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How to design a first person game with a lot talking like fallout 3

Discussion in 'Game Design' started by hongwaixuexi, Apr 8, 2019.

  1. hongwaixuexi

    hongwaixuexi

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    I am watching videos of fallout3. I think there are lot of talking and wandering, and in fact fighting is less. The level map is a little bigger compared to those maps from asset store.

    I think the story is very straight. Finding Dad, then finish the unfinished job.

    So
    Big level map;
    A lot of talking

    can make this game?
     
  2. taistelusopuli

    taistelusopuli

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    Absolutely! :)

    One huge feature that draws players into the alternative reality of Fallout, is exploration. Fallout & Elder Scrolls series both invite the player on a journey of discovery rather than forcing them into a tunnel of events.
     
  3. hongwaixuexi

    hongwaixuexi

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    How to define exploration? Sometimes I feel boring because the player has to go through a long journey just to find one message.
     
  4. neoshaman

    neoshaman

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  5. hongwaixuexi

    hongwaixuexi

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  6. hongwaixuexi

    hongwaixuexi

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  7. neoshaman

    neoshaman

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    You must have a paid membership for it
     
  8. hongwaixuexi

    hongwaixuexi

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    I thought GDC were free because there are ton of them on Youtube.
     
  9. neoshaman

    neoshaman

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    Some are free, not all, not all slide too, they decide which are member or free
     
  10. hongwaixuexi

    hongwaixuexi

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  11. neoshaman

    neoshaman

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    no it depend on your design small or big don't matter, that's what you propose that make the difference. Aspect such as density, interest and variety mater more
     
  12. hongwaixuexi

    hongwaixuexi

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    Thanks. Do you think "fallout 3" is still a good game?
     
  13. neoshaman

    neoshaman

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    Hasn't play it, but many people think so, good is relative in game design.
     
  14. hongwaixuexi

    hongwaixuexi

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    OK. Thanks.
     
  15. kdgalla

    kdgalla

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    It depends. Having lots of space to explore can be fun or frustrating depending on a lot of factors. Some things to think about are whether you've done enough to make exploration interesting and rewarding to the player.

    In Fallout 3, for example, the player requires a lot of different resources and there are no reliable places to find them, so the player is motivated to explore. When the player explores they find things that they need, but also unusual story elements and details that contribute to the theme of the story. If you create a big world, there needs to be content to justify it or your game will feel empty and boring.

    Also, since you are making a story-based game, another thing to keep in mind is the pacing of the story. If the player is in a tense, surprising, or exciting part of the story, they may not feel like exploring until that part of the story is resolved.

    I'm sure there are other factors to consider, but those are just two that come to mind.
     
  16. hongwaixuexi

    hongwaixuexi

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    In fallout 3, there are too many junks such as empty bottles. I don't know why they want the player to collect these junks. I can't get these ideas from reading "save the cat".
     
  17. Ryiah

    Ryiah

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    What left you with the impression you're supposed to collect them? Junk items exist to make the environment feel like it has been or currently is inhabited. An environment with no clutter is an unrealistic one as the real world is just as heavily littered with "junk" objects (eg a forest will have the remains of dead trees, sticks laying around, etc).
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2019
  18. kdgalla

    kdgalla

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    If there is an aspect of the game that you don't like, there's an opportunity to improve your own game by eliminating that feature.

    Fallout 3 (like most AAA studio games) has a huge amount of different elements, items, choices and what not. But as a solo developer, if I were you I'd focus only on a small set of features that you feel very strongly about and are comfortable with.
     
  19. Joe-Censored

    Joe-Censored

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    A large but empty or repetitive map can easily be inferior to a small map that is well designed.
     
  20. ClaudiaTheDev

    ClaudiaTheDev

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    Short answer: As a single Dev: NO

    Long answer:
    I love fallout 3 and the things you mentioned arent the heart of that game (in my opinion). Not the big map and not the talking make this game great.
    What it is are the quests and humor! The quests almost always have different endings and ways to absolve them. The talking is mainly part of the quests. The big map helps for the differnet possible solutions to a quest. It also want the player to discover more secrets and quests. Also you can find computers with some side stories which are mainly really funny and nice to read.

    So when you want to do a game like fallout 3 you should not concentrate on a big map but rather on designing interesting quests with differnet endings. And the map should be the main support to let the quests feel nonlinear. A small map with a lot of variety can do this too regarding that you are a single dev.

    But i think that a single dev you cannot do a game like fallout 3!
    It costs a lot of time to design interesting quests with nice characters. And also you will need a couple of game mechanics if you want the fallout 3 feeling of differnet ways to solve a quest(Talking, Fighting, Stealing...) ... so much work for one person!
    I don't think you can do that or do you have a team?
     
  21. hongwaixuexi

    hongwaixuexi

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    Thanks. I don't have a team. I will consider your opinion.
     
  22. neoshaman

    neoshaman

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    This might help you understand some set up, when people say organize your game like a story, it mean you must think about the phases the player go through gameplay, ie the gameplay loop.

    Consider a typical rpg, you generally start a town take a quest, get into the field, get into the dungeon/area, complete the dungeon and get the objectives, then get back to get the reward of the quest. The quest lead you in and out many place, but most quest are grouped into town, and most objective are out of town, so even though it's the same loop, it makes you travel different place, to spice things up you have quest within quest, that aren't at the town, etc ... But when the player move around teh world, he is attracted to town because that's where he will find objectives, also town hold services like shop, where the player can restock before or after quest, or even retreat to prepare better. But in order to prepare, the player can also go to random spot in the field where he can get loot to better do quest, those are secondary activity, either killing monster or fishing or just collecting, the player is drawn to different area because they offer different resources. Those resources are necessary to complete quest, and quest are necessary to get equipment to collect better resources, so that's another loop. Loop can be setup as stories, some has a problem, you get to see him to solve that problem, which is the quest.

     
  23. hongwaixuexi

    hongwaixuexi

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    Thanks. I think I should learn how to make a level design.
     
  24. neoshaman

    neoshaman

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    Level design is an extension and application of game design, you need game design first, we can generalized level design to progression design of the rules and token defined in the game design.