-
In the earliest days of gaming, it was all
about the high score.
-
Arcade classics like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong
couldn’t be finished because they just looped
-
around forever - and so the challenge was
to see how high of a score you could rack
-
up before you finally screwed up and got a
game over.
-
Beating your personal best provided a goal
to strive for.
-
And once Space Invaders introduced the concept
of saving high scores, they also provided
-
competition, as nearby players could jostle
for the top spots on the leaderboard.
-
But as gaming moved over to home consoles,
the focus shifted to titles that could be
-
finished.
-
Games like Mega Man and Castlevania did hold
onto scores, for a time, but players were
-
more interested in fighting the end boss,
saving the princess, and seeing the end of
-
the story.
-
And as for competition, real time multiplayer
became more interesting than leaderboards.
-
The glory days of points, high scores, and
personal bests, was over.
-
But the question I want to explore in this
video, is whether or not this old school relic
-
can still be relevant in modern game design?
-
Is there still a place for high scores in
2018?
-
Well, the answer is obviously: yes.
-
Thanks for watching.
-
See you next time.
-
Because some games straight up emulate arcade
game design - like the intense twin-stick
-
shooter Tormenter X Punisher, which simply
asks you to survive against infinite waves
-
of demons for as long as possible, and then
compare your score with others on an online
-
leaderboard.
-
And that’s fun.
-
But unless you’re really good, or have very
competitive friends, or just get a bit addicted
-
to chasing your personal best - these endless
arcade-like games can have quite limited staying power.
-
So I’m more interested in games that lay
retro score systems on top of modern design
-
- and find awesome advantages for doing so.
-
Like, for one, scores can provide an additional
level of difficulty.
-
For example, in the anxiety-inducing rhythm
nightmare that is Thumper, getting to the
-
end of the stage is one thing - but doing
so with a high enough score to earn an S rank
-
is something else entirely, and only for those
with serious skills.
-
This is cool, because it essentially gives
the game multiple levels of difficulty - but
-
avoids all the issues of having a difficulty
select screen.
-
You know, like how you have to choose your
own level of skill, before you’ve played
-
a second of gameplay, and with no real context
for what “hard” actually means in this game.
-
Instead, you just play the game as well as
you can, and you’re rewarded for whatever
-
skill level you bring to table.
-
I really enjoyed this approach to difficulty
in the most recent Zachtronics game, Opus Magnum.
-
The goal of this one is to design bonkers
mechanical machines that can automatically
-
turn raw elements into potions, poisons, and
other alchemical nonsense.
-
You’re given infinite money, space, and
programming lines - so any machine that actually
-
spits out the required product is seen as
a success.
-
No matter how inefficient or expensive your
creation is, you can finish the level and
-
move on with your life.
-
But - and here’s where the scoring system
comes in - your machine will be marked in
-
three different criteria.
-
There’s the cost of the components you’ve
used, the surface area of your machine, and
-
the number of cycles your creation goes through
before completion, which measures the efficiency
-
of your work.
-
Your scores are then displayed on a histogram,
that shows you how well you performed compared
-
to the average scores of every other Opus
Magnum player in the world.
-
And seeing that your machine is hideously
below average in cycles is just the kick up
-
the arse you might need to go back in, rethink
your approach, put down some more tracks and
-
arms, and see the number of cycles start to
drop.
-
What I love about this is how it’s so player
driven.
-
It’s up to you whether good enough is good
enough, and then it’s down to you how you
-
optimise your machine.
-
Maybe you find it really fun to make small,
tightly contained machines.
-
Or mechanisms that work with the cheapest
parts possible.
-
Or the most efficient machines.
-
Or perhaps something balanced across all three
criteria.
-
Zachtronics could have put a strict goal on
each level - you know, you must finish this
-
stage in under 200 gold or with fewer than
60 cycles - and some players will need that
-
to push them to play better.
-
But, for me, seeing my crappy performance
ranked against the world’s averages was
-
more than enough motivation to get back in
there, optimise my awful creations, and challenge
-
myself to be better.
-
But a scoring system is not just about making
the game more difficult.
-
Because scores can reveal completely new ways
to play.
-
In a Platinum brawler like Bayonetta, getting
a high score doesn’t just mean making fewer
-
mistakes - it means playing in a fundamentally
different way to a novice, button-bashing scrub.
-
Getting Pure Platinum medals means using those
complex combos (that novices can ignore).
-
It means fighting quickly to chain together
enemies.
-
It means using complex moves like the taunt,
and dodge offset.
-
Now I don’t really know, or - to be honest
- care all that much about the medals in Platinum games.
-
But there is one series where I have totally
internalised the scoring system to the point
-
where I could write a dissertation on its
design.
-
It’s the Tony Hawks Pro Skater games.
-
So here, most of the goals require a very
basic understanding of the game’s moves
-
and mechanics.
-
You don’t need to know how to do a variable
heel-flip to knock a foreman into water, after all.
-
Or at least I hope that’s water.
-
But if you want to go for a high score - then
you’ll suddenly need to use the full skateboarding
-
system on offer.
-
You’ll need to chain together multiple moves
- using the revert and manual to keep your
-
combo going across the level - to gain a score
multiplier that massively boosts your points.
-
You’ll need to use lots of different tricks,
because you’ll get fewer and fewer points every time
-
you repeat the same move.
-
You might want to add in spins and stance
switches, because they give you more points, too.
-
And you’ll want to move around the level,
because special gaps between bits of the stage
-
offer big point bonuses.
-
Basically, to get a high score in Tony Hawks,
you need to fully understand every part of
-
the trick system - and approach the game in
a different way to those who are playing more casually.
-
And then - here’s the cheeky bit - when
you’re ready to go for high score, you’ll
-
actually find yourself playing the game in
the way the designers intended.
-
Because the things you’re given points for
actually encourage you to play Tony Hawks
-
in the most interesting way.
-
The degrading points on repeated moves makes
you play with more variety.
-
The bonuses for racking up combos puts you
at higher and higher risk of bailing.
-
And the use of gaps pushes you to move around
the level.
-
Because scores can encourage you to see the
intended experience.
-
In a game like Metal Gear Solid V, you can
play the game in pretty much any way you like
-
- from being a sneaky, stealthy snake in the
grass - to simply calling in a big attack
-
chopper to mow down waves of enemies.
-
It’s up to you how you play, and the game
doesn’t do much to force you to act in any
-
specific way.
-
But if you’re interested in getting high
rankings, then you might want to shift the
-
way you approach things.
-
After every mission, you’re given
a score - with points added for accuracy,
-
speedy gameplay, and rescuing prisoners - but
points deducted for getting spotted or taking damage.
-
This means that you’re not exactly punished
for playing in a gung-ho, Rambo-kinda way
-
- but you are rewarded for being more sneaky
and Snake-like.
-
So scores are not just a relic of the arcade
era.
-
And not just for nostalgic games that try
to capture that coin-op feel.
-
They can jive with modern design for all sorts
of advantages.
-
But they’re not foolproof.
-
Many players have complained about feeling
discouraged when - at the end of a seemingly
-
successful run through a level in a Platinum
game, they’re slapped down with a crappy grade.
-
Oof, that doesn’t feel very good.
-
And because scores are completely optional,
there is the risk that some will never see
-
the real experience.
-
If you can button bash your way to the end
of Bayonetta, plenty of players will see no
-
reason to explore the full combo list, keep
chains going, or use that dodge offset.
-
But there is a game that goes some way to
solve these two issues: the cheeky, twin-stick
-
shooter Assault Android Cactus.
-
So in this game, it’s totally possible to
progress through the game simply by killing
-
all of the enemies in each level.
-
That’s classified as a win, and it’s enough
to get you to the end of the game.
-
But you can also aim to win enough points
to finish the stage with a higher rank.
-
This is done through completing the level
more quickly, avoiding getting knocked down,
-
and - most importantly of all - killing enemies
in quick succession.
-
You see, every time you kill an enemy you
start a chain - and if you can kill another
-
within a couple seconds, you’ll keep the
chain going.
-
A big chain will multiply the score you receive
for killing enemies- up to 10 times the number
-
of points, for a chain of 10 or more foes.
-
And if you chain together every single enemy
in the stage, you’ll go one step further
-
and earn an S+ rank.
-
Keeping that chain going is a tricky challenge.
-
You’ll need to play much more aggressively,
prioritise enemies, and think more carefully
-
about using your special weapon.
-
And these red enemies - who generally take
more than two seconds to kill with your standard
-
weapon - need to be dealt with carefully to
keep your chain going.
-
So this means that Assault Android Cactus
uses its scoring system to give players an
-
additional level of challenge, a fundamentally
different way to play, and a way to experience
-
the game at its absolute best.
-
But developer Witch Beam did a couple clever
things to skip the most major downsides of
-
scoring systems.
-
For one, the designers ensured that the core
experience was available at every level of
-
play - not just for those who dived into high
scores.
-
You see, the game has a cool death mechanic
where you’re always running out of battery
-
and must constantly top up your juice by killing
enemies and picking up dropped power cells.
-
And so this means that the new player experience
- of frantically killing enemies to pick up
-
batteries - neatly mirrors the veteran experience
- of frantically killing enemies to keep your
-
score chain going.
-
Both put you in a high intensity panic, where
every split second of gameplay counts.
-
It’s just one is on the razor’s edge of
failure, and the other is on the edge of ruining
-
a perfect run.
-
And then, while scores do show up at the end
of levels, just like Bayonetta, the special
-
Pro Mode - where an S+ medal appears on the
screen, and then falls apart as soon as you
-
break your chain - only unlocks after you
chain together all the enemies in a single level.
-
Until you get there yourself, you might never
know that this extra mode exists.
-
Hiding this away until players prove their
worth is a neat way to stop players becoming
-
demoralised when they’re hit with crappy
medals at the very start of their experience.
-
So through this design, Assault Android Cactus
ends up being a game that is accessible and
-
thrilling for new players - but also hides
a secret second game for those who really
-
want to prove their skill.
-
And you don’t even need to change difficulty
modes - you just need to play differently
-
and better, than everyone else.
-
CACTUS: Oh no problem. I do that kind of thing all the time.
-
So scores might not fit into every game in 2018
- but when used carefully, they can provide
-
real benefits for game designers.
-
We may be long past the days of writing rude
words into coin-op leaderboards, but the thrill
-
of chasing down high scores is still alive
and well in modern game design.
-
Hey! Thanks for watching!
-
If you hadn’t noticed, I’ve started recommending
cool YouTube videos during this end screen
-
so go check them out for more interesting
content.
-
Patrons get a lot more recommendations every
month in their reading list.
-
And it’s those Patrons who keep GMTK alive,
free, and without adverts all over the videos! Cheers!