Evolution of gameplay mechanics III

This is the last of the first set of analysis of the Prince of Persia games, which covered a small part of the first games of the series.

Prince of Persia 3D (1999)

The first Prince of Persia game with 3D graphics.

In this game, as an improvement to the gameplay, Prince could swim, push and pull crates, and drink a special potion which made him temporarily invisible.

Taking advantage of the 3D environment, the use of a sword and a bow was an ability given to players, shooting in any direction to kill enemies that would be seen in a specific part of the level.

In previous games, with the 2D view players always saw everything there was on the screen which was not so good when designers wanted to create an expectation, a surprise behind the corner. Obviously the level’s screen separation was a tool in control by the designer to handle what he wanted the players to see, but anyway players still had a big field of view on that frame.

With the 3D environment, with the external focalization camera (AKA the third person view), players couldn’t see what the next closed-door and the corners waited. This “simple” change brought a higher tension to the series, as there could be a trap, a pit, enemies or any other type of obstacle in a place players could only see if they were looking in the right direction, in the right angle. The 3D made possible to game designers and level designers create the world with a higher freedom, sculpting more fun challenges, positioning game assets in a higher area of the levels which, as an advantage of the 3D environment, had a greater volume to the player explore.

As an example of a gameplay situation: by jumping and grabbing the edge of a higher platform, a different angle of the level was shown, revealing heavy creates which should be pushed down to hold the opening switch of a near gate. The game had a lot of this kind of puzzle, making usage of switches to open gates or affect the environment in different ways.

With the 3D game engine, unlike the previous games, the environment was modeled, textured and lighted, which helped a lot to improve the mood and the atmosphere of the playgrounds.

Talking more about the controls and puzzles, the player had to consider and fight against one more axis. The Z axis. What in the previous games was just a simple situation where players had to run and jump from a platform to another, in Prince of Persia 3D this well-known experience enhanced. When the Level Designer decides to put specific platforms moving in the X axis between the point A and B of the level, well… things change, for better! For the fun purpose! To get to the point B, it was necessary to move with more attention (concentration), positioning Prince on the right spot on the platform to jump right in time to reach the next moving platform (controls + timing), repeating this loop till the end of the sector. If he didn’t perform that action perfectly, things would get hot, really hot. There was lava below! Barbecue.

Ok so just with this single simple example of the overall game, we could detect how the integration of the third axis (3D) could turn a standard situation into a more fun and newer situation.

We have to pay attention to the details, because in conjunction with a good design, they are the little piece of advancement which turns a “game” into an eternal living experience in the minds of the players, and this is what you want to do.

There are more points to cover, of course, but I’d like to ask you:

What do you think about those games? Can you make more analogies to other “modern” games? Did I say something that should be fixed?

I appreciate your reading.

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