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[PsyberianHusky]

Hey, I am collecting data for my schools game dev club, and because my role is typically the art and bits of the game design docs, and because I value your opinions more then anywhere else on the net, I thought I might steal some ideas form you.

So what do you like to see in games?
-Do you have a preferred art style
-How long should the game take to play?
-What aspects of the game do you like to have control over
-How important is challenge?
-Whatever you feel is important.

If we produce anything this semester I will be happy to share it with you guys,
if not i am sure you guys will learn something about yourselfs/ turn the conversation into why the PS 3 is the master system.

[ein]

-Do you have a preferred art style
I like most artistic styles simply because it's not boring photorealism.
If I wanted a photorealistic game, I'd go outside.
See: Mad World and Okami.
edit: and Borderlands.

-How long should the game take to play?
I like long games, but not too long.
I like how Bethesda does things, with a fairly short main story that you can completely ignore for weeks if you want to, or finish within the hour by powergaming.

-What aspects of the game do you like to have control over
Morality.
And actually fucking shades of grey morality system.
That really affects the world.
Too many modern games attempt this and fail, simply because there are no actual consequences for your actions.

-How important is challenge?
Difficulty levels.
Make the challenge accessible to all.

-Whatever you feel is important.
Another thing I like and have rarely seen implemented well is a crafting system.
Not some crappy schematics say 2x bolts + 1x pipe + 1x cell = homemade laser, but rather, an actual crafting system that lets you combine parts as you wish to build something completely of your own.
I was really disappointed with this in Fallout 3.
I expected actual custom weapons and got some schematics for novelty items that, for the most part, look cool, but are horrible weapons.

[Empty]

I don't really care about art styles but have noticed that I've enjoyed a lot more 2d games.
I prefer long games the longer the better.
I also like having lots of things to choose from in games.

[Pathos]

-Do you have a preferred art style?

NOT JAPANESE THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS. God damn it, I hate anime-esque games.

-How long should the game take to play?

Depends on the game itself and what you mean by "to play". If it's a round per round game, I'd say between ten minutes and half an hour. If it's a full RPG, at least 20 hours for the "main quest". FPSes with multiplayer can do whatever the hell they like as long as multiplayer is engrossing.

-What aspects of the game do you like to have control over?

Character appearance, naming, controlling plot flow, companions.

-How important is challenge?

Not really THAT important. Bonus bosses etc should be difficult (in a thinking way, not "LEVEL to LVL 999 SO YOU CAN WINS"). I do enjoy more challenging games, though.

-Whatever you feel is important.

Jiggle physics.

[Zaranthan]

-Do you have a preferred art style
Not specifically, just that it should tie into the game's overall atmosphere. Photorealism is cool and all, but the emphasis should be on making the game elements recognizable.

-How long should the game take to play?
The length of the game itself isn't as important as how long a game takes to play out entirely. If a game can be "beaten" in 10 hours, but has enough optional content to stay fresh for ten playthroughs, that's much better than a Final Fantasy style 100 hour slog, because it gets much harder to keep introducing new mechanics after hour 50 or so.

-What aspects of the game do you like to have control over
Pacing. Sometimes I want to sit down and lose myself in the game, and there are plenty of games out there that do that. But, other times I have to watch the dog, or get stuff done around the house, or otherwise multitask my gaming time. For the ideal implementation, check out the Civilization series.

-How important is challenge?
See Devil May Cry. The game should be more than capable of kicking my ass, but put in an easy mode so scrubs like me can still see the story play out.

-Whatever you feel is important.
If you're making a game with zombies in it, the shotgun needs to be good. And have enough ammo to not be a last resort.


Aside:

NOT JAPANESE THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS. God damn it, I hate anime-esque games.

This condemnation actually demonstrates what's wrong with "anime style" visuals: anime is a medium, not a style. Far too many artists out there have seen good anime/manga, and tried to emulate the superficial details of the medium (big eyes, cel shading, etc.) rather than the stylistic elements WITHIN the medium that made what they saw good.

[PsyberianHusky]

^
If ya wanna see a good emulation of the anime style look up lemming ball z

[DJ]

- Isometric, with easily readable sprites and mild colours, stuff like Age of Kings, Stronghold, Fallout 2 or Haven and Hearth.
- 30 minutes - 2 hours for a session. I'm not much of a fan of games that you "finish", they don't have any replay value.
- I should be able to control everything if I want to, but most stuff should be automatable so I don't get bogged down with micromanagement.
- Probably the most important thing. It's what makes the difference between a game and a movie.
- If you're going to limit me, make the limits appear natural. I HATE invisible walls, unjumpable knee-high fences, artificial restrictions on control over units etc.

[Ivefan]

-Do you have a preferred art style
 Graphics is just the medium used to convey The Game, So don't do like all the commercial developers and make a game that displays the fancy graphics... Unless it's an artistic game

-How long should the game take to play?
 It's a hard task balance. For as long as it is entertaining and should probably be finished just a little before it stops being entertaining. Portal ,for example, can be finished in 1-2 hours. But during that time you'll have a great time, and might replay it for a few more times.

-How important is challenge?
 Important, but take care to not make things frustrating. Personally i hate the kind of boss fights that requires me to learn the boss fighting pattern to time my attacks/dodges, it just takes time and i'll never fight the boss again, so what is the point in spending the time to learn to fight it?

-Whatever you feel is important.
 Complexity and multiple options. I mean a Dwarf Fortress kind of complexity, where you can't help but to be amazed at the workings in the background. Not the 100 different buttons all in one screen kind, that is just confusing
 And with options - Many dialogue options of its that kind of game. If it's a strategy game or similar then there should be multiple ways to do things. not just like, the slow and durable, the fast and nimble or the swarming weak.

Perhaps you could tell us what sort of game you guys have in mind?

also, Thread derailment

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

...why the PS 3 is the master system.

Lies, The PC is the master system!

[Grendus]

-Do you have a preferred art style
I'm not picky, but I'm also not easily wowed. Heck, I play DF. Graphics just need to be functional

-How long should the game take to play?
Depends on the game. If it's a flash type game, an hour is probably optimal. Anything more and you'll need a save function. I have seen some very good flash games though, even the ones that didn't try (and fail) to become big MMORPGS.

If it's a downloaded game, depends on the genera. I've noticed RPG's tend to last a lot longer than FPS's. If this is a free game, an hour for a shooter and five to ten hours for an RPG is probably a good benchmark. More is up to you, since I'm assuming this will be a freeware game value is not a huge issue.

-What aspects of the game do you like to have control over
I've always been a fan of in depth control. I loved The Matrix: Path of Neo even though they butchered the plot, cobbled together freakin unintelligible cutscenes from all three movies, and just made stuff up as they went. It had one of the best hand to hand combat systems I've ever seen, I really felt like as my skills improved I could take on the higher difficulties, but it had easier modes for the learning curve.

My biggest suggestion is that you make sure the player always has something he can do, in any situation. Even if he loses, then, he'll know that it was because he was outplayed, not because the RNG decided to take a dump on him.

-How important is challenge?
It has to have a learning curve. DF only got around that because the community provided in depth walkthroughs and game support. It has the learning curve of a brick wall with no handholds. Beyond that, it's all up to you. I'm not a big fan of unforgiving situations, and for gods sake don't suddenly force the player to adapt to a completely new playstyle or use gear that has previously been useless. That can be very frustrating.

Difficulty settings, if you can manage them, are a good way to control this.

-Whatever you feel is important.
Make a game you love. Don't worry so much about what everyone else wants, if you don't like the game it will have no passion. I've seen games made like that, nobody played them. Take our advice with a grain of salt, then go make your game.

[Hawkfrost]

Character appearance, naming, controlling plot flow, companions.

If there are companions, they better damn have good AI.
I absolutely hate when you have companions and you have to babysit them constantly. Or when you have to protect them.
If little Jimmy needs protection then he shouldn't keep running up and slugging the crowd of monsters in the face.



-Art style doesn't matter as long as it flows.
-If it is a RPG-type game, I would say a decent length. Not too long to drag on, but not too short that it feels over quickly. About ten hours maybe.
-In terms of challenge, if a game is too hard people(like me) will just get frustrated and quit. If it is too easy, it gets boring. A way to dance around this issue is to include difficulty modes.
-Oh gods, let us skip cutscenes. What is with modern games and forcing me to watch four minute cutscenes. It puts replayability into the crapper because nobody wants to have to sit there and watch it again.
-You should never be saying "Why can't I go over there", or "why does this fence block my path while I can clearly jump over it". Okami did this pretty well, It never came to mind that I was enclosed in an area.

My biggest suggestion is that you make sure the player always has something he can do, in any situation. Even if he loses, then, he'll know that it was because he was outplayed, not because the RNG decided to take a dump on him.

This is a great point.

EDIT: Oh yes, I forgot something.
Lots of side things to do. Gonna bring up Okami again, it contains so many goods things that any talk like this is going to make me bring it up repeatedly.
 In Okami I spent at least ten hours just collecting all 100 Stray Beads(without a guide), four catching all the types of fish, and another twenty-five or so doing sidequests that were unique and interesting (like the one where you chase the thief through the city, blasting his mirror images with different types of spells, or when you battle the Kusa 5 in a giant melee). There was so much to do that when I finally finished it I was left reeling (I still need to finish the last two Black Demon Gates, but the difficulty for them is insane).

[Calhoun]

-Do you have a preferred art style
Not really. Realistic looking games are fine, but personally I'd like to see more games with unique art styles. See: Borderlands, Team Fortress 2. They look great, and will continue to look good for more years than most games with Realistic art.

-How long should the game take to play?
Genre specific. Personally, Longer is better, (if the game is any good.) Open-world RPG's (And RPG's in general) Should give you at least 50 hours, though 100+ is something to shoot for. FPS's should either give a decent 10-15 hour campaign or just drop all pretense. No shitty 3-5 hour single player modes, I'm sick of it. RTS\TBS games should also have a lengthy at least 10 hour campaign.

-What aspects of the game do you like to have control over
Depends on the game. However, if it's on PC. Preferably everything. Mod tools, or at least mod support by the developers is huge. As great as the Dev team may be, they will never be able to put out as much content as the community at large. While most of that content will lean towards the crappy side, there will be GEMS. Mod support is the single best thing a developer can do to extend the lifetime of their game and keep it relevant.

-How important is challenge?
Challenge is something that should be variable. As what may be hard for one, may be a cakewalk for some, or even impossible for another. Ideally this would go beyond simple "Easy" "Normal" "Hard" buttons. Ideally you'd actually be able to toggle the variables (That were being changed by those settings anyways) to create a custom difficulty. Calculated as a percentage (Start at 100%, if things are made easier go down, if harder go up).  It works good with score based games, as you then multiply the score by the difficulty percentage.

-Whatever you feel is important.

Modding, as stated above. Community support is also a big thing. If developers communicate with the players outside of Official announcements, it will help keep the fan base interested and make them feel welcome.

if not i am sure you guys will learn something about yourselfs/ turn the conversation into why the PS 3 is the master system.

What a Joker!

[Virtz]

-Do you have a preferred art style

Photo-realistic (a la Half-Life 2 or Max Payne) or grimdark (like Blood Omen, Soul Reaver or Dreamweb). I hate cell-shaded/anime 3D.

-How long should the game take to play?

Since I prefer non-linear games, you should be able to make a bee-line for the main objective and do it in a few minutes from the beginning (with much greater difficulty than if done later) rather than have some artificial script-based lengtheners where you must visit 5+ locations before the end location becomes available to you. Beyond that, the game should offer many varied side-quests/objectives (and not of the fedex quest or collect them all type).

-What aspects of the game do you like to have control over

Depends on time mechanics. The closer to accelerated real-time, the less I'd want to control personally, the closer to strict turn-based, the more I'd want to be able to micromanage (although with the posibility to delegate this to a competent AI in case of strategy games).

-How important is challenge?

As long as the enemy follows the same rules as I do (as in, does not possess stat bonuses, does not have omni-vision or omni-presence), then anything beatable goes.

And the more complex the game and the more complex my demise, the more I'm willing to accept defeat and try again.

-Whatever you feel is important.

Storyline. Both in writing and interaction. If the writing is inane/cliche/banal, then I really don't feel like playing the game further. Over-the-top style storylines are fine (a la God of War or Secret of Steel, where you basically just destroy everything for petty reasons). Otherwise, it best try to be original, at least in premise.

In terms of storyline interaction, I mean being able to meaningfully influence the ending (not in a random ass way a la Chrono Trigger either). Or at least being able to have an impact on locale storylines (like in Fallout) or on individual character storylines (like in Mask of the Betrayer).

[fenrif]

I have no choices or preferances in relation to your questions. It depends entirely on the game in question. Some games are meant to be short arcadey experiences, some epic 40+ hour RPGs. I like them both, and all the steps inbetween. Some games allow you to control everything in minute detail, some only allow you to jump and sidestep. Again, each has it's own merits.

My advice would be to ignore what other people think, and make the game you want to make and play. I'd much rather play a game that the creator was passionate about than something designed to appeal to the widest range of audiences.

[Muz]

So what do you like to see in games?
- Creativity. Offer me something I haven't seen before, or at least a significant improvement. Clones are no fun, especially reused levels. Platforms, RTSes, all other genres, are fine.. just offer something different. At the very least give another storyline.

Do you have a preferred art style
- Just as long as it suits the feel of the game. Not so much into photorealistic as I am into details - I'd rather see a cartoon game where cannons can blow chunks off walls than a big, beautiful world where bullets don't even leave holes. It should be immersive, not a big set. Dwarf Fortress is beautiful in a way that the ASCII grass moves with the wind; a graphic's purpose is to give you more accurate information about the world.

How long should the game take to play?
- Gameplay should last forever, ideally, with different things every time, like in roguelikes

What aspects of the game do you like to have control over?
- I don't get this question. Depends entirely on the game. If you give me a platformer, I want full control over the character, but not the platforms. If you give me a grand strategy, I don't care about the character's control or even the platform, the less control the more fun the puppeteering is.

How important is challenge?
- Challenge is just giving a goal for the player to achieve. Just give enough for a player to need an effort, but not so much that it gets frustrating. Most of the fun in a game is achievement - there's no achievement if there's no challenge. Then again, a story-heavy game is fun even without challenge, which is why JRPGs only use a minor challenge (grinding) to extend the length of the game, and the joy is that you spend enough time on it that you unlock a story branch.

[Puck]

So what do you like to see in games?

Sad times in which a thread can go on as long as this without anybody making a single boobies joke.

I weep for mankind.