Hi.
While I was scripting some VFX for combat, and I realized I should be focusing on the gameplay a lot before I go too far in-depth into a “hidden ditch”. What factor do you think would make a combat adventure game entertaining, and keep people playing?
So far, I’ve added many classes to choose from/ earn (some have no VFX yet), extra movement controls, an arguably large map, with a few hidden areas, a money/sell system, and a few cool VFX-related skills.
Anyways, I want to know some factors that make adventure fighting games fun, and some suggestions of what I should add.
Please don’t repeat the answers responded by other people, thanks
(note that this game is also semi-roguelike, you lose your inventory items when you die, but they save on exiting the game)
Find games that are similar to what you want to make. Play them. Get immersed in their communities. They will tell you what they like and what they hate. Using that expertise you will get the answers to most of these questions. In other words, this forum probably isn’t the best place to ask. There are other communities that will be much more knowledgeable on this topic.
There’s no answer to this question as is. Each visitor will find something unique and fun in their own right with the gameplay you provide in your experience or find something inherently unentertaining with your experience. Broad catering is a dangerous slope so you want to hone in specifically on the audiences you’re wanting to target as well as what visitors seem to enjoy most about your experience.
Be sure to look out for different types of visitors. Adventure experiences can cover a range of visitor types from those who want to explore the vast expanses of your map to those who are looking to be rewarded with higher gear to complete more challenges. Knowing your target audience is extremely important to figuring out what they might find fun when joining your experience.
You are correct to turn your focus towards gameplay and it’s good to catch that early before you either have too little or too much content. Too little content may result in faster clear times and longer hangs for visitors who enjoy going through a good amount of content; some experiences may artificially extend play time by time-gating an update’s content across a given time period. Too much content may be overwhelming to new visitors or not hone in on the visitor types more commonly found in your experience and so those features may end up going to waste.
Just as a bit of an example, I personally identify as an explorative type. I love to go around looking through the vast expanses of a map, collecting treasures and discovering pieces of lore and secrets as I go through the experience. I also love to get rewarded for going out of my way to explore. I’m not too fond of PVP and tend to avoid conflicts with other visitors whenever I can. I absolutely love single player campaign experiences, especially those with a strong story (that’s a broad topic in itself that I’m not going to touch on here).
I recognise this doesn’t provide direct examples in terms of your question but hopefully it provides a broader insight on the matter in that you’ll want to identify a target audience and hone in on them while also observing what visitor types are present in your experience and perhaps changing your vision a little bit or adding features that fits the general scope of the kind of thrill they seek.
All in my opinion/experience about adventure, possibly roguelike, games.
Regarding adventure:
Music/sound is important.
Make players curious about the world and they might keep playing to find the answers.
Games can feel boring because they feel like a cycle of grinding just to grind.
Some players don’t like huge maps that only serve to make them travel for long periods.
Regarding combat:
Complex fighting systems that make fighting fun only if you’re good will discourage adventure-focused and newly-joined players from staying, because they’re not here to get good at fighting.
Timing each attack/move is important for an engaging combat system. But not every single move should rely on timing or combos.
Classes and their attacks/abilities need balancing that isn’t just “nerf this thing until it’s just like everything else and has lost what made it unique”.
There are further explanations and arguments against these points that can be made.