Detective Game Design Problems
digitales.games
Detective Game Design Problems
1–10 of 17 posts
Re: Detective Game Design Problems
#2It does irk me how brainless puzzles in games have become. Two games that come to mind are Skyrim (where the puzzles you face are basically "rotate these stones until they match what is shown above them on the wall") and Drake's Fortune (upon encountering a puzzle, the protagonist immediately says "hmm, this looks familiar" and insists you open up your journal where he has been sketching the exact solution between gunfights).
Re: Detective Game Design Problems
#3It does irk me how brainless puzzles in games have become. Two games that come to mind are Skyrim (where the puzzles you face are basically "rotate these stones until they match what is shown above them on the wall") and Drake's Fortune (upon encountering a puzzle, the protagonist immediately says "hmm, this looks familiar" and insists you open up your journal where he has been sketching the exact solution between gu…
Designed to ensure everyone can progress while still feeling like they/their character achieved something I guess, but yes certainly a lot of room for improvement.
I didn't play much of Skyrim, were there no optional harder puzzles/investigations?
Only briefly mentioned in the article, Return of the Obra Dinn is a must play.
Re: Detective Game Design Problems
#4It does irk me how brainless puzzles in games have become. Two games that come to mind are Skyrim (where the puzzles you face are basically "rotate these stones until they match what is shown above them on the wall") and Drake's Fortune (upon encountering a puzzle, the protagonist immediately says "hmm, this looks familiar" and insists you open up your journal where he has been sketching the exact solution between gu…
Designed to ensure everyone can progress while still feeling like they/their character achieved something I guess, but yes certainly a lot of room for improvement. I didn't play much of Skyrim, were there no optional harder puzzles/investigations? Only briefly mentioned in the article, Return of the Obra Dinn is a must play.
There are a few whodunnit quests (https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Blood_on_the_Ice or https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Canvas_the_Castle) but they're not exactly difficult.
Re: Detective Game Design Problems
#5It does irk me how brainless puzzles in games have become. Two games that come to mind are Skyrim (where the puzzles you face are basically "rotate these stones until they match what is shown above them on the wall") and Drake's Fortune (upon encountering a puzzle, the protagonist immediately says "hmm, this looks familiar" and insists you open up your journal where he has been sketching the exact solution between gu…
Puzzles in The Outer Wilds were interesting, if you're not too allergic to a few specific bad sci fi tropes.
Re: Detective Game Design Problems
#6[deleted]
Re: Detective Game Design Problems
#7It does irk me how brainless puzzles in games have become. Two games that come to mind are Skyrim (where the puzzles you face are basically "rotate these stones until they match what is shown above them on the wall") and Drake's Fortune (upon encountering a puzzle, the protagonist immediately says "hmm, this looks familiar" and insists you open up your journal where he has been sketching the exact solution between gu…
https://the-spoiler.com/RPG/Dynamix/betrayal.at.krondor.1.ht...
Buckets, barrels, baskets, cans;
What must you fill with empty hands?
Re: Detective Game Design Problems
#8Tex Murphy are pretty well designed detective games.
Re: Detective Game Design Problems
#9I'm working on my own detective game right now; inspired by all the things I hated of past detective games, especially around dialogue systems (they always present questions to ask which I have no frame of reference for) as well as the general mechanics (a lot of detective games focus on being a cinematic experience, with most of the mechanics being unrelated and inconsistent with each other). L.A. Noire is probably the worst offender in my head (even though I enjoy it as a game in general).
Pretty cool this article came out now, just as I started to get back into the swing of building my game.
Re: Detective Game Design Problems
#10Paper and Pen RPG writer Kenneth Hite had an insight: finding clues is not interesting. Not finding clues can derail everything. So make finding the clues easy, then let the player concentrate on the important part: what to do with the clues.