Homefront - A Designer's Review

Homefront (PC Version) - Kaos Studios
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homefront_%28video_game%29

This review will consist of 3 major components:

• Design
• Story
• Game Mechanics
• Programming
• Performance
• Technology
• Online
• Art
• 3D Graphics
• Special FX
• Audio 

Part 1 - Design:
Story
Homefront is a first-person shooter created by Kaos Studios in New York with the premise of a future North Korean superpower invading and occupying the US. The game puts you into the role of an ex-pilot with combat experience (presumably a military pilot) who is forced to participate in The Resistance as they find their way to San Francisco to hook up and provide fuel for remnant US military forces.

Right off the bat, you can tell that Homefront was written by John Milius and a homage to the 1984 movie, Red Dawn. You start off amidst a suppressive faceless North Korean army that terrorizes the US citizens scrapping by in the "ghetto's" of Colorado.

As a story, it starts off as a unique experience, seeing familiar American territory under the control of a foreign force. But as a game, the plot slips into the usual Hoo-ah, Macho-Kick-Ass-with-Bubblegum story of killing wave after wave of expendable Korean soldiers. What starts off with so much potential, especially in the 1st and 2nd "Chapters" of the game, distills into following a foul-mouthed testosterone imbued teammate, Connor, around killing your way to the US counter-attack in San Francisco.

There were some incredible set pieces in the game that really pounded into you the idea of being in an occupied United States under a ruthless invasion force. But the idea was not capitalized as well as it could have been. In the end, it was another fantastic, new idea, that was not taken full advantage upon.

Unique and Fresh: 9.2
Implementation: 5.5
Total: 7.35

Game Mechanics
First and foremost, Homefront is a first-person shooter, so the basic mechanics of run, shoot, cover, repeat, apply. You have a selection of 3 major kinds of weapons, Assault Rifle, Machine-gun and Sniper Rifle, with secondary special weapons like Rocket Launchers, grenades, various other explosives...

The maps aren't the same size or scope of Battlefield games, it isn't the claustrophobic environments of CoD: MW2 and Black Ops. However, with the additional of vehicles, the size of the map provides a perfect size to emphasize the power of tanks and helicopters, but also allows for intense close-quarter combat. Overall, the Level Designers have done a great job balancing out the environment, while providing a fun playground of war.

Moving onto controls, each weapon feels distinctly unique and using them is as natural as picking up a toothbrush for most gamers. For PC Gamers, they should feel completely familiar to anyone who has played CoD, Halo, or Battlefield. Vehicle handling is also superb, while it won't satisfy the simulation fans out there, it's quick to pick up for beginners, but difficult to master. Lastly, there is also Joystick support for PC fans, while Vehicles are able to transition into cockpit or 3rd person camera modes, something that is noticeably missing in the console version.

In Single-Player, the mechanics are as generic as you can get, you are given an objective or "waypoint", you proceed to the destination, and either an Enemy Encounter, or cinematic moment will begin. Most of the missions consist of guarding, assaulting, or sneaking through enemy territory. There were some missions that stood out, but due to the set pieces rather then Level Design.

Multi-Player on the other hand is where the unique mechanics begin to shine. Two specific examples are Battle Points and Battlefield Commander.

• Battle Points:
• These act as in-game currency that you can use to buy specific special weapons on-the-fly.
• Allows for instant-reaction to various kinds of situations without having to die and choose a new class
• Ex: A tank appears, buy a Rocket Launcher using BPs and take it out.
• You can buy vehicles, so teammates will no longer "camp/fight" each other for them.
• Battlefield Commander
• AI Commander that assigns values to targets and players throughout the game.
• This allows players to gain BP faster by completing objectives given by AI Commander, and also targets high-value targets (players who have high killstreaks) and rewards players for taking them out.

These two mechanics bring a new style of Escalation warfare, in which, players start out equally, but as the battle rages along, the scale of the battle will grow. Players naturally progress into vehicles like Tanks and Helicopters due to careful use of Battle Points, and objectives cause more intense encounters due to the Commanders.

Although I haven't had time to play more Multiplayer then I would have liked, each time I get into a game, I have a blast. The controls feel solid, guns feel powerful, without being too unbalanced, and overall, the escalation mechanics are present in each game.

Mechanics (Both SP & MP): 8.0
Implementation: 9.5
Total: 8.75


Part 2 - Programming:
Performance/Functionality

This game runs on my PC at 1920x1080, very high settings (everything turned on) and still manages to pull a good 40-60 FPS using FRAPs as a measuring tool.

All in all, the performance is a none issue if you have a good computer. No memory leaks, poor optimization, etc...

Online play also runs smoothly, I have an easy time finding games, and rarely disconnect due to issues pertaining to the game. From friends who have run dedicated servers, the tools that Kaos Studios have given to players is wide and varied, and full enables players to create their own servers. One of the few things that is genuinely missing in PC Games now has been gratuitously given by Kaos.

Online: 9.0
Performance: 9.0

Implementation: 9.0
Total: 9.0


Part 3 - Art:
3D Graphics
One quick glance at the character models and animation betrays the age and Triple A status of this game. In comparison to CoD, Battlefield, and countless other shooters, there are definitely much better games out there that catch the realistic movements of humans.

However, what it lacks in high quality models or smooth animation, it makes up for with gorgeous environments that really place you into an "occupied" USA. Destroyed suburban housing sprinkled with familiar landmarks like convenience stores, gas stations, fast food restaurants, create an ambiance that very few games out there have achieved. As I was battling through the streets of countless suburban homes, I could easily envision myself in present day US, fighting on the same streets of Redmond, WA, where I make my home.

The lighting strikes the right mood, and on occasion, I couldn't help but stop and glance around the gorgeous, decadent ghetto of Colorado. Having only been to that State recently, I can tell you they did a superb job of re-creating the region.

In one "Chapter" of the game, the area is turned into a beautiful landscape of Autumn yellows, oranges, and red. While the majority of locations are common place in countless shooters, I give props to Kaos for willing to add in color among destruction. Games like CoD, Battlefield, etc... might have different locales, but not often with "fresh scenery". Traversing through the NW in the middle of Autumn; now that was a fantastic sight to behold and play through.

Overall while the art was not that impressive, I couldn't see any horrible clipping issues, the Animation was passable, and it looked like the Art team did their best to make it perfect, albeit the quality.

3D Graphics: 6.0
Implementation: 8.5
Total: 7.25

Special FX
Probably one of the shortest sections of my review, the Special Effects is of the quality I would expect from a Triple A title. Explosions look strong and powerful, guns firing, bullet tracers zooming past, and all the destruction SFX allow the ambiance of battle sink in.

One particular encounter, in which your allies mis-fire white phosphorous mortar rounds causes a spectacular but horrifying visage of fire, destruction and explosions. However, on my PC, that particular moment ended up less dramatic due to some weird graphical glitches that caused all my fire effects to not render.

Special FX: 7.5
Implementation: 9.0
Total: 8.25

Audio
Dramatic music, strong sound effects, and perfect ambient music all lend itself to a wonderful Audio performance by Homefront. Throughout my play-through, the quality and attention to detail given to sound and music by the Audio Team was clear.

Guns have unique and distinct sounds, and while they definitely weren't the kind you'd expect from modern guns, it gave a different futuristic sound; the kind where you could nod and think an M4 might sound that gruff in a war-torn US.

Music was also wonderfully composed and incorporated. While the traditional sounds of bass and brass for military shooters were prevalent, the addition of orchestral rock was inspiring and heart-pumping. If I had this music playing behind me in real war, I'd be doing Kung-Fu backflips shooting an M4 like Rambo all day long.

Audio: 9.0
Implementation: 9.0
Total: 9.0


Final Overview:

Design: Story
Unique and Fresh: 9.2
Implementation: 5.5
Total: 7.35

Design: Game Mechanics
Mechanics (Both SP & MP): 8.0
Implementation: 9.5
Total: 8.75

Programming: Performance/Functionality
Online: 8.0
Performance: 9.0
Implementation: 9.0
Total: 9.0

Art: 3D Graphics
3D Graphics: 6.0
Implementation: 8.5
Total: 7.25

Art: Special FX
Special FX: 7.5
Implementation: 9.0
Total: 8.25
 
Audio: General
Audio: 9.0
Implementation: 9.0
Total: 9.0

Closing Thoughts:
It's a game that any Game Designer can look at and say, that's a solid game. Though, in the processs of trying to push the envelope in story, the Designers weren't able to capitalize on the unique backdrop. Whether due to poor Designers or rushed production, it felt as if the latter hours of the game were made without real thought. This game is definitely not one you buy for the single-player.

As for multiplayer, this game shines in a variety of ways, from it's introduction of Battle Points and Battlefield Commander mechanics that emphasizes a player's participation in battle, to the Level Design scale that fits just neatly in-between Call of Duty and Battlefield. If anything, this game is worth picking up for the value of MP, it is fun, a refreshing break from CoD and Battlefield, and definitely offers a unique perspective on the direction of Multiplayer FPS Design.

FrontierCraft - Micro and Macro on Facebook

So as stated in my previous post, I had an epiphany on the comparison of Starcraft-style micro/macro management mechanics and how they relate to FrontierVille's system.

Aside from my reason for picking up FrontierVille recently (lets just say research :P), I can note several particular instances in which these two core mechanics in Starcraft fit quite snugly into FrontierVille's mechanics.

Lets start off by reviewing the Micro and Macro management mechanics of Starcraft II.

The two core mechanics of Starcraft 2 as defined in the parameters of this game:

• Micro-management refers to the individual control of units or buildings in the game.
• Macro-management refers to the overall control of resources, building construction and timing of production.

Some rudimentary knowledge of Starcraft 2 will be required:

1. "Minerals and Gas" are the primary resources of the game.
2. "Supply" is the amount of units any player is currently able to support. Maxes at 200.
3. Workers (SCVs in this case) gather said minerals.

Starcraft II Micro/Macro mechanics (Using Terran)

 Examples of micro-management mechanics:

• Stim Pack
• +50% increase to movement and attack speed.
• Siege Mode
• Secondary mode that increases range by +6 (total of 13, min of 2), decreases firing cooldown to 3 seconds, and increases damage to 35 and +15 to Armored.
• Smooth Mouse control 
• Exemplified in slicing groups of units and splitting.
• Mass unit balls contribute heavily into the above.
• Viking Transformation - Allows transition from Anti-Air only to Ground only fighting unit
• The downside, Ground mode is comparatively weaker then other ground units.
• However, perfect for harassment with micro.
• SCV Repair
• Allows SCVs (Worker unit) to repair buildings and mechanical units.

Examples of macro-management mechanics:

• Auto-Mine mechanic
• SCVs (or workers) can be set to automatically rally on mineral/gas to auto-mine/gather resources.
• Different from SC1 in which players had to manually order selected workers after production to mine.
• Calldown: Mule
• Cost 50 Energy
• Lasts 90 Seconds
• Mines 270 minerals during it's duration.
• Mines 2x as fast as SCV: Mules drop off 30 minerals compared to the 15 minerals of SCVs in comparison.
• Calldown: Extra Supplies
• Calls down an "add-on" to supply depots that adds and extra +8 to Food supply.
• Supply Depot construction
• Allows +8 supply each building for unit production.
• MBS (Multiple Building Selection) - allows binding and control of multiple buildings.
• Can produce out of multiple buildings simultaneous, or grouping them in one control group.
• Reactor vs Tech Lab
• Reactor upgrade on buildings allow creation of two units instead of one, however, at the expense of higher tier units.
• Ex 1: Barracks w/ Reactor can only produce Marines, but can produce two at a time.
• Ex 2: Barracks w/ Tech Lab can produce Marines & Marauders, but only one at a time.

 Now that I've listed several detailed examples of how micro and macro-management is evidenced in Starcraft II, I'll list the ones in FrontierVille that I've noticed.

FrontierVille Micro/Macro mechanic 

 Examples of micro-management mechanics:

• Bonus Meter clicks
• Filling up bonus meter by clicking dropped "loot" in the form of:
• Coin (Money to buy objects from market)
• XP Stars (Levels up your character)
• Special Items (Used to build items, or gift others)
• Wood (Used to construct buildings)
• Energy Bolts (Adds + amt to Energy Bar)
• Food (Used to buy extra Energy)
• Bonus meter stays active for roughly 5-8 seconds before disappearing.
• Each click on an item updates the bonus meter and fills it.
• Mouse Clicks
• Clobbering Snakes
• Takes 2-3 action points to take down.
• Scaring Bears
• Can take up to 6-8 action points to scary off.
• Relates to micro-management when combing with above Bonus Meter.

Examples of macro-management mechanics:

• Energy bar is an essential but limited resource for performing actions.
• Very similar to "Mana" in RPGs
• Energy or Action Points are required to perform all essential game-play actions.
• Energy bar increases per level, but has a finite amount.
• Can be artificially replenished via: Food, Coin or Horseshoes
• Resource Collection
• Collection of these resources via Energy/Action points.
• Coin
• Food
• Wood
• Items
• Horseshoes (One of the hardest resources to gather, most valuable)
• Can only be obtained via "Quests" or real money.
• Building Construction & Quests
• Construction of buildings and finishing quests expand on gameplay options.

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At first glance, it's easy to see how Starcraft II was built for these mechanics, while FrontierVille is significantly smaller in terms of scope.

However, in comparing the two features, a lot of similarities begin to pop out.

Resources: FrontierVille vs Starcraft II

Starcraft II keeps it simple as an RTS by allowing players to have only minerals and gas. But FrontierVille compensates by it's lack of competitive gameplay by providing substantially more resources to manage.

However, the end result is the same:
While normal players can keep up with both games in management, FrontierVille allows more experienced or "hardcore" players to take advantage of the different timings and mechanics to get ahead.

Because every action is determined by Energy (Action Points), what a player can do is limited. Just like Starcraft in which building/advancement is limited by mineral/gas, players in FrontierVille have to make efficient use of their limited Energy Bar.

"Leveling-up" does refill the Energy Bar, so taking the time to know what tasks give the most experience, and timing out a level-up just as you finish your "last Energy point" can really give players substantially longer gameplay. Or as some people might say, "More Bang for the Buck".

What really caught my eye was the addition of the Bonus Meter in FrontierVille. In Starcraft II, higher-skilled players are rewarded for their ability to both "time" their attacks and also micro their armies with the mouse, in the form of destroying their opponent. A similar mechanic evolved from the timing used in filling up the Bonus Meter by clicking on loot, while timing out each click so as to not allow the Bonus Meter to fade away.

• The reward of the Bonus Meter is more quantities of Coin, that can be used to buy things on the market. So the incentive for higher Bonus Meter combos is high.
• Higher bonus meter combos also sometimes produce "Achievements" that add both XP and Horseshoes. Horseshoes being one of the harder resources to gather in the game.

This effectively produced Micro-management scenarios very reminiscent to Starcraft II.

For Example:
After cutting down a tree, a Bear appears in front of the players. The player now has the option to Scare the Bear away using Action Points.

• Scaring the Bear away gives coin, xp, items, etc... until an ultimate "drop" at the end consisting of more coins and rarer items.

By scaring away the Bear, you can click the loot, but you also have to "re-click" the bear to continue scaring him. A normal player might simply click the bear, click all the loot systematically, and then click the bear again to scare him. Rinse and Repeat, it gets the job done, but sometimes the Bonus Meter will have disappeared by then.

A more experience player would be able to:

1. Click/Scare the Bear.
2. As soon as the loot drops, he re-clicks the bear and only clicks ONE piece of loot.
3. As he continues to do that, the Bonus Meter will fill up progressively, without ever having the chance to disappear, while the player is able to "scare off" the Bear.
4. At the same time, he continues to click the all the loot that drops, while keeping one piece of loot around simply to reset the cool-down on the Bonus meter.

The major difference between this type of action as opposed to the first kind, is more "micro-management". Knowing when the Bonus Meter will begin flashing, and also how long you have before it fades away is crucial in being one step ahead of the mechanics.

As the Bonus Meter progresses to it's respective levels: Excellent, Amazing, Outstanding, etc... It's important to continue leave some loot "lying around", because clearing grass, cutting trees, clobbering Snakes, etc... all take different lengths of time to accomplish.

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In this way, a lot of the micro and macro-management mechanics that evolved from resource/strategy games like Starcraft II have found their way onto "simple" games like FrontierVille on the Facebook. While FarmVille shows these kinds of mechanics to a far lesser degree, it's apparent that FrontierVille has built off FarmVille's success, and incorporated a lot of existent and evolving RTS mechanics that has surprisingly caught this "Hardcore RTS Fan" by surprise.

Social Game Epiphany

Before I forget, I had an epiphany on the core mechanics of FrontierVille, in comparison to the micro/macro management mechanics of Starcraft 2.

More on this later tonight as I write down my explanations. This post is just a remind to me to actually write it!

2D Design - Games from Purdue

University, the great frontier for many youth. It marks the age in time when we move out of our parent's houses and experience the world independently. It also marks the time when we prepare for our own future, careers and education.

What a lot of people don't realize as they go to school is the idea that they will fail. They will fail miserably, painfully and terribly. Yet, that concept and action of failure is what this great frontier is all about.

Below is the first level of a 2D game created by my first team at Purdue University.

Shurik's Revenge - Created 2007

Platform: Nokia N95 Cell Phone

Genre: Platformer

Art Style: 2D

The premise of the game followed a young ninja (like Ninja Gaiden) as he stumbles upon his burning Village being attacked by Pirates. A big influence on us was Ninja Gaiden, as the beginning was both a parody & nod to NG.

Biggest mistake:
The game was too hard, and poorly designed. Now, a lot of people will say, well if its like NG, isn't it supposed to be hard? Unfortunately for me, I took it upon myself to make the level design irritating, without ever giving the players the necessary tools to accomplish the goals easily.

Not only that, but, as a game on a mobile platform, I overlooked the idea that players would already have uncomfortable hand placement on the key-pad/arrow-pad.

Below is an example of the original first level:

Enlarged image here

Analysis (Original): Overall, one would think this was a solid level, for the middle of a game. The big problem here was, I threw too much at the player at the get-go. The player didn't have sufficient time to get used to the controls, and already they had to leap over a pit of fire that the character could barely make even with precice controlling.

They also had to jump over gaps without any knowledge of what was ahead of them, often times making blind leaps of faith to their death. While enemy placement was not shown in this, I placed a lot of "ranged" enemies at the beginning before the player even had the chance to practice against "melee" attackers.
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To improve on this I had to go back to the drawing board. I wanted to give players the ability to ease into the game, understand the controls, and not become frustrated in the first two minutes. I also wanted to continue giving the player the "awe" sense of stumbling onto his Village in flames. This time around though, I made sure to open up the starting area with less obstacles, and also surprise the player with flaming Village buildings later on.

Re-designed Map Layout:

Enlarged Image

Analysis (Re-Design): The biggest change to this was creating a simpler introduction. There were no longer pits of fire you had to jump over. No more invisible pits & leaps of faith. The one major leap that you were required to do was jumping down into the main village. But there was no danger to your health or safety. I kept the "awe moment" by filling the villages with fire slowly eating up toward the buildings.

Now the player could learn the controls from the very beginning while fighting melee pirates. They wouldn't become stuck at the "jump over fire pit" encounter. By creating a higher sense of vertigo over the village buildings, it also allowed players to experience variety in their surroundings.

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Conclusion:

Pacing and difficulty is an hard thing to balance that takes experience but also a lot of analytical trial and erro. By making this kind of mistake, I know now not to create the same kind of impossible situations in my future games. The ability for players to also slowly ease to the world and controls also plays an higher role in immersion into a game.

Foreword

Before I start posting my content, I’m sure the people who have stumbled onto my site are wondering about my unique title. Thoughts like “Is this blog about being a failure?” ranging to “Wow, these Design work do fail” come to mind, but I do want to quickly explain the intent of this blog.

When I was in college, I came across a quote from another Game Designer’s blog. It read “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” - Samuel Becket. While I’ve regretfully forgotten the name of the blog and even the Designer, this phrase has never left me.

So why is my blog based off this quote?

This blog isn’t about showing my successes, but about showing my growth as a Designer even after I’ve failed one project after the other. Some might not be as bad as others; some might not even truly be failures. But in my mind, without wanting to improve on everything I create, I won’t be able to mature. So I write this, not with the intention to flaunt my success, but to “Fail Again”, over and over, until I “Fail Better”.

“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.” – Niels Bohr

A Clean Slate

From here on out - Everything is reset!