The head of Deathloop reveals the secrets of gaming design Leave a comment

Creative leader Ding Bakaba (Dinga Bakaba) talked with NoClip about how to create Deathloop. There were a lot of curious topics for the conversation – from a successful start of production to an unexpected return of delicious kicks.

Bakaba pleasantly surprised that the very first sketches reached the final version Deathloop. At first, the events of the game fit in not one day, but in four days, but the general concept remained the same: there is one card, there you can spend as much as possible, and after leaving the location the playing time is rewound to the next period.

The idea with a chain of actions and murders, with which you need to break an endless cycle, also existed immediately. Every time Arkane I tried to somehow change the concept (say, adding something at the beginning or at the end), the game fell apart-another sign that the studio managed to grab the correct balance from the very beginning.

In the industry, it often happens when the concept at the start of development is very different from the final result. IN Deathloop there was also a lot of things, but the foundation turned out to be strong from the very beginning.

How to play the game from Arkane correctly?

As he says Bakaba, He was painful every time he saw on the network questions: “Did I play correctly in Dishonored 2?" Arkane I sought to ensure that users could play as they want, but in the end the gamers still felt guilty if they played "wrong".

When the player knows the environment, his capabilities and features of gameplay systems, the game becomes incredibly pleasant. So, you need to make sure that as many people as possible receive an excellent level of awareness of the game.

Reigracy should not arise only https://romibet.uk/ from the user’s desire to pass the game again, but should become an integral part of the gameplay – this is how awareness is increased.

Excellent awareness must be achieved long before the final. According to Bakabs, V Dishonored And Prey Some users have a moment when the knowledge of the game reached its peak, the possibilities have become especially cool, but the plot is now about to fit the finale and the whole buzz will end quickly.

Cunning with training

IN Deathloop There are many mechanics that are rarely found in other games – for example, tricks with cyclical time and “murder puzzle”, when you need to unravel the chain of events and find an effective way to eliminate all goals for one setup. Because of this, the compilation of training turned out to be a particularly tricky task.

In addition, first, the user needs to arrange a smooth immersion – the dissimilarity of the game world on the real can push. Bakaba recalls that when developing Dishonored Testers tormented the question: “Why an audiographer is called an audiographer, and not just a radio?"If you properly immerse the player in the world, then after that he will be ready for any wildness that the developers have prepared.

According to Bakabs, The most difficult thing was to teach the user the features of a temporary loop, progress in the plot and game structure. The rest of the elements are familiar in many other games, but the loop of death is something unique that comes across quite rarely.

In the end Arkane gathered a whole “shock detachment”, which worked tightly on the introductory for three hours and built a guide for beginners. Bakaba says that in this detachment they were engaged not only in general gam design, but also for programming and drawing interfaces.

The training developed so carefully that some members of the “detachment” ran completely twice a day and wrote multi -page reviews. How jokes Bakaba, He learned so well the introductory stage Deathloop, What can go through him in a dream.

The dangers of cognitive load

The prologue had a lot of different learning options – from dragging by the hand to style from Dark Souls, when players do not say anything and offer to figure it out on their own. The tests of the last option showed that in this case, users are looking for solutions to problems for too long.

The developers take into account the cognitive load – if the information becomes too much, the user loses interest. This does not mean that the players will not win the load, but the search for solutions will be too long and will prevent you from enjoying gameplay. For example, if the player at the moment needs to curb the puzzle, he should not parallel to try to realize how the cones of vision and the inventory work, what will happen if he died, and so on.

By the middle Deathloop The player already knows the rules and feels very smart because he deftly copes with the lot of local features. Arkane I came to the conclusion that the path to this point of knowledge should be quite straightforward – players should focus on the question "How do it ", not"What Need to do ".

The unexpected return of the same kick

IN Deathloop There is a very powerful kick that sends to the beautiful flight of anyone who stands at the abyss. It may seem that this is a reference to the legendary pink from Dark Messiah of Might & Magic, But in fact, everything is not entirely.

First in Deathloop There was a large close battle system: Machete could be used to block and parrying, and the general principles were taken from Dishonored.

At first they removed only the parry, and then Bakaba considered that the block was too boring and not needed. In the end Arkane I introduced a kick – he stunes the opponent and is not connected by the same thin timings as the parry. Testers met the novelty very warmly.

Arkane Satisfied with the reviews of the public: she expected that the share of those who Deathloop will not like it, it will be more. As he says Bakaba, He is especially delighted by comments that Deathloop Allows players to try different passing styles, while in previous projects Arkane People often adhered to only one type of gameplay.