Difference between revisions of "Damage"
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Designing [[Damage]] effects consist of determining how damage is measured or what effects it causes, who or what can be affected by it, and if, and in the case how, its effect can be reversed. | Designing [[Damage]] effects consist of determining how damage is measured or what effects it causes, who or what can be affected by it, and if, and in the case how, its effect can be reversed. | ||
| − | The most common type of [[Damage]] is simply a reduction of [Health]] (some times called hit points) or [[Armor]]. Additional effects such as forced [[Downtime]], reduced [[Skills]], or other [[Ability Losses]] can be used to create [[Damage]], but these are often reserved for special hits. Independent of how the [[Damage]] was caused its numerical values can either be fixed or be determined by a function. Fixed [[Damage]] values give [[Predictable Consequences]] while functions can be used to create [[Randomness]] and increase the potential interest for each time [[Damage]] is received. If [[Damage]] comes as effect of [[Surprises]], the severity of these are increased but the possibility of players' having [[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]] may be negatively affected. | + | The most common type of [[Damage]] is simply a reduction of [[Health]] (some times called hit points) or [[Armor]]. Additional effects such as forced [[Downtime]], reduced [[Skills]], or other [[Ability Losses]] can be used to create [[Damage]], but these are often reserved for special hits. Independent of how the [[Damage]] was caused its numerical values can either be fixed or be determined by a function. Fixed [[Damage]] values give [[Predictable Consequences]] while functions can be used to create [[Randomness]] and increase the potential interest for each time [[Damage]] is received. If [[Damage]] comes as effect of [[Surprises]], the severity of these are increased but the possibility of players' having [[Exaggerated Perception of Influence]] may be negatively affected. |
[[Damage]] can be modulated by [[Risk/Reward]] so that parts that are more difficult to hit suffer more [[Damage]] if hit. An example of this is the possibility to do instantaneous kills with head shots in first-person shooters such as [[Counter-Strike]]. If it is not obvious where to hit to inflict greater damage, such areas are [[Achilles' Heels]] and the information is [[Strategic Knowledge]]. | [[Damage]] can be modulated by [[Risk/Reward]] so that parts that are more difficult to hit suffer more [[Damage]] if hit. An example of this is the possibility to do instantaneous kills with head shots in first-person shooters such as [[Counter-Strike]]. If it is not obvious where to hit to inflict greater damage, such areas are [[Achilles' Heels]] and the information is [[Strategic Knowledge]]. | ||
Revision as of 19:42, 18 July 2011
Decremental effects from actions or events that can lead to negative consequences.
This pattern is a still a stub.
Damage is an indication that players have failed to avoid the actions of enemies or dangerous objects in the game. The effects of Damage in most games are minor; it is mainly used as an indicator of how many times one may fail in a certain manor before more serious effects occur.
Contents
Examples
Few first-person shooters make all hits instantaneous kills. Rather they require players to succeed with shots or strikes several times, each one giving Damage, before killing their opponents.
Roleplaying games often have detailed rules for Damage, dividing character's bodies into different hit areas and having different consequences for taking Damage in each area.
In the board game RoboRally the first points of Damage reduced the number of cards received each round. However, more Damage makes some cards be repeated each turn and severely limit the possible actions each turn. Even more Damage destroys the robot.
Using the pattern
Designing Damage effects consist of determining how damage is measured or what effects it causes, who or what can be affected by it, and if, and in the case how, its effect can be reversed.
The most common type of Damage is simply a reduction of Health (some times called hit points) or Armor. Additional effects such as forced Downtime, reduced Skills, or other Ability Losses can be used to create Damage, but these are often reserved for special hits. Independent of how the Damage was caused its numerical values can either be fixed or be determined by a function. Fixed Damage values give Predictable Consequences while functions can be used to create Randomness and increase the potential interest for each time Damage is received. If Damage comes as effect of Surprises, the severity of these are increased but the possibility of players' having Exaggerated Perception of Influence may be negatively affected.
Damage can be modulated by Risk/Reward so that parts that are more difficult to hit suffer more Damage if hit. An example of this is the possibility to do instantaneous kills with head shots in first-person shooters such as Counter-Strike. If it is not obvious where to hit to inflict greater damage, such areas are Achilles' Heels and the information is Strategic Knowledge.
Avatars, Characters, and Units are common entities that can be affected by Damage, but games can also let objects in Game Worlds be affected by Damage if they are Destructible Objects. Typically not all objects can be destroyed, a quite common solution is to let the results of Construction be able to destroy through Damage.
The amount of Damage taken can often be diminish or cancelled by pre-emptive or counter actions. Examples of counter actions include using Privileged Abilities (e.g. playing "blocking" Cards in Card Games or activating "übercharges" in Team Fortress 2), or performing blocking or parrying maneuvers. Examples of pre-emptive actions include gaining Invulnerabilities or [Armor], which may also be Privileged Abilities or effects of Equipment.
Permanent Invulnerabilities reduce the presence of the Damage pattern but does not have to eliminate it completely if several different types of Damage exist.
What type of Damage is caused, how the severity of the Damage is calculated, how much accumulated Damage is needed before additional effects take place, if players can affect the severity of a Damage,
The amount of Damage received is usually indicated by a Status Indicator in order for players to perceive the severity of the Damage and gain knowledge about what caused the Damage.
If Damages can be healed or repaired, they can make Resources such as health or armor into Renewable Resources. The actual effect of healing or repairing offers the same design choices as for other Renewable Resources.
The cause for receiving Damage is the most often due to failing to Evade the effects of Deadly Traps or Combat. Less common reasons for Damage include not being the King of the Hill or making a Consumer perform actions where the resources used are described in terms of Damage.
When Damage gives immediate effects, the most common types of effects are Ability Loss, forced Downtime, or Disruption of Focused Attention.
Can Modulate
Diegetically Tangible Game Items, Obstacles,
Can Instantiate
with Environmental Effects
with Game Items
Can Be Instantiated By
Diegetically Tangible Game Items, Tools, Vehicles, Weapons
Can Be Modulated By
Combos, Difficulty Levels, Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment, Game State Indicators, Movement Limitations,
Diegetic Aspects
Interface Aspects
Narrative Aspects
Consequences
Damage is a form of Penalty in games. Since the effect of Damage usually has Predictable Consequences, both the possibility of Damage and actually suffering Damage can be causes of Tension. When Damage can come in many different forms or have different effect, knowing about these represent Strategic Knowledge. When Combat requires player skill, Damage can provide a system component to create Player/Character Skill Composites.
While accumulated Damage can make Player Killing possible in games, it can also be used to increase granularity to Combat by making attacks not directly lose Lives. This also allows modulation of Eliminate goals so that not one single successful attack eliminates an Enemy but rather several successes are required. It can also introduce Deterioration to Game Items and destruction to Destructible Objects, creating Risk/Reward consideration for using Construction when the results of this activity can be destroyed. In general, how much Damage can be received before more severe Penalties are inflicted modulates Risk/Reward choices players do when they are under risk of taking Damage.
Like Lives, Damage can be seen as a measure of how many times one may fail avoiding bad effects in a game before a more severe Penalty is imposed. However, Damage works on a smaller scale and may have no effect on player's Freedom of Choice until the accumulated Damage is translated into another form of Penalty, typically the loss of Lives or the destruction of Units.
Relations
Can Instantiate
Deterioration, Environmental Effects, Penalties, Player Killing, Strategic Knowledge, Surprises, Tension, Traps
Player/Character Skill Composites in games with Combat
with Construction
with Environmental Effects
with Game Items
Can Modulate
Avatars, Characters, Combat, Construction, Destructible Objects, Diegetically Tangible Game Items, Eliminate, Game Items, Lives, Obstacles, Risk/Reward, Units
Can Be Instantiated By
Ability Losses, Diegetically Tangible Game Items, Downtime, Skills, Tools, Vehicles, Weapons
Can Be Modulated By
Achilles' Heels, Armor, Combos, Difficulty Levels, Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment, Game State Indicators, Health, Invulnerabilities, Movement Limitations, Predictable Consequences, Privileged Abilities, Randomness, Risk/Reward
Possible Closure Effects
-
Potentially Conflicting With
History
An updated version of the pattern Damage that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design[1].
References
- ↑ Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) Patterns in Game Design. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.
Acknowledgements
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