April 24, 2016 Opinion
How are mobile games arranged?
In the heading "Direct text" The author expresses exclusively his own opinion, which may not coincide with the opinion of the editorial office. He is free to do this as you like and in any format convenient for himself. Everything is possible here.
I used to use the iPad mainly in two places: he wandered from the bedroom to, excuse me, toilet and backward. It suddenly turned out that " Star Wars: Invasion " And such games are great for her for the toilet, but the party in some Vainglory or even " Witcher: Arena "It lasts too long to play it in the" Corner of thoughtfulness ". But I very soon realized that Instagram is perfect for this purpose, especially in the holiday season. The session on Instagram lasts as much as it is required, and does not oblige nothing to anything.
I did not study before going to bed in bed, but I try, otherwise after five parties in Hearthstone I can’t fall asleep at all, and then everything dreams: “The light will scatter you! "," Your soul knows torment! ".
And then suddenly thought tightly: how the games should be arranged to like me? Why am I playing them and why? I do not pretend to objectivity, as always, and describe exclusively my observations. Let's figure it out.
It is important to understand ..
A lot of projects from large platforms are transferred to mobile phones. I buy them stably, thinking: “Yeah, I didn’t go to the PC, I’ll go on the iPad”, but as a result I start only a few times. It is one thing when the tablet is used as a replacement of another platform and you run the game purposefully to get from beginning to end. But in the same Xcom I prefer to play PC simply because due to the launch of a large game from a large platform, the tablet, in fact, ceases to be mobile and loses all its advantages.
Nintendo 3DS, for example, does not lose. This is a console specially imprisoned for games, and they are mostly exclusive there there. Caught Pokemon – closed. Opened, caught another Pokemon, closed.
► There is no mobile game more success than Pokemon ". But for her will have to buy 3DS. It is, of course, it is worth it, but not everyone will decide on this, unlike the purchase of a multifunctional tablet.
In the online sector, many stepped on a rake when it turned out that the F2P system is much more profitable than a monthly subscription (if you are not Blizzard, of course). You can’t just take and fasten the F2P-Kostle to the initially subscription game or completely transfer it to a free format. Problems will certainly come out: an unhealthy “Paywolle” will appear, when everyone has to pay to enjoy, there will be indignation and indignant screams from the fans … Correct, if I am mistaken, but there is not a single really successful online game that was first paid by subscription, and Then I switched to F2P. No, if you want a free game with a store, you need to do it initially.
The same with mobile games. So that they benefit, from the very beginning they need to be done under mobile devices, actively using all the capabilities of the platform.
No wonder Clash of Clans and like her won such crazy popularity. I see one of the success formulas, a list of components that will help people like it and get profit. At the same time, it is not at all necessary to make a clone of another successful project! You just need to understand how everything works. Moreover, mobile games can be very different ( Super Hexagon , For example, it is well played and works largely according to a completely different scheme), so this is a small study – never an axiom.
Since it soon comes out " First Avenger: Confrontation ", And many people love superheroes, then let's take a fresh way as an example" Marvel “Avengers: Alliance 2” "(If curious, then you can download on iOS And Android), and we will analyze it in detail.
► unlike the first part, Avengers: Alliance 2 "really looks good and, importantly, spectacular.
Short sessions
Perhaps the main difference between a mobile game and a PC or prefix is that it does not require much time. And there is no need, because on tablets they usually play as if between matter. I sent the author of the editing under the article, waiting for an answer – I opened the iPad, played the party. This is all the charm: mobile games are like smoking, only harm to health is not caused. A pause formed – played. Another formed – still played. Quickly, simply, without troubles.
Game session in the same Star Wars: Invasion lasts about five minutes. I collected resources, ordered a couple of buildings for my base, raided the enemy base – all. But the session in Hearthstone can drag on for eight to ten minutes, depending on the cards with the enemy in the decks. The risk of interrupting the party is increasing: the Queen Vegas Casino colleague went into the office and is waiting for an answer to the letter, it is time to leave the metro, the bartender just brought the cocktail ..
► In Hearthstone, the party, with special bad luck, can stretch out for twenty minutes. Especially if the decks have cards like Renault Jackson, restoring the hero all health, and there are almost no cards on the hand.
The passage of one task in the story campaign in the Avengers: Alliance 2 takes about four minutes, including pumping heroes and all loads. In four minutes, a lot can happen to you, but the risk of missing during this time something important in life is extremely low. At least, soup on a business lunch will definitely not have time to cool.
One PVP-be-bee will not take you more than two minutes at all. A maximum of three, if in both teams, for example, there is a hulk that you will constantly treat.
► The plot campaigns will encounter you both with the famous villains of the Marvel comics and with the not very famous.
Mobility
Oddly enough, not all mobile games are really mobile. Vainglory It will not work to run, sitting in line to an ophthalmologist. And the point is not so much in the length of the party, but that if you close the tablet for a minute, then it will not work to continue the game normally. Hearthstone is partly the same: if you close the iPad, the application will curl up, you will fly out of the tavern with a bullet, and you will have to look at the loading screen again.
Our experimental game "holds" for a long time: ten minutes – so for sure. About as much is needed to answer an important business letter, and then, if a pause has suddenly formed again, continue the game without any downloads.
► Passing the plot, you can not worry about the time at all.
Simple in development, but complex mechanics
Everyone at least once played something like Clash of Clans And they know very well how such games work. We build buildings, score walls, put guns, go to collect resources, raid the enemy’s base-there is generally nothing to explain here. Simple and exciting.
Avengers: Alliance 2 – a case of a fundamentally different. Local mechanics are not arrogant, but at the same time understandable to all hardcore players. A bunch of familiar heroes of the Marvel universe, several classes with their advantages and weaknesses, many different skills, rather deep tactical battles 3×3 – largely as in JRPG. The mechanics are very deep and will require remarkable abilities in tactics and logic from you.
The threshold of entry is high, you will not understand anything from the way: in the battle, there are many parameters into the calculation of damn, and it is very difficult to keep track of everyone at first. For a mobile game, this, of course, is not very good, especially considering that there is no intelligible training here and I have to study everything myself, for what, for example, I have almost gone the whole evening. However, everything is clearly designed not for lovers of “funny farms”: comic book fans are far from casual players.
► The tablet screen regularly explodes from a ton of words. Over time, from this you begin to catch a special buzz.
How everything works?
1) The lunar knight gives Ose “in cabbage soup” for free: each round he takes a new image, and in this case, in the image of the defender, he strikes the one who recklessly decided to attack him. Two more images give him additional attacks after a near or long blow, and the latter heals if the blow came on someone else.
2) Thor has an interesting feature: during the battle, he accumulates energy, and then fry with lightning of all opponents at once. And if the lunar knight is best kept invisible (the benefit of his ability to do this), then Thor may well play the role of “tank”.
3) The sequence of stroke is a swellful thing. For example, my falcon eye can release a deafening arrow, after which the victim passes the move. A very useful thing when you perform a peculiar combination of the abilities of different heroes, and one of the enemies interferes with.
4) Sokoline eyes every round with new arrows: gas weaken opponents, reducing the attack indicator, acidic reduction, sound affect accuracy, and the pain inhibits, reducing the effectiveness of evasion. To control the battle, you will have to constantly adapt to the situation and change tactics on the go, if you need it.
► The choice is obvious, say? But no. The iron fist, of course, knows how to treat associates, but he walks after the Torah, who just accumulated energy and, most likely, easily achieves it. So it is better to eliminate the Osa, all the more so that in the image of the seeker the lunar knight will beat twice. But you can go to the inviz (otherwise you never know) and increase the Torah "morality", increasing it with the power of attack.
Step-by-step mode (or something like)
When playing a mobile game, it is very rare to focus exclusively on it, especially if you launched it in non -standard conditions and between it. For example, in a bar, while you are waiting for friends. In real time, you can easily make a fatal mistake, in step by step, this is much less likely.
► you can wink at the girl at the next table, nothing terrible will happen. Hulk Patient, Hulk will wait.
About games like Clash of Clans, of course, does not. There certainly nothing will happen if you suddenly distract. The same Clash Royale works in real, but the reaction rate there is not so important.
Sociality and PVP
Alliance 2 accelerates slowly: no one will let you into PVP until you pass at least the first plot campaign. On the one hand, this is a minus (I want a lot at once and many socializations), but on the other hand, you will come to the arena fully armed. The logic is about the same as in League of Legends , – The mechanic is complex, there are many opportunities, so you have nothing to do in battle with real people until you learn.
► tournaments are held constantly, and awards in them are very solid. But in order to get to the first ranks, you will have to spend a lot of time.
Modern mobile game (if this is not some kind of puzzle) is inconceivable without PVP and various social elements. Competition with living people stimulates and encourages success, and gives the game a “viral” effect.
Daily and monthly events
Mobile device with you every day, wherever you are. The current person cannot just sit and not look at the screen: it is worth taking for a given, there is nothing to do with it. Avengers: Alliance 2, like any good mobile parole, throws you new events every day.
Firstly, bonuses. Both for the entrance to the game, and for participation in PVP. Thus, for example, I got into the Torah team.
► Самое желанное, конечно, — превосходный топливный элемент (может выпасть новый герой) и золото (на него можно, например, купить превосходный топливный элемент). But here is how lucky.
Secondly, special energy is spent on participation in battles gradually, so you are unlikely to play all day. The game does everything so that you do not be fed up with it, and directly hints: "Friend, you do not need to play in my binge, play small sessions, but every day".
Thirdly, the new story campaigns come out gradually, and tournaments and rewards in them with a certain frequency change.
Collecting and random factor
As in Hearthstone, no one guarantees here that you will get what you want, even if you throw Real Madrid. Want a Hulk? Not a question, use an excellent fuel element and “twist the drum”, suddenly you are lucky. On the factor of chance, pumping is largely built: ISO-8 crystals adding advantages to the characteristics of the heroes also often fall out in random order. Like much more.
It would seem time to beat the alarm and shout: “Fire!"But no, in fact, an ancient principle acts here:" If you get what is desired, it becomes boring ".
► for real money, however, you can buy exactly what you want. But I have not met any “paywell” yet – everything can be obtained for free, just not immediately.
At the same time, the randomness factor favors collecting – an important thing in games about superheroes and not only (remember Pokemon). One of the key features here is that you come across something by chance. If the numismatist could at once get all the ancient coins of the world, he, of course, would not refuse, but would he be interested? The collection should be collected, especially when it comes to superheroes.
* * *
This list is by no means an axiom, but the theorem, and the developers of mobile games successfully prove it. A short session, mobility, step -by -step regime, sociality and spirit of rivalry, constant events and collecting – this is the scheme that I see in many successful mobile games. And then the work of creativity is already.