Gating Content

[Jayrodd]

Recently I've figured out that one of my pet peeves with Pokemon games is how they go about telling you "you aren't ready to go this way yet". It's neat to design your maps in a way that intersects itself, but it comes at the cost of showing the player they cannot go that way until you say they can. Here we can discuss ways that Pokemon games can encourage and enforce better habits to gate off later content. Going to start with a couple common ways executed in games now.

• Hidden Machines
• Temporary Obstacle

Each of these methods have their benefits when they aren't overdone. Using an HM to direct the player can be useful, because it gives them 2 main objectives (Beating the next leader and finding the HM so long as you don't just give it to them out right). Temporary Obstacles are similar in a way that they are usually shown to the player and express "you must complete X event before this is open". That can be done by way of the player having to go find an item to fix the problem at hand, or when you do a thing the block simply is just gone from thin air. Bonus points for anyone who can go into why these methods work from a design point, and how they can shape the experience of the player.



Another method you can use to gate off content is a trainer battle with abnormally high levels for where you should be, as a way to deter the player from going that way but giving the option to skill their way through only to find more difficult challenges on top of that. This certainly isn't something that can be relied on in the same way as the above methods, it can even break balance in your game should you do it wrong (IE: Johto after the 4th gym) but that doesn't mean it can't work.

Additionally, an almost too obvious way is to just put a one way ledge with a fast travel point that you can't get to until you've gone around the intended way. It let's the world stay interconnected, the player can see it and know it's there later, and it can't be broken.

If you have more ways to gate off content feel free to share them here!

 

[Dragonite]

I'm sure there are plenty of problems with this one which you can argue about later, but how about a third option of not gating off content but giving the player no reason whatsoever to go there? Example, if all of the HMs were removed from Mt. Coronet you could hike all the way up to the Spear Pillar from almost the start of the game, but there would be nothing up there for you and you'd have just wasted a half hour of your time until the actual point in the story when things were supposed to happen there. The first person who says "open world" is getting pitched off the White-Gold Tower.

Also, saying "you can't go this way" isn't too bad if it's done for a reason, like the guy who won't let you into Victory Road unless you have all of the required Gym Badges.

Edit: also, here's a solution I thought of a few days ago that I really want to implement in a game now: the unexplorable part of the game world simply doesn't exist until you're to be able to explore it.

 

[manta]

If you're going to make roadblocks, at least make them interesting and relevant to the plot. Here's an example of a bad roadblock:

 

[Jayrodd]

I'm sure there are plenty of problems with this one which you can argue about later, but how about a third option of not gating off content but giving the player no reason whatsoever to go there?

This isn't an inherently bad idea, but it is something that is probably better used for secrets and exploration around NPCs (at least in this setting). eventually you would have to cut the player off otherwise they may get lost and not have anything to do, but doing nothing is most certainly an option to an extent.

If you're going to make roadblocks, at least make them interesting and relevant to the plot. Here's an example of a bad roadblock:

Sort of agree but sort of don't! Something out of place doesn't immediately make it bad, and can actually be used in a few different ways like cutting tension or diverting player expectation of why they can't go somewhere yet. This particular example is certainly not the best way to go about it, but this is an example of a Temporary Block that's used in many other contexts, just with a satirical skin on top of it!

 

[Aki]

I understand roadblocks. The game needs to make sure I win that gym badge before I move on, or else I probably won't be ready to take on the pokemon in the next section of the game, and I'll probably be missing a field move. Honestly I'm glad that it's not going to let me go through 3 routes and halfway through a cave before I realize I needed to fight that gym leader and have the Rock Smash HM.

What aggravates me about roadblocks though is how they're actually done. It's a little insulting that the game wants to pretend that "Random NPC #7" needs time to do a thing and then they'll get out of my way, when clearly it's not a time based event. It's all about that badge. Now I'm going to go win that badge, but not because I want to win the badge. I just want this jerk to move.

That's what I'd like to see more of in the official games and fan games, is giving me a reason to want to fight gyms. Gym badges are actually cool! They each boost a certain stat for your whole party, traded pokemon will obey you at higher levels, and most of the time you get a free TM for winning, plus a new field move! Field moves alone are crazy cool gameplay upgrades! Any of those could be my motivation for fighting a gym, but no, I'm usually doing it out of bitterness because a single NPC is in my way. Same feeling for a field move that I have to use 1 time in order to leave town and then it's not utilized on the next route or is necessary ever again. Screw you Cut Trees.

 

[doof]

Personally, I don't think it's that big of a deal. Yeah, it's dull and boring to have some basic 'NPC stands here until you've done a certain thing roadblock'. It's nice to see some creativity and thought put into them, but I feel as if it's something kinda small and usually way down on the list of things considered when rating a fan-game.

I mean, I highly doubt that someone's going to up and quit a fan-game simply because of a bad roadblock event. I have them in my game, I've seen them in other games - no one said a word about them. Most of the time it's this: "run up to NPC, okay can't go that way, turn around and go thisaway" and that's it.

What I'm trying to say is that, sure, it's nice to see creative and thought out roadblocks, but a developer doesn't need to stress themselves out to make it something special. Sometimes just slapping a NPC with some witty dialogue can suffice. Might not be as flashy, but it'll function. I would encourage devs to put a bit of thought into them, but I doubt that a bad roadblock is really going to negatively affect game.

 

[Domiok]

I'm sure there are plenty of problems with this one which you can argue about later, but how about a third option of not gating off content but giving the player no reason whatsoever to go there? Example, if all of the HMs were removed from Mt. Coronet you could hike all the way up to the Spear Pillar from almost the start of the game, but there would be nothing up there for you and you'd have just wasted a half hour of your time until the actual point in the story when things were supposed to happen there. The first person who says "open world" is getting pitched off the White-Gold Tower.

Also, saying "you can't go this way" isn't too bad if it's done for a reason, like the guy who won't let you into Victory Road unless you have all of the required Gym Badges.

Edit: also, here's a solution I thought of a few days ago that I really want to implement in a game now: the unexplorable part of the game world simply doesn't exist until you're to be able to explore it.

I agree with @Jayrodd that giving a player little to no reason to access a place considerably early should be carefully considered. If I invested a lot of time to explore a massive mountain that I found and, upon reaching the summit, was only rewarded with the wild Pokémon that I encountered on the way, I would be a little irritated. Unless the setting, characters, or challenges of such an area make for an overly fascinating experience by themselves, having access to complex areas early causes confusion or frustration for the player. With that said, I think that having early access to features or places is a great thing so long as the player doesn't have much room or ability to get too attached to the new area. For example, a player might be able to step outside of a cave to see a gorgeous new route that they get to explore later in the game, but they cannot descend a cliff face to reach the route. This preview instills interest about what could be down there without letting the player wander and waste much time in a place where they cannot do anything meaningful yet.

On your last point, @Dragonite, I think that your idea can pan out nicely. It immediately reminds of Realgam Tower in Pokémon Colosseum. During most of the game, you can visit a construction site where a massive project is underway, but finally, at the finale of the game, you return to the site to discover a monumental, marble tower jutting upward from the desert. This absolutely floored me as a kid. I loved that intimidating beauty of the place and the notion that my progression in the game led to the existence of this area. Although this option seems limited to large world transformations, such as the rise and fall of new buildings or changes in landscape, it can definitely be an effective way to split up a linear path and to gate the player from content.

You bring up good points about how Game Freak built roadblocks in the main games, @Aki, and I pretty well agree with you. Badges and the restrictions that they impose serve to keep the player in line but at the cost of some roadblock creativity. I do not believe that HMs are inherently a nuisance when used for this type of roadblock, but most times, NPCs do feel out of line when used this way. Some NPCs have valid reasons to block the path, such as the Cerulean City crime scene investigation, but often use sillier reasons to get in the way. Obstacles like trees and fragile rocks get the job done, yet they feel much more appropriate when used in conjunction with a theme. One tree in the middle of the road does not cut it; a series of trees in a forest is right at home. If HMs are applied cleverly or in line with a theme, I believe that they act like appropriate roadblocks. The player works to find a tool and can use it to go onward. Even in basic applications like smashing rocks, there's a small sense of progression. When an NPC clears the way, it just feels like you got lucky or did the right sequence of events.

In short, here are some of the factors for roadblocks that I think could be most effective for gating off content.

• story obstacles: an area may be blocked in countless ways for countless reasons under this, but if the story is engaging, these types of roadblocks can both prevent early access and amplify the importance of story events.
• HM/field move obstacles: as expressed, if used in ways that build up in an environment or provide a challenge to the player, these roadblocks can really reward the player with a sense of accomplishment.
• tough opponents: @Jayrodd also mentioned this. It can definitely cause problems for gameplay styles like Nuzlockes or can cause balancing problems in a game. If eased into the difficulty (e.g. player hits a wild Pokémon 12 levels higher), then it could serve as good encouragement for players to hold off until later.
• previews: not exactly a roadblock. Give the player a taste of what's to come but don't let them get lost without the power or reason to explore the place.

 

[Aki]

I mean, I highly doubt that someone's going to up and quit a fan-game simply because of a bad roadblock event.

Giggling because I've pretty much done that before. Among other issues I had with the game, sometimes roadblocks were just an invisible event displaying the text, "Can't go there yet.". Left me without a clue if this was a badge roadblock or a plot roadblock, and no visual indication of if/when the roadblock had been cleared.

 

[doof]

Giggling because I've pretty much done that before. Among other issues I had with the game, sometimes roadblocks were just an invisible event displaying the text, "Can't go there yet.". Left me without a clue if this was a badge roadblock or a plot roadblock, and no visual indication of if/when the roadblock had been cleared.

Well, I mean there's a difference between "Oh, I have no idea what to do or where to go, so I'm going to stop playing" and "Oh, that roadblock is an NPC standing in the way until I get the badge. That's boring so I'm going to stop playing." But I do get what you mean.

Reiterating my point, as long as the player has a clear idea of where they're going and what they need to do to get past it, I don't see too big an issue in just average Joe NPC taking a nap the middle of a gate. I mean, it might be because I'm a bit more of a 'go with the flow' kind of player - things like that usually don't phase me much.

 

[Djaco75]

Well, I'm not a big fan of gating, but I guess it's the only way to block of a connected area if it is on the same map.

Like someone mentioned before, roadblocks must be there for a good reason and make them interesting. A really good example of a good roadblock is the one in X and Y where the Durant are blocking the gate exit. That's good because it's relevant to the map - there are Durant on the next Route. However, stupid roadblocks like the one with the dancing men and ones that have no reason for them are definitely on my no list.

I guess it all comes down to the absolute necessity of actually having those roadblocks. I don't mind them, but I honestly would like to see some creativity when it comes to creating them.

 

[Radical Raptr]

I think a great way to gate content is to have the player feel total helplessness and inability to meet requirements, such as being incredibly underlevelled, but still given the option to traverse the way they want. Rather than arbitrarily blocking ways for a trainer, having them actively experience difficulty that hinder progress gets the message across that this way is too difficult.

That being said, gating content doesn't have to block players from going one way, but could instead guide a player a different way - eg, in Gaia, you can see areas you can't access yet at the beginning, but after travelling through the region, you pass through areas that you started out in and open the way for yourself - the game guides you a certain way, and you open the roadblock yourself rather than 5 dudes deciding you can pass them because of some arbitrary reason.