《Control Resonant》总监谈为何不用“黄漆”引导玩家

schedule4 Min Read

Control Resonant protagonist Dylan Faden looks out over an altered cityscape.

Image via Remedy Entertainment

Remedy Entertainment's Control Resonant has finally launched to rave reviews from players and critics alike, cementing the studio's continued bona fides for producing otherworldly and unusual single-player games that attract a loyal audience. And now that the dust has settled after launch, developers have an opportunity to study the game's success—with some helpful guidance from the game's developers.

Interested readers can find some of that guidance over on the Dropped Frames podcast (via Kotaku). In the episode, director Mikael Kasurinen lays out some of the deliberate choices on concepts like the game's level design, which was a particularly complex challenge for Remedy as it expanded the game environment from the interiors of The Oldest House to the Pattern-warped streets of Manhattan in New York City, where "up" and "down" no longer have fixed definitions.

One particular level design technique Kasurinen zeroed in on was the team's approach to signposting, and specifically the decision to avoid "yellow paint," a common visual indicator that helps players navigate detailed game environments.

In Control Resonant, players navigate an open-world Manhattan through running, flying, and changing gravity to access orthogonally-adjusted areas. Kasurinen himself said this kind of design risked making the game "impenetrable," but said it was "a conscious choice" to not rely on yellow-colored visual markers, which have become common in games of similar scope and scale.

What anchored that choice, he said, was a desire for players to help players feel like they were the ones figuring out how to explore Manhattan. He feels that excessive signposting through yellow paint or other signifiers risks leaving them feeling like the game decided their path for them.

"If it feels like it’s like 'go here,' it’s not anymore a decision for the player. Somebody already decided for you," he said, adding that there's "nothing better" than feeling like they found their own way from point A to point B.

It's worth noting that this version of Manhattan isn't meant to be inscrutable. Kasurinen explained to Game Developer earlier this year that certain techniques—like maintaining a consistent point of gravity that guides the effects of rain and wind—help players stay oriented in this otherworldly realm. These and other techniques are what effectively replace the signposting found in other big budget games.

For developers still stressed about the possibility of players becoming frustrated and abandoning the game, it's worth looking at the bigger picture of signposting in a game like Control Resonant. The Control series is a horror-inspired action franchise where players are investigating and fighting to survive in environments that brush up against the edge of unknowable reality.

The need to understand and interpret that reality is baked into every element of both titles, and signposting techniques run the risk of interfering with that player experience—that feeling of "I figured it out" that Kasurinen described.

Why is 'yellow paint' becoming a controversial design decision?

Remedy's choice to not use yellow-colored signposting was likely in the works before certain content creators and journalists began criticizing the practice (Kasurinen previously told Game Developer the game has been in active development for "two to three years" following four years of pre-production). But it's launching in the midst of an unusually specific type of backlash with players expressing frustration over a level design technique meant to make them less frustrated.

Stories on the topic have prompted developers to come forward with candid explanations for why the technique works well in certain games—and point out that even if they would prefer not to use yellow paint, its deployment in other games means certain players have come to expect and rely on its presence to understand where to go.

One of the best explanations of this phenomenon comes from UI designer Edd Coates in a 2024 IGN video (which takes something of a hyperbolic approach to discussing the yellow paint phenomenon). He told IGN that he's seen the industry widely adopt a "language" around yellow paint that is now so common, players are likely to see it and think "I can climb that," and if they don't see yellow paint they may think "I can't climb that."

"There are upsides and downsides—if you give people too much information it's handholding, if you take away the information it becomes [too] difficult. The key thing is to make sure it makes sense in the narrative."

That information adds extra weight to Remedy's decision to avoid the practice, as it means players weren't just operating in the game's friction, but against their experiences from other games as well.

Developers assessing if "yellow paint" works well for them can again turn to Kasurinen's conversation with Dropping Frames as an example of approaching the question through examining what experience you want players to have, rather than an arbitrary decision. The director said that his goal was to have players ask "did I make the right choice?" when thinking about their time with the game.

"I want people to think like that," he elaborated. "I want them doubt [themselves], go back, check again, see what they could do differently, because that’s life. That’s what makes it sticky and interesting."

"If you want to get the most out of this world, you have to participate. That’s the key thing."

Update 9/30: This story previously misidentified the name of the Dropped Frames podcast, and has since been updated with the correct identification.

About the Author

Senior Editor, GameDeveloper.com

Bryant Francis is a writer, journalist, and narrative designer based in Boston, MA. He currently writes for Game Developer, a leading B2B publication for the video game industry. His credits include Proxy Studios' 4X strategy game Zephon, Iron Anchor Studios' Down With The Ship, and Amplitude Studio's 2017 game Endless Space 2.