You're probably familiar with the fear a poet feels facing a blank page - it's a psychological state people experience when starting something new. It can arise in various situations, from drawing to creating music, any activity that requires creativity and starting from scratch without prompts. Behind this fear lies a reluctance to make mistakes or overly high expectations, fear of criticism and negative evaluations, and a lack of clear understanding of where to start.
In game development, there's a similar issue but concerning existing elements, and it's called "red barrel." I've heard this term several times from my game-designer colleagues. The fears are the same: criticism, negative attitude towards changes, and a lack of a clear action plan.
In the heat of battle, for example in a shooter game, if you see a red barrel, you'll definitely shoot at it because 9 out of 10 games encourage such behavior - red barrels explode. The barrel will explode and damage enemies who (quite foolishly) not only placed fuel barrels throughout the level but also smoke nearby (everyone knows smoking kills). I'll explain why barrels became a problem below.
The History of Red Barrels
The mechanic with barrels is simple and straightforward, but it wasn't always this way. Red fuel barrels are roughly the same worldwide; you can easily recognize them by their appearance. The color red has always been associated with danger and fire from childhood, making red barrels easily readable in battles and fitting seamlessly into the environment of shooters. In the 80s and 90s, riding the wave of successful James Bond and Rambo movies (such as "License to Kill" and "Rambo III"), barrels made their appearance in games. They were scattered around levels and served decorative purposes.
Designers, in their quest for new game solutions, brought all sorts of items to the levels, from wooden crates to Godzilla. However, the barrels were not yet red and did not explode. In 1986, the racing arcade game "Speed Rumbler" was released, inspired by the Mad Max universe and post-apocalypse settings, where barrels beautifully exploded. This idea resonated with many, so within a year, this mechanic began to appear in all more or less well-known projects, but still as inactive objects.
Starting from the early '90s, barrels began to be frequently used as an element of game mechanics. Especially after the release of Doom in 1993, where barrels were carefully placed at mob spawning locations and exploded from a single pellet, wiping out a handful of enemies around them. Other developers, in an attempt to replicate Doom's success, copied this mechanic, some successfully, some not so much. It was after the release of Doom that barrels became an integral part of most shooters.
And of course, Half-Life 2, which not only provided barrels as a gameplay element but also allowed interaction with them through a physics model. It was particularly satisfying to hurl a barrel into a crowd of enemies using the gravity gun. Over time, game developers tried everything possible with this mechanic. Barrels became a cliché, and interaction with them returned to the shoot-it-and-it-explodes level.
More does not mean better. Better is better.
Returning to the "problem of red barrels" - this is the term used for a mechanic or typical game object, a cliché that has long been ingrained in games. It's challenging to improve without breaking the overall perception, but its absence would be even more noticeable. Trying to make them "differently" or diversifying with new ideas doesn't always work. As a result, when a designer is face to face with their "red barrel", the list of questions they have to answer grows exponentially.
Often, such "red barrels" become unsuccessful mechanics from previous games in a series. They migrate between games, attempts are made to refine them, better integrate them into the game, but if the mechanic was unsuccessful from the start, no changes will fix it. Several times I witnessed such discussions among game designers who tried to change such a mechanic.
Possible brainstorming session
"Do we even need barrels in the game?" - Of course, red barrels have been in all games.
"Can the player throw and explode them?" - Both throw and explode.
"Can the player throw any barrels?" - No, our physics won't handle it, only red ones.
"So, some barrels can't be thrown (concrete ones, bolted to the floor)?" - Right, let there be concrete ones.
"How will the player know a barrel is concrete?" - Let it be a different color, like green.
"What if the barrel is yellow?" - Let it explode with a delay.
"Does the player know how to explode the barrel, shoot it, throw a knife at it, kick it, wait for a script?" - We need to include this in the tutorial.
"What do enemies do near the barrels? Do they smoke? Just stand?" - We'll decide later, let's burden the level designers with that.
"How does the player explode the barrels? Can enemies explode them?" - Both options, but we need to ask the physicists; we might not be able to handle both.
"Do barrels damage the player?" - We need to ask the gameplay designers; a player death from a barrel might be a bad decision.
"What about enemies? Should they run away from the barrel or hide behind it?" - Well, they were smoking there, let them hide already.
"How do barrels affect the level; they might damage the geometry? What to do in this case?" - Let's ask the lead.
"What size should the barrels be?" - Let the concept artists decide along with the environment.
"Should a barrel block the passage? What if the player runs out of ammo?" - We should allow the player to move it.
"What about enemies, can they also move barrels?" - No, let's not let them move them for now.
"What about allies, can they move barrels?" - Yes, but only for the story.
"With bosses, we'll come up with special mechanics for barrels, like throwing them?" - That's interesting, let's postpone it for the next milestone.
Colleagues left the office well past midnight, both sides of the paper were filled with ideas.
But the most interesting part begins afterwards. Once the designer sold his idea to the team, this red barrel starts doing good for everyone indiscriminately. Overcoming technical challenges, the team rewrites half of the engine to support this mechanic. In the end, players simply don't use it.
If you remember any "red barrels" from games, share in the comments.
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