The Pros and Cons of Forced Settings and Honoring Author's Intentions - by Galaer
skacky on 3/1/2021 at 16:49
Fog indoors is just a byproduct of how fogging works in the Dark Engine. Transitions from foggy areas to non-foggy ones look extremely jarring unless you use multiple densities so the transitions are smoother and even then it's not perfect. The second mission in The Chalice of Souls uses this trick where I used about 4 or 5 different fog settings so the tower interiors have a much thicker density than the rest, and I used a drape to mask the transition from no fog to fog. One mission I'm working on uses a similar method so the interiors have only very very thin fog while the exterior fog is much thicker.
Renault on 3/1/2021 at 17:02
You guys are only hurting yourselves by not checking out readme files before playing a mission. Part of enjoying a good FM is the setup and learning the backstory. Do you skip mission briefings too? Sure, sometimes this information can be relayed to the player in the form of a diary or a letter from your employer or something similar, but not always.
Take nicked's contest mission for instance. Aren't you curious as to why why you're suddenly standing in the middle of a forest without any of your gear?
And yes, authors can and do expect players to read their text file. It's been done this way for over 20 years, and 99% of players not only have no issues with it, but they expect the file to be there.
Galaer brought up language too, which is a good point. Using nicked's mission as an example again, his text file is in not only English, but also French, German, and Spanish, I believe. This could be extremely helpful for non-native speakers.
In the end, I really don't get the stubbornness. Are you really that against reading something before you start playing a game? Have you never read a game manual, or a game's description online, before playing it? You can't really argue "takes away from the immersion" when it's something you're doing before you actually go into the game.
Galaer on 3/1/2021 at 18:34
Quote Posted by Brethren
Take nicked's contest mission for instance.
Aren't you curious as to why why you're suddenly standing in the middle of a forest without any of your gear?.
Actually nicked's story in txt file didn't really show me anything new, I learned the same thing by reading objectives.
As for not understanding my stubbornness, it will be easier if you actually try to understand. I will explain my point one more time slowly. But before that, I'm aware that you will not understand that, I'm aware you will not even try to understand me and I'm aware this comment of mine will be highly criticized by everyone here. So here we go.
First of all, I'm playing as Garrett, a thief. He's stealing and there is nothing poetic about that. He's not stealing for story, he's not stealing for atmosphere. Reasoning isn't important. What's important is to do his job professionally, complete main objective (stealing artifact, kidnapping or saving someone or maybe request giver has some special quest for Garrett). This must be done also Garrett will steal money and in the end he will vanish in shadow. That's all what matters for Garrett. With exception when FM creators decide to put Garrett into completely new situation and Garrett shows new emotions that he didn't know about.
Second of all, I'm not really a story guy and easily lose focus when reading notes and books. It doesn't help that most of readables are very similar to each other: someone again fell in love. Someone else lost a key and has no idea where it is, but still describes where it could be. Someone else mentions again how bad this guard is. Again guards are useless in readables. Again security is impossible to bypass and guy mentions how it works. Again. I read txt files and they were really similar. Sometimes I read more carefully, but usually because I missed hint where key item may be located or what is code for safe.
Third of all, when I see that readables are long (wall of text) I lose my patience and I judge the whole text by first few sentences. If it's not interesting, then I quickly move to search for hints in text and then finish looking at it. If it's engaging, then I will read it slowly. It may not happen very often, but it happens. Sinister Night had quite interesting. I also enjoyed polish missions, not only because it's my native language, but readables wanted to emulate different language that people were using in these old times (Podróż do Krainy Biedaków, Prezent). That's also the reason why I really enjoyed reading notes in Rose Garden. Specific language and interesting story engaged me.
Lastly I play FMs for gameplay, which translates to challenge. I'm talking about creative enemy placement and also creative traps including mean traps and utilizing layout of mission in that direction. I like that. Sadly FM creators right now prefer to be on the safe side and don't experiment with that. The last FM that challenged me was Patriot Campaign and I really loved it. So story isn't that important for me and no, I don't let myself get hurt by not reading txt files. I just avoid to get bored.
End of story.
