Why Are Explosive Barrels Always Red?

let me ask you a question what color is a video  game explosive barrel is it green purple no   of course not generic video game explosive barrels  are red of course they are explosive red barrels   are in the new doom games they're in hitman  they're in zelda and they're even in real-time   strategy games like commando and conquer explosive  barrels are everywhere even in places where they   have no logical reason to exist and yet the  history of barrels as a game design element goes   back to the earliest days of the medium so why do  these things keep popping up over and over again   and why do so many games use barrels in the exact  same way well that's because generic video game   explosive barrels aren't just barrels i mean they  are barrels but they're also something else as   well and that is a symbol see explosive barrels  represent a very useful and versatile design   element particularly in shooters a stationary  target that when used correctly has the potential   to do massive damage but also represents a  potential threat to the player this creates a   very fun dynamic that encourages good positioning  timing and planning to get the most out of the   explosion whilst also staying safe yourself it's  not hard to see why fps games would want something   barrel-esque in their levels but why this  uniform shape and color well the red part is easy   it's a color that we normally associate with risk  and danger and is very eye-catching at a glance   communicating to players who aren't familiar with  the concept but these things are dangerous even   before they've realized the barrels can explode  it's worth noting that doom one of the games   responsible for popularizing explosive barrels in  the first place made them this ugly hard to spot   grey colour which often meant you'd accidentally  kill yourself before you managed to spot them with   subsequent games learning from its mistake the  shape has a similar story it's understated enough   that it can be used in many environments without  feeling out of place whilst also being iconic   enough to recognize immediately as the explosive  barrel was popularized by 90 shooters it became   easier for new games to simply include barrels of  their own rather than invent whole new items that   did more or less the same thing because audiences  were already familiar with what barrels did and   how to use them just like that barrels became  a symbol they aren't just a level feature or   a mechanic they communicate a specific challenge  and style of gameplay in a near universal visual   language barrels are such a video game staple  the people even say that they're overused and too   much of a game designed trope and several video  games have lampshaded their inclusion as well   you know what sucks here we are in the  middle of south america stand or whatever   all special operations up still blowing  up barrels these people are of course   wrong but i'm getting ahead of myself barrels  aren't the only video game symbol there is an   entire hidden gaming language we don't ordinarily  notice that teaches us how to play adds that extra   level of immersion and even controls our decision  making all communicated through symbology take   spikes for example the universal video game  symbol of four don't touch this because the   painful sensation of touching something sharp  and a subsequent diversion to spiky things is   common to everyone but the kinkiest of masochists  and the fact that they're very easy to draw with   just a couple of pixels spikes became the obstacle  of choice for early platformers and later became   a staple trope this led to games branching out  into stuff like thorns teeth and sawblades that   retain the same spiky iconography and in doing  so sidestep the need to teach players what these   obstacles do because their function and effect is  obvious from the start symbols and iconography are   even useful outside of actual gameplay and are  a huge part of intuitive and efficient ui design   take this little fella what does this mean well  it's obviously the symbol for saving your game   we can see it in celeste super liminal  cave story and many other more recent games   however as people old enough to recognize it will  know the save icon is actually depicting a floppy   disk a piece of technology that has been obsolete  for upwards of 25 years the fact that we don't   use floppy disks anymore is irrelevant because  the save symbol communicates a very specific   message in a universal way and has come to mean  so much more than just the icon for an out-of-date   storage medium symbols can come in all shapes  and sizes and make up some of the foundational   tropes of the medium and culture in general the  most amazing part is the good use of symbolism   is basically invisible with games communicating  details and changing our state of mind without   us ever really being aware of it for example if  you've ever played a legend of zelda game you'll   know what a boss monster having a big glowing  eye means yep it's an obvious invitation for   you to shoot an arrow or swing disorder their weak  point to do massive damage it is obviously a huge   coincidence that a large proportion of gallons  minions just so happen to share the same weakness   but as far as the gameplay experience is concerned  it's very useful leaving players to fumble around   just trying to work out how to damage a boss  isn't very much fun so it's better to communicate   the exact nature of the challenge they're facing  right away with something obvious and universal   rather than play koi and make the boss fight  less engaging purely for the sake of realism   on a similar note even the architecture of gaming  levels can act in a symbolic fashion architecture   on this channel what am i thinking right pre-boss  rest spots that give players a chance to save   their game heal up and maybe buy some items before  a boss fight have become part of the language   of level design as people learn to recognize  these sorts of rooms and the tough battles that   inevitably follow them these areas now communicate  to players an opportunity to prepare themselves   both physically and mentally and are a great place  to take a little break or go and make yourself a   drink because there's likely to be a stretch of  hard gameplay right beyond the next door one of   the most effective ways to change how a player  thinks lies in a set of symbols that are a little   bit more abstract though namely colours you might  not think that colour conveys anything more than   visual information but it's been a huge part of  how games talk to players since the days of arcade   machines when pallets were very limited we already  know the red symbolizes danger but all colours   have their place in the symbolic vocabulary purple  is a colour that's used all over the place as a   shorthand for corruption evil and generality this  is because purple is a very rare and valuable   pigmentation in nature giving environments and  alien quality and drawing allusions to royalty   when used as part of character design also in  the days when sprite artists didn't have as many   colors to work with purple was a great accent  color for dark and evil looking environments   and characters a tradition that's continued even  as graphics tech has improved take a look at this   area from ori and the will of the wisps simply by  changing the primary colour on display this entire   area goes from happy and full of life too  eerie and corrupted in a matter of moments   it's also important to think about the contrast  and relationship between colors you might have   noticed that despite being a fixture in most games  health as a concept has no commonly associated   color sometimes it's depicted as being red green  or even sometimes blue or white this is because   on top of having no physical real-world analogue  to draw from it's more important for health to be   visible than it is for it to convey a consistent  theme across games in dooms orange and grey   environments health is blue because it stands out  in a firefight in darkest dungeon health is red to   accentuate the stark color palettes and in games  where you need to view the health of both allies   and enemies or your remaining health quickly green  is often used as it contrasts nicely with red   one of the most universal color symbols is light  itself humans are naturally drawn to it and so   light is used all over the place as a navigational  aid in dark souls the light of even unlit bonfires   can be seen from miles away in journey the bigger  laser beam coming out the mountain helps to orient   you in the seemingly endless desert of the game's  first half and the uncharted games even use colors   normally associated with light primarily yellow  to subtly guide players through the platforming   sections when you actually think about it it's  insane that someone would have run ahead of nathan   drake and the gang spray painting all the ledges  yellow but that doesn't really matter because the   most important qualities of effective symbology  are that it's memorable and that it communicates   its meaning intuitively not necessarily that it  makes perfect sense this is why the classical   elements of earth water fire and air as well  as a bunch of other ones depending on where you   come from have remained such powerful symbols in  human culture in spite of their obvious scientific   wrongness they're evocative and come with a whole  host of cultural assumptions about how they ought   to work as well as what they ought to feel like  to play around with when we see for example fire   it symbolizes so much more to us than simply the  fact there's a combustion reaction going on fire   communicates risk passion and danger and having  that reflected in gameplay feels very satisfying   because it harmonizes with our inherent cultural  assumptions similarly when games play with far as   a theme it nearly always translates into high-risk  aggressive play styles magic the gathering's red   deck center on all-out aggression lena the fire  mage in dota spam's high damage spells and the   pyro in team fortress 2 is all about charging into  the fight at short range not only does this theme   add to the fun of playing these characters but  their design quickly gets across what they're   all about even for people who've never seen them  before there's no reason why you can't have a slow   bulky defensively oriented character designed  to look like a fire elemental or something but   that lack of symbolic and mechanical harmony will  always make them feel a little bit weird to play   water is another classic element that has a strong  presence in video games purely by existing in the   world and being alive we have a strong intuitive  grasp of fluid mechanics and what water does   when it interacts with various other things for  example noiter doesn't need to explain how its   many different fluids work together and interact  because stuff like water putting out fire and oil   floating on top are interactions that intuitively  make sense similarly wet enemies being vulnerable   to electrocution in breath of the wild and  water freezing when it's exposed to ice attacks   and genji and impact are particularly scientific  interactions but they do make a lot of intuitive   sense and so players never need to be taught about  these mechanics they'll discover them naturally   through play in short when games have mechanics  that match up thematically with their chosen   symbology not only can players internalize them  much more comfortably but they're also much easier   to remember and elemental symbols are some of the  longest lived and most successful ones in history   for exactly this reason however this is where  the downsides of leaning too hard on symbology   start to become apparent while leveraging the  appeal of having our expectations met is great   if developers don't add enough of their own  flair to levels or characters the symbols and   associated tropes can end up overpowering the  rest of the level design mario games love using   themed worlds because the aesthetic symbology  is a great way of telling players what to expect   ice levels are going to have slippery floors  bowser levels are going to have traps and lava   you get the picture however this rigid adherence  to theming can lead to levels feeling samey and   kind of generic so it's important to give players  what they want but also surprise them with new   takes on established ideas for example when  developing shovel knight yacht club used classic   level design tropes but also went out of their way  to spruce up these tired concepts with new ideas   satisfying players looking for that classic feel  but also developing a unique identity with wading   beetles you've got to bounce on to get through  lava levels and ice levels with aurora spewing   fountains used to cross gaps these places  still evoke classic ice and fire levels   being based around lengthy horizontal platforming  gauntlets and terrain you can't trust respectively   but put that little bit of extra work in to  view those tired tropes from a new perspective   sometimes developers can even lose control  of their symbology and end up communicating   things to players that they weren't intending it's  important for cover shooters like gears of war to   subtly teach players to distinguish between what  is and is not cover through consistent size and   shape of boxes barriers and bits of rock to avoid  players accidentally trying to hide behind scenery   however players can often get a little bit too  good at spotting obligatory chest high walls   in my otherwise beloved mass effect 2 there's  a mission that sees you exploring an abandoned   collector ship that is until chestnut  will start appearing which immediately   inform you there's a fight coming spoiling the  surprise when the bug men inevitably turn up   of course it's also worth mentioning that  many of gaming's most effective symbols   can also exclude people with disabilities  red barrels aren't going to be anywhere near   as effective to someone who's colorblind  for example meaning the developers need to   double or triple up on the symbols in order to  ensure that the message gets across for everyone   people often like to point to tropes and comment  symbols like chest high walls or barrels as proof   of lazy uninspired game design but the truth of  the matter is that these things are an inescapable   part of the gaming vocabulary and carry with them  decades of crucial culture and lessons relevant to   both designers and players if developers went out  of their way to avoid using these kinds of symbols   we'd be left with games that feel less intuitive  to play and less dramatically consistent without   much in the way of advantages by drawing on the  shared cultural knowledge between developers and   players games can bridge the gap of communication  between the two sides and allow the people who   make games to better explain what the things  they make are all about whilst also letting   the people who played them enjoy a more immersive  seamless experience so the next time you see an   explosive barrel or an out of place weak point  or even a nature themed character who just so   happens to specialize in healing consider that  this isn't lazy game design but instead a way   for the developer to tell you the player what to  expect and which ways to have the most fun because   let's be honest just pointing out the tropes and  pretending like that's all it takes to be a media   critic makes us know better than cinemasins  which uh it's not exactly a high bar is it   hello viewers first of all don't worry the  end of year special is about halfway done   and well and truly on the way it'll be out  after christmas once all the sales have started   which actually now that i think about it they may  have done by the time this goes out to the public   who knows anyway while you wait how about checking  out euro thug 4000 or as she's otherwise known   maria all of her videos are incredibly lovely  and are just fantastic video game related comfort   food a particular favorite one is her video on  size differences in games because it's a topic   i tried and failed to write about around about  six months ago and this video covers pretty much   everything i was going to say in around half  the time she's great please do give her a watch   though it does go without saying that the greatest  people of all are my patrons who get to enjoy   behind the scenes stuff bonus content and even  shout outs like what i'm going to do now a special   top tier thank you to alex the lodge andrew  lebrano assaran ashley shade ausa cav baxter heal   big chess brian notariani constantinapunct daniel  metchers david setzer dirk jan karenbeld ekton   edward franklin woods eugene bulkin evie philip  magnus gaskell george sears greta hannahsen   jacob dylan riddle jesse rein joey bruneau  jordan gear joshua binswanger janos faketa   kai gillespie lee berman lucas slack lunar  eagle 1996 mace window 54 max philippov nate   graf nwdd patrick romberg philby the bilby red  x there is a d in there i forgot to write down   ages ago my apologies regal rejects rey's  dad samuel vanderplatz sheldon hearn simon   jacobson steve riley strategy and ultima tom  the fizz and chao okay thank you for watching   happy festag and i will see you in just over  a week for 2020 games you should have played bye

Channel: Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

Views: 229,375

Keywords: Games, Video Games, Gaming, PC Gaming, Adam, Adam Millard, Architect, AoG, Architect of Games, Review, Analysis, Game Design, Explosive, barrels, Ahoy, Symbols, explosive barrels, DOOM, Doom Eternal, Pokemon, Ori, Shovel Knight, Battlefield, Cinemasins, Fire, Water, Avatar, ATLA, Korra, Legend of Korra, Mario, Super Mario

Id: 3WeVAp7JQGk

Length: 15min 19sec (919 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 22 2020