Chapter 209 The Spiritual Connotation of "The Famine"

For the game "Don't Starve", there are many points that attract players, but in the final analysis, its most original driving force is "survival".

In Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, needs are divided into five categories: physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

These five needs form a pyramid-shaped structure, with physiological needs at the bottom and self-actualization needs at the top.

The more primary needs are, the easier it is to realize, but they are also the most urgent and urgent.

That is, if a person lacks food, safety, and respect at the same time, then generally speaking, his need for food should be the strongest. In contrast, safety and respect are less important.

That's why people take risks in extreme starvation, fighting large beasts (giving up safety), or bowing to power (giving up dignity).

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory is widely used in various fields, and the game field is no exception.

Many game designers use this theory to build a complete Maslow's hierarchy of needs in the game, which is used to drive players to chase those illusory data in the game, and become addicted to it.

To give a simple example, some games with "selling combat power" as their core selling point highlight the two needs of safety and respect.

For a weaker player, he is at risk of being killed by the stronger player all the time in this game, so he feels a strong sense of insecurity that drives him to spend more money Or time in the game and become stronger to maintain your own safety.

And after those stronger players have the attribute of safety, they will turn to the pursuit of respect and self-realization, such as competing for the king, setting up a big guild, and leading the younger brothers to participate in the national war, for these virtual sense of honor And spend a fortune.

Generally speaking, very few games can use the "physiological needs" level, because this gameplay is relatively cumbersome to do, especially because the mechanics of many games do not support it.

In fact, human physiological needs are very simple, nothing more than food, water, health, reproduction and so on. However, in ordinary games, characters are generally not allowed to run around for food and water, and there is no concept of hunger value, because the game content is limited, and there are many more worthy players to experience.

"Famine" is a good grasp of this blind spot, showing the theme of "survival".

Moreover, "Don't Starve" is not just a simple game. If you dig deep into its spiritual connotation, you will find that it actually has a depth that some masterpieces do not have.

Unlike many protagonists with great missions, the meaning of Wilson's existence is existence itself. He doesn't need to save the world, nor does he need to save others. His only goal is to live well, in the world of Don't Starve. Everything I do is for one most basic goal: to live better.

Don't Starve Together is a highly stylized game with a very mature ideological core.

The world of Don't Starve is not any known historical setting, and even the world is full of settings that are completely out of touch with reality. Its entire style and music are full of dark humor, but when faced with death, it is extremely real.

This feeling of coexistence of absurdity and reality runs through the game "Don't Starve", including the coexistence of technology and magic in the game, which greatly strengthens this feeling.

Moving machines, living pigmen, tombstones in the forest, the remains of seniors, terrifying monsters... All kinds of carefully thought-out settings seem to have no effect on each other at first glance, but behind them are inextricably linked.

The entire world background is highly unified, forming a unique magical realism world.

The playability of "Don't Starve" comes from its rich settings. It seems to be a simple 2D game, but the actual playability is far richer than some masterpieces.

The types of monsters are very complex. Each type of monster can provide unique food and resources. The protagonist can use the rich construction system to create fires, barbecue grills, pots, traps, etc.

Moreover, the protagonist also has a wealth of interactive actions, such as empty-handed collection, felling, digging, lighting, planting, etc. All props, including the surface itself, can be interacted with, and those precious props can also be used directly as fuel at critical moments.

There are also different ways to obtain resources. If players want to obtain pigskin, they can go to face the pigs, they can also look for abandoned pig huts and altars to search for materials, or they can plant spider eggs next to pig villages. Waiting for the spiders and pigs to fight, and reap the benefits.

When the player has achieved something, lost interest in the survival mode, and the need for survival is not enough to stimulate the player to continue the game, the player will also discover the adventure mode and open a new challenge.

Moreover, this is also an extremely ruthless game. In the face of survival, any negligence may have irreversible consequences.

But because of this, the meaning of existence itself is more precious. Finding a pig village full of carrots and berries when you're hungry is going to be a wonderful moment.

After playing "Don't Starve", many players will understand how happy it is to be "full".

It is precisely for these reasons that "Don't Starve" can not only attract novice players who are interested in survival games, but also retain those hardcore players for a long time. Even many people insist on playing this game for several years without feeling boring at all. . UU reading www. uukanshu. com

Because every "Don't Starve" journey will be different.

And, like many sandbox games, mods are the eternal charm of Don't Starve Together.

Apart from the officially developed DLC, the mods created by players themselves have also brought a lot of fun to the game.

In terms of character mods, there are Sauron (bring your own knife, you can chop down trees, road idiots, all maps are always black), Ace (bring your own fireball, return to the spirit value next to the fire) and other One Piece characters; in terms of auxiliary mods, there are Display values, building geometry; functional mods with permanent tents, expansion backpacks...

In addition, there are super-large mods, such as Dark Heroes. One mod alone is enough for many players to play for half a year. This super-large mod is almost equivalent to a new game.

Of course, Chen Mo just picked out a few mods that are commonly used and do not affect the balance. As for other mods, players can develop them themselves.

Sandbox games are just like that. Only when players fully participate can the potential of this game be truly developed.