>NEW GAME

Calunio
What's that GRS?

Start up Secret of Evermore or Chrono Trigger and let the intro sit for a while to see what I mean. I think SD3 also did something similar with scrolling exposition text.

Yeah, I don't know what else to say that Brick's article wouldn't cover in much more detail. Most of us assume going in that the gameplay isn't going to open up until later in the game. Nobody should expect it to be deeply engrossing and phenomenal at the start, and I don't think anyone really does. At the same time it shouldn't get a full pass.

In FF7, for the entire intro, you can Attack, use items, or cast Lightning (with Cloud only). That's plenty. You get these options from the start, but combat development doesn't sit still. When you're given another character to use in battle, the enemy parties change and become more difficult (that is to say, you're not killing things in one hit by spamming attack anymore). The opportunity to exercise simple strategic choices is given (Barrett's gun is more effective against certain enemies that like to hang out in the back row, while Lightning is most effective against others), and by the time you've got that figured out, the boss fight comes that invites you to use that information gained up until then, while throwing scripted boss mechanics at you to break up your pattern.

It's the same thing with story. Just because you've given control to the player doesn't mean you've put your story on hold. The player is obviously making SOMETHING happen, and is attempting to achieve SOME goal. They're moving the story forward. To that end, particularly in the beginning, it might be nice to sprinkle in some dialogue (or monologue if your character is solo) at key points to make sure the player knows what they've been doing has purpose (no, instant gratification is not a juvenile mindset; hook your player however the hell you can). You can loosen that up further on in the game, but the longer you drag on in a playable scene in the beginning without feedback, the less your player will care about what's going on. It's a tight balance. The intro is not meant to plunge you deep into its epic story or immerse you waist-deep in combat. It's meant to ease you into both.

In the end, I just ended up reiterating things from Brick's article. Establish that context. Establish where the adventure begins, right now. If your character already starts in a conflict (ie Cloud), then great; he has a goal and the adventure should start with taking steps towards reaching that goal. Notice that Cloud and co. were successful in blowing up a reactor. They didn't need to include us, the player, in building up to that point, earning the money, experience, or co-conspirators needed to do the job. Blowing up the reactor triggered EVERYTHING. It jump-started the whole story. Before that, life simply went on for all parties.

If your character doesn't start in a conflict, then start the story at the changing point in the character's life. For example, Secret of Mana. The Hero finds a sword and yanks it. Before that point, nothing; farm chores and child's play. Within minutes after that point, combat, and a boss fight. That's all there is to it.

Break these rules if you have a good reason to, but don't lose your players' trust. It won't matter if they decide to bail out on the game.

post=207435
Fuck you for beating me to it (hoooooow), slashphoenix. EVERYBODY READ EVERYTHING BY BRICKROAD NOW

I only linked it because I looked down and saw my W.W.C.D. bracelet and thought "post an article by Brick Road!"

Oh yea, thanks to this netbook I've read every article on this site at least twice instead of paying attention in class. I don't even need psych 101.

ITT: Craze is starting a cult.

post=207788

post=207781
ITT: Craze is starting a cult.

I can get behind this. Shotty priestess.

Are priestesses well-treated in Craze's cult? Because I heard about what happens to the priestesses in Karsuman's cult...

One of the most definitive FPS series of all time takes its time at the start... Half-Life. What I'm trying it say is an interesting intro doesn't always mean an action-packed one.

Craze, you have a really epic laugh if your LTs are anything to go by.

I'm sort of concerned, guys. If any of you remember my game, it had an exposition intro. I think its pretty cool (really cool in fact), but I'm concerned its too long.


Besides for some minor differences in the dialogue and some other shit, the finished version of this is basically the same. Thoughts? Too long? Keep in mind the length; two minutes long.

HELP A MOOGLE OUT.

Also I'm not trying to shamelessly divert attention to my game, feel free to use this as a sort of metric for the conversation.

post=208323
shameless diversion of conversation

i thought it was fine. my tolerance for expository cutscenes and other mechanisms that don't immediately place you in control of a player seems a bit high though if this topic is anything to go on. i'd still go through every piece of exposition in that intro line-by-line and see what you can cut that can be covered elsewhere, ideally in optional avenues of information (NPCs, bookshelves, etc).

as a general note, no matter how long your intro ends up being, i think paring as much exposition as possible from any place where you have a character speaking is a great plan. i did have 'narrator' in there but a narrator's sole purpose is the delivery of exposition most of the time.

the more exposition you have the player sit through, the less time you have for characterization.