"I've never received a letter of complaint like: 'Dear Jester or any other maker, your game is fun, but I've won too many times.'" Just imagine, if in reality, a team always wins, for decades in a row, do you think this is normal? ”

"It's the same with other forms of entertainment. Rambo always beats the bad guys at the end of the movie, and Sherlock Holmes always solves the mystery at the end of the novel chapter. This is the basic commonality of entertainment. We also need to be aware of this when designing video games: players are always expecting happy endings. Such an outcome does not necessarily mean victory, but it usually does. I think you need to be aware of your players' expectations at all times during the game design process. ”

"Why is this happening?"

At this point, Jester paused again, of course, he didn't want anyone to answer this time, he just paused for a moment, and then continued.

And the people under the stage were already completely attracted by what he said.

Silent.

Jester was also happy with the scene.

Every speaker is happy with this kind of scene, because it means that even though some people are very interested in what you are saying.

"One of the most important tools a designer uses to shape a player's journey is the reward and punishment mechanic, which is to make good and bad things happen to the player. In the game, there is a peculiar antagonistic relationship between reward and punishment. When you reward a player, for example, by asking them to find food or a hundred gold coins on the map, the player will accept it without question, without doubting whether they deserve it. Players are strongly inclined to accept a qiē reward from you, and will feel that the reason for receiving the reward is due to their skill or strategy. ”

Jester's ridiculous statement once again made many people laugh silently.

Because it's a very common mindset when they're playing games, Jester just rightly says it.

"On the other hand, if a player encounters something bad in the game, they will only find the game problematic or unfair. Therefore, be careful when putting obstacles on your players. Designers must make sure that players understand why bad things happen to them. It's more important to help them understand how to avoid bad things next time. As long as the seeds of 'next time' can be planted in the minds of players, designers are one step closer to game replayability. ”

"Why?"

"Because, 'The next time I change my play, maybe it will be different.'" This is the core ingredient for players to keep playing, and as a designer, you have to seize every opportunity to sow the seeds of replayability into your players' minds. ”

When Jester said this, the audience fell silent again.

As Jester said earlier, game design should be combined with the study of player psychology.

These are the two game mentalities he just mentioned. It's really the kind of mindset they have when a lot of games go on.

And Jester obviously talked about the excitement, he even put down the speech he had prepared before, didn't even look at it, and looked up directly.

"As for the rewards, the other key aspect that came to mind – the first fifteen minutes of the game had to be very interesting and exciting, basically a foreshadowing of all the fun things that were going to happen in the game. The point of the reward is to make the player feel comfortable in the game world, to let them know that they are doing the right thing, that what is happening so far is fun, and that what is going to happen in a while is even more fun. ”

"In order to keep the player engaged enough at the beginning of the game. Make them a part of the world you've created, and you can reward them almost enough. Of course, acknowledging this does not mean negating the value of setting a difficulty rating. I'm not advocating a flexible difficulty setting that pushes the player along the way without putting any obstacles in his way. ”

"Actually. I've talked about the difficulty level a few times in some of my presentations within Mars Entertainment. At the time, I suggested that a fourth-class difficulty level was the perfect setting. The simplest level is designed to introduce beginners to the game, where they can win anything. The second tier is for casual players, and the third tier is for veteran players. The fourth most difficult level is dedicated to the hardcore players. ”

Hearing Jester's analysis in such detail, many people nodded silently.

"But actually, we were later after the discussion. I don't think four difficulty levels are enough, for example, I talked to Sid. Mr. Mel had previously discussed the difficulty level of the next generation of Civilization. Mr. Mel felt that the current PC could not perfectly fulfill some of his ideas, so it is uncertain when Civilization 3 will be developed. ”

"At the time, I could say something about his level of difficulty."

A lot of people here are Sid. Mel's "Civilization" fans, so, when Jester talks about the legendary "Civilization 3", they also pay special attention.

"We got this information from the feedback from the players, and many players felt that our attitude of breadth between the difficulties was that in Civilization 2, some people easily beat the second difficulty, but when facing the first difficulty, they were at a loss, and they had a way to get even a little sense of accomplishment from this kind of game experience, so we all thought that we had to set more difficulty levels for the game."

"Especially in a strategy game like Civilization."

"The step-by-step difficulty is a great reward for players. Players will feel that the challenge is always ahead. After he cleared a level, he naturally wanted to move up to the next level. The designer wants to make the player feel that their table is above the average, and to convince them that they are good at the table and will do better as the game progresses. According to the fifteen-minute rule, it is important to give the player a positive experience at the beginning of the game. ”

Jester was talking.

The audience was also very fascinated, and many of them thought that game development was easy to learn.

But now listening to Jester say this, it seems that there are a lot of things hidden in it, and it is far from being as simple as they thought before.

"The next principle is the Evil Alliance Principle."

Jester smiled as he said this, and he casually asked, "Have any of you ever heard this before?" And the people under the stage were a little confused when they heard it.

Because they've never heard of this principle called the Evil Alliance (to be continued......