What is important to know about mobile strategies?
The designer of Civilization II and Rise of Nations, Tim Train, in honor of the release of his new mobile game, shared his thoughts on the development of mobile strategies with the Usgamer resource.
1. Creating a strategy for mobile devices is not much different from creating a strategy for PC
It is generally believed that it is much more difficult to make a strategy for a PC than for a mobile. Train claims that when working on his mobile project DomiNations, he and his team used much the same approach as when creating Rise of Nations.
Tim Train
“It’s funny, but the process in both cases is not very different. We launched the first working build [of the DomiNations game] as soon as possible – within three weeks. People started playing it, poking at different buttons, something was happening in the game. We also started playing, played all possible variants of events, removed uninteresting things, and in return added what seemed interesting to us. It’s the same thing over and over again: remove, add, repeat. And so for two years. In the end, if you do everything right, you get a game that is fun to play. Other approaches to gemidesign imply one-hundred-page dizdoks or flowcharts in the whole wall. We didn’t do that. And exactly the same thing we did in the case of Rise of Nations and all the other titles.”
2. Sessions in mobile games should be “elastic”
According to Train, he likes the variety that is present in mobile strategies. He believes that it is the “elasticity” of sessions that allows you to fit the game into the rhythm of a modern user’s life. The player can choose whether to spend five minutes hunting for loot while standing in a morning traffic jam, or to start a battle with a neighbor for twenty minutes when there is free time. This distinguishes mobile strategies from console titles.
3. Mobile strategy developers have a lot to learn from Sid Meyer
Train believes that developers of mobile strategies need to be guided by the principle that Civilization creator Sid Meier uses in his games. It says that the “depth” of the game is the result of the interaction of simple systems. Thane gives an example: loot hunting is a simple system. Pumping a Persian is a simple system. These two systems interact with each other – with the help of the dropped loot, the character swings. And this gives the game “depth”.
4. “Old-school” developers do an excellent job of creating shareware games
Over the past couple of years, many industry veterans have migrated to mobile. Seasoned strategists are especially valuable personnel, Train believes. He is sure that the systemic thinking that is characteristic of them helps in creating shareware games. It’s not for nothing that Mark Skaggs and Brian Reynolds, former developers of strategies such as Command & Conquer or Age of Empires, are among the most popular game designers.
5. The strategy genre is undergoing a revival
Train believes that games such as Clash of Clans and Samurai Siege have aroused interest in the genre and paved the way for the “second generation” of mobile strategies. He refers to the “second generation”, for example, his game DomiNations. Its main difference from the veterans of the genre is the improved asynchronous multiplayer. In the game, there is no need to throw the entire army to defend the base – you can choose a separate category of units that will best cope with the task at the moment.
The popularity of strategies, the emergence of many studios that specialize in them – all this, according to Train, testifies to the “renaissance” of the genre. It evolves and changes. Train hopes that this state of affairs will last for a long time – five, ten, fifteen years. He admits that he is interested in finding out what this will eventually lead to.
A source: http://www.usgamer.net
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