In the speech on Monday, a senior game system designer from Sumo Digital Studio hosted the speech and talked about the knowledge of game system design. Among them, what interested me the most were the knowledge of game loops and the game “meta “system. She explained that in fact, whether some games can retain players mainly depends on these two systems. Game loops form the rhythm of the player’s experience. After completing a loop or during the loop, do players have the motivation to keep playing? The “meta” system, on the other hand, is a “game outside the game”. It offers long-term goals, increases strategic depth and playability. For instance, in the game “Warframe”, the equipment system requires players to defeat bosses to obtain “equipment components” and then combine the components into complete equipment. This part of the knowledge has really benefited me a lot.
As for my own game, my thoughts have changed a little this week. Previously, I thought of making a pure horror game. But recently, after reading some novels, such as “Dragon Raja”, I increasingly feel that the emotion of “loss” can touch people’s hearts more. So I made some relatively big changes to my game. The name of the game has changed from simply chase to “Chase – the Fading Warmth”. The game has changed from players simply escaping from monsters to players gradually gaining or losing something because of their own actions and choices. For example, after a quarrel with the family, the player runs out of the house and sees a puppy in a big pit.
“Dragon Raja” Novels
Players can choose to add insult to injury or take the initiative to rescue, both of which will change the course of the subsequent plot. Also, I plan to try using “fragmented narrative” to explain the game story, hiding the game’s story within each item and interaction in the game. This way, it can be more immersive. Writing game stories is also something I’m good at, and I have accordingly modified my GDD. I hope my game can go smoothly.
ps: Sumo Digital Game Studio was once involved in a major update of the game “Warframe”, and I happen to be a die-hard player of this game. Although I found out this later, I quite regret not asking that designer if he was involved in that major update.
Sources：https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%BE%99%E6%97%8F/2373856