Dark Souls (improving Messages)

Dark Souls -- Improving on a Masterpiece (I)

My Dark Souls characters (200+ hours played)

Preface:  As a huge fan of Dark Souls, I wanted to look critically at the game and present alternatives for how the game could be improved without altering the stellar core experience.  

Part I - Data Visualization
Dark Souls unique mix of thrilling action, backed by complex and fulfilling RPG-like statistics sets it apart from it's peers.  The first area of this critique of Dark Souls relates to "How Dark Souls communicates it's complexity to the player".  We will identify areas of improvement and present alternative ways of communicating these complex systems to the player using data visualization.

Equipment User Interface
Equipment plays an integral role in success/survival in Dark Souls. Communicating how the player's statistics and equipment are interrelated can mold the experience for the player. Here is a photo of Dark Souls equipment interface along with a description of the concepts communicated to the player.

Dissection
What red numbers mean...

• 80, 0 in the ATK table (associated with the Physical, and Lightning rows respectively) are red to represent that these values are less/worse than the currently equipped weapon. (To put it another way, the currently equipped weapon does more Physical damage than 80, and more Lightning damage than 0). The 35.0 value in the DamageReduction% table represents that the this weapon has less defense against Lightning than the currently equipped weapon. Likewise, the durability 160/160 is red because the durability is less than the currently equipped weapon.
• -64 in the ATK table is associated to the fact that the player's Faith stat is below the ReqParam value of 14. (nothing to do with the currently equipped weapon, but rather a deficiency in the player's ability to effectively wield the weapon)

What blue numbers mean...

• The value +22 represents a calculated bonus applied to the physical damage based on the player's Strength and Dexterity stats, and the C, C ParamBonus fields for Strength and Dexterity.  The +22 is blue because the value of this calculated stat bonus (+22) is more/better than the calculated stat bonus of the currently equipped weapon. Likewise, the reason (C,C,C) ParamBonus fields for Strength, Dexterity, and Faith are blue is because these ParamBonuses (multiplers) are better than the ParamBonuses for Strength, Dexterity and Faith for the currently equipped weapon. The 120 value near the bottom represents that there is an auxilliary blessing effect that exists on this weapon (which is better than the currently equipped weapon). and the Physical, Fire and Stability values (50.0, 35.0, 32) for DmgReduction% are all blue because these values exceed those of the currently equipped weapon.

What the white numbers mean...

• white numbers on the equipment screen (except for the ReqParam table) represent that values for this weapon are the same as the currently equipped weapon...
• in the ReqParam table, a white number means the player's current stat meets or exceeds this requirement.

Analysis

The communication becomes "murky" due to the fact the use of colored numbers are "overloaded" to mean more than one thing. Red sometimes means "does not meet requirements" and sometimes means "worse than currently equipped weapon", and white sometimes means "same as current weapon" or otherwise "meets or exceeds requirements").  In addition, the fact that the data and labels use white text make it hard to distinguish what information is "data" and what information is a label or "meta-data". (Thus giving the overall busy appearance for the eye).

In an effort to answer multiple questions for the user:

1. How does this weapon compare to my currently equipped weapon?
2. Does my character have appropriate stats to wield this weapon?
3. How does this weapon scale with my character's growth in the game?
4. How much damage will this weapon do?

The communication becomes tangled and confusing. Truthfully, the "value" of comparison for  "How this weapon compares to the currently equipped weapon?" is dubious.  Annotating values with red and blue colors may tell you which values are better or worse, however they do not communicate "by how much", and in the process make the communication of stat requirements more obfuscated for the user.

Alternative
Here is a redesigned mock up of the interface which attempts to delineate more clearly the interrelation between elements using a consistent color scheme.

Setting aside the aesthetic choices for a moment, here are a few points to be made concerning this redesigned user interface:

• the "Critical" parameter with value 100 from the original ATK table is absent, and in it's place, there is the value 118 which represents the "combined" damage output expected from this weapon. This is the sum of the "base" damage values, and stat bonus values based on the player's statistics.  This combined number comes in handy for comparison purposes (since often the player wants to quickly browse the expected total damage output in comparison to other weapons).
• the AuxEffects icons for Bleed, Poison, and Curse are missing... (the values are 0 for this particular weapon) this simplifies the interface, they only appear under the effects as a "badge" (similar to the Blessing effect with value 120 in this example) if they are relevant
• all "data" are white text for consistency sake. It is also easier to read white text set against black red or blue , than red or blue text on top of a dark/near black background
• red refers exclusively to a player not meeting a required stat for this equipment, (14 Faith in this example) and the corresponding negative adjustment based on not meeting the required stats (-64 in this example) 
• blue is now the color for "Stat Scaling", you can see the association between the +22 and the Stat Scaling values for Str, Dex, Intel, and Faith. 
• Relevant stat scaling letters (E,D,C,B,A, and S) are adorned with a sectional circle broken into 6 parts of equal size. The number of "blue" sections letter  this re-enforces the "rank" of which scale is "better" (Since it's not always easy to remember that "E" is "worst" and "S" is "best").
  
• Similar to how the AuxEffects icons for Bleed, Poison, and Curse are missing, the value for Critical has disappeared.  The logic behind this decision is (based on the strategy guide) that the Critical value is 100 for every weapon in the game except for 6 weapons.  Therefore  we can assume the value for Critical is 100 for each weapon, unless they have an added "Critical Effect" which displays this bonus in the "Effects" section. (FYI this is similar to how critical attacks wee handled in Demon's Souls) Here are the weapon/values for these weapons:
• Rapier (110)
• Mail Breaker (120)
• Ghost Blade (127)
• Dagger (131)
• Parrying Dagger (131)
• Bandit's Knife (147) 

Here are a few other examples to illustrate the look of the revised mockups

The Bandit's Knife is one of the 6 weapons with a unique (147) critical attack

The Divine Claymore +7 has a blessing (110) and interesting Damage Stat Scaling 

The Occult club has a toxic effect (110)

Game Challenge --(Minimalistic Game Design) The Beacon, Glow

Can I create a game where there is no tutorial, start screen, or even text anywhere in the game?

• No "story" audio or text to provide context in the beginning of the game
• No in game tutorial or "demo" to describe to the user what the controls are and how the game mechanics work (the user has to figure this out for themselves, I need to make the game mechanics so intuitive that they can understand what to do without traditional instruction)
• No text (no points, no stats, no menus) (distill everything down to base icons i.e. II rather than "pause" and visual queues)

Challenges:
How can I portray the objective of the game without dictating or demoing it to the player?

I need to have visual metaphors for "good"(carrots) and "bad"(sticks) as well as audio queues for achievement, mastery, danger and failure.  Need to slowly introduce game elements/metaphors to let players feel comfortable (i.e. achieve mastery) before I start "mixing and matching" these metaphors.

How can I show incentives and progress (without any type of scoreboard/stats)?
Effective use of color to highlight (tactical) objectives, effective use of darkness to downplay non essential things. (i.e. people are drawn to light, so "illuminate" the character's location and the "exit" and subdue the rest of the screen so the character inherently realizes what they need to do)

The on-screen character itself represents "experience" and as they get more experienced the character (and attributes of the character changes) and audio/visual queues will signify when sufficient progress has occurred to "enhance" the player and the look of the player is "upgraded" as a result (i.e. on pogo a red filled in circle meant "Master" level backgammon layer)

How do I express failure/danger/risk?
(As above) the character will represent
use common conventions (i.e. fire, spikes hurt)
use consistent color scheme  (red = danger, yellow = caution, black= risk, danger, white=visible, safe)
use shape/movement (jagged and sharp objects dangerous) animation (your character has a visible heartbeat that is "in tune/ in time" with other "friendly" NPCs, rounded characters are "friendly" jagged characters are "enemies")

Why would I do this?
As a general rule:

• People don't like tutorials (it insults their intelligence and generally is not fun)
• People want to get in/out as quickly as possible (pick up and play) esp. in mobile. where play sessions might be only a few minutes
• Gives the user the impression they are in control (without having a story "told" to them)
• People enjoy figuring things out on their own  (the puzzle is figuring out the game (makes us feel smart)
• People are sometimes discouraged from "restarting" or "resuming" a game after they have stopped playing a while because they loose context (they forget the game mechanics, story, objective, etc.)
• Focus on refining the core experience and mechanics so that those things feel good
• Find alternatives to traditional ways of interacting with the game (hard stops, tutorials, cutscenes, guides, etc.)
• Because the simpler a game is, the more it could appeal to a larger audience (from children to adults, "casual" or "hardcore" gamers)
• Figure out alternative ways of teaching/learning game mechanics than traditional ways
• With no text, no tutorial, you can appeal to younger and older players, casual and hardcore, and no need to internationalize the game

Gameplay -- Design Criteria

Clarity

• Are the game's rules clearly communicated to the player?
• Are the game objectives clear?
• Are incentives clear?
• Are the risks/dangers clear/understood?
• How does the game read? (i.e. If someone takes a screenshot at any point in the game, could someone discypher incentives/objectives/risks/dangers?)
• What are the game's "Metaphors"? (How do things in this game map to "real life")
• Is the game consistent? (does it use the visuals, audio, feedback in a consistent way throughout the game?)
• How easy to "pick up and play"? (does the action on screen map intuitively to the controls?)
• How does the game provide feedback (Visual/Audio/Tactile cues) where appropriate.
• If a person plays, then takes a break (for a few weeks) can they come back to the game and understand clearly what the objectives are, regardless of how far into the game they are?

Challenge Play

• How does the game challenge players?
• What behaviors does the game encourage?
• What behaviors does the game discourage?
• What facilities does the player need to achieve mastery?

Longevity

• What incentives are there for players to achieve mastery?
• What makes the game easy to understand and hard to master? (i.e. you want to make a "Simple" (to understand) game that is not necessarily "Easy" (to execute))
• How does the game "surprise" players?
• What incentives are there for the person to keep playing (after the initial novelty wears off?)
• What makes the repetition "Special"?

Expediency

• How long does it take between someone realizing they want to play to be actually playing the game? (How long does it take to load and start playing?)
• Drop in - Drop out?

Audience

• Who is the target audience for this game? (What age group, gender, interest group, etc.)
• How does this game appeal to the audience?

Barriers

• What barriers exist that keep people from playing the game (i.e. they have to own a console, they have to have internet connection, they have to be familiar with the control paradigm)