YOUR GAME SUCKS

Pardon my misuse of 'mutually exclusive.' Got confused =P

author=halibabica link=topic=3818.msg78679#msg78679 date=1244225395
No, they don't have to be, but making cutscenes ineractive is difficult, especially depending on the kind of game you're trying to create. For example, take Resident Evil 4's approach to cutscenes: the more hostile encounters of the game require the player to pay close attention so as not to miss button presses that move them out of harm's way. That works to make it interactive, but a cutscene of this variety would feel out of place in a different kind of story. Even RE4 didn't have this in all their cutscenes; only the ones that needed it.

It isn't difficult. Some creators just don't make the effort. The Resident Evil 4 way is just one (bad) way to make an interactive cutscene (And QTE is done better in games like Indigo Prophecy). When are cutscenes really necessary in an RPG? There are probably one or two ways you can justify them, but what are they?

It seems the problem is that, as a game, actions need to be required of the player. But, in most cutscenes, the flow of events carries itself without any input from the player, thus lending them to non-interactivity. A fairly simple way around this is to give the player options of things to say/do in a cutscene that affect the flow of it, but that can get complicated when multiple forks are used.

And to perhaps make character stats play a role or something.

You mean there isn't? Because there is definitely way more to all of those things than what you're saying.

Yes, but those are the key elements of those mediums. People seem to fail to realise that if they're making a game, interactivity should be the number one priority. They should be thinking about interactivity in terms of everything. Character development, worldbuilding, everything!

It's no coincedence that some of the most respected (Not just critically acclaimed) games, i.e. System Shock 2, Planescape Torment, Deus Ex, Fallout, Half-Life all have elements of these! Maybe people should be copying these games instead of Final Fantasy 7? And if you're going to copy a JRPG, maybe strive towards games like Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne or something. And all this is *perfectly* capable within RPG Maker!

I'd love to see a cross between Fallout and Dragon Quest.

author=Feldschlacht IV link=topic=3818.msg78742#msg78742 date=1244258734
To chip in my thoughts, I never minded sitting down and watching a few minutes of a cutscene, even if there isn't any *GASP* buttons to press. I think it's because I don't have attention deficit disorder.

I think your "even if there isn't any *GASP* buttons to press" is a kind of annoying attitude. It's cool that in a discussion about game design, you decide to reduce the whole point of games to something juvenile-sounding. That's probably why we have this problem.

Having to sit through silly cutscenes, believe me, is *nothing* to do with ADHD. And I don't mean this in a pseudo-intellectual way, but if someone can read Don Quixote or Romance of the Three Kingdoms perfectly fine and have problems sitting through Final Fantasy cutscenes, believe me, it isn't the ADHD. When I sit down and play a game, I'm in 'gaming mode.' Cutscenes usually break up the momentum.

I'm sure if, say, the Nolans or Alfred Hitchcock or whoever did game cutscenes, they would be good. Heck, Persona 4 and Mother 3's cutscenes were interesting. But it's not easy to do good cutscenes. And I'm of the opinion that making them interactive instead would be better.

I agree with Blitzen's article. Especially the part about people using novel-writing advice as game-writing advice.


And to get back to the topic, something like this is dying for some kind of event/challenge. Make a really short game that's the equivalent of a fairytale or something. See how interactive you can make it. I may start it if I'm allowed.

author=geodude link=topic=3818.msg78775#msg78775 date=1244289731
another point to consider: final fantasy cutscenes blow 100% harder than Cervantes or classical Chinese literature! ::)

Sheesh. I didn't mean it in that kind of way. A better comparison would probably be a film, since we were talking about cutscenes. Or maybe even Planescape Torment, since that contains a lot of text. Bah, or even a Stephen King novel.

author=Feldschlacht IV link=topic=3818.msg78742#msg78742 date=1244258734
To chip in my thoughts, I never minded sitting down and watching a few minutes of a cutscene, even if there isn't any *GASP* buttons to press. I think it's because I don't have attention deficit disorder.

It is actually awesome that you said that because I said something similar the other day on IRC



I think it is really immature and close-minded that people see the medium as just GAMES TO PLAY and dismiss/disregard the full potential at hand.

author=Craze link=topic=3818.msg78771#msg78771 date=1244287570
This topic is getting hilariously off-topic.

Eh it hasn't gone too off topic. We're talking about how people want to make epic games to the point where all they make is cutscenes that aren't shortened enough or meaningful. I guess I went a bit far off though, even suggesting that cutscenes are dealt with... differently.

author=Max McGee link=topic=3818.msg79095#msg79095 date=1244491823

When are cutscenes really necessary in an RPG?

Actually, one could aruge that the RPG is the only genre in which Cutscenes are really necessary. The story in, say, an FPS can easily be told through scripted events and in-game communication (like in Half Life, Deus Ex and Bioshock) without resorting to cutscenes, but if you're talking about a top-down SNES-style RPG, these things really have no viable way of giving information in real time. Without cutscene, storytelling would be reduced to just wall of text/conversations, which would be really boring. Cutscens are necessary so characters can walk around and do interesting stuff and the story can be advanced.

I agree they shouldn't be overused but they really are NECESSARY.

You don't need cutscenes to convey a story. Super Metroid is a good example of that. Very minimalistic in it's approach to the story. There isn't even any "spoken" (for lack of a better term) dialogue in the game aside from maybe the introduction and the ending.

author=Nightblade link=topic=3818.msg79139#msg79139 date=1244502093

author=Max McGee link=topic=3818.msg79095#msg79095 date=1244491823

When are cutscenes really necessary in an RPG?

Actually, one could aruge that the RPG is the only genre in which Cutscenes are really necessary. The story in, say, an FPS can easily be told through scripted events and in-game communication (like in Half Life, Deus Ex and Bioshock) without resorting to cutscenes, but if you're talking about a top-down SNES-style RPG, these things really have no viable way of giving information in real time. Without cutscene, storytelling would be reduced to just wall of text/conversations, which would be really boring. Cutscens are necessary so characters can walk around and do interesting stuff and the story can be advanced.

I agree they shouldn't be overused but they really are NECESSARY.

You don't need cutscenes to convey a story. Super Metroid is a good example of that. Very minimalistic in it's approach to the story. There isn't even any "spoken" (for lack of a better term) dialogue in the game aside from maybe the introduction and the ending.

He was saying RPGs, not sidescrolling platformers.

Having said that, I disagree with Max anyway. While I personally like cutscenes, I think you can effectively convey a story without them even in a plot-centric RPG, assuming you have the technical and aesthetic know how to do so. (rm* does not make this easy)

What stops an RPG from doing the same? And please, no "RPGs are focused on stories!" That's not good enough.

Etrian Odyssey games also live and die by their gameplay, since they have nothing else. (And in the case of EO1 at least, I'd say the gameplay was tedious.) They're useless as examples if you wish to integrate a storyline of some sort into your game.

Ultima 6 whoop name drop issue resolved.