WEBVTT

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These days, it feels like you can’t release
a big blockbuster action game without one

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of these things: a skill tree.

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You’ve definitely seen them before, in games
like Tomb Raider and Watch Dogs.

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They often have three distinct branches, with
cute names like innovator or hunter.

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In these games, you accrue experience points
by playing through missions, and whenever

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you hit some sort of arbitrary threshold you
get a skill point.

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A skill point, which you can spend to unlock
a new ability.

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This might be something funky like a brand
new move, or something a little less exciting

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like a few extra health points.

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Skill trees like this were first found in
number crunching RPGs like Diablo 2, but have

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since become ubiquitous in big budget action
games - in everything from Spider-Man to DOOM,

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to the point where it’s now just an expected
part of a modern console game, like climbable

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towers, and microtransactions.

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But while I find a lot of these tropes to
be pretty cliched and tiresome, I can totally

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see why skill trees work, and how they can
benefit certain games.

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For one, they can be used to trickle out complexity
over the course of the game.

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If you started God of War with all of Kratos’s
powers, it might be completely overwhelming

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and some players might stick to the simple
stuff and never delve into the finer details

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of the combat system.

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But when you earn new powers from a skill
tree, your mechanical move set opens up incrementally

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over the course of the game.

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And because you spent some kind of currency
on that move, you’ll probably feel compelled

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to actually use it.

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Skill trees are also a nice way to make players
feel like they’ve grown in power over the

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course of the game.

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At the start of the adventure you’re weak
and have only a few special powers - but by

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the end you’re a walking tank with armfuls
of abilities.

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This also can be used to keep players engaged.

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They can scan the skill tree to get a preview
of abilities they’ll be wielding later in

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the game, and then stick with it until they
get to to that point, excited about the prospect

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of playing with all those new powers.

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Skill trees also add meta level decision making
into a game.

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They can create a different experience each
time you play.

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And they give the UI team something to do.

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Someone’s go to draw all those icons.

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But for all their benefits, most games squander
their skill trees by making really poor choices

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about what to put on those branches.

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And so in this video we’re going to talk
about some popular mistakes that skill trees

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make - and how we might be able to fix them.

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For starters, a lot of games that feature
skill trees will allow the player to unlock

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most of the upgrades, if not all of them,
by the end of the game.

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Just through a normal amount of play.

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And this really misses an opportunity to make
players think hard about their choices.

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They’re only thinking about what order they
unlock the skills - when they could be thinking

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about which upgrades they’re actually be
able to get.

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I personally enjoyed the skill tree in Assassin’s
Creed Origins, because I definitely wasn’t

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able to afford all of the skills by the end
of the game.

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Instead, I had to specialise - I focused on
the hunter and seer branches, which were all

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about improving my abilities in stealth, and
increasing my options in taking out camps

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through tricking the AI and causing chaos.

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This created some cool outcomes: like how
the Bayek in my game felt personal to me and

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his skills fit the way I chose to play the
game.

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But there were also interesting repercussions
for my choices: by neglecting the warrior

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branch, i was pretty lacklustre at one-on-one
combat.

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I often had to run away from direct encounters
and find new ways to approach situations.

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Immersive sims are also good at showing the
repercussions of picking certain skills.

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In the Deus Ex games, certain paths and options
will be locked out based on the upgrades you’ve

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chosen, forcing you to find alternate routes
that better suit your character.

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And in Prey, the more skills you unlock, the
more alien you become - right up to the point

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where friendly turrets now consider you a
threat and try to kill you.

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Another way skill trees screw up is simply
by making the skills just really boring.

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Making your attacks do a few percentage points
more damage, or giving yourself a couple extra

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health points… is just not very exciting.

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So brand new powers in Dishonored and exciting
new attacks in God of War are far more desirable

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than a few extra numbers on the game’s underlying
Excel spreadsheet.

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And don’t forget the rules laid down in
Metroid: one ability can serve multiple purposes,

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like the ice beam, which is both a weapon
and a way to navigate the world.

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Ultimately, a good skill will make you excited
to finally unlock it, and then eager to go

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into the world and use it.

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Back to Origins for a second, I find myself
caught in a really engaging loop where I’d

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unlock new abilities - excitedly test them
out on a few camps and missions.

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which gave me enough experience points for
another ability… and so on.

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That being said, skill trees should generally
avoid mechanics that the player should already

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have by default.

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When i played Horizon Zero Dawn, I was peeved
that I couldn’t grab enemies from ledges

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like every other game of its ilk - until I
found out it was an unlock-able skill.

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Same goes for Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, which
locked Faith’s leg tuck move behind an upgrade

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menu, despite it being accessible from the
start in the first game.

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Oh, and don’t feel the need to add in crappy
skills just to boost the numbers.

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Some skill tree designers obviously believe
that bigger is better - check out these monster

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skill forests for Path of Exile and Salt and
Sanctuary - but if you ask me, a tightly pruned

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bush with a handful of truly interesting upgrades
is often the best solution.

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Another issue plaguing skill trees is the
actual process of earning these skill points.

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Most games give you the points simply for
playing the game normally, which feels like

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a missed opportunity.

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Let’s go back to Prey, which has these Neuromod
tools (the game’s version of skill points)

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as physical objects in the world.

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This means you have to go out there and find
them - maybe by exploring the different nooks

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and crannies of Talos 1, or by doing side
quests.

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Choosing how to dole out these skill points
allows the designer to encourage a certain

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play style, or to make players check out optional
content.

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Like in Zelda Breath of the Wild, where Spirit
Orbs, which can be cashed in for health and

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stamina upgrades, are given for completing
these shrines.

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That essentially turns the entire world of
Hyrule into one giant skill tree.

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This also makes players actively work towards
improving their character, rather than randomly

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getting stat boosts as they play.

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This reminds me of Far Cry 3’s crafting
system.

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in that game, I knew I wanted a better gun
holster - and the menu told me that I needed

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to get a few pelts from a certain animal.

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So I paused the main quest, found the animal’s
breeding ground on my map, and went hunting

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for pelts until I had enough to afford the
holster.

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I wanted an upgrade and had to figure out
how to get it, and had to actually work towards

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that goal.

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Getting the, uh, sprint slide, though?

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Well, I just played the game a bit more until
I got given some skill points.

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Look: you don’t really need to encourage
the player to simply play through the main

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missions - that’s why they bought the game
in the first place.

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So use the promise of skill points to encourage
other ways to play.

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To play skilfully, or play on harder difficulties,
or explore more, and so on.

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But be careful about exactly the sort of gameplay
you encourage.

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Skyrim’s system, where players get skill
points for performing certain actions, can

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persuade players to just craft dozens of daggers,
simply to boost their crafting skill.

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You don’t want to encourage grinding, or
gameplay that doesn’t fit the core experience.

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One final issue is that these skill menus
are pretty boring to navigate.

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They take you out of the game world, and into
a menu screen that looks like you’re buying

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travel insurance or something.

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This is not a huge deal in an expansive adventure
like The Witcher, but it can massively slow

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the pace of a lighting quick game like Doom.

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So just make them quicker.

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Like in Downwell, where it flashes up three
upgrade choices between levels.

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You pick one, and away you go.

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Or just make them automatic.

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Red Dead Redemption 2 has skill trees for
both Arthur and his horse, and these upgrades

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- for things like boosted stamina and sweet
horse tricks - just unlock as you play.

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Though, whether Doom even needed skill trees
in the first place, is another question entirely.

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The thing about skill trees is: there’s
loads of fun stuff you can do with them.

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How about skills that offer both advantages
and disadvantages to the player?

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Or skills that can interlink in various ways?

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Or skills where you can only equip a handful
at a time?

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Skill trees feel like one of those systems
that’s in every game nowadays - simply because

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they’re in every game nowadays.

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But that doesn’t make them bad - it’s
just very easy to get a bit lazy with them,

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and do what everyone else is doing, regardless
of whether it suits the game, the experience,

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the pace, and so on.

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So get creative with them!

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A skill tree isn’t about making the player
wait half the game to get all the mechanics

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they should have at the start.

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Or going into a boring menu to get a boring
health boost.

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They’re about customising your experience.

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About rewarding different ways of playing.

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And about forcing difficult choices.

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Lemme know about your favourite skill trees
in the comments below, and I eagerly await

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a million comments about this crazy Sphere
Grid nonsense from Final Fantasy X. I have

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no idea what this thing is…