Overview

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Overview

• Handheld Gaming Considerations
• Player interactions
• Hardware limitations
• Budgetary constraints
• Best Practices
• Control scope
• Keep it simple
• Make it snappy
• Work with the impatient player
• Stay off the critical path

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Handheld Considerations

• Player Interactions Console vs. Handheld Games
• Differences based on
• Where theyre played
• Why theyre played
• How theyre played

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Where

• At Home vs. On-the-Go
• Sound vs. Silence
• Shared vs. Solitary

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Why

• Settling Down vs. Squeezing In
• Hardcore vs. Casual

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How

• Engrossed vs. Interrupted
• Roundabout vs. Direct

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Cartridge-Based Systems (DS)

• Hardware Limitations
• ROM size relatively small
• Generally eliminates use of full-motion video
  (FMV)
• Reduces use of voiceover (VO)
• Schedule and Budget
• Both reduced vs. console
• Generally eliminates use of FMV
• Reduces or eliminates use of VO

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Best Practices

• Control scope
• Keep it simple
• Make it snappy
• Work with the impatient player
• Stay off the critical path

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Control Scope

• Reduced retail cost translates to reduced
  audience expectations of narrative scope
• Avoid overburdening narrative with poor design
  choices
• Example
• Level 1 In ocean, fighting robotic sharks
• Level 2 On Mars, mining for minerals
• Too large a conceptual gap to be filled with 3
  still images and captions
• Result short and ridiculous, or long and tedious

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Keep It Simple

• Story components must survive interruption
• Complex story elements more easily forgotten with
  shorter player sessions
• Player may feel lost most of the time

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Keep It Simple

• Keep elements tight, lean and easy to follow/
  remember
• Sprinkle story with simple recaps/reminders
• A la a broadcast sporting event
• Repeatedly answer questions like
• What is the overall conflict?
• What is my overarching goal?
• Why am I on the current quest/level/mission?

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Make It Snappy

• Text
• Your main tools are probably the static image and
  the text caption
• Two types of players skippers and readers
• Skippers far outnumber readers!
• But middle-of-road gamers will read if you dont
  push your luck
• The more you write, the more likely none of it
  gets read
• Small screen size means few words will fit
  onscreen at one time

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Make It Snappy

• Text
• Edit, edit, then edit again
• Challenge each sentence, phrase and word to
  justify its existence

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Make It Snappy

• Voiceover (VO)
• If lucky enough to have VO, it will be limited
• Make it count
• Succinct, direct, character-defining dialogue
• Front-load VO if cant be carried through game
• Establish character voices up front, so that text
  in game is heard correctly

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Make It Snappy

• Full-Motion Video (FMV)
• Very rare for cart-based handhelds
• When available, extremely limited in scope
• Runtime
• Number of character models
• Number of speaking characters (assuming lip-sync)
• Number of environments

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Make It Snappy

• Full-Motion Video (FMV)
• Insist on a detailed outline or beat script being
  vetted by the animation team
• Save painful editing/downscoping later
• Where to put FMV?
• Normally beginning, in between levels, and at end
• If crunched, front-load
• Maximum percentage of players will see it

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The Impatient Player

• Some players just want to skip your story!
• Dont give up on them
• Try to find ways to short-circuit their use of
  the skip button
• Deliver at least core narrative info despite them
• Use the silent comic book panels test

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The Impatient Player

• Keep Narrative Off the Critical Path
• Avoid forcing the player to listen or read
• Dont embed crucial gameplay info in reams of
  narrative material
• Can annoy players and reviewers
• For need to know info, stick with
  impossible-to-avoid iconographic or very brief
  text instructions

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Conclusion

• Dont let it get you down!
• Remember youre in a support role
• Bolstering and enhancing the game experience
• Provide context for gameplay goals
• Create the illusion of a larger world
• Make players care about the characters
• Do more with less and be proud of it!