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<h1>the achievement system is the central nervous system of my game (part 1) </h1>
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april 2, 2021<br>
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#gamedev #gamedesign #achievements #world-progression #character-progression <br>
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<p>What's the difference between winning a trophy or earning a quest reward for killing 10 rats? Probably nothing. <br></p>
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<img src="/static/img/ent/rpgachievement_samepicture.png" alt="(meme: “Corporate needs you to find the differences between this picture and this picture” for Dragon's Dogma achievements like “Defeated an evil eye” and “Defeated 3,000 enemies” vs. quest journal entries like “Slay 25 crows.”)"> <br>
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<p>In this series, I'll discuss how to design an achievement system. Mine is for an RPG, but it should work for a variety of achievements and game genres. I won't discuss integrating with <a href="https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/achievements/ach_guide">Steam</a> or other platforms, but they have their own documentation. <br></p>
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<h2>platform achievements, quest rewards: there's no difference </h2>
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<p><b>Achievement</b> is a rather nebulous term for gamers, but it's usually defined as an objective that creates a metagame. Devs offer them as a nudge to explore the full depth of games and seek out hidden secrets. For example, Portal's <a href="https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2008271826">Transmission Received achievement</a> turns the physics puzzle game into a game of hot or cold using radios you may not have even known were there. Most games' achievements look more like an extension of the quest journal than a metagame, though. Those Dragon's Dogma achievements in the image above are indistinguishable from notice board quests. They are practically unavoidable within a couple of hours of standard play. <br></p>
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<p>Whether your achievements are meta or not, they can be earned through almost any in-game mechanic or system. (Unless they're so meta, they're completely external to the gameplay like <a href="https://steamcommunity.com/stats/221910/achievements">The Stanley Parable's Go Outside achievement</a>: <i>don't play for five years</i>.) <br></p>
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<p>Unlocking an achievement usually awards a trophy or gamer points. In a way, increasing an in-game score is not unlike triggering a "quest complete" popup. An "event" occurs, and a "reward" is given. Some games offer something more tangible alongside their achievements, like a new game mode or item. The hat merchant in Stardew Valley will sell new hats for each achievement earned. <br></p>
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<p>So not only does a robust achievement system need to be listening to the other game systems, it needs to be able to be able to interact with them. A system with that kind of power can do a lot more than notify you of achievements and add new hat merchandise - that's central nervous system material. It could progress the state of the game world depending on player actions. <br></p>
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<h2>blessfrey's achievement system doubles as the character/world progression system </h2>
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<p>Blessfrey feeds <i>every</i> in-game event through its achievement system, and its reward delivery is flexible enough not only to give a trophy but to cause <i>anything</i> to happen in response. Beyond achievement management, it is the system responsible for all forms of character and world progression. This is how Blessfrey can be a dynamic and responsive game. After all, if a system can dish out a trophy for killing 10 rats, it isn't too much of a stretch to say it could trigger a quest completion, unlock a codex entry, or teach the player a new skill. And if it can do that, why not something more dramatic? Killing the last 10 rats could be a turning point in the game world, putting the player on the post-rat timeline and changing all maps, NPCs, and quests to reflect the newly rat-free society. <br></p>
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<p>I don't even think that last one is too silly. Games are all about making choices, so ideally, the world should always be responding. The only issue is scope, both in terms of developer workload and maintaining a coherent game vision. Thankfully, creating a system capable of anything is no problem, though. I'd prefer to be my only limitation, not my progression system. <br></p>
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<h2>what is it going to look like? </h2>
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<p>So realistically, how do I plan to use this system? <br></p>
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<p>Obviously, the completion of a quest will be technically identical to an earned achievement, as will codex entries and level up rewards. They just won't be visible to the player or cause any trophy popups. <br></p>
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<p>More abstract things will count as achievements, too, like skill acquisition. Blessfrey revolves around skills, so it would be cool if skills were unlocked in a meaningful way through the achievement system. I plan to have them learned through gameplay via a variety of different methods, so skillhunting feels more like exploring than grinding. Maybe the Fire Resistance skill could be learned by standing in lava for 2 minutes, by eating crème brûlée flambé (without blowing it out), or by taking fire damage in combat. Your time spent aflame will be the event needed to unlock the Fire Resistance skill achievement. Then whenever you check your Skill Library, it knows which skills you've unlocked by checking your achievements. <br></p>
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<p>World progression will also be tied to this system. Spending $1000 at the mall could trigger a new store to open. Selling too many dungeon items to a merchant could cause him to become suspicious of where you come across them, changing your dialogue options or starting a quest. Even the UI could be tied to this system. Maybe the UI displays increasingly more detailed information when you hover your mouse over a slime as you hit different thresholds of slime kills. <br></p>
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<p>I'm not kidding when I say <i>everything</i> is an achievement, though. When a skill is used, each stage of skill progression is doled out by the achievement system. It will prepare the skill for action, exact any skill costs, listen for required conditions to be met, and apply skill effects on behalf of the skill. Basically, skill use and the completion of each phase is an event, and triggering the next phase of skill progression is the achievement. The skill itself barely does anything besides provide information to the achievement system. <br></p>
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<p>The more systems mediated by the achievement system, the better, I say! Letting systems run amok and modify each other directly causes unexpected problems all the time, and bringing in a middleman is such a reliable solution. <br></p>
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<h2>stay tuned </h2><br>
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<p>So a working definition of an achievement is something awarded in response to a player action or game event. Those actions or events could be related to any game mechanic or game system, be it combat, exploration, trading, racing, etc, so the achievement system needs to be linked to all of them. How can you possibly design a system that is distinct from yet deeply intricated in every other system? In part 2, we'll do just that! Keep reading. <br></p>
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Last updated July 28, 2022 <br>
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