Simplicity in control design

Those were the days, simplicity was as easy as pressing B and A to get things done with an occasional start to pause the game and return again. I won’t go as far back as the one button wonder since I’ll be severely dating myself but fast-forward 22 years and here I am tackling the issue of applying a simple to use controller design that won’t limit what I have in mind in terms of playability, while allowing the end user to fully realize the game without a complex set of controls. It’s definitely a fine balancing act, and even though I’m still in the preliminary design stages, I’ve quickly realized how complex my original thoughts for the player controls have become.

Currently I’m using the Logitech Rumble 2 game pad controller for both PC/Mac as I found it’s the most reliable controller available for both platforms, and the fact that it closely resembles the standard PS2 Dual shock controller was an added bonus. The issue here is that the standard dual analog controller has 16 depressible buttons not including the two analog stick movement, so it makes it extremely tempting to utilize as many buttons as I need to fulfill my design desires, which as we know is inheritently bad for the end user, plus the fact I would then have to transfer this to keyboard mapping making the entire process needlessly complex. Maybe the big N has something there with the wii controller.

Over my lengthy time gaming I’ve played some great titles with very complex controls, and because I’m a gamer like most of my readers here, I can pick them up pretty quickly after about 5-10 mins of play, which is ok but I would like to maximize the targeted audience that would play Essentia. One game in particular that comes to mind is my favorite of recent memory God of War, absolutely adore the game, but my wife would never play it for instance (though she enjoys watching me play it). GOW controls are split into five groups, you have your,

• Menu controls
• On ground attacks (normal)
• On ground attacks (advanced)
• In air basics
• In air advanced

For me this is exciting, the more buttons to push the more I can do, but for someone like my wife it’s overly confusing. Then in comparison to a game which I’ m current playing The Simpsons hit & run (yes I know, but I have a backlog of Ps2 games to play ) which controls are basically move the character with the left analog and press the face buttons to kick, dash, talk and jump while on foot, and e-brake, accelerate, reverse and exit car while in a vehicle. Easy for the my wife to pick up, but becomes pretty monotonous for me after a half hour of play, which is precisely where the balancing act comes into play.

Another problem I’ve encountered with complex controls in the past, is when I haven’t played the game in a few days or even weeks and when I return from such a hiatus I will have a heck of a time reacquainting myself with the numerous controls and combinations of the game especially if I’m playing multiple games at once, which is something I definitely want to avoid with Essentia, but I also don’t want to have the end user be bored to tears with the simplicity of pressing one button to accomplish tasks.

If you’ve read my prelim game design doc, I’ve listed some of the actions I would like Flo to be able to do throughout the game and in case you haven’t read it, she would initially need to,

• Walk
• Run
• Punch
• Kick
• Cast magic
• Perform combos
• Jump
• Dash
• Block
• Dodge
• Roll
• Slide
• Hang from ledges and pull herself up

Now that’s a wish list! This doesn’t even take into account how I would transfer all these actions to keyboard mapping! So it’s now up to me as the game’s designer to figure out an intuitive way for the end user to use the controls effortlessly and intuitively while providing a balanced entertaining experience for my target audience. And with so many angles involved it’s no wonder gamers squeal with anger or disgust when they play a title with poorly thought out controls. I know for a fact I do, and it ultimately leads to the game being brought back to the store, so poorly thought out controls are not an option here. Can user-defined controls be the answer? Hmm, that’s a topic for another discussion.

Below I’ve designed the following in this configuration chart, and even though it’s not complete by any means, it gives me a good foundation to stand on. Also below that you can download the PSD file for your own use.

{download .psd file}

Tito A. Belgrave