Journey did a better job making the objective clear than any game I have played in a while. It drops you in this world where all you can see at first is a mountain in the distance. Everything about that game was crafted through subtle visual hints.
n00b c0de Journey is a prime example, I agree. Extra Credits have a whole episode where they use Journey to explain the concept of 'Hero's Journey' which is a narrative layout that's used in a bunch of games.
One thing I cannot stand, and this is a relatively recent "plague" usually found in AAA games, is world-space objective markers. Games look incredible these days, and yet the developers feel inclined to utterly desecrate the look of their world with floating markers and icons all over the place. Get that stuff on map or radar or something, if they are so needed. Honestly I can't tell you how many games turn me off these days for this very reason.
I don't really like it when games spoon feed my what I'm suppose to do. Like as much as I love Skyrim and Oblivion, I feel like they made Objectives a little too easy. I would like to be told where to go but not be given exact locations.
Damn. My entire game design is built around creating your own objectives as a player in an open sandbox world. Guess I better rethink this or find a way to give the Tims of the world a more obvious objective if they want.
If you are looking for linear games that do this well. Anything from recent Naughty Dog is a masterclass in environmental player direction. Open world is a bit harder which is why I think maps with stuff littered all over it are so prevalent. Weenies, Light and Motion are your best friends.
Hey Mike, I'm sure when TIm makes his video it will be awesome and I'll eventually make one myself, but if you wanted a quick explanation and some examples. Mark Brown covers them briefly in this video at about 5:12. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-k70_jvVOcG0.html
How could someone do a game play without objectives o__o? I mean, it doesn't need to be a mission threw in the face of the player, but isn't the gameplay defined by a perception of a pattern in-game? That's weird.
I guess it really depends where you draw the line for game play. Gary's mod, Sim City and Minecraft don't have strictly defined objectives as a couple of examples, but you still "play" them.
It's true. I think this kind of game has the objetive as world interaction. In Gary's mod I know there is a narrator guiding us, so, there isn't a "clear mission", but a guide. I know, maybe I'm the only people on Earth who didn't that but... I've never played Minecraft or Sim City before, so I don't know how the things play there.
