Game Objectives

www.gamasutra.com might have some useful articles, although I don't know any about this particular subject on top of my head.

Personally I prefer being told missions in-game, while still being able to see a check-list whenever I want, just in case I forgot an objective (containing very brief explanations, a single line per objective is fine). Ideally, you always just know what to do, always subtly being hinted by the game towards your next goal. For some games however, I don't want any of that out-of-the-game fluff, especially when the game is highly story-driven.

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Original post by Captain P Personally I prefer being told missions in-game, while still being able to see a check-list whenever I want, just in case I forgot an objective (containing very brief explanations, a single line per objective is fine). Ideally, you always just know what to do, always subtly being hinted by the game towards your next goal. For some games however, I don't want any of that out-of-the-game fluff, especially when the game is highly story-driven.

I agree with this approach. Lay out the objectives to me in a clear, easy to follow progression such as:
1. Locate Colonel Confusion.
2. Kill Colonel Confusion.
3. Get notebook from Colonel Confusion.
4. Proceed to extraction.

This should be done right before the mission starts (perhaps in a loading screen) or right as the mission starts, in somewhat of an overlay fashion (the player can move around, but the objectives show up at the top of his screen). Also, as Captain P mentioned, the player should always be able to bring up a list of his objectives via a pause screen or something. The objectives list needs to be updated to let the player know which objective he has completed and which are left to complete.

Also, here's an excerpt from the great book Gameplay Mechanics by Troy Dunniway regarding objectives:

"Players should always know what they need to do in the game. Even if they decide to explore the world and not continue on a quest immediately, they should always be able to identify the quest and where it might be found. The challenge for players should not be about figuring out what and where, but how.

If the full game map does not list objectives, or if the in-game map does not show them, another alternative is to use icons in-game art to show where key objectives lie in the world. This lets players more easily navigate in a 3D space and find their objectives, and it also keeps players from constantly having to reference a small 2d map and navigate a 3D world at the same time. Of course, for many games, a large floating icon or other piece of art in a 3D world will feel very out of place."

The takeaway from this excerpt is that you should make it very obvious to players not only *what* they have to do, but also *where* they have to do it. This should be achieved either through a full game map/in-game map, or by providing an icon on the location in-game that acts as a compass to steer the player.

Thanks guys :) I appreciate you taking the time to reply! I'm still looking for any articles etc if anyone has any ideas.

Btw, I hope you don't mind if I use your posts for my journal? Just putting research together right left and center at the moment and I thoght I'd better ask :)

Sure, go ahead. Good luck with the research. :)

Feel free to use my post in your journal.

Objectives are an art.

Players can get confused about what they're supposed to be doing very easily, very often, and even when you're doing a lot to help make it obvious.

I've designed several FPSs and I've found that it's most helpful to layer everything that you're doing to point gamers in a specific direction. Not because you need to bombard them, you can be subtle with some of this, but because some people process different types of information more easily than others (some are visually driven, some are data driven, etc.), and reinforcement is always helpful even then.

You need to make your objectives an experience, especially in an FPS.

Example:

1. You're a space marine (big surprise, right?) and you've just been dropped off to do battle with an alien force looking to take over the world (again...).
2. You're in a city standing in the middle of the street.
3. Your objective is 10 blocks away, straight ahead.
4. You have to kill the big alien mother brain (the bitch never dies...).

Here's how you can layer and reinforce that objective...

1. In the far off distance, you can see the giant alien brain eating people. Why is it important to show this first? Because presenting the PROBLEM -BEFORE- the SOLUTION is ALWAYS EFFECTIVE. It's like running into a locked door and knowing you need to find a key - it sets up the challenge in an intuitive way.

2. Your sergeant tells you that you've got to kill the alien brain - this communicates the immediate imperative, which hopefully is already obvious to the player.

3. Your mission journal gets updated with this objective. Always good to have something to fall back on. The more descriptive the better. Who knows, maybe your player paused the game, went to use the bathroom for a half-an-hour, and came back having forgot what just happened. This helps.

4. You can see other troops moving in and getting eaten. Your sarge' tells you that you're the only one who can bring this ho down! This kind of thing can further immerse the player not only in the game itself, but the given objective.

5. You start moving forward...

6. All along the way people are running and screaming "HELP US!". This is the call to heroism that's going to keep pulling you forward.

7. The closer you get, the more damage the alien brain begins to cause to things around her. This increases the visceral impact of your objective. You already know what you have to do, but now your mission is becoming even more critical! Gah! Hurry up! It adds weight to the pace and keeps the player focused.

...

I don't think I need to give many more examples. I think you can see what I'm getting at.

My humble opinion is that keeping your objectives simple, few in number, and very well reinforced, is key. And with an FPS, visual cues are especially important because that first-person perspective has this interesting way of drawing people into everything that they SEE - visuals become especially more impactful and important in that genre. Just look at the suicide or torture scenes in The Darkness... incredibly powerful.

Good post, QuantifyFun. I was just curious, what FPS games have you designed?