addink on 4/6/2008 at 15:42
Quote Posted by Ostriig
... it's still easier for your to identify with them and immerse yourself into the game world if there are no such elements cluttering your view, elements which you have not experienced yourself in real life.
Yeah I get that train of thought. And I agree with it.
However, it does totally ignore the fact that some real-life feedback is rather hard to relay back without translating it in some form of audiovisual (or vibrating in some cases) signals. Something as illusive as health has to be abstracted in some way or another. And I think it's still open to debate whether getting it as similar to real-life as possible is the way to go.
When I read a book, I'm not at all bothered by the lack of audiovisual stimulation, in fact it frees my mind to fill in the blanks. My mind's visualization can trigger a stronger emotion than prefab pictures do. Maybe, leaving some things simple and abstract, might work better than trying to visualize every detail but missing the basic emotion.
I do realize that videogames are a (partly by definition) audiovisual based medium, but that doesn't mean non-audiovisual communication is of no use.
Ostriig on 4/6/2008 at 16:45
Quote Posted by addink
Yeah I get that train of thought. And I agree with it.
However, it does totally ignore the fact that some real-life feedback is rather hard to relay back without translating it in some form of audiovisual (or vibrating in some cases) signals. Something as illusive as health has to be abstracted in some way or another. And I think it's still open to debate whether getting it as similar to real-life as possible is the way to go.
When I read a book, I'm not at all bothered by the lack of audiovisual stimulation, in fact it frees my mind to fill in the blanks. My mind's visualization can trigger a stronger emotion than prefab pictures do. Maybe, leaving some things simple and abstract, might work better than trying to visualize every detail but missing the basic emotion.
I do realize that videogames are a (partly by definition) audiovisual based medium, but that doesn't mean non-audiovisual communication is of no use.
Oh, trust me, I understand what you're saying and I'm not suggesting that HUD's or other items of the sort should be done away with. I'm also not one of those people who claim that games should be "realistic", but just consistent with their own reality. I like my games to be believable in their own proposed universe, or, to paraphrase a former GWO poster called Master Nightfall: "suspension of disbelief should only have to occur once - when you start the game". Something that is true for books and movies as well, in my opinion. But I digress.
I personally prefer that games which boast with a greater degree of immersion have a minimal HUD. Obviously, for mechanics reasons, you can't do without a GUI, which is meant to replace certain senses and other sources of feedback that you do not have access to, as in real life. For instance, you could argue that an HP Meter is a way of measuring how much pain your character might be in (with 100% being none). But I like these indicators to be relatively easy to ignore, if I choose to, and I have to say I'm kind of fond of Dead Space's attempt at dissimulating HUD components into in-game objects.
N'Al on 4/6/2008 at 17:57
c.f. many FPS where the ammo count is shown on the side of the gun, or King Kong where pressing a button gives verbal feedback on the amount of bullets left.
june gloom on 4/6/2008 at 18:35
How 'bout a steampunk FPS where a 90 pound British orphan in a porkpie hat carries belts of ammo for you and tells you when you should reload, and every so often complains that he's hungry (and that's why you assign a key to backhanding him?)
Matthew on 5/6/2008 at 09:14
I'd buy it, guv'nor.
Neb on 5/6/2008 at 09:56
"Gav, may oy recommend pressin' the B key to switch to armour penetratin' rounds for tha' mech's pistons?"
"I'm terribly sorry Charlie, but I haven't the foggiest what "B key" is meant to rhyme with."
"Sorry gav. I'm 'ere for the immersion factor."
The Magpie on 5/6/2008 at 10:27
I'm sitting through the (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpG9XIfFkE0) Longplay of MGS now, just to see what it's all about, and I've just reached a point a couple of hours in where one of the villains talks about pressing the circle button, and I'm like WTFF.
Even during tutorials I get whiney over in-game characters talking about the controls of my playing platform. I remember getting miffed by the Keeper instructor talking about the light gem being "the indicator on your screen", etc. The SS2 training too, for that matter.
Thankfully it never happens again in those games. I won't call it a design flaw, but it's not optimal. Not the way things should be.
--
Larris
june gloom on 5/6/2008 at 17:25
The Metal Gear series are pretty much world famous for breaking the fourth wall. I chafe at shit like that myself, but with MG I got over it.
Metal Gear is a Kojima series, and quite frankly Kojima games need to be taken seperately from other games. I can't exactly put it into words.
catbarf on 6/6/2008 at 10:33
Quote Posted by The Magpie
Complaints
Quote Posted by dethtoll
The Metal Gear series are pretty much world famous for breaking the fourth wall.
Absolutely. There are quite a few instances like that...
june gloom on 6/6/2008 at 16:07
It goes back before Metal Gear Solid, too. Actually in the very first MG, Big Boss radios you and demands you turn off your system.
