Belief in the System, Part 1

I believe in the system.
Whatever system you have.
Because I believe that a powerful system can alleviate the pains of the designer.

Let me explain what I mean by system.

The system is the underlying hierarchy, the underlying design of the game. It is the core engine, the blind and sleeping god that drives every action.

The system is not hindered by content. The system is not bound by specially designed event encounters. The system is merely a set of rules that is to be followed.

But, as a Johnny, I believe that the system is the single most important reason why games are what they are.

You probably still don't understand what I mean, so it's time to delve into some specific examples.

Example 1: Controls

Have you ever played a platformer with unresponsive controls? That is, it takes 3 quarters of a second for your character to turn around, and your character jerks while moving and you can't seem to do with finesse what you want it to do?

Have you ever played the old school Mario games, where Mario responded instantaneously to everything you did. Mario followed his own rules of inertia, but he would *try* to do what you wanted him to do the instant he realized it.

The responsiveness is part of the system.

If the two simply existed in a void where the only thing you could do was move your character around a featureless terrain, Mario would still be more interesting and complex to move around, simply because you have greater control over him.

You could spend 10,000 hours designing the best levels ever for the game, the best visuals for the game, the best sound and musics ever heard.

But that one core aspect of responsiveness for the platformer, is what makes the game fun.

That is an aspect of the system.

And if the system fails in that regard, no matter how much time you spend on it, no amount of designed content will save you.