Slow Mode
Posted By admin on April 22, 2011
Aliases
bullettime
Problem
The player needs to successfully perform a series of actions in a short period of time.
Use when
This is common to action games such as first person shooters or platform games. achieving a certain goal (such as finishing a level, going through a door) depends on successfully performing a series of actions. Sometimes this has to be done within a constrained period of time. For example, the player may push a button to open a door. The door closes in a certain amount of time. In order to go trough the door, the player may need to jump over a pit, defeat an enemy etc. Game designers put such ‘challenges’ in the game to pace the game and make it more exciting. For advanced players such a challenge may not be an obstacle but (novice) players may find it very hard to accomplish and the player often has to try several times before the player succeeds (if the player succeeds at all).
Forces
Succesfully performing a series of actions in a short time is difficult for disabled players as they cannot:
- Respond quickly with a controller (Physical/ cognitive disability)
- Precisely position a pointer/crosshair (physical/ cognitive disability)
- Deal with many events at the same time (physical/ cognitive disability)
- The amount of trivial interaction needs to be minimal for disabled gamers.
In addition the following constraints apply:
- Time manipulation cannot be implemented in multiplayer games.
- Players don’t want to have to play part of the game over and over again when they die.
- Making the game too easy ruins gameplay.
Solution
Allow the player to slow down the time.
The implementation of slow is different from the traditional way of implementing Slow (see also Slow for a more generic description). Disabled gamers should be able to use slow whenever they feel the need to. Traditionally slow can only be activated for a brief period of time as slowing it down all the time may make the game too easy, but for disabled gamers this is not an issue. Slow mode can be triggered by the player but this would require an extra input trigger. It can also be automated but it needs to be scripted in. Also suddenly putting things in slow mode might be confusing to some extent so we may need to warn the player when it gets activated.
Principle
- Error prevention
Why
Throwing the world into slow motion is a good mechanism for increasing game accessibility. Disabled gamers will make less errors because:
- Disabled gamers have more time to respond to multiple events which otherwise might overwhelm them and possibly lead to a catastrophic outcome.
- Disabled gamers have more time to position a pointer or crosshair allowing them to achieve their goals.
- Disabled gamers will have more time to respond to timed events which will allow them to meet time related challenges.
Examples
Max Payne – One of the first game to introduce matrix style bullet-time (slow) in a first person shooter. The gameplay of Max Payne revolves heavily around bullet-time. When triggered, bullet-time slows down the passage of time to such an extent that the movements of bullets can be seen by the naked eye – it is a form of slow motion. The player, although his movement is also slowed, is still able to aim and react in real time, providing a unique advantage over enemies. This makes avoiding being shot easier and enables Max to perform special moves, such as shootdodges where Max leaps sideways through the air while continuing to fire his weapon
Prince of Persia: warrior within – This platform/action/puzzle game allows the main character (a prince) to slow time through the use of a dagger. The dagger contains “charges” of the Sands of Time from the hourglass that allow the Prince to “slow” time for a while. The usages of the dagger are limited. However, defeated enemies leave behind piles of the Sands of Time, which can be absorbed by the dagger to replenish its stock. This encourages the player to confront and vanquish enemies (as opposed to avoiding them) in order to replenish the power to manipulate time during the more tricky acrobatic sections of the game. When slow is activated
Blinx: The Time Sweeper – This third person platform game offers time control which allows one to control the flow of time e.g. slowing, speeding up, reversing or stopping its flow entirely.