These don't have to be common features. They can show up in a few games, or everywhere. What features do you wish video games didn't include.
Countdowns in Shooters
Thankfully rare, countdowns in shooters give you a limited timespan in which to complete a certain task. I get that the idea is to provide pressure. The problem is, in nearly every case, there is already pressure from trying to not get killed. If you want to get the player to complete the job quicker, make it so that the chance of getting killed increases over time - add more enemies or threats.
My case study is the final levels of Halo 1 and Halo 3. Both are similar in that you have to get to your ride off-world. You have a vehicle to do so. There are enemies around trying to kill you. And staying put is lethal.
But the way they do the last part is different. Halo 1 has a timer in which you have to get to the destination before dying. The trouble is that a ticking clock isn't much pressure at the beginning, and near the end, you may think that it's hopeless.
Halo 3 does it differently. Pieces of the landscape explode, creating pits. This creates immediate pressure - stay put and the landscape beneath you will explode, and you will die. But there's no chance of dying as you drive happily along because the timer ran out.
Incidentally, countdowns in strategy games are different. In strategy games, total defeat isn't easy. The enemy has to destroy your entire base - which is a difficult prospect for a human. A computer is even more limited in options, and rarely launches massive waves that can overwhelm you. Turtling is a viable option. Timers require the player to focus on offense, to build quickly.
Static loading screens
One problem I have with loading screens is that it's not easy to tell if the game is frozen, or just taking a while. This is a big issue, because the number one location for a game to get frozen on is during a loading screen. Most games provide a loading bar to show progress. If the loading bar hasn't moved for a while, it's a good sign that the game is stuck. But some games have screens that show no activity. You are staring at a static screen that doesn't change until you're done.
As an addendum, I'd like to suggest an improvement to loading screens. Loading bars do not continuously move, they move in jumps. My request is that loading screens provide some other indicator of activity. Strategy games could show dossiers of random units that change every so often. This could be somehow tied to the loading indicator, so if the loading process is stuck, the dossier doesn't change.
Countdowns in Shooters
Thankfully rare, countdowns in shooters give you a limited timespan in which to complete a certain task. I get that the idea is to provide pressure. The problem is, in nearly every case, there is already pressure from trying to not get killed. If you want to get the player to complete the job quicker, make it so that the chance of getting killed increases over time - add more enemies or threats.
My case study is the final levels of Halo 1 and Halo 3. Both are similar in that you have to get to your ride off-world. You have a vehicle to do so. There are enemies around trying to kill you. And staying put is lethal.
But the way they do the last part is different. Halo 1 has a timer in which you have to get to the destination before dying. The trouble is that a ticking clock isn't much pressure at the beginning, and near the end, you may think that it's hopeless.
Halo 3 does it differently. Pieces of the landscape explode, creating pits. This creates immediate pressure - stay put and the landscape beneath you will explode, and you will die. But there's no chance of dying as you drive happily along because the timer ran out.
Incidentally, countdowns in strategy games are different. In strategy games, total defeat isn't easy. The enemy has to destroy your entire base - which is a difficult prospect for a human. A computer is even more limited in options, and rarely launches massive waves that can overwhelm you. Turtling is a viable option. Timers require the player to focus on offense, to build quickly.
Static loading screens
One problem I have with loading screens is that it's not easy to tell if the game is frozen, or just taking a while. This is a big issue, because the number one location for a game to get frozen on is during a loading screen. Most games provide a loading bar to show progress. If the loading bar hasn't moved for a while, it's a good sign that the game is stuck. But some games have screens that show no activity. You are staring at a static screen that doesn't change until you're done.
As an addendum, I'd like to suggest an improvement to loading screens. Loading bars do not continuously move, they move in jumps. My request is that loading screens provide some other indicator of activity. Strategy games could show dossiers of random units that change every so often. This could be somehow tied to the loading indicator, so if the loading process is stuck, the dossier doesn't change.
