Increasing chances of failiure
When the player needs to go around an obstacle, he usually requires some dexterity, or time to do so. If the time available decreases, two phenomena appear: first, the player does not have enough time to concentrate on the moves, and the lack of time increases his stress and he can even panic. Both lead to his early demise, which means...
Rule #3: reducing the time available to go past an obstacle increases the difficulty
Implementing this rule: the time can be reduces through inside or outside means. Outside means include a limited time scheme over the whole level (which implies the possibility of a Time Over), being followed by a boulder, being underwater, or reaching a breakable wall with the "break wall" pickup that lasts only 30 seconds. Inside means are only concerned by the obstacles themselves. Both pendulums and unstable floors reduce the time available, because the player can not stay on them too long.
Example: requiring the player to jump from platform to platform, all of them being unstable.
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Sonic the Hedgehog
underwater, you must run from bubbles to bubbles |
The adventures of Lomax
these evil dudes kill you if you stay still |
Besides, if the player does not have the time to concentrate, neither does he have the time to rest. For each obstacle he must go past without resting, chances are his concentration will break and he will lose control. Therefore...
Rule #4: the longer a player must act without pause, the greater the difficulty
Implementing this rule: simply chain toegether many obstacles. When alone, they might be trivial, but if the player must do everything without resting for a second, chances are on the fifth he will fall down. Note that the same effect can be attained using repetitive moves such as jumping over identically-sized pits. No player is ever going to rest between the pits. However, this process is tedious and should be restricted!
Example: many pendulums, pits and unstable floors without neutral areas between them.
Somewhat equivalent to reducing the available time, is reducing the control the player has over his character. The player will obviously need time to adapt to the new playing conditions, and will often commit deadly mistakes while he's learning. However, one should avoid the 'free control reduction' : if the player can not fail, there is no point in altering his controls. Only use this weapon when it can actually kill him.This leads us to...
Rule #5: reducing or altering the player's control increases the difficulty of any following obstacles
Implementing this rule: there are many ways of reducing the player's control, which boil down to two categories, static and dynamic alterations. Static alterations don't do anything when the player does not move, but alter his movement once he does something. These include ice patches (uncontrolled sliding), reversed controls or using a jetpack instead of walking. Dynamic alterations move the player when he does not press any key, actually forcing him to fight against the alteration. These include conveyor belts, or tilted ice patches.
Example: a patch of ice just in front of a pendulum, requiring the player to take into account the time needed to start moving.
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Crash Bandicoot 2
the rolling stones are back with a vengeance |
Take a small hole. You can jump over it in a dozen ways. Now, take a large hole. There's only one jump possible over it, and it must start on the very edge of it. Similarly, a slowly oscillating pendulum might give you ten seconds to go through, while a faster and harder one will only leave you a few seconds to do the same. Usually, something that requires more precision is harder. This means...
Rule #6: increasing the required precision to go past an obstacle increases the difficulty
Implementing this rule: pendulums are ideal for the timing part of this rule, while holes are great for the spatial aspect. Combining both elements, there is the moving platform, that requires the player to jump in the right place at the right moment, or he'll miss the platform. Consecutive pendulums are great for reducing the time frame available to the player to go through : you can simply achieve this by placing next to each other two pendulums with different frequency.
Example: two pendulums, one with a two second period, another one with a three second one. The resulting time frame is either one, or two seconds. And it's possible to eliminate the two seconds one using a third, six-second period pendulum.
The human brain can analyze and predict the evolution of a repetitive system in a precise and intuitive manner. However, things become more complex when more than one system is concerned, and even more so when both systems have a different change rate. Similarly, strange change patterns, as well as long changing times prevent the brain from predicting correctly the moves. So...
Rule #7: long and complex patterns increase the difficulty
Implementing this rule: pendulums are the tool of choice, because they switch states with regularity. To achieve interesting complex patterns, combine pendulums that have a different frequency. Not only will they provide a complex pattern, but they will also reduce the time frame where the player can go through, which responds to Rule 6.
Example: a moving leaf and a carnivorous plant. The player must jump when the leaf is close to the plant, but the plant is not about to close yet.
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Crash Bandicoot
a lot of timing required |
When predicting the evolution of a system, only dynamic and independent objects are taken into account. A player can easily know when a pendulum will be passable, or when it will be dangerous. However, there can be a delay between the moment the player leaves the haven where he is, and the moment he reaches that pendulum. It is quite hard to approximate the time this takes. Therefore, even if the player can predict correctly when he can go through something, he will not know when he must start moving towards it.
Rule #8: the further the obstacle, the harder the prediction becomes, and the difficulty increases
Implementing this rule: force the player to decide when to start moving based on an obstacle that is a second or two away from him. Do the separation between the player and the pendulum using unstable floors, so the player may not get closer to the obstacle.
Example: placing a moving platform behind one that is on the verge of falling.
Getting devious
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Unite 2010
