EPTOn June 13 2023 00:36 Cyro wrote:
Should they also make the mouse cursor shake randomly so that it's hard to click on the unit that you want?
Should they also make the mouse cursor shake randomly so that it's hard to click on the unit that you want?
I mean there's this narrative saying that one reason that BW is a good competitive game is that even the best players are not quite able to manipulate its mechanics perfectly. And I think that's true.
You have to build the game in such a way that there's various things you can do in the game that are difficult enough from a mechanical-execution standpoint that real differentiation between players is possible (e.g. we all know who has the best shuttle/reaver micro) and that there's generally too much to do at any given point in the game that no living human being can do all of them perfectly. Even Flash loses Vessels to Scourge sometimes when he builds a round of marines.
This goes directly against making the UI of the game such that it's easy to manipulate the entities in the game, or to make it so that it's as easy to manipulate a large number of entities as it is to manipulate a small number, or to make the entities smart and capable of doing the optimal thing without supervision by the player.
Of course the challenge from a design standpoint is to make that in a way that is engaging for people to play, learn and improve. Many of the systems where that is the case have been historical accidents owing to technical limitations that audiences would just accept in the past or to software bugs. If Broodwar came out today, would anybody say "you know how these units have very simplistic pathing and move very inefficiently or get stuck if you don't babysit them constantly? I'm gonna get really good at controlling them efficiently because that way I will get an edge over my opponents"? No chance.
Also coming from quake it's funny that you mention "make the mouse cursor shake randomly so that it's hard to click on the unit that you want" because that is basically how Counterstrike gunplay is made challenging.
