Reward Sounds

From my previous post on player feedback/player experience:

• Reward sounds - Part of the action game genre is feeling good about the amount of destruction that you are causing. Video Game fun is just like gambling fun. Pulling a levelon a slot machine isn't very fun but when you hear bells & whistles or even an announcement of your win, the player feels very good. We need to implement audio reward systems to help the player feel that gambling rush. 
• In the Unreal/Halo games, when a player hears "killing spree" there is an immediate rush of accomplishment. 
• In the Call of Duty games, the player is rewarded for each kill they achieve and the manner in which they kill the enemy. This helps the player feel good for each action they accomplish. 

Reward sounds are an incredibly important part of the action game experience. As I mentioned in my post, I feel that audio reward feedback enhances player satisfaction and the "fun level" significantly. Here are couple sounds that I think would help our game:

Audio Reward Feedback - 

• Skull System; as the player gets more kills they receive more skulls. We have a range for each type of skull that allows us to place a different award at each range - slam sound, announcements
• Red skull = 1-4 kills
• Yellow skull = 5-19 kills (DEMON SLAYER)
• Green skull = 20-49 kills  (BLOOD BATH)
• White skull = 50+ kills. (RAMPAGE)
• 11 out of 10 Sound; when players reach 11/10 on their rock meter they should receive a particular notification - Guitar Riff
• Concrete Smash - The player needs feedback when they are smashing the ground and not the enemy - Smash
• Knob Click; every time the knob moves a level the player should get some kind of notification - Knob Click
• Low Rock Level - Static or boos, cracking glass
• High Rock Level - Cheers 
• Dash sound; the dash is our coolest move in the game, we need to have a sound effect that makes the movie feel better - friction sound
• AOE Shockwave sound, we need to reinforce the feeling of power with the AOE attack with the Shockwave sound - air blast
• AOE charge up sound - We are giving players an opportunity to "jam out" during the charge up for the AOE. We need to give them an audio indication that the move is charging up - gradual charge up

Designing the new enemy interactions

We've had this conversation a bunch in class but I haven't put up our conversations onto my blog. I think it's time to reflect upon what we've been thinking. 

Overall, I believe that new player experiences help make a game fun. When players experience something new and surprising, they get this rush of exploration and difficulty. It is a new scenario to deal with and it's a surprise from the norm. Players love this kind of thing.

Due to art problems/complications, we scoped out a lot of our special sequences and interactions. After the cuts, we had a very basic set of enemies and a very basic set of interactions with those enemies. Players had very little diversity in what they experienced in the game. They would most likely get bored with their attack set and the enemy interactions. 

To add to our diversity in player experiences we added functionality to our current models:

• Standard Enemy - Shield Attack. A new version of the standard unit has a shield. This gives the uppercut attack a purpose. This also gives a moment when the standard attack doesn't work on standard enemies. This mixes things up a bit and it helps change how the player is attacking. 
• Ranged Enemy - Pogo attack. Our original ranged unit was a stationary unit. This made sense in earlier builds of the game but it didn't make much sense when using the brawler mechanic. For long walking sequences, the stationary unit works but for the action segments we needed a new way of interacting with the ranged enemy. The ranged unit uses its missile launch to pogo around the map. This is a brand new experience and forces the player to play in a new way. 
• Heavy Enemy - Area of Effect attack. From the first encounters with the heavy enemy, the player realizes that they have to attack from behind. The area of effect attack forces the player away and gives the heavy unit unpredictable behavior. The first time the player's strategy is countered will be a good experience. 

Reward System

At this point in our development of Heroes of Rock we have an action game. The player action isn't much different than what players usually do in action games. We have player interaction right now but to make our game "fun," we have to give the player more of a feedback system. When players accomplish something, they get that endorphin rush for that accomplishment. There's only so much that players get from deleting pixels off of a screen. 

To increase player satisfaction, we need to implement more satisfying reward systems to make players feel good when they play the game. We want players to have more fun. 

• Enemy feedback - when player attack an enemy, we need to have more feedback that the player is doing something
• Enemy collision -  Right now our attacks go past the enemy. This lack of direct collision is confusing to the player and it disconnects how the player feels about hitting an enemy. They don't feel like they are really affecting the enemy.
• Increase speed and pacing of game - We have crafted this "metal" experience but our game is currently paced in small bits of action. That isn't very metal. If we want to maintain player satisfaction, we need to have longer periods of excitement. 
• Melee sounds for actions - Player feedback is very important and I think we are especially missing audio feedback. When players do something, they need to feel like there is a direct response. For an action game, melee sounds are super important. The player needs to feel like they are dealing damage to enemies or they don't feel like they are directly having an effect. 
• Reward sounds - Part of the action game genre is feeling good about the amount of destruction that you are causing. Video Game fun is just like gambling fun. Pulling a level on a slot machine isn't very fun but when you hear bells & whistles or even an announcement of your win, the player feels very good. We need to implement audio reward systems to help the player feel that gambling rush. 
• In the Unreal/Halo games, when a player hears "killing spree" there is an immediate rush of accomplishment. 
• In the Call of Duty games, the player is rewarded for each kill they achieve and the manner in which they kill the enemy. This helps the player feel good for each action they accomplish. 
• Power of the Player - An overall feedback that we need to demonstrate in our game is that the player is powerful. Our game is about being a rock god. If the player doesn't feel powerful, the core of the game is lost. In general, the player needs to see that they have some power in the universe. 
• Blood decals  - Gore makes players feel powerful in their destruction. We've developed a system so that we can splatter blood on the ground and the environment. 
• Blood splatter on the screen - After the area of effect explosion multiple enemies are killed. To intensify the effect, we will splatter blood on the screen. 
• Area of Effect Explosion - We need a moment when players can "jam out." When players really start to button mash, they rapidly hit the strum bar up and down. Our AOE attack allows players to perform that "jam out" session and then rewards them with a huge explosion. This gives the player that experience that they are looking for and it makes them feel powerful. 
• Uppercut - Our current uppercut works but we need to intensify the effect so that the player feels better when they perform the move. The player needs to launch the enemies in to the air.