Games you actually play for score

Started by zmaster18, July 30, 2015, 05:30:24 pm

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zmaster18

In the early days of  arcade gaming, the main goal was to get the highest score possible. Now the main goal is to beat levels and see how far you can get in a game. A game that I instantly think of when playing for score is Geometry Wars on Xbox 360. I have never been so obsessed with racking up points in any other game. I think the thrill of the game was increasing your point multiplier and trying to do the best you could in 10mins of gameplay.

What factors in score-based games do you like? Is it the multipliers? The short time limit or limited time opportunities? The techniques and tricks to getting points? Name some games where you actually care about score.

Zycrow

Great topic.

I didn't get into this type of game until a couple of years ago. What I like about high-score games is they are usually quick plays - I usually play something like Galaga or Star Force before settling into a longer game.

I also really enjoy scoring games that have secret bonuses. Like destroying Larios in Star Force before combines, for example, or touching certain walls in Gradius to get extra points/lives.

I have a binder where I keep all my notes and maps from NES/FC games, and one page in there is dedicated to high scores. None of them are very impressive, but it's always nice to erase one and write in a bigger number :)
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fcgamer

Back when I was in high school, we didn't have smartphones, but we did have graphing calculators.  During trigonometry class, my buddies and I would try to get the highest score in the TI83 version of Galaga.
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zmaster18

I've noticed that I only care about score when I'm playing with others. There has to be a social aspect involved, unless you unlock something for getting a score. For example, getting a good score in Starfox 64 gets you medals. Another game I liked playing for score was Mario Kart Wii. I was all about getting better time trials than my brother and seeing how I rank up online.

P

Me and my siblings hardly cared for the score in games like Super Mario Bros when it's more about exploring the many levels and no way to save hi-scores. Game's with a hi-score lists that saved however we often competed for score in.

One interesting aspect of scoring in games is how high amount of points you often get. In non-electronic games and sports (mahjong being a notable exception) you often get low-numbered scores that's easy to count, but in pinball and video games where the score is calculated by a computer, thousands and even millions of points isn't uncommon.

I've been working on a Famicom game in my free time and I've been pondering on what kind of scoring system I'd use. I seldom thought too much about how a scoring system, with all the bonus points and stuff, works under the hood so I'm not sure what's best. I'm not even sure a scoring system would fit in my game. What do you all think a basic scoring system should look like to make the game more fun?

zmaster18

Quote from: P on July 31, 2015, 02:40:14 pm
Me and my siblings hardly cared for the score in games like Super Mario Bros when it's more about exploring the many levels and no way to save hi-scores. Game's with a hi-score lists that saved however we often competed for score in.

One interesting aspect of scoring in games is how high amount of points you often get. In non-electronic games and sports (mahjong being a notable exception) you often get low-numbered scores that's easy to count, but in pinball and video games where the score is calculated by a computer, thousands and even millions of points isn't uncommon.

I've been working on a Famicom game in my free time and I've been pondering on what kind of scoring system I'd use. I seldom thought too much about how a scoring system, with all the bonus points and stuff, works under the hood so I'm not sure what's best. I'm not even sure a scoring system would fit in my game. What do you all think a basic scoring system should look like to make the game more fun?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and the lower the points awarded, the higher the value. Like in Starfox 64, getting 200 points in Corneria gets you a medal. You get 1 point each thing destroyed, and a few more points when using a charged shot when destroying multiple enemies next to each other. With the low point values for each destroyed enemy, you can actually count how many points you will get while playing the level. I always liked when your score would give you 1ups when getting a certain amount.

I also like when there is a score for each individual level, instead of the whole game. It makes you want to perform better when re-playing levels and helps you see which levels you're good at and which ones you need to improve.

P

Yeah Star Fox 64 has very simple scoring. You also get bonus points for certain tougher enemies and bosses.

Quote from: zmaster18 on July 31, 2015, 03:11:26 pm
I always liked when your score would give you 1ups when getting a certain amount.

I agree, in games like Rush n Attack where lives are precious I always aim for increasing my score as much as possible. Trying to hit as many mines as possible with the bazooka for example, and going for the enemies that gives more points.

Adding some kind of reward for scoring is a good idea.

MaxXimus

I don't anymore, but back in my teens I was pretty obsessed with getting as good as I could get at dance dance revolution and in the groove 2. You would also build up a large audience at the arcades when you were doing awesome as well, and that gave me a pretty big sense of thrill  I was top 5 best in Manitoba Canada for a while.

zmaster18

A really good use of score is in Super Mario Bros. I like how when you use a koopa shell to hit a bunch of enemies in a row, you get 100 points, then 200, then 400, etc..., then a 1up.

P

That's a good example of simple chain bonus points, you get more points for defeating multiple enemies in one shot. The 1-UP isn't directly related to score though, you get it in addition to the score bonus. Just like when gathering 100 coins.

Another thing that have always bothered me: Some games like Super Mario Bros and SMB2j displays the count of your total remaining lives (when the counter reaches 0 it's Game Over), but many other games (including about all later Mario games I think) only displays your extra lives besides the one you are "using" (when the counter reaches 0 you still have your last life left).

What do you all prefer?

Nightstar699

I prefer the latter, that is, the lives counter representing how many *extra* lives I have in stock.

To answer the original post, I'm going to also say Galaga. Just always enjoyed playing that one at the local movie theater, and have had the high score there for a few years now. In a very different way, I like playing for points on Castlevania 1 - I like making the score max out and reset.
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zmaster18

Quote from: P on August 02, 2015, 06:23:28 am
That's a good example of simple chain bonus points, you get more points for defeating multiple enemies in one shot. The 1-UP isn't directly related to score though, you get it in addition to the score bonus. Just like when gathering 100 coins.

Another thing that have always bothered me: Some games like Super Mario Bros and SMB2j displays the count of your total remaining lives (when the counter reaches 0 it's Game Over), but many other games (including about all later Mario games I think) only displays your extra lives besides the one you are "using" (when the counter reaches 0 you still have your last life left).

What do you all prefer?

I actually like SMB style, where 1 is the lowest amount you can have.

Zycrow

I think in terms of modern game design, a game should only have a score if:
- It is a game built around gaining a high score, or
- The player receives rewards for score milestones.

If neither of these are satisfied, you get something like the first Mega Man, where there's a score number at the top of the screen and there are items that increase the score, but the game doesn't show top scores or give you anything for increasing it. Same for Super Mario Bros. 3, IIRC. I blame these "vestigial" point tallies on the shifting focus in game design from score competition to goal reaching.

I think it would be interesting to see a SHMUP that gives the players extra weapons/upgrades the ship/etc. for reaching point milestones. Combining that with the mentality of the old Hudson carnival games (Star Force, etc.) of hunting for secret point bonuses, and you have a lot of good brain juices going. Actually I wouldn't be surprised if this has been done already - I'm not up on most modern SHMUPS that aren't Gradius or R-Type.
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Ghegs

August 04, 2015, 01:02:45 pm #14 Last Edit: August 04, 2015, 01:20:54 pm by Ghegs
Quote from: Zycrow on August 04, 2015, 12:05:33 pmI think it would be interesting to see a SHMUP that gives the players extra weapons/upgrades the ship/etc. for reaching point milestones. Combining that with the mentality of the old Hudson carnival games (Star Force, etc.) of hunting for secret point bonuses, and you have a lot of good brain juices going. Actually I wouldn't be surprised if this has been done already - I'm not up on most modern SHMUPS that aren't Gradius or R-Type.


Radiant Silvergun does something a bit like this.

Post Merge: August 04, 2015, 01:20:54 pm

I'm more of a time attacker in racing games and I've done a lot on that front, but I have played some games for score as well. I played Recca's 2-minute mode a lot when I first got the game, got over 500k there. I've played many Caravan games for score, the later Star Soldiers, Hector '87, etc. There's a game called Kyotokei on Wiiware that's basically a simplified, hori-version of Ikaruga, I played that for score. Blazing Star, Brave Blade, G-Darius, dabbled in scoreplay all those.

Shmups tend to be good candidates for scoreplay. Platformers and games like Castlevania, Mega Man, etc. rarely so, because the score system isn't fully thought out in those, but it was included because all games just tended to have a score counter back in those days. Even if it doesn't really fit the game or the score system can be exploited easily.

Quote from: P on July 31, 2015, 02:40:14 pm
I've been working on a Famicom game in my free time and I've been pondering on what kind of scoring system I'd use. I seldom thought too much about how a scoring system, with all the bonus points and stuff, works under the hood so I'm not sure what's best. I'm not even sure a scoring system would fit in my game. What do you all think a basic scoring system should look like to make the game more fun?


I'd have to know more about the game in question before giving suggestions. Is it a shmup? An action-platformer? A puzzler? Or something totally different?