FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN, SECOND EDITION
ONE-BUTTON ACTIONS
In a graphic adventure game played with a handheld controller, designers often assign one button of the controller to a generic use or manipulate function. The player moves the avatar near the object and presses the use button for obvious functions such as opening a door or throwing a switch; the player can always count on the button to do the right thing with an object, whatever that might be. Some mouse-based games use a similar mechanism, such that clicking an object causes the appropriate action. Players find such games easy to play because there's no guessing about what can be done. However, because there can be only one action per object, this method doesn't allow the designer to do as much to challenge the player's lateral thinking.
A number of games use a menu to allow the player to select which action to take and which object to manipulate (see Figure 19.9). This gives the player a clear picture of available choices, but the presence of the menu makes the game feel more like a software tool and less like a fantasy adventure.
In another variant, right-clicking an object makes a pop-up menu appear, showing a series of icons that represent the actions take, use, examine, and possibly others (see Figure 19.10). The player left-clicks one of the icons to perform the desired action. This mechanism in effect shows the player all the available verbs that can be used with that particular object and lets him pick one.
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