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# How can I pace a game if I don't use score?

+2 votes
148 views
asked Mar 25 in Authoring by AndrewS (250 points)
recategorized Mar 27 by Alex
One problem I have, as a player, is that a game isn't quite like a book--there's no way to see how big it is, so I can't be sure how much time to set aside.
And since score isn't used as much now as in the old days, a new way seems courteous to offer the player. I've been surprised by stories ending too soon and left weary by (even very good) stories lasting longer than I thought.

- game-design
- pacing

commented Mar 25 by AndrewS (250 points)
I've seen some ways to deal with this, such as Terminator Chaser changing the time in the upper-right when you get through a puzzle, but that feels artificial without some cue from the outside.

## 2 Answers

+3 votes
answered Mar 26 by Ryan Veeder (290 points)

A perspective that applies better to games focused on story than to games focused on puzzles:

If you're skillful in constructing your narrative, the pacing will fall out of the structure of that narrative—because pacing and structure are more or less the same thing. Think about movies and TV shows: You can flip to a channel and guess, after watching maybe only a few seconds, whether you're seeing the beginning of a story or the end. You know right away that you're in the back half of an episode of Law & Order because the action is in a courtroom instead of a smoky holding cell, but you can even tell how far into the back half you are, based on how angry Sam Waterston is.

Or think about Counterfeit Monkey. I actually don't remember whether Counterfeit Monkey used points, but I do remember how the story moved from a period of exposition, to a period of rising action, to a climax, and finally to a resolution and epilogue. You always know where in the story you are, because of the tone of the narration, the security or desperation of your situation, and even the mechanics.

Counterfeit Mokey spoilers in rot-13: Cnpvat pbzrf npebff va gur zrpunavpf guebhtu gur vapernfvatyl cbjreshy chmmyr-fbyivat novyvgvrf tenagrq gb lbh. N yrggre-erzbire vf phgr, ohg yvzvgrq va fpbcr; gur flabalz-znyyrg vf na rkpvgvat hctenqr, ohg lbh nera'g nyybjrq gb pneel vg nebhaq jvgu lbh. Ohg gura lbh trg lbhe unaqf ba gur nantenz tha, naq vg znxrf lbh srry yvxr Wbua Enzob!—naq lbh nyfb xabj lbh'er arne gur raq bs gur tnzr.

If you start out writing with a clear vision of your story's structure, that structure will inform the choices you make all the way down the line, and the players will be able to see it too.

+1 vote
answered Mar 26 by bg (692 points)
If it's a question of knowing how much time to set aside for a game, what about having an estimated play time in the game's ABOUT text and/or in the description on IFDB? That seems like it would be a really useful feature for players. I would appreciate seeing something like that as part of a game listing!
If it's a question of "How do I let players know in-game how much progress they've made," I'm not sure. If a game has an explicit goal, e.g. collect seven masks, or make your way through all 100 locations to the treasure chamber, then you know that collecting one mask, or getting past one location, roughly represents a certain fraction of your progress. Some games show these things as part of the status bar (e.g. the elements in Metamorphoses).
Some graphic adventures had a progress bar showing what percent of the way you were through the game. It's artificial, but maybe for some games a text equivalent would be a viable alternative. Typing SCORE could redirect to PROGRESS which would show how far you have gotten, whether as a percentage or otherwise ("You have completed three of four chapters" or "You have survived two of seven days" or "You have completed one of five quests.")
I hope other people will come along and share their ideas, too. It's a good question.
commented Mar 26 by AndrewS (250 points)
Making a note in ABOUT is a good simple effective solution. I'd appreciate seeing that in an IFDB game listing too. Thanks!

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