Comments on: Stalling Players with Gates

By: Steve the Pocket

Steve the Pocket — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 21:32:37 +0000

I’m all too familiar with the first type of gate from LucasArts adventure games. They use them all the time to let the game give you an item you will need for a much later puzzle, rather than having to provide all the items you need right where the puzzle is and thus making the solution too obvious (and allowing you to use items you normally wouldn’t find in that environment). Like the fire extinguisher in Grim Fandango; you never really need it until you’re in the Petrified Forest, but there’s a scene much earlier on when the game makes you try to use it, to make sure you have it in your inventory by the time you’ve left the city.

I never thought about FPS games using them before, but now that I think about it, they totally do. Bioshock has a couple plasmids you need to equip in order to progress through the level. They’re not strictly necessary ever again, but it’s hard to get by in the game without them and they’re only available in that one place you find them. And of course the wrench, which you need to use to smash open a collapsed doorway before you meet your first enemy. FPS games in general seem to like forcing you to use your first weapon before you encounter any baddies.

By: Johnzee

Johnzee — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:42:39 +0000

Firestorm is right. I don’t think a crescendo event itself is a gate, since it’s not a pause in gameplay (indeed, it’s the opposite of pausing!). But the period before the event is always calm, where players can wander around, get ammo and weapons, and formulate strategies with their teammates – this is certainly a gate. Calling an elevator, opening a door with an alarm, or turning on the Burger Tank sign are all serve to open the gate and continue the gameplay.

I think that brings up an important distinction between single-player gates and multi-player gates. The gates in L4D or Team Fortress 2 usually don’t care if you’ve got the correct weapons or heard a bit of story – they only require you to understand to “Call the radio – be ready to fight the horde”. It’s much faster and therefore requires a different type of gate design, which might be for another article entirely.

By: firest0rm

firest0rm — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 01:38:14 +0000

i think you misunderstood me. what i mean by using a crescendo event as a gate is that the point that the crescendo event is at is an important point, because it’s on top of a hill, and it lets people see what lies ahead, and possibly even pick off a few zombies. It is an elevator, and activating it calls the horde until the elevator arrives at the top of the hill, which is where the players are. The fact that starting the event calls the horde was what I was thinking could be used as a gate, because players will want to make sure they have scavenged everything they can from the hilltop, and it also would give players a chance to see and shoot at what’s ahead. I suppose it would be like a combination of the0 “did you get what you needed” gate, and the “sight-seeing” gate.

so, bearing that in mind, would a crescendo event be similar to a gate in that circumstance?

By: YM

YM — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:57:17 +0000

Firestorm you’ve failed to grasp the concept of a gate. A gate is not the event, just the blockade preventing a player from leaving too early.
The crescendo is an event in its own right, but would be skippable (if it wasn’t for the massive zombie hoard trying to maul your face off).

By: firest0rm

firest0rm — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 06:02:18 +0000

in l4d(2) can crescendo events be used as gates?

By: chickenm4n

chickenm4n — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:08:46 +0000

absolutely, i understand. I was just correlating a core mechanic that is in most video games.

My favorite gate in half-life would have to be the first one. (the one where the cop tells you to pick up the trash )

By: Randdalf

Randdalf — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:53:26 +0000

I engines other than Source, some games use gates as a way of “removing” load times, by removing from memory the area behind the player, and loading the next one. I believe Metroid Prime uses this extensively, although some load times did get a bit long when the player wasn’t otherwise distracted whilst waiting for the door to open.

By: YM

YM — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:17:45 +0000

Chickenm4n, the mechanics used in Zelda games might be the same when you strip them down but the gates in room-based games like Zelda are very different from the gates in more linear FPS games, in your average Zelda dungeon you know that you’re going to be trapped in a room until you’ve completed it’s task but the purpose of the gates in Half Life are far more subtle. They’re there to ensure the player has done everything he needs to before he can leave much more passively, the player almost shouldn’t realise most gates are there.

By: chickenm4n

chickenm4n — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:28:11 +0000

episode 4? when did this happen!!

haha.

this is the core mechanic of most adventure games, the first one coming to my mind being The Legend of Zelda. The basics of EVERY zelda game, starting with the first one is: (1) explore the area you are limited to. (2) find the weapon you need in order to escape the area (3) find the gate that your new weapon will let you bypass (4) repeat. I read an article about it… but i can’t find it. it was very similar.

By: grazr

grazr — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:43:37 +0000

Episode 4? Ha ha. I meant Episode 2.