Someone else's lightly-structured thoughts (Criticism)

by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, July 26, 2022, 09:34 (640 days ago) @ EffortlessFury

Emergent gameplay, being the experiences that fill in the empty space designed around them, aren't as meticulously craftable. I'd argue that emergent gameplay experiences can't reach the same quality ceiling as directly crafted gameplay. That said, the floor is bottomless for both, so there's nothing wrong with emergent gameplay.

I'm not sure I would agree. Combos were "emergent gameplay" in Street Fighter 2, and they ended up being so interesting that they are now a basic part of every single fighting game made for the last 3 decades.

Except that this case of emergent gameplay can also be designed explicitly, therefore it is not a gameplay experience exclusive to emergent gameplay. That doesn't disprove my thought.

All "emergent gameplay" can be designed explicitly. All of it is the interaction of rules in the software code, which is created by people. It doesn't appear from the realm of the supernatural, uncontrollable by man.

Anything that's the result of two or more game rules interacting can be intentionally designed.

Emergence in systems is the result of unaccounted for OUTSIDE influences. Nothing outside the game code can influence the state of the game, except for cheating devices which change memory (and thus the code), or something like a cosmic ray flipping a bit.