Difficulty and Balance

Difficulty and Balance

Balance is directly linked to the difficulty within a video game. In all games, the difficulty of the game during the beginning is very easy; this is important because this allows a new gamer to understand the controls of the game and help the gamer slowly progress their skills in the game. Furthermore, it is important that you have difficulty settings which can be adjusted throughout the game, this is because different gamers may have different expertise, meaning they may change the difficulty of the game in order for it to suit their ability, so it is not too easy (boring) or too hard (frustrating) for the gamer. Moreover, as the game gradually progresses, the difficulty also becomes harder, such as more enemies, complex terrain etc. This is because the game is under the assumption that you are becoming better with every mission. This constant rise in difficulty allows the player to become more immersed into the virtual gaming world as the harder the game becomes, the focused you will have to be to complete the mission. However, if the gamer's abilities have not necessarily improved, a game such as Call Of Duty allows the gamer to reduce difficulty or keep it the same. Another good example of a game which you can change difficulty is Fifa; this game allows the gamer to change the CPU's difficulty, which may make it harder or easier to play against the opposing team.

Players Actions

There are two different types of player actions used within games. One is the main actions in which the gamer can control the character. This can vary from jumping, running, shooting and punching. The other type is how the gamer controls the player within the game via a remote controller. For example, two games which may differ in controls are GTA 5 and Super Mario. GTA 5 has more complex actions than Super Mario; GTA 5 has more controls such as jumping, climbing, shooting, driving etc. whereas Super Mario only allows you to run and jump.

There are different ways in which the gamer can control the main character of the game. However, this depends on the console in which the game is being played on. For example, if the game is played on a console such as a Playstation or an Xbox, the character will likely be controlled via a controller. whereas, consoles such as Wii or Xbox Kinect allow the player to control the character through a motion sensor. To add to this, a controller is an input device which is connected to the console either wired or wireless and enables the the gamer to control the actions of the character by either pressing a certain button or a combination of buttons. Below you can see the different controls for Fifa 15, by pressing certain buttons the players do different tasks.

Nevertheless, motion sensor devices are also input devices which helps to control the main character, however, the difference is that instead of pressing buttons, it detects the movements of the gamer and implements it into the game.