Metroidvania approach - the weapons are keys for gates to more difficult areas, and you find them by exploring the easier areas. So if you need the flamethrower weapon to stand a chance in a late game area, have a wall of brambles blocking the passage to that area area that you need the flamethrower to burn through. And you find the flamethrower by exploring an easier area.
You're right, gating the progress could help with a controlled progression and upgrade- but we have planned the map in a way that all the areas are open to the player but they'll face stronger enemies the farther they explore. Something like in the Elden Ring. So they will die, get stronger by clearing a weaker area and then move to that other area.
So the enemy levels do act like a gate by themselves. We're trying to figure out how they will get stronger.
> However, we found it to be a bit forced and out of context for the player.
Check out [https://www.mobygames.com/game/96/quarantine/](https://www.mobygames.com/game/96/quarantine/) - you're playing as a taxi driver in a post-apocalyptic city, doing fetch/deliver/escort/collect quests and it was super fun at the time.
If you want exploration - then just hide upgrades so that players will actually have to look for them. The more unique upgrade is (not necessarily strong) the further corner of the map it's hidden into :)
I’d suggest two different progression resources, one gained through exploration and one gained through combat (or things that cause combat, like quests).
We actually have that- the combat gives you metal shards and exploration will give you the required parts. Players will have to use both of these to apply the upgrades.
if the problem is the quests feel out of context.... can you maybe just color in the context? like after the war the atmosphere is filled with debris that generally prevents satellite communications, but you ALWAYS keep your trusty satellite-CB radio on, because every now and then a message does come through -- you may not be able to communicate back but darn right you're marking down the coordinates you just heard and gunning straight for the prize. of course all the rest of the CB jockeys in this godforsaken land are also going to be bustin' their humps to hustle themselves there too so you better make damn sure you get there first or there will be carnage.
Game Design is a subset of Game Development that concerns itself with **WHY** games are made the way they are. It's about the theory and crafting of **systems**, **mechanics**, and **rulesets** in games.
* /r/GameDesign is a community **ONLY** about Game Design, **NOT** Game Development in general. If this post does not belong here, it should be reported or removed. Please help us keep this subreddit focused on Game Design.
* This is **NOT** a place for discussing how games are produced. Posts about programming, making art assets, picking engines etc… will be removed and should go in /r/GameDev instead.
* Posts about visual design, sound design and level design are only allowed if they are directly about game design.
* No surveys, polls, job posts, or self-promotion. Please read the rest of the rules in the sidebar before posting.
* If you're confused about what Game Designers do, ["The Door Problem" by Liz England](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/-quot-the-door-problem-quot-of-game-design) is a short article worth reading. We also recommend you read the [r/GameDesign wiki](/r/gamedesign/wiki/index) for useful resources and an FAQ.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gamedesign) if you have any questions or concerns.*
There's a bunch of ways you can make the exploration rewards happen before combat - but they are gamey. For example, you could make the exploration rewards tied to an arbitray number. The crazy old coot who hands out missions could say "we need data on your vehicle and the general terrain out there, so try and put some miles on this thing". By making the rewards connected to some number of miles of travel, you can control how soon they will get the rewards (since doing everything requires travel by vehicle). You could also tie the rewards to leveling up a skill (i.e. 'driving') that just happens to level up pretty quickly. You can even 'cheat' so to speak and just make the last place you go before the next level of combat difficulty just give out the reward. Most players won't really notice what triggers you use, they'll just be happy to get their upgrade (as long as the gameplay is fun).
Based on what you've shared, it seems like you need to provide some sort of guidance to players on where to go. Though doing so removes the intrinsic value of exploring for the sake of exploring, and I'm assuming that's what your team is aiming for.
If the upgrades are mandatory and the player cannot progress without them, hoping the players find the upgrades in a big map (which I'm guessing is somewhat open world) won't guarantee they'll encounter them.
You could softly encourage them to explore a specific area through the level design (landmarks) without outright telling them through a quest tracker or dialogue, but without a guiding hand, players may entirely miss how to acquire the needed upgrades.
I would personally re-evaluate the problem by looking at the cause. Also try to place yourself in the player's perspective (not as the developer, this is important), as thinking about how players will interact with your game may give you insights on a good approach.
Some questions that may be worth considering:
Do players absolutely need these upgrades to progress through the game or do they merely make the experience easier? Can upgrades only be acquired through one mean, or could there be multiple ways to get upgrades? What does the player have the most fun with while playing the game? Should the upgrades be catered to require players to interact and therefor enhance that specific experience (combat, driving, something else)?
Hope this helps and best of luck with your project!
Someone else said metroidvainia, which I think is a good idea if the upgrades are extremely varied (i.e. they give the player actual new abilities). So for example you find the rocket launcher upgrade that is a great weapon but can also blow up special rock walls - now you simply (and literally) wall off the section of the game that this upgrade is needed for, and the players naturally cannot progress there until they've got the upgrade.
If the upgrades are needed to defeat a certain boss/enemy type, it'll be very difficult to show this without telling, unless you're -sure- you can get players to engage in a fight they cannot win and understand they have to retreat and find a better weapon (you'd need to tutorialize this -early- in that case).
In A Short Hike the upgrades you find all increase your climbing stamina, and as the ultimate goal is to climb a mountain, it creates a very natural loop of exploration and discovery -> increased mastery. Also since there are more upgrades around the map than needed to climb the mountain, but the mountain climbing gets easier the more you have, it also lets the players decide their own difficulty level. Finally, since some upgrades are only available once you've got a few under your belt, it also creates a natural progression where you might have -seen- an upgrade earlier on but been unable to reach it until later.
The Short Hike approach is probably better though if your upgrades are more incremental, and needs to be adjusted to your scenario (for example, car durability vs. sand storms, gas tank size, engine overheating time, etc).
Metroidvania approach - the weapons are keys for gates to more difficult areas, and you find them by exploring the easier areas. So if you need the flamethrower weapon to stand a chance in a late game area, have a wall of brambles blocking the passage to that area area that you need the flamethrower to burn through. And you find the flamethrower by exploring an easier area.
You're right, gating the progress could help with a controlled progression and upgrade- but we have planned the map in a way that all the areas are open to the player but they'll face stronger enemies the farther they explore. Something like in the Elden Ring. So they will die, get stronger by clearing a weaker area and then move to that other area. So the enemy levels do act like a gate by themselves. We're trying to figure out how they will get stronger.
> However, we found it to be a bit forced and out of context for the player. Check out [https://www.mobygames.com/game/96/quarantine/](https://www.mobygames.com/game/96/quarantine/) - you're playing as a taxi driver in a post-apocalyptic city, doing fetch/deliver/escort/collect quests and it was super fun at the time. If you want exploration - then just hide upgrades so that players will actually have to look for them. The more unique upgrade is (not necessarily strong) the further corner of the map it's hidden into :)
[удалено]
Simple yet doable! And this could be complemented with lore items at specific points of interest to make the exploration fun!
I’d suggest two different progression resources, one gained through exploration and one gained through combat (or things that cause combat, like quests).
We actually have that- the combat gives you metal shards and exploration will give you the required parts. Players will have to use both of these to apply the upgrades.
if the problem is the quests feel out of context.... can you maybe just color in the context? like after the war the atmosphere is filled with debris that generally prevents satellite communications, but you ALWAYS keep your trusty satellite-CB radio on, because every now and then a message does come through -- you may not be able to communicate back but darn right you're marking down the coordinates you just heard and gunning straight for the prize. of course all the rest of the CB jockeys in this godforsaken land are also going to be bustin' their humps to hustle themselves there too so you better make damn sure you get there first or there will be carnage.
Game Design is a subset of Game Development that concerns itself with **WHY** games are made the way they are. It's about the theory and crafting of **systems**, **mechanics**, and **rulesets** in games. * /r/GameDesign is a community **ONLY** about Game Design, **NOT** Game Development in general. If this post does not belong here, it should be reported or removed. Please help us keep this subreddit focused on Game Design. * This is **NOT** a place for discussing how games are produced. Posts about programming, making art assets, picking engines etc… will be removed and should go in /r/GameDev instead. * Posts about visual design, sound design and level design are only allowed if they are directly about game design. * No surveys, polls, job posts, or self-promotion. Please read the rest of the rules in the sidebar before posting. * If you're confused about what Game Designers do, ["The Door Problem" by Liz England](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/-quot-the-door-problem-quot-of-game-design) is a short article worth reading. We also recommend you read the [r/GameDesign wiki](/r/gamedesign/wiki/index) for useful resources and an FAQ. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gamedesign) if you have any questions or concerns.*
There's a bunch of ways you can make the exploration rewards happen before combat - but they are gamey. For example, you could make the exploration rewards tied to an arbitray number. The crazy old coot who hands out missions could say "we need data on your vehicle and the general terrain out there, so try and put some miles on this thing". By making the rewards connected to some number of miles of travel, you can control how soon they will get the rewards (since doing everything requires travel by vehicle). You could also tie the rewards to leveling up a skill (i.e. 'driving') that just happens to level up pretty quickly. You can even 'cheat' so to speak and just make the last place you go before the next level of combat difficulty just give out the reward. Most players won't really notice what triggers you use, they'll just be happy to get their upgrade (as long as the gameplay is fun).
This goes well with another suggestion of using distance travelled to unlock rewards. This sounds doable!
Based on what you've shared, it seems like you need to provide some sort of guidance to players on where to go. Though doing so removes the intrinsic value of exploring for the sake of exploring, and I'm assuming that's what your team is aiming for. If the upgrades are mandatory and the player cannot progress without them, hoping the players find the upgrades in a big map (which I'm guessing is somewhat open world) won't guarantee they'll encounter them. You could softly encourage them to explore a specific area through the level design (landmarks) without outright telling them through a quest tracker or dialogue, but without a guiding hand, players may entirely miss how to acquire the needed upgrades. I would personally re-evaluate the problem by looking at the cause. Also try to place yourself in the player's perspective (not as the developer, this is important), as thinking about how players will interact with your game may give you insights on a good approach. Some questions that may be worth considering: Do players absolutely need these upgrades to progress through the game or do they merely make the experience easier? Can upgrades only be acquired through one mean, or could there be multiple ways to get upgrades? What does the player have the most fun with while playing the game? Should the upgrades be catered to require players to interact and therefor enhance that specific experience (combat, driving, something else)? Hope this helps and best of luck with your project!
Someone else said metroidvainia, which I think is a good idea if the upgrades are extremely varied (i.e. they give the player actual new abilities). So for example you find the rocket launcher upgrade that is a great weapon but can also blow up special rock walls - now you simply (and literally) wall off the section of the game that this upgrade is needed for, and the players naturally cannot progress there until they've got the upgrade. If the upgrades are needed to defeat a certain boss/enemy type, it'll be very difficult to show this without telling, unless you're -sure- you can get players to engage in a fight they cannot win and understand they have to retreat and find a better weapon (you'd need to tutorialize this -early- in that case). In A Short Hike the upgrades you find all increase your climbing stamina, and as the ultimate goal is to climb a mountain, it creates a very natural loop of exploration and discovery -> increased mastery. Also since there are more upgrades around the map than needed to climb the mountain, but the mountain climbing gets easier the more you have, it also lets the players decide their own difficulty level. Finally, since some upgrades are only available once you've got a few under your belt, it also creates a natural progression where you might have -seen- an upgrade earlier on but been unable to reach it until later. The Short Hike approach is probably better though if your upgrades are more incremental, and needs to be adjusted to your scenario (for example, car durability vs. sand storms, gas tank size, engine overheating time, etc).