Jester took a pen and wrote something on paper.

There are already seven or eight pieces of paper written on his side, with some of his insights on the genre of 3D action games and how to develop them.

It's all the things he recalled just now, and he plans to record them all while he thinks about them now, and when he still has some time.

After Itagaki Companion was busy with the development of "Iron Fist", it was almost time for the new console to come out, and then he handed over this experience to the other party, so that the other party could understand it carefully, and make an action game that could really shock people.

Jester continued to remember.

Why is Monster Hunter a textbook for action games? In fact, this involves the question of what theory is used in an action game to make zuò.

Very simple.

It is a game of time and space, and Monster Hunter is a model of this design theory.

The game's AI isn't complicated at all, and then relies on the actions of the monsters themselves to make a real difference. As for how to do this? That's the spirit of craftsmanship.,There's no shortcut.,There's not even a theory of making a trip.,It's all about understanding the action and doing it little by little.,A little bit of tune.,The biggest advantage of Monster Hunter is in the action design.,He has all the advantages of the previous three types of action games.,And all of them are flawless.。

Jester once talked to someone who liked Monster Hunter about what the game was all about.

I think it's a monster game.,He said it's a game of equipment.,Tangled for a long time.,Finally, I unified my thoughts.,This is a game of equipment for the sake of fighting monsters...... In fact, this conclusion is still a monster game in the final analysis.

"Monster Hunter" is really good at fighting monsters. I said that Monster Hunter AI is simple, but in fact, I am talking about the simplicity of the underlying AI. However, in terms of the special treatment of AI, Monster Hunter is extremely complicated: the control of anger, the change of action after anger, the change of area, sleeping, special actions in special areas, and so on. These complex treatments not only make the characters of each monster extremely distinct and easy to remember, but also well regulate the rhythm of the game.

If you have to talk about shortcomings, in addition to the recognized problem of picture slag, it can't be said that there is nothing at all.

Or rather, it's not a disadvantage.

That's the difficulty of getting started, this is a game that doesn't seem to be difficult, but it's very difficult for beginners to play, and there is basically no teaching in the game. The designers completely expect the player to go to the training center to practice their weapons, which in modern games can basically be said to be dead; The first 20 hours have not been a dragon bomb (take 2G as an example), basically I feel like a garbage game (for anyone who is in contact with monster hunting for the first time), but as long as you insist on passing the dragon completely on your own, you will directly die and live in love, but, 20 hours is really too long......

Why?

Do you know how long it takes for Naughty Dog's masterpiece "Uncharted 3" to go through it all?

Thirteen hours only.

Maybe when it comes to difficulty, there will be many people who talk about the problem of ninja dragons. Regarding the difficulty of ninja dragons, it may be a convention, or even recognized by players.

Actually, Jester said it before. The reason why I think a game is difficult is because I don't understand the design intent of the game designer at all, as long as you understand the designer's design intent, any game. It's not difficult.

Many people say that ninja dragons are difficult because AI is difficult...... Actually, this is wrong, for action games, AI will always be a child of action design. The difficulty of an action game,The most important focus is on the speed of the enemy's moves、The speed of recruitment,And then the value (attack and defense, etc.),This is the most important part of determining the difficulty,AI can only be assisted,As I said before,Ninja Dragon 2 belongs to the action corresponding to the game,Playing is the control of time and space and the game。

The essence of Ninja Dragon 2's difficulty is that he is very strict with time and space, because the enemy moves and receives very quickly, and even doesn't give you time to react - you must be in a very suitable place at a very right time in order to damage the enemy.

At the same time, because these requirements are too strict, so when designing, the ninja dragon's enemy HP must not be very large, in such harsh conditions, if the enemy's HP is like "Monster Hunter", then don't play directly.

It can be said that in terms of the game and application of time and space, Ninja Dragon and Monster Hunter take two completely different paths.

Of course, the same path is the same.

In fact, this strictness is also the success of the ninja dragon, because it makes the feeling of "life and death in an instant", which is the best way to play a game with a ninja theme, from the game "Shadow Blade", Jester can also clearly feel that the immaturity of Itagaki Companion's thinking is here, that is, he still doesn't understand at all, a ninja game, how to do it, is the most appropriate.

As a result, the strict requirements and the enemy's low blood volume work at the same time, and there is a "sense of luck" when we play ninja dragons, that is, the same enemy, sometimes killed in a while, and sometimes beaten like a dog...... Actually, it's -- if you're lucky, you'll need two or three chances to be in that right spot, and it's easy to get by, because the enemy has little health; And if you want to get to that right position every time, it's very difficult because it's too demanding.

On the contrary, when Capcom is making games, their philosophy is to give the player enough time to react to control, and the control of space and time is very strict, which is very different from strictness. This results in the boss having to be long enough to check the player's "error rate...... For example, Monster Hunter, you may fight the boss for half an hour, and you will lose all your efforts because of a greedy mistake......

And at the end of the day.

Ninja Dragons mainly play how to create an opportunity to attack the enemy; And "Monster Hunter" and "Devil May Cry" are how I use a stiff of the boss to deal the most damage, because shortening the boss battle time is used to reduce the error rate, and a long time is the biggest risk of causing mistakes.

Some people may wonder that it took so long for these two games to be difficult, but why did it be said before that the game was not difficult at all?

Very short.

You need to understand what the designer intended when designing the gameplay.

First of all, we must understand the so-called difficulties.

"Monster Hunter" is a game that fits the concept of Capcom's zuò game very well, and it is an enlarged version of the concept.

Ka Ordinary has made a lot of classic action games (and fighting games) since the arcade, and their understanding of action games is probably like this: if a player doesn't want to be beaten at all and keeps hiding, then no one can hit him; It's when the player attacks that it's the most dangerous.

You see, Monster Hunter is, if you take your weapon and keep hiding, no one will be able to hit you. Therefore, the real game of the card ordinary game is all about: the time game of one's own moves, take-ins and enemy-action moves~ Almost only at this time, there is the possibility of being beaten. Well, the first difficulty of "Monster Hunter" is here: you need to really understand the performance of the enemy's moves and your own movements, as long as you settle down and figure it out, then the enemy will not be able to hit you at all, so, looking at it this way, it is not difficult at all.

We have played games from childhood to adulthood, which BOSS can't be killed in 10 minutes? If you have to think that it is easy to kill quickly, and it is difficult to kill for a long time, then "Monster Hunter" is really difficult...... the boss of "Monster Hunter" has a long amount of blood, the reason for this design has been said before, a battle lasts for a long time, so, the second difficulty of "Monster Hunter" is patience.

Because this game takes a long time, people who are impatient are easily impetuous, and they kneel as soon as they are impetuous...... Therefore, as long as you are prepared to fight a protracted war and do not be greedy for knives, it is not difficult at all.

As long as you change your old thinking: don't think that a battle is going to end quickly, and be ready to fight a long one. As soon as this mindset shifts, the game is suddenly something else simple. Because that's the rule designed by the designer, that's how he rules the gameplay of this game, so you have to adapt to it, and once you're in the rules, it's easy.

Let's talk about ninja dragons.

If you have to think that it is difficult to die often, then the ninja dragon is indeed very difficult.

Jester remembers that he achieved a trophy called Indomitable Spirit, which is to die fifty times when he reached the Ninja difficulty.

But turning it over, in fact, in the ninja dragon, is there really any price for dying? If every battle is like a monster hunter, and it takes 30 minutes or even more, then it is really devastating to die, and it has been fought for so long in vain...... But you can think about the death of the ninja dragon, there is no price at all, and then you can start again at any time after the battle dies...... Under such conditions, is it still necessary to treat death as difficult?

In fact, for the public, the gameplay of Ninja Dragon 2 is: in the continuous death, find the best way to pass this place; After deciding on the method, try it again and again, and you can pass it sooner or later.

So, it's not difficult for ninja dragons.

Or as long as you change your old thinking: don't feel like you will fail when you die, and be prepared to die continuously. Find the right way to pass in death, and then perform the good way in death and pass guò. Because that's the designer's rule, you have to adapt.

There are actually many examples of this in action games.

For example, the Dark Souls series, which is considered to be the best ACT game after the ninja and the demon. (To be continued......)