Hidden Game Mechanics

Research Project

PROJECT INFORMATION

General

Platform: PC, Windows

Genre: FPS

Role: Individual project

Software used: Unreal Engine 4.18, Photoshop

Project Type: Academic, Research

Year and Duration: 2018, 4 months

Team Size: 1

OVERVIEW

Goals

To test the feasibility and possibilities of hidden game mechanics and thereby, also understanding its limitations.

Description

In brief, hidden game mechanics are ploys intended to create impactful moments of gameplay. These “tricks” are triggered under specific conditions, which usually are high-pressure or intense situations to achieve maximum effect.

To conduct this research, I chose six hidden game mechanics and implemented them in two levels of a First-Person Shooter (FPS) game. These two levels were accompanied by a sister level which had the same layout, placements and art. The only difference between the main levels and its sister levels is that the sister levels did not contain any hidden game mechanics. The participants of this study were asked to play both versions of the level and their reactions were noted down. The aim of the study was to check if hidden game mechanics made a positive impact on gameplay.

Chosen Hidden Game Mechanics:

Health bar manipulation technique – The last 30% of the player is worth more hit points than the rest. This makes the player think they have less health than they do, increasing the pressure and fun.
Invulnerability – when the player takes the last point of damage they turn invulnerable for 5 seconds. This allows the player to bounce back in close fights
Last bullet damage – The last 5 bullets from the player does more damage than the rest. This gives the players a fighting chance before their bullets run out.
AI Accuracy – The first bullet from the AI always misses, this gives the players a heads up and allows the player to have a fair chance and avoids them being blind-sided by the enemy.
Rigging Chance system – The chance systems are rigged in a way that every third interaction will guarantee an ammo drop rather than the system being completely random.
Weapon Stats trick – In the beginning of the game the player is shown that there are two weapons where one has better damage while the other has better range. However, in game both the weapons work the same.

Find more details about the level design for this project here and details about system design here.

GALLERY

RESPONSIBILITIES AND ROLES

Key responsibilities

Review and study the available literature related to the topic
Choose, create and implement HGM to showcase in the prototype
Design a method to conduct the test
Design and make the prototype
Conduct tests and surveys and gather data
Write a conclusive report on the subject.

EXPERIENCE

Work experience

Pre-Production

Research – On how these mechanics are and can be implemented. The most important aspect of this was purpose, the intention and use of HGM should be decided in advance and should be communicated in different aspects of design such as story and level design as well.
Understand system design; the purpose, implementation technique and effect of HGM.
Create Level Design, game flow, difficulty curve and other design documents

Production

Used Unreal Engine 4.18 Blueprints, 3Ds Max and Photoshop for the developing the prototype.

Post-Production

Designing the Test and Questionnaire
Conducting tests
Writing conclusive reports

Learning opportunity

HGM is a tool to balance a game however, it has its limitations and can be used up to an extent but if the balancing is off completely, HGM do not work as a patch.
I have learnt that hidden game mechanics invoke different feelings (pressure, power, fairness, accomplishment etc.) at different moments, it is necessary to link these with the level design such that the game experience goes in tandem with the level design thus, enhancing the gameplay experience.
In retrospect, the most important thing I have realised is that even though game development is a technology-oriented field, clever ideas like hidden game mechanics which are easy to implement and effective prove that even the simplest things go a long way.

Conclusion

To conclude, hidden game mechanics are clever tools that can be used to balance games however, they are just tools and shouldn’t be used as a standalone reference to balance a game. They do incur a significant effect on the gameplay and to work best must be subtle enough to be invisible but effective enough to make a difference. As a game designer, the study provides an interesting point of learning that: even though game development is a technical and technology-oriented study, smart/ clever thinking on part of the developers though the use of HGM for example, can result in better game experience.