Gameplay "Loops"

[methoxetamine]

Yes you should not fixate only on that immersion is also important in big open world games. But platformers or action games need to get the core gameplay loop right and make it rewarding while also being fun. Like having good finishers, backstabs, nice headshot animations, nice glowy effect and sound when some rare loot pops up. Games like Destiny1 and the Robocop game had a good core gameplay loop. Everything else is a bonus and in most cases these days writing/story is just so bad that I rather just skip it. And not many are capable of doing it through world design like bethesda used to do it before Fallout 76 and Starfield.

no offense but every time you explain what you like in a game I keep getting this weird red haze and the sun appears black

I also did like the pop confetti sound in Halo when you shoot grunts in the head. Think it was only in reach or 3 tho.

For me, it's the Gears of War headshot watermelon sound

[asf]

i used to like loops in stunts also

[Acrux]

My problem with "gameplay loop" is that it's a terrible mental model. If I hear a dev talk about the gameplay loop for his game, I know it's:

1) Going to be a number-go-up game, and
2) Going to lack SOVL

[Lich]

You could find "gameplay loops" in any game, but in modern gaming discourse, they're generally used to describe games with short, repetitive tasks like Path of Achra and Vampire Survivors. Games designed around "gameplay loops" tend to feel reductive and lack exploration and meaningful progression. Concepts like these ("emergent gameplay" is another one) encourage lazy and cynical design.

[rusty_shackleford]

gameplay spirals
gameplay squares

[sheet]

Gameplay Ouroboros.
Where your late game negates your starting progression somehow, so you're always chasing objectives you've already done.

[rusty_shackleford]

gameplay klein bottle

[WhiteShark]

gameplay klein bottle

gameplay spirals
gameplay squares

Quit spamming and post an example of a chain!

[maidenhaver]

A gameplay loop is just the gamer's way to organize his fun. When a gaym has you doing a billion tasks, the gameplay loop should still be organized or it fails as a game and becomes work.

[J1M]

Did this enter common parlance due to Halo glazing or was it widely used before then?

[Breathe]

I think gameplay loops are mostly important in multiplayer games, where you’re constantly trying to achieve the same thing (mp shooters for example). I don’t think they matter or apply as much for single player experiences as the goal posts constantly shift and evolve, as they should to keep you guessing and engaged.

[rusty_shackleford]

you can abstract nearly anything that you have to do more than once into a 'loop' so it's a meaningless term

[Tweed]

EDIT: I suppose a truly innovative game would be one that could drastically alter the gameplay in a way that keeps it interesting without alienating the player. In fact there's been several of those even though they aren't to my liking. I.E. games like Inscryption.

Sounds like they did in fact alienate the player in this case?

Want to clarify this. There's two kinds of players. The kind who enjoys being alienated, and the kind that gets offended and quits. It's the same kind that gets offended when made to feel icky without their consent. Anyone who intentionally alienates their audience is taking a major risk and most of the time there's going to be a lot of hints in the trailers that this game isn't what it seems to be. Furthermore, most people trying to alienate the audience don't have the creativity to do it well.

[Tweed]

you can abstract nearly anything that you have to do more than once into a 'loop' so it's a meaningless term

I don't think it's meaningless for the developer. You need to know what it is you want the player to do so you can prototype it.

[rusty_shackleford]

gameplay klein bottle

gameplay spirals
gameplay squares

Quit spamming and post an example of a chain!

Hal fixing a light bulb (from Malcolm in the Middle S03E06 - Health Scare)

[Tweed]

The Darkness Below gameplay loop:

Expose the player to skills he can never learn, weapons he can never use, and armor he can never wear. While realizing that it doesn't matter because he can punch everything to death in two rounds.

[Atlantico]

Srsly, arguing against the loop is like arguing against chapter-based book structure.

Chapters are real. "Gameplay loop" is a ******** and redundant made up word to describe a "game".

What is the gameplay loop of chess.

What is the gameplay loop of poker.

People who unironically use this ******* term are unironically morons.

[Tweed]

I'll be sure to loop it into every sentence loop from now on.

[Stack of Turtles]

Srsly, arguing against the loop is like arguing against chapter-based book structure.

Chapters are real. "Gameplay loop" is a ******** and redundant made up word to describe a "game".

What is the gameplay loop of chess.

What is the gameplay loop of poker.

People who unironically use this ******* term are unironically morons.

Chess and Poker are both competitive games so they both run on OODA loops

[DemoGraph]

What is the gameplay loop of chess.

One turn.

What is the gameplay loop of poker.

One shuffle.

[Atlantico]

What is the gameplay loop of chess.

One turn.

What is the gameplay loop of poker.

One shuffle.

So a gameplay loop in chess is a part of the game played until the end, but a gameplay loop in poker is the game played until the end.

What a fascinatingly arbitrary term this gameplay loop is. It's as if it is meaningless ******** used by people who are morons.

[DemoGraph]

What is the gameplay loop of chess.

One turn.

What is the gameplay loop of poker.

One shuffle.

So a gameplay loop in chess is a part of the game played until the end, but a gameplay loop in poker is the game played until the end.

What a fascinatingly arbitrary term this gameplay loop is. It's as if it is meaningless ******** used by people who are morons.

If you can't find a use for a tool, it's not the tool for you.
Go argue against Hero's Journey or something.

[Atlantico]

If you can't find a use for a tool, it's not the tool for you.

It's a round of poker, not a shuffle of poker. If you can't use basic terms, you may need to lean into made up nonsense terms.

[DemoGraph]

If you can't find a use for a tool, it's not the tool for you.

It's a round of poker, not a shuffle of poker. If you can't use basic terms, you may need to lean into made up nonsense terms.

Ok, now I kinda recalled you from Dex.

[Tweed]

If you can't find a use for a tool, it's not the tool for you.

It's a round of poker, not a shuffle of poker. If you can't use basic terms, you may need to lean into made up nonsense terms.

Ok, now I kinda recalled you from Dex.

Ahh yes, the classic Codex posting loop.

[rusty_shackleford]

gameplay klein bottle

gameplay spirals
gameplay squares

Quit spamming and post an example of a chain!

Hal fixing a light bulb (from Malcolm in the Middle S03E06 - Health Scare)

This is the ideal way to design a game. Not doing the same thing over and over but interlocking activities that are all interdependent in some form. You want to be 17 activities deep killing skeleton crabs in a flooded cave because you wanted to upgrade your base but to upgrade your base you needed a new carpenter and to attract the carpenter you needed access to high quality lumber and to get access to the high quality lumber you needed to help defend the forest against an invasion by the orcs [....] And then you're killing skeleton crabs because the cave has special mushrooms for the town alchemist who needs it to fashion a poison which is required for [...]

[rusty_shackleford]

Once you see the pattern you'll see it pop up a lot in popular games that receive very little negative criticism. Terraria, Stardew Valley, Runescape, etc.,
I've never quite seen it actually identified and described as its own school of design but it definitely is!

[Tweed]

For the want of a nail...

[Atlantico]

If you can't find a use for a tool, it's not the tool for you.

It's a round of poker, not a shuffle of poker. If you can't use basic terms, you may need to lean into made up nonsense terms.

Ok, now I kinda recalled you from Dex.

Russian butthurt best butthurt.

Gameplay loop is a dumbfuck redundant term for idiots. No exceptions.

[Roguey]

Did this enter common parlance due to Halo glazing or was it widely used before then?

Difficult to find who turned it into "gameplay loop" but "compulsion loop" was in fact coined by a guy at Bungie https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/ ... -explained

Since the introduction of the concept of the compulsion loop applied to video games was introduced as early as 2001 by John Hopson (while a researcher at Bungie), we've seen compulsion loop mechanics integrated into video games fairly broadly. The compulsion loop concept regained popularity in the 2010-2012 period with the application of compulsion loop principles in social games and especially by companies such as Zynga; however, I believe this is an area of future opportunity that will potentially gain a renaissance especially in mobile gaming.