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The Hidden Potential of Abstraction
Cactus_LFRez
Member UncommonPosts: 206
Now that I can make new threads I figured I would start off with a topic I have had buzzing around my head for a while.
The use of abstraction in game mechanics, specifically combat, and the untapped potential of a highly abstracted system.
So, What is Abstraction? 🤔
In the broad sense abstraction in a game is the separation between what is happening on the screen and what you the player are doing.
All games have to have abstraction to some degree in order to even function.
After all you are not actually fighting a dragon, you are using a keyboard/controller.
So an example of abstraction would be as simple as pressing X to punch.
But abstraction can also exist on a spectrum.
Just how Abstracted are Games? 🤓
I tend to think of it like this,
All games are abstracted from reality, some more than others,
The more you have to manually do in a game the less abstracted it is,
Things like
Aiming attacks
Judging distances
Timing
Manual inputs (⬇️↘️➡️🤜)
Hit and hurt boxes
Action combat tends to be less abstracted, some more than others.
On the flip side you have more abstracted mechanics,
Turn based
Chance to
Tab to target
Auto attack
Line of sight checks
These are typically what we would call more command based mechanics, like tab target combat.
Why Play a Highly Abstracted Game, It isn't Even Realistic? 😤
So you can see what we call tab target combat tends to be pretty abstracted.
It is all background math and very little physics.
I mean you can basically replace the animations on screen with pretty much anything and it would still make sense.
In contrast action combat uses frame data and hit and hurt boxes, what is happening on the screen is intimately connected to the mechanics.
In contrast action combat uses frame data and hit and hurt boxes, what is happening on the screen is intimately connected to the mechanics.
Now I think things like turn based or tab target combat has its own benefit and creates a different gameplay experience.
But once you realize that what is happening on screen has very little to do with the background math that governs the game, then that begs the question.
What if We Controlled Our Own Spell Effects and Animations? 👉👈🥺
If animations can be separated from mechanics then why don't we do that and give players more control over the visuals?
You could just pick generalized game play styles and customize the exact visuals you want.
You like an aggressive melee character that uses rage mechanics?
You could use a traditional axe
But maybe you want to punch fools
Sprout claws from your hands?
Maybe you attack with hard light weapons, like Green Lantern
Same mechanics, very different visuals.
You can imagine similar things with other character types,
Healing cleric?
Holy is fine but done to death
How about shadow magic?
Nature is a nice option
Maybe your character is so jacked when he hits a front double bicep his teammates wounds are healed with the power of gains
Up to you,
Obviously you could reign in what players are allowed to make and set limits that make sense for your world.
As long as the mechics are not affected, you could really do whatever you want.
As long as the mechics are not affected, you could really do whatever you want.
So that is the hidden potential I see with abstract games, like tab target MMOs.
Use the abstraction to your advantage and bring in a whole new level of control other types of games can't offer.
Comments
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
BDO uses action combat, the combat utilizes hit and hurt boxes and specific timing and distancing
If for example we swapped out a sword and shield for a spear you have fundamentally changed that character, the hit and hurt boxes, frame data etc.
This could fundamentally unbalance the game.
In WoW, it uses tab targeting, there are no hit and hurt boxes, just line of sight and distance checks and to hit rolls.
So in Wow the animation you see when you use an ability is completely disconnected from the background numbers.
Knowing that you could, in WoW for instance, swap out a sword and shield for a spear, or for that matter, fire hands or a kick or a flail
It can be anything really as long as it reasonably fits as a melee attack
So let's say we have a tab target game,
we can offer players a variety of animation options, spell effects option, weapon choices etc. While keeping the mechanics intact
That WoW warrior could be turned into a martial arts master, a werewolf, psychic fighter, a mech suit, whatever
It is the same principle as mirrored classes except why not open up the visual aspects to give players creative control.
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Please let us explore your ideas.
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I was thinking in terms of combat specifically.
You know how in a tab target game all the combat is just background math and the animations are just displayed on top?
Well what if we could customize those animations?
A good example I can think of would be the WoW warlock,
The theme is demons and shadow, but that is just models and spell effects applied to background mathematics
What if we swapped demons for undead and disease spell effects
What about automatons and gadgets
Beasts and nature
Etc.
Those examples are just recycling models, animations and spell effects that is already in World of Warcraft
Mechanically identical, visually different.
I think this can open the door to just picking mechanics or archetypes and let players pick what aesthetics or skins they want to apply to those mechanics.
Open up a whole new layer of customization for the cost of creating art assets, or reusing ones already in the game.
That is no longer the case and hasn't been for a long, long time now.
Abstracted combat still has its fans but it's an undeniable fact that action combat was seen as an iterative improvement over abstract combat once machines became powerful enough to be able to do good 3D, action-oriented simulations.
Abstract combat existed because there was no other realistic choice, not because there is anything inherently better about it.
Still... there's nothing wrong with abstract combat in computer games and that is pretty well the only type that exists in analog board games. There are plenty of reasons to enjoy those as well.
But there's nothing hidden about its potential lol. Maybe a young kid discovering them for the first time can have an epiphany when seeing that games can also be played that way noticing abstractions for the first time, but abstract combat games have literally been around for centuries - chess anyone?
Nothing new left to be known about their potential.
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The fact that visuals are abstracted from the mechanics gives us room to play around with those visuals.
Like chess. A pawn is a pawn, but why not let people design their own pieces?
The mechanics are the same regardless.
You could bring in a whole new level of customization.
But I don't think there's that much untapped potential in that kind of customization. People usually want to customize their character's looks, their in-game home, and stuff like that. Customizing stuff like how your character waves his hands when casting a spell isn't nearly as desirable. Also the character's looks and furniture in home can have a lot of variance without it affecting gameplay, whereas in-combat animations need to be correct duration and in multiplayer games also need to look good, sensible and recognizable for the other players.
For non-AoE attack they just perform check "Is it possible to hit?" before executing that attack at all.
As opposed to AoE attacks in WoW, and all attacks in action games, where the game does the attack and then checks "Did it hit?"
Someone who is registered as being a flex offender is a person who feels the need to flex about everything they say.
Always be the guy that paints the house in the dark.
Lucidity can be forged with enough liquidity and pharmed for decades with enough compound interest that a reachable profit would never end.