothing is because there is no significant research about the subject. If you are asking about a game you are developing, it would be better to give us more details so we can help you. I'm sure there are plenty of books out there that focus on psychology of users in regards to video games, which might provide better results. If you are just asking for resources to read about the subject, then the question becomes off-topic, since this community is focused on helping fix specific problems.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
That's what I feared. No, I'm not asking about any particular game I'm developing. And I wouldn't mind any good books about it. I thought about posting this on Reddit, but this site usually gives better answers, in my experience. Off record, any other good places I can ask this that do accept open-ended questions without a single right answer?
– Demetre Saghliani
2 hours ago
I'm not sure to be honest, [Reddit](reddit.com) is an option, or you could try [GameDev.net](GameDev.net), I've only used reddit in the past, but I can't tell how popular game dev questions are there and if you'd get an answer.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
 |Â
show 5 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
In games like Super Hexagon or even Everwing, there's a very brief but noticeable delay from losing to starting over: waiting for the restart button to appear, pressing it, etc...
Is this a defense against player burnout? If there's no pause that separates one game try from next, the game might feel never-ending and burn out the player quickly.
Or is it a way to keep the player addicted? I often suspected this in Everwing, because that game's hardly shy about its avaricious nature. Perhaps there's a psychological effect in making the player wait before they can play again — like building the craving part of a habit?
Or perhaps a lack of this delay is to keep the flow going, so to speak? Ori and the Blind Forest does something similar in its Ginso Tree level. It has very fast restarts, no button or anything, and deaths do not restart the music that's playing in the BG. The result is that deaths do not break the flow of the game, and despite them the whole level feels seamless.
So, are there any studies on this? Barring those, anecdotes? I couldn't find anything, anywhere.
game-design
asked 2 hours ago
Demetre Saghliani
412
In games like Super Hexagon or even Everwing, there's a very brief but noticeable delay from losing to starting over: waiting for the restart button to appear, pressing it, etc...
Is this a defense against player burnout? If there's no pause that separates one game try from next, the game might feel never-ending and burn out the player quickly.
Or is it a way to keep the player addicted? I often suspected this in Everwing, because that game's hardly shy about its avaricious nature. Perhaps there's a psychological effect in making the player wait before they can play again — like building the craving part of a habit?
Or perhaps a lack of this delay is to keep the flow going, so to speak? Ori and the Blind Forest does something similar in its Ginso Tree level. It has very fast restarts, no button or anything, and deaths do not restart the music that's playing in the BG. The result is that deaths do not break the flow of the game, and despite them the whole level feels seamless.
So, are there any studies on this? Barring those, anecdotes? I couldn't find anything, anywhere.
game-design
game-design
asked 2 hours ago
Demetre Saghliani
412
asked 2 hours ago
Demetre Saghliani
412
asked 2 hours ago
Demetre Saghliani
412
asked 2 hours ago
Demetre Saghliani
412
asked 2 hours ago
Demetre Saghliani
412
412
I don't really think that's intentional, for the most part, a button appearing slowly gives a smooth feeling but also gives some time for the player to realise what happened. Some developers like to have the restart button appearing slowly, others want it to be instant, similarly some developers like to make cutscenes skippable, some want to force them to users.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
@TomTsagk Maybe it's not, but I brought up these games only as examples. I really just want to know whether there is a significant difference between delay vs no delay, and if so what studies there are about it. I tried searching on Google, but seriously, it turned nothing up. Nothing. Nor did Google Scholar.
– Demetre Saghliani
2 hours ago
1
I would guess the reason Google turned up nothing is because there is no significant research about the subject. If you are asking about a game you are developing, it would be better to give us more details so we can help you. I'm sure there are plenty of books out there that focus on psychology of users in regards to video games, which might provide better results. If you are just asking for resources to read about the subject, then the question becomes off-topic, since this community is focused on helping fix specific problems.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
That's what I feared. No, I'm not asking about any particular game I'm developing. And I wouldn't mind any good books about it. I thought about posting this on Reddit, but this site usually gives better answers, in my experience. Off record, any other good places I can ask this that do accept open-ended questions without a single right answer?
– Demetre Saghliani
2 hours ago
I'm not sure to be honest, [Reddit](reddit.com) is an option, or you could try [GameDev.net](GameDev.net), I've only used reddit in the past, but I can't tell how popular game dev questions are there and if you'd get an answer.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
 |Â
show 5 more comments
I don't really think that's intentional, for the most part, a button appearing slowly gives a smooth feeling but also gives some time for the player to realise what happened. Some developers like to have the restart button appearing slowly, others want it to be instant, similarly some developers like to make cutscenes skippable, some want to force them to users.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
@TomTsagk Maybe it's not, but I brought up these games only as examples. I really just want to know whether there is a significant difference between delay vs no delay, and if so what studies there are about it. I tried searching on Google, but seriously, it turned nothing up. Nothing. Nor did Google Scholar.
– Demetre Saghliani
2 hours ago
1
I would guess the reason Google turned up nothing is because there is no significant research about the subject. If you are asking about a game you are developing, it would be better to give us more details so we can help you. I'm sure there are plenty of books out there that focus on psychology of users in regards to video games, which might provide better results. If you are just asking for resources to read about the subject, then the question becomes off-topic, since this community is focused on helping fix specific problems.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
That's what I feared. No, I'm not asking about any particular game I'm developing. And I wouldn't mind any good books about it. I thought about posting this on Reddit, but this site usually gives better answers, in my experience. Off record, any other good places I can ask this that do accept open-ended questions without a single right answer?
– Demetre Saghliani
2 hours ago
I'm not sure to be honest, [Reddit](reddit.com) is an option, or you could try [GameDev.net](GameDev.net), I've only used reddit in the past, but I can't tell how popular game dev questions are there and if you'd get an answer.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
I don't really think that's intentional, for the most part, a button appearing slowly gives a smooth feeling but also gives some time for the player to realise what happened. Some developers like to have the restart button appearing slowly, others want it to be instant, similarly some developers like to make cutscenes skippable, some want to force them to users.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
I don't really think that's intentional, for the most part, a button appearing slowly gives a smooth feeling but also gives some time for the player to realise what happened. Some developers like to have the restart button appearing slowly, others want it to be instant, similarly some developers like to make cutscenes skippable, some want to force them to users.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
@TomTsagk Maybe it's not, but I brought up these games only as examples. I really just want to know whether there is a significant difference between delay vs no delay, and if so what studies there are about it. I tried searching on Google, but seriously, it turned nothing up. Nothing. Nor did Google Scholar.
– Demetre Saghliani
2 hours ago
@TomTsagk Maybe it's not, but I brought up these games only as examples. I really just want to know whether there is a significant difference between delay vs no delay, and if so what studies there are about it. I tried searching on Google, but seriously, it turned nothing up. Nothing. Nor did Google Scholar.
– Demetre Saghliani
2 hours ago
1
1
I would guess the reason Google turned up nothing is because there is no significant research about the subject. If you are asking about a game you are developing, it would be better to give us more details so we can help you. I'm sure there are plenty of books out there that focus on psychology of users in regards to video games, which might provide better results. If you are just asking for resources to read about the subject, then the question becomes off-topic, since this community is focused on helping fix specific problems.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
I would guess the reason Google turned up nothing is because there is no significant research about the subject. If you are asking about a game you are developing, it would be better to give us more details so we can help you. I'm sure there are plenty of books out there that focus on psychology of users in regards to video games, which might provide better results. If you are just asking for resources to read about the subject, then the question becomes off-topic, since this community is focused on helping fix specific problems.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
That's what I feared. No, I'm not asking about any particular game I'm developing. And I wouldn't mind any good books about it. I thought about posting this on Reddit, but this site usually gives better answers, in my experience. Off record, any other good places I can ask this that do accept open-ended questions without a single right answer?
– Demetre Saghliani
2 hours ago
That's what I feared. No, I'm not asking about any particular game I'm developing. And I wouldn't mind any good books about it. I thought about posting this on Reddit, but this site usually gives better answers, in my experience. Off record, any other good places I can ask this that do accept open-ended questions without a single right answer?
– Demetre Saghliani
2 hours ago
I'm not sure to be honest, [Reddit](reddit.com) is an option, or you could try [GameDev.net](GameDev.net), I've only used reddit in the past, but I can't tell how popular game dev questions are there and if you'd get an answer.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
I'm not sure to be honest, [Reddit](reddit.com) is an option, or you could try [GameDev.net](GameDev.net), I've only used reddit in the past, but I can't tell how popular game dev questions are there and if you'd get an answer.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
 |Â
show 5 more comments
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
up vote
2
down vote
While it's possible that some delays are deliberately crafted for the reasons you've described, I suspect that in general, they are simply the result of the time it takes the application to perform any reset related activities: loading textures & assets, clearing buffers, reading & writing to save game files and so forth.
In the event that designer / developer is creating an intentional delay, it's most typically based on 'feel' &/or play testing feedback. Often, studios face enough challenges just getting a game to release stage. Things causing obvious & correctable friction (bugs, poor controls, framerate) usually receive priority. Thus, if players say it loads to slow or the designer notices that players are recklessly repeating mistakes, they may attempt to decrease or increase reset times accordingly.
Generally, only the largest of AAA studios hire professional expertise for tuning this level of a games psychological impact. There are some exceptions: anything from the gambling industry and anecdotally, I've heard that some mid-tier mobile developers tinker with this sort of thing (sometimes via AB-testing).
If you're interested in the psychology aspect of this, you might try looking up things related to athletics, attention & performance to repeated tasks (sometimes experiments use games to simulate other activities) and psychological refractory periods.
answered 1 hour ago
Pikalek
5,51212033
Agree. It's typically the time it takes to (easily, comfortably) flush and reinitialise gamestate.
– Arcane Engineer
35 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
In a game that doesn't require touch input in any particular place, showing the "new game" button immediately runs the risk of the user starting a new game when they did not mean to.
Super Meat Boy! doesn't have a restart button, it just assumes you want to restart until you quit. For me, in that game it serves the purpose of allowing my brain to reset for the next attempt.
Geometry Wars 3 has a Quick Restart button that is only visible for a second or two during the initial Game Over screen. This button is not used for anything else during the game, so as soon as you die you can instant restart if you want. Otherwise, you go to the stats page with the "exit to main menu" and "restart" options.
answered 34 mins ago
Almo
5,07542452
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Having the player watch their character die in an elaborate death sequence and then having them repeat content they already passed is a form of punishment. Punishment and reward are essential tools in game design. They are your main methods to guide the player to improve their gameplay. When you punish the player for playing badly, you teach them to recognize their mistakes and avoid them. So a little punishment once in a while can be useful to keep the player engaged.
But too much punishment can quickly turn into frustration. So you want to adjust the intensity of your punishment accordingly to the severity of the mistake.
The majority of games, especially in the AAA sector, are designed in a way that the player will die very rarely. Most challenges are designed with the goal that most players will beat them with their first attempt. You only want to kill the player if the player makes a gross mistakes or refuses to put serious effort into your game. So if the player manages to get themselves killed, the punishment should be quite severe. That way you convince the player to take the game serious again. So show the player an elaborate animation where their character dies, do a slow fade-to-black, followed by an equally slow fade-in of the words "You died", put them into the loading screen (don't bother to check which assets are already loaded - just dump the whole level and make them suffer through a complete reload) and respawn them at a checkpoint which was a few minutes ago.
On the other hand, there are games where the player is supposed to fail over and over again until they succeed. When you design a section in such a game, then you expect that even the most skilled player will fail at least a few times until they finally figure out how to beat your section. You often see such games in the Indie sector. When you are creating such a game, then death is not a punishment. It is your way to tell the players that they haven't figured out the solution yet. So you want to keep the death sequence as short as possible to minimize the punishment effect and let the player retry ASAP. Examples:
- Super Meat Boy
- I wanna be the guy
- Road to Ballhalla
answered 1 hour ago
Philipp
74.2k19171223
add a comment |Â
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
2
down vote
While it's possible that some delays are deliberately crafted for the reasons you've described, I suspect that in general, they are simply the result of the time it takes the application to perform any reset related activities: loading textures & assets, clearing buffers, reading & writing to save game files and so forth.
In the event that designer / developer is creating an intentional delay, it's most typically based on 'feel' &/or play testing feedback. Often, studios face enough challenges just getting a game to release stage. Things causing obvious & correctable friction (bugs, poor controls, framerate) usually receive priority. Thus, if players say it loads to slow or the designer notices that players are recklessly repeating mistakes, they may attempt to decrease or increase reset times accordingly.
Generally, only the largest of AAA studios hire professional expertise for tuning this level of a games psychological impact. There are some exceptions: anything from the gambling industry and anecdotally, I've heard that some mid-tier mobile developers tinker with this sort of thing (sometimes via AB-testing).
If you're interested in the psychology aspect of this, you might try looking up things related to athletics, attention & performance to repeated tasks (sometimes experiments use games to simulate other activities) and psychological refractory periods.
answered 1 hour ago
Pikalek
5,51212033
Agree. It's typically the time it takes to (easily, comfortably) flush and reinitialise gamestate.
– Arcane Engineer
35 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
While it's possible that some delays are deliberately crafted for the reasons you've described, I suspect that in general, they are simply the result of the time it takes the application to perform any reset related activities: loading textures & assets, clearing buffers, reading & writing to save game files and so forth.
In the event that designer / developer is creating an intentional delay, it's most typically based on 'feel' &/or play testing feedback. Often, studios face enough challenges just getting a game to release stage. Things causing obvious & correctable friction (bugs, poor controls, framerate) usually receive priority. Thus, if players say it loads to slow or the designer notices that players are recklessly repeating mistakes, they may attempt to decrease or increase reset times accordingly.
Generally, only the largest of AAA studios hire professional expertise for tuning this level of a games psychological impact. There are some exceptions: anything from the gambling industry and anecdotally, I've heard that some mid-tier mobile developers tinker with this sort of thing (sometimes via AB-testing).
If you're interested in the psychology aspect of this, you might try looking up things related to athletics, attention & performance to repeated tasks (sometimes experiments use games to simulate other activities) and psychological refractory periods.
answered 1 hour ago
Pikalek
5,51212033
Agree. It's typically the time it takes to (easily, comfortably) flush and reinitialise gamestate.
– Arcane Engineer
35 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
While it's possible that some delays are deliberately crafted for the reasons you've described, I suspect that in general, they are simply the result of the time it takes the application to perform any reset related activities: loading textures & assets, clearing buffers, reading & writing to save game files and so forth.
In the event that designer / developer is creating an intentional delay, it's most typically based on 'feel' &/or play testing feedback. Often, studios face enough challenges just getting a game to release stage. Things causing obvious & correctable friction (bugs, poor controls, framerate) usually receive priority. Thus, if players say it loads to slow or the designer notices that players are recklessly repeating mistakes, they may attempt to decrease or increase reset times accordingly.
Generally, only the largest of AAA studios hire professional expertise for tuning this level of a games psychological impact. There are some exceptions: anything from the gambling industry and anecdotally, I've heard that some mid-tier mobile developers tinker with this sort of thing (sometimes via AB-testing).
If you're interested in the psychology aspect of this, you might try looking up things related to athletics, attention & performance to repeated tasks (sometimes experiments use games to simulate other activities) and psychological refractory periods.
answered 1 hour ago
Pikalek
5,51212033
While it's possible that some delays are deliberately crafted for the reasons you've described, I suspect that in general, they are simply the result of the time it takes the application to perform any reset related activities: loading textures & assets, clearing buffers, reading & writing to save game files and so forth.
In the event that designer / developer is creating an intentional delay, it's most typically based on 'feel' &/or play testing feedback. Often, studios face enough challenges just getting a game to release stage. Things causing obvious & correctable friction (bugs, poor controls, framerate) usually receive priority. Thus, if players say it loads to slow or the designer notices that players are recklessly repeating mistakes, they may attempt to decrease or increase reset times accordingly.
Generally, only the largest of AAA studios hire professional expertise for tuning this level of a games psychological impact. There are some exceptions: anything from the gambling industry and anecdotally, I've heard that some mid-tier mobile developers tinker with this sort of thing (sometimes via AB-testing).
If you're interested in the psychology aspect of this, you might try looking up things related to athletics, attention & performance to repeated tasks (sometimes experiments use games to simulate other activities) and psychological refractory periods.
answered 1 hour ago
Pikalek
5,51212033
answered 1 hour ago
Pikalek
5,51212033
answered 1 hour ago
Pikalek
5,51212033
answered 1 hour ago
Pikalek
5,51212033
5,51212033
Agree. It's typically the time it takes to (easily, comfortably) flush and reinitialise gamestate.
– Arcane Engineer
35 mins ago
add a comment |Â
Agree. It's typically the time it takes to (easily, comfortably) flush and reinitialise gamestate.
– Arcane Engineer
35 mins ago
Agree. It's typically the time it takes to (easily, comfortably) flush and reinitialise gamestate.
– Arcane Engineer
35 mins ago
Agree. It's typically the time it takes to (easily, comfortably) flush and reinitialise gamestate.
– Arcane Engineer
35 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
In a game that doesn't require touch input in any particular place, showing the "new game" button immediately runs the risk of the user starting a new game when they did not mean to.
Super Meat Boy! doesn't have a restart button, it just assumes you want to restart until you quit. For me, in that game it serves the purpose of allowing my brain to reset for the next attempt.
Geometry Wars 3 has a Quick Restart button that is only visible for a second or two during the initial Game Over screen. This button is not used for anything else during the game, so as soon as you die you can instant restart if you want. Otherwise, you go to the stats page with the "exit to main menu" and "restart" options.
answered 34 mins ago
Almo
5,07542452
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
In a game that doesn't require touch input in any particular place, showing the "new game" button immediately runs the risk of the user starting a new game when they did not mean to.
Super Meat Boy! doesn't have a restart button, it just assumes you want to restart until you quit. For me, in that game it serves the purpose of allowing my brain to reset for the next attempt.
Geometry Wars 3 has a Quick Restart button that is only visible for a second or two during the initial Game Over screen. This button is not used for anything else during the game, so as soon as you die you can instant restart if you want. Otherwise, you go to the stats page with the "exit to main menu" and "restart" options.
answered 34 mins ago
Almo
5,07542452
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
In a game that doesn't require touch input in any particular place, showing the "new game" button immediately runs the risk of the user starting a new game when they did not mean to.
Super Meat Boy! doesn't have a restart button, it just assumes you want to restart until you quit. For me, in that game it serves the purpose of allowing my brain to reset for the next attempt.
Geometry Wars 3 has a Quick Restart button that is only visible for a second or two during the initial Game Over screen. This button is not used for anything else during the game, so as soon as you die you can instant restart if you want. Otherwise, you go to the stats page with the "exit to main menu" and "restart" options.
answered 34 mins ago
Almo
5,07542452
In a game that doesn't require touch input in any particular place, showing the "new game" button immediately runs the risk of the user starting a new game when they did not mean to.
Super Meat Boy! doesn't have a restart button, it just assumes you want to restart until you quit. For me, in that game it serves the purpose of allowing my brain to reset for the next attempt.
Geometry Wars 3 has a Quick Restart button that is only visible for a second or two during the initial Game Over screen. This button is not used for anything else during the game, so as soon as you die you can instant restart if you want. Otherwise, you go to the stats page with the "exit to main menu" and "restart" options.
answered 34 mins ago
Almo
5,07542452
answered 34 mins ago
Almo
5,07542452
answered 34 mins ago
Almo
5,07542452
answered 34 mins ago
Almo
5,07542452
5,07542452
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Having the player watch their character die in an elaborate death sequence and then having them repeat content they already passed is a form of punishment. Punishment and reward are essential tools in game design. They are your main methods to guide the player to improve their gameplay. When you punish the player for playing badly, you teach them to recognize their mistakes and avoid them. So a little punishment once in a while can be useful to keep the player engaged.
But too much punishment can quickly turn into frustration. So you want to adjust the intensity of your punishment accordingly to the severity of the mistake.
The majority of games, especially in the AAA sector, are designed in a way that the player will die very rarely. Most challenges are designed with the goal that most players will beat them with their first attempt. You only want to kill the player if the player makes a gross mistakes or refuses to put serious effort into your game. So if the player manages to get themselves killed, the punishment should be quite severe. That way you convince the player to take the game serious again. So show the player an elaborate animation where their character dies, do a slow fade-to-black, followed by an equally slow fade-in of the words "You died", put them into the loading screen (don't bother to check which assets are already loaded - just dump the whole level and make them suffer through a complete reload) and respawn them at a checkpoint which was a few minutes ago.
On the other hand, there are games where the player is supposed to fail over and over again until they succeed. When you design a section in such a game, then you expect that even the most skilled player will fail at least a few times until they finally figure out how to beat your section. You often see such games in the Indie sector. When you are creating such a game, then death is not a punishment. It is your way to tell the players that they haven't figured out the solution yet. So you want to keep the death sequence as short as possible to minimize the punishment effect and let the player retry ASAP. Examples:
- Super Meat Boy
- I wanna be the guy
- Road to Ballhalla
answered 1 hour ago
Philipp
74.2k19171223
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Having the player watch their character die in an elaborate death sequence and then having them repeat content they already passed is a form of punishment. Punishment and reward are essential tools in game design. They are your main methods to guide the player to improve their gameplay. When you punish the player for playing badly, you teach them to recognize their mistakes and avoid them. So a little punishment once in a while can be useful to keep the player engaged.
But too much punishment can quickly turn into frustration. So you want to adjust the intensity of your punishment accordingly to the severity of the mistake.
The majority of games, especially in the AAA sector, are designed in a way that the player will die very rarely. Most challenges are designed with the goal that most players will beat them with their first attempt. You only want to kill the player if the player makes a gross mistakes or refuses to put serious effort into your game. So if the player manages to get themselves killed, the punishment should be quite severe. That way you convince the player to take the game serious again. So show the player an elaborate animation where their character dies, do a slow fade-to-black, followed by an equally slow fade-in of the words "You died", put them into the loading screen (don't bother to check which assets are already loaded - just dump the whole level and make them suffer through a complete reload) and respawn them at a checkpoint which was a few minutes ago.
On the other hand, there are games where the player is supposed to fail over and over again until they succeed. When you design a section in such a game, then you expect that even the most skilled player will fail at least a few times until they finally figure out how to beat your section. You often see such games in the Indie sector. When you are creating such a game, then death is not a punishment. It is your way to tell the players that they haven't figured out the solution yet. So you want to keep the death sequence as short as possible to minimize the punishment effect and let the player retry ASAP. Examples:
- Super Meat Boy
- I wanna be the guy
- Road to Ballhalla
answered 1 hour ago
Philipp
74.2k19171223
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
Having the player watch their character die in an elaborate death sequence and then having them repeat content they already passed is a form of punishment. Punishment and reward are essential tools in game design. They are your main methods to guide the player to improve their gameplay. When you punish the player for playing badly, you teach them to recognize their mistakes and avoid them. So a little punishment once in a while can be useful to keep the player engaged.
But too much punishment can quickly turn into frustration. So you want to adjust the intensity of your punishment accordingly to the severity of the mistake.
The majority of games, especially in the AAA sector, are designed in a way that the player will die very rarely. Most challenges are designed with the goal that most players will beat them with their first attempt. You only want to kill the player if the player makes a gross mistakes or refuses to put serious effort into your game. So if the player manages to get themselves killed, the punishment should be quite severe. That way you convince the player to take the game serious again. So show the player an elaborate animation where their character dies, do a slow fade-to-black, followed by an equally slow fade-in of the words "You died", put them into the loading screen (don't bother to check which assets are already loaded - just dump the whole level and make them suffer through a complete reload) and respawn them at a checkpoint which was a few minutes ago.
On the other hand, there are games where the player is supposed to fail over and over again until they succeed. When you design a section in such a game, then you expect that even the most skilled player will fail at least a few times until they finally figure out how to beat your section. You often see such games in the Indie sector. When you are creating such a game, then death is not a punishment. It is your way to tell the players that they haven't figured out the solution yet. So you want to keep the death sequence as short as possible to minimize the punishment effect and let the player retry ASAP. Examples:
- Super Meat Boy
- I wanna be the guy
- Road to Ballhalla
answered 1 hour ago
Philipp
74.2k19171223
Having the player watch their character die in an elaborate death sequence and then having them repeat content they already passed is a form of punishment. Punishment and reward are essential tools in game design. They are your main methods to guide the player to improve their gameplay. When you punish the player for playing badly, you teach them to recognize their mistakes and avoid them. So a little punishment once in a while can be useful to keep the player engaged.
But too much punishment can quickly turn into frustration. So you want to adjust the intensity of your punishment accordingly to the severity of the mistake.
The majority of games, especially in the AAA sector, are designed in a way that the player will die very rarely. Most challenges are designed with the goal that most players will beat them with their first attempt. You only want to kill the player if the player makes a gross mistakes or refuses to put serious effort into your game. So if the player manages to get themselves killed, the punishment should be quite severe. That way you convince the player to take the game serious again. So show the player an elaborate animation where their character dies, do a slow fade-to-black, followed by an equally slow fade-in of the words "You died", put them into the loading screen (don't bother to check which assets are already loaded - just dump the whole level and make them suffer through a complete reload) and respawn them at a checkpoint which was a few minutes ago.
On the other hand, there are games where the player is supposed to fail over and over again until they succeed. When you design a section in such a game, then you expect that even the most skilled player will fail at least a few times until they finally figure out how to beat your section. You often see such games in the Indie sector. When you are creating such a game, then death is not a punishment. It is your way to tell the players that they haven't figured out the solution yet. So you want to keep the death sequence as short as possible to minimize the punishment effect and let the player retry ASAP. Examples:
- Super Meat Boy
- I wanna be the guy
- Road to Ballhalla
answered 1 hour ago
Philipp
74.2k19171223
edited 33 mins ago
answered 1 hour ago
Philipp
74.2k19171223
answered 1 hour ago
Philipp
74.2k19171223
answered 1 hour ago
Philipp
74.2k19171223
74.2k19171223
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fgamedev.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f164458%2fdo-delays-after-losing-and-before-restarting-serve-as-a-defense-against-burnout%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
I don't really think that's intentional, for the most part, a button appearing slowly gives a smooth feeling but also gives some time for the player to realise what happened. Some developers like to have the restart button appearing slowly, others want it to be instant, similarly some developers like to make cutscenes skippable, some want to force them to users.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
@TomTsagk Maybe it's not, but I brought up these games only as examples. I really just want to know whether there is a significant difference between delay vs no delay, and if so what studies there are about it. I tried searching on Google, but seriously, it turned nothing up. Nothing. Nor did Google Scholar.
– Demetre Saghliani
2 hours ago
1
I would guess the reason Google turned up nothing is because there is no significant research about the subject. If you are asking about a game you are developing, it would be better to give us more details so we can help you. I'm sure there are plenty of books out there that focus on psychology of users in regards to video games, which might provide better results. If you are just asking for resources to read about the subject, then the question becomes off-topic, since this community is focused on helping fix specific problems.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago
That's what I feared. No, I'm not asking about any particular game I'm developing. And I wouldn't mind any good books about it. I thought about posting this on Reddit, but this site usually gives better answers, in my experience. Off record, any other good places I can ask this that do accept open-ended questions without a single right answer?
– Demetre Saghliani
2 hours ago
I'm not sure to be honest, [Reddit](reddit.com) is an option, or you could try [GameDev.net](GameDev.net), I've only used reddit in the past, but I can't tell how popular game dev questions are there and if you'd get an answer.
– TomTsagk
2 hours ago