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[POLL] THE DEPTH OF FLAVOUR VS IMPATIENT PEOPLE
Poll
Should control be given to a character who can't even move? - Results
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Yes
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4
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80%
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No
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1
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20%
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Posts
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1
Dragnfly
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CloseA bit ago I took a flashback cutscene and switched it to an interactive segment. This gave the chance for a character who had very limited development before to get lots from interacting with objects and the flavour text in their equipment/skills.
I have another flashback scene involving a different character that I want to give the same treatment to. The drawback with this one is that they spend the entire scene chained to a wall. They'd be able to move, like, 4 spaces and that's only if I can get the money for omni-directional sprites. Otherwise, they won't be able to move at all. They could just accept, cancel, and bring up their menu.
The bonus to this is that I could put extra character development in their equipment/skills and make actions they take require player interaction (something I've always been a fan of). Invisible timers would be added for the next scene to start, or they could start by selecting a certain thing option.
The drawbacks I see are that, first, lots of people are absurd levels of impatient. Freaking out over a 30-second delay isn't uncommon. I don't understand, but of course, I don't want my players to have a scene ruined for them because of that (even if, to me, it adds to the gravity of the scene). Secondly, I'm worried that people may feel it's pointless or a waste of time to have control of somebody who can't really move.
So is this a good idea or a bad idea?
I have another flashback scene involving a different character that I want to give the same treatment to. The drawback with this one is that they spend the entire scene chained to a wall. They'd be able to move, like, 4 spaces and that's only if I can get the money for omni-directional sprites. Otherwise, they won't be able to move at all. They could just accept, cancel, and bring up their menu.
The bonus to this is that I could put extra character development in their equipment/skills and make actions they take require player interaction (something I've always been a fan of). Invisible timers would be added for the next scene to start, or they could start by selecting a certain thing option.
The drawbacks I see are that, first, lots of people are absurd levels of impatient. Freaking out over a 30-second delay isn't uncommon. I don't understand, but of course, I don't want my players to have a scene ruined for them because of that (even if, to me, it adds to the gravity of the scene). Secondly, I'm worried that people may feel it's pointless or a waste of time to have control of somebody who can't really move.
So is this a good idea or a bad idea?
TheGiantHand
43
I say it's a good idea. While it could be done just as well via cut scene, I feel like if players can at least check out their environments or talk to other prisoners or such it makes the wait for them to be released or broke out less of a bore or waste of time than just sitting around waiting for the game to play the next scene.
I'd say it's a good idea, if executed properly. Having said that, executing an immobile character very well isn't easy in my opinion. You have to make the limited interactions carry weight in the enviroment. You said stuff about checking the equipment in order to find out stuff about the character, maybe the character starts in a pitch black room and only once the head gear "bandage" is dequipped does the character see the room around him.
Or maybe there's an item in their inventory that as soon as you use/analyze it, it drops away from the character and they have to try and get it while they're movement is limited. I think it's a good idea, but you have to be creative with the interactions availabe for the character. Adding an invisible timer could also be interesting as it would give the returning player the feeling that they have to figure this stuff out faster. Also, said invisible timer should be given a proper non frustrating function, constantly resetting the flashback because the timer you didn't know existed ran out is just annoying in my opinion.
Hope this helps you come to a conclusion, I wonder what other people think about this idea.
EDIT: I'm totally not gonna copy this idea, trust me whistles innocently
Or maybe there's an item in their inventory that as soon as you use/analyze it, it drops away from the character and they have to try and get it while they're movement is limited. I think it's a good idea, but you have to be creative with the interactions availabe for the character. Adding an invisible timer could also be interesting as it would give the returning player the feeling that they have to figure this stuff out faster. Also, said invisible timer should be given a proper non frustrating function, constantly resetting the flashback because the timer you didn't know existed ran out is just annoying in my opinion.
Hope this helps you come to a conclusion, I wonder what other people think about this idea.
EDIT: I'm totally not gonna copy this idea, trust me whistles innocently
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
Fuck the haters, do what you want. If it enhances something in the game, make your choice and stick with it.
^this
and I think that you can make text based interactions rather well if dialogue choices are common in your game. The character can interact with thinks by looking at them for example (so, it's not about skills only).
As long as it is an interaction, anything works for me and enhances the experience.
and I think that you can make text based interactions rather well if dialogue choices are common in your game. The character can interact with thinks by looking at them for example (so, it's not about skills only).
As long as it is an interaction, anything works for me and enhances the experience.
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
I'm one of the impatient ones.
But if this character's imprisonment and immobility is important to what you're trying to communicate, then making me feel it and experience it as a player is a better way to do it than via a cut scene.
But if this character's imprisonment and immobility is important to what you're trying to communicate, then making me feel it and experience it as a player is a better way to do it than via a cut scene.
AubreyTheBard
1801
I'm with the general consensus that this could be done well, but I'll note that "30 seconds" can feel like "I'm trapped indefinitely" when you don't know it's going to be 30 seconds (or however long it is). Which, like LockeZ says, could be a good thing if that's what you want the player to feel. But if you don't want that, you need to find some way of communicating to the player that the passage of time will free them.
I'm reminded of an "interactive" cutscene in Final Fantasy VII during which the player is placed in control of a sort of child-ghost of the main character while said character s l o w l y moves toward something. There's actually zero meaningful interaction possible during that cutscene, just helpless flailing about, which is (presumably) exactly what the designer wanted the player to feel. Still, the progress of the character's body toward its destination clued the player in that no, this cutscene is not interminable (though it sure took a while).
I'm reminded of an "interactive" cutscene in Final Fantasy VII during which the player is placed in control of a sort of child-ghost of the main character while said character s l o w l y moves toward something. There's actually zero meaningful interaction possible during that cutscene, just helpless flailing about, which is (presumably) exactly what the designer wanted the player to feel. Still, the progress of the character's body toward its destination clued the player in that no, this cutscene is not interminable (though it sure took a while).
Crystalgate
694
Has the player been given a good reason to want to find out more about the characters in question? Has that "very limited development" been, while limited, interesting or hinting towards something interesting? I sure know that I won't bother with reading flavor text unless I think that will pay off and I don't think I'm the only one with that attitude. Basically, if the player is already somewhat mentally invested in the character, then fine, give the player a chance do some voluntary digging. However, I think it's a bad idea to ask of the player to dig for something to get mentally invested into in the first place. In that case, I think it's better to just show the player whatever is needed and maybe a carefully chosen selection of the flavory stuff.
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