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[POLL] MANDATORY SCENARIOS, YEA OR NAY?
Poll
How do you feel about selectable scenarios cutting into the flow of a story? - Results
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I typically don't like them for my own reasons.
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1
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11%
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I typically like them because they give me "choices".
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8
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88%
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Posts
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Corfaisus
"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats
7874
Corfaisus
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CloseWhile telling a story, you want for it to be concise and to flow consistently from start to finish. But for some reason you think to yourself "I've written myself into a corner. How can I show that some horrible thing has put half my party on the other side of the world while another half is on the moon?" Ding ding! Non-linear, mandatory scenarios from a blank selection screen! Why not?
I'll tell you why not: instead of feeding the player the story in a way that feels natural, you're telling them that this is how much disjointed story you're going to have to experience before things flow again, and that after every section, you're coming back to this blank abyss to hover your cursor over another party member to see what they're up to in their own separate timeline.
There's no mystery anymore, as you've laid out the next chunk of game clear for the player to view. There's no immersion because progression has become a task on a checklist that is staring you in the face. So you ask yourself, how do I make this better? Do I rewrite what I have or just hope the player is keen on these selectable scenarios?
This is just my take on it; what's yours? How do you feel about these mandatory "side-quests"?
I'll tell you why not: instead of feeding the player the story in a way that feels natural, you're telling them that this is how much disjointed story you're going to have to experience before things flow again, and that after every section, you're coming back to this blank abyss to hover your cursor over another party member to see what they're up to in their own separate timeline.
There's no mystery anymore, as you've laid out the next chunk of game clear for the player to view. There's no immersion because progression has become a task on a checklist that is staring you in the face. So you ask yourself, how do I make this better? Do I rewrite what I have or just hope the player is keen on these selectable scenarios?
This is just my take on it; what's yours? How do you feel about these mandatory "side-quests"?
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
Honestly, this doesn't seem so bad, if handled properly. It's not like there isn't a preexisting narrative tradition of "Meanwhile, back in the jungle..."
One way I've seen it handled decently was in the old Corpse Party (and, more recently, Ib), where there was a switchover area similar to a save point, allowing the player to decide when to switch from one group to another.
I can also see it working in certain setups if you leave no control to the player and just switch back and forth according to how you see the narrative working. If it's well-timed, I can see that sort of hopping working to enhance mystery and tension.
Alternately, depending on the narrative, one side's story could be optional side or post-game content, if it's not completely necessary for the main plot. (It rarely is.)
If you're not up to any of that... well, does the party REALLY need to be separated? Can you rejoin them without making it a Big Thing? Quite often, if you're struggling over how to properly do a scene, the real solution is to just ditch that scene and do something else instead- including just skipping forward in some cases.
One way I've seen it handled decently was in the old Corpse Party (and, more recently, Ib), where there was a switchover area similar to a save point, allowing the player to decide when to switch from one group to another.
I can also see it working in certain setups if you leave no control to the player and just switch back and forth according to how you see the narrative working. If it's well-timed, I can see that sort of hopping working to enhance mystery and tension.
Alternately, depending on the narrative, one side's story could be optional side or post-game content, if it's not completely necessary for the main plot. (It rarely is.)
If you're not up to any of that... well, does the party REALLY need to be separated? Can you rejoin them without making it a Big Thing? Quite often, if you're struggling over how to properly do a scene, the real solution is to just ditch that scene and do something else instead- including just skipping forward in some cases.
Crystalgate
694
What breaks immersion and what doesn't varies greatly from person to person and so does the importance of immersion in the first place. Unless you're making a game where you go great lengths at not breaking immersion, such as removing life bar/life counter and having no HUD period, I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
author=Crystalgate
What breaks immersion and what doesn't varies greatly from person to person and so does the importance of immersion in the first place. Unless you're making a game where you go great lengths at not breaking immersion, such as removing life bar/life counter and having no HUD period, I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Yeah, honestly, "immersion" is one of those things that shouldn't matter in making a game, just because it's nearly impossible to achieve, and comes mostly from the player's end. I'd worry instead on making a game engaging in its gameplay and story; it's fine if the player is aware that it's a game, so long as they want to keep playing!
TheNecromancer
3160
I don't see what the problem is. Lots of great games have handled this well. Many shows and movies do this on a regular basis and they don't feel like disjointed stories.
If I'm remembering right Three The Hard Way did this really really really well. I might not be remembering right.
Corfaisus
"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats
7874
I think the problem with me is that, in every game that I've played that did this (and I've played a few), I just don't give a damn about any individual characters enough to only have them in my party for the next half hour, and it ruins everything that the game had going for it up to that point.
Every character is Tidus with a different hair-style, go!
Every character is Tidus with a different hair-style, go!
TheNecromancer
3160
So the problem is lame characters and not the order in which their scenes are presented?
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
The idea that not having every single member of the cast be present in every scene would feel "disjointed" is confusing the hell out of me. Are there really people who think this? I'm not sure I've ever seen a story where the parts that showed me multiple viewpoints were not the most intriguing and important parts of the story. And it's extremely rare for people to complain about a game offering them more nonlinear choices in how they approach the gameplay - that's usually exactly what people demand endless amounts of in video games, and this is just the tiniest, most unintrusive way of doing that without really negatively impacting anything.
suzy_cheesedreams
1480
Hmm if I'm reading the OP correctly, then I'd say it'd make at least more ludonarrative sense for me if there were a common tool/area the characters used to like rest at or something and for the option to switch back to the other party on the other side of the continent/planet/universe to be available, rather than a screen where you picked the next scenario to play.
I like the extra scenes in FF IX for instance, but the way that feature was executed was very "gamey". Didn't annoy me/upset immersion or anything, but I'm sure this could be done in a way that was more natural/the ability to follow other characters was also relevant to the plot (someone else is watching them, for example, and you are unknowingly viewing the party from an outsider's perspective)...
Anyway yes I would play a game where all the characters were Tidus. That would be incredible.
I like the extra scenes in FF IX for instance, but the way that feature was executed was very "gamey". Didn't annoy me/upset immersion or anything, but I'm sure this could be done in a way that was more natural/the ability to follow other characters was also relevant to the plot (someone else is watching them, for example, and you are unknowingly viewing the party from an outsider's perspective)...
Anyway yes I would play a game where all the characters were Tidus. That would be incredible.
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