Let's Chat Games 019 - How the Developers Intended

Thinking about the notion that games should be played "how the developers intended"

The first time I remember the idea that a game should be played “the way the developers intended” was back in 2001 with Halo: Combat Evolved. Heroic was the difficulty that the “game was meant to be played” on. The game told you that straight up on the difficultly screen itself. Yeah, there were other difficulty options you could select, but Heroic was the way the game told you it was meant to be played.

Spoiler alert: I didn’t like that then and I still don’t like it today. I understand that developers might balance a game around a certain difficulty, or that a certain difficulty makes it “necessary” to use all the combat techniques, etc in a game in order to progress… but don’t tell people how your game should be played. If a developer wants to control everything about a game, then don’t give the player options. Heck, why not just make a movie. Then you don’t even have to worry about a player looking at the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Video games are interactive and so much of what I find interesting about them is built around the idea of choice. That interaction makes every moment feel unique. It is a special relationship between the player and the game. Why shame someone for playing the game in a way differently than you’d play it? What does that add to the experience? Who does that welcome to the hobby? What does that make better?

I’d argue it doesn’t add anything to the experience, it doesn’t welcome anyone to the hobby, and it doesn’t make anything better. In fact, I think it only fuels the hate and vitriol we already see too much of online in gaming communities. Why add any extra fuel to those kinds of fires?

Since 2001 and Halo’s “the way we want people to play the game” difficulty decree, we’ve seen other games come out with no difficulty options, and many of those games were massively successful. The Souls games all say, “hello.” Honestly, I prefer that approach versus a game that gives me options, and then makes me feel bad for selecting them.

“Oh, you want to invert the Y-axis? OK, you stupid little baby, go ahead and invert the Y-axis, but know your parents don’t actually love you and we developers think you’re trash too… but go ahead and change it, it’s fine.”

If a game “should be played a certain way,” go all the way and commit to the bit… make people play it that way. Live and die by those convictions. Otherwise, provide the options and then provide explanations about each option and why someone might want to choose one versus the other. Don’t try to neg someone into a playing a game a certain way. Be more welcoming. The more people that play games, the better the hobby, the better the industry.

Now, I hope you all read this newsletter the way I intended, reading the third paragraph first and the first paragraph last. All the other paragraphs were to be read based on the month you were born minus one, unless you were born in January, then you’d add one. It’s fine if you read it some other way, just know you’re a baby, your parents don’t love you, and the we developers think you’re trash too.

OK, now’s the part where you tell me what I got wrong and/or what you agree with. You can just comment on this post, if you’re reading it on the Substack app, or just reply to the email if you’re reading it that way.

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Some other things I’ve spent my time with:

🎧ONE MORE TIME… PART-2 by Blink-182 on vinyl. Vinyl just arrived. Had it digitally for a while, but I still enjoy the tactical feel of turning a record over

🎥The Brutalist - this movie is loooooong, but it absolutely blew me away

🎮still slowly working my way through Half-Life: Alyx

📚Collected Works Takaya Imamura in Edge Magazine issue #407 - what an incredible career. I love these looks back at careers in the industry

Thanks for being here!

-C