Benefits of the "Open World"

What do people like about this relatively new concept of the "open world" in games?

What is the appeal?

If you don't know what I mean please reference games such as: GTA, Oblivion, STALKER, Boiling Point.

It makes it more rewarding to make progress in a game that doesn't lead you on rails, imo.

It still has to be well-made to capture this effect though.

i don't think you're going to get any new answers here. it'll be the predictable 'freedom to go anywhere' and 'replayability' and so on.

i dunno. i still prefer corridor shooters. i think scripted sequences are sweet when done right and can make for some seriously memorable moments. i think a.i. at the moment isn't good enough to allow for wide open worlds. at least not yet. too many npcs walking around in circles; too many enemies doing stupid things.

Open world is just a lot more fun if done right because the best part of video games is exploring. GTA games in my mind are one of few games to absolutely perfect open world gaming.Toriko42

i would hardly call it perfect. it's certainly the best at the moment, but hopefully things will only get better in the future.

i don't think you're going to get any new answers here. it'll be the predictable 'freedom to go anywhere' and 'replayability' and so on.fireandcloud

I'm predictable. :cry:

Although I will also say that with 'open world' type games I can usually dictate the pace, choose the encounters and sometimes the terms of those encounters, complete certain aspects of the game in a different order than I would otherwise. In other words, I have more 'elbow room' and sometimes (not always) will have a greater chance to experiment and use different gameplay.

For example, in Oblivion I could trigger an encounter with a monster, but instead of engaging it myself run to the nearest guard or town and let someone else deal with it. Or I might lure it into an area where I have a specific advantage over it. In a more linear game, I may not be given that opportunity, depending on whether I could back-track through levels, whether monsters would follow me to previous levels, or perhaps the NPCs would not react except by running away from the menace. A lot depends on the actual game and how the AI is structured, but in general with more linear type games your opportunities are more restricted.

This kind of experimentation does lead to opportunities for playing through scenarios again in different ways, ie, replayability.

I also like exploring in the games I play (even the linear games), because I enjoy uncovering secret areas, out of the way encounters, etc., and an open world type of game offers more opportunities for that kind of exploration.

Do I prefer open world games to linear games? These days I would probably say yes, although I do still enjoy all of the games in my collection, linear or not.

[QUOTE="fireandcloud"]

i don't think you're going to get any new answers here. it'll be the predictable 'freedom to go anywhere' and 'replayability' and so on.RobertBowen

I'm predictable. :cry:

Although I will also say that with 'open world' type games I can usually dictate the pace, choose the encounters and sometimes the terms of those encounters, complete certain aspects of the game in a different order than I would otherwise. In other words, I have more 'elbow room' and sometimes (not always) will have a greater chance to experiment and use different gameplay.

For example, in Oblivion I could trigger an encounter with a monster, but instead of engaging it myself run to the nearest guard or town and let someone else deal with it. Or I might lure it into an area where I have a specific advantage over it. In a more linear game, I may not be given that opportunity, depending on whether I could back-track through levels, whether monsters would follow me to previous levels, or perhaps the NPCs would not react except by running away from the menace. A lot depends on the actual game and how the AI is structured, but in general with more linear type games your opportunities are more restricted.

This kind of experimentation does lead to opportunities for playing through scenarios again in different ways, ie, replayability.

I also like exploring in the games I play (even the linear games), because I enjoy uncovering secret areas, out of the way encounters, etc., and an open world type of game offers more opportunities for that kind of exploration.

Do I prefer open world games to linear games? These days I would probably say yes, although I do still enjoy all of the games in my collection, linear or not.

lol. i didn't mean anything by saying that the answers will be predictable. i was just saying that it's pretty easy to imagine what's so great about an open world. i'm with you - i would prefer open worlds, cuz they allow me to believe that my character is a part of a fleshed-out, realistic world (immersion). but as it is today, i think i still prefer the corridor shooters over the open worlds, cuz they're a lot more refined than the open world games are at the moment. but some day soon, open worlds will get things right. maybe by the time gta 6 comes out... :P

I hate to break it to you, but most every game that features an open world (except for the very few games like Spore and EVE online) is really just featuring an extremely large box for you to roam around in. Eventually you'll hit a wall.

But that's beside the point.

My favorite part of being in a giant box is getting lost.

[QUOTE="Toriko42"]Open world is just a lot more fun if done right because the best part of video games is exploring. GTA games in my mind are one of few games to absolutely perfect open world gaming.fireandcloud

i would hardly call it perfect. it's certainly the best at the moment, but hopefully things will only get better in the future.

One of the things I like a lot about an open world game is that it can offer a much longer game. I'm much more willing to pay $50 for a game like this but of course it has to be a good game. A 10 hour game may be a lot of fun but I'm less willing to pay $50 for it.

Edit: I hope we seem more & more FPSs like S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Boiling Point: Road to Hell, Fary Cry & Crysis. Far Cry & Crysis had bigass environments that were great, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. & Boiling Point had NPC interaction, quests, & upgradeable weapons. Herrick loves all that.

Fewer constraints is more fun for people. Some prefer to push the boundaries of their imagination and see "can I do that" and when they realise they can, they push it further and get joy out of it. Also there is certainly more allowance for players to play how they want, in Oblivion for example you can go around killing guards and act like a maniac, or maybe you can just pick pockets, or maybe go around picking flowers. You aren't told, "hey go down this path, shoot 2 guys who come around this corner, watch this cutscene", you are told "Hey see this, have fun and do what you feel like within the game boundaries and with the game rules"

I think I'm much more a fan of the open world games especially when I consider something like COD 4, however something like Half-Life 2 just cannot be created in an open world near any appreciable quality, it's just tested and perfected far too well to take you on that ride.

I have to go with "more fun overall if done right". I mean, CoD4 is a seriously intense and awesome game to play for six hrs, but like Herrick said: 50 bucks? Give me a break. Compare that to Morrowind or GTA's where the fun is a little more spread out, but you get to play for hrs and hrs and hrs. Guess it's like comparing... oh, just remembered, I can't talk about sex on this forum, some people find sex offencive...

And such a world gives you more to explore, which is awesome, if you decide to make the world worth exploring. I also find the immersion factor to be greater in open world games like the ones i mentioned above.

Relatively new concept? When did you start gaming?GodLovesDead

Well when do you think it really came about?

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]Relatively new concept? When did you start gaming?biggest_loser

Well when do you think it really came about?

Last time I checked, Zelda.

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]Relatively new concept? When did you start gaming?GodLovesDead

Well when do you think it really came about?

Last time I checked, Zelda.

What is this "Zelda"?

Does it have a PC equivalent?

I assume it something quite like Colin Mcrae Rally

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"][QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]Relatively new concept? When did you start gaming?biggest_loser

Well when do you think it really came about?

Last time I checked, Zelda.

What is this "Zelda"?

Does it have a PC equivalent?

I assume it something quite like Colin Mcrae Rally

It doesn't have a PC equivalent, but Morrowind came out 7 years ago, which isn't really recent. And I doubt it's the first one. And yes, it's very similar to Colin Mcrae's series.

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"][QUOTE="GodLovesDead"][QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]Relatively new concept? When did you start gaming?GodLovesDead

Well when do you think it really came about?

Last time I checked, Zelda.

What is this "Zelda"?

Does it have a PC equivalent?

I assume it something quite like Colin Mcrae Rally

It doesn't have a PC equivalent, but Morrowind came out 7 years ago, which isn't really recent. And I doubt it's the first one. And yes, it's very similar to Colin Mcrae's series.

Ahhh okay right.

Well its not recent then but it really has taken off in terms of popularity with recent games like GTA and oblivion etc.

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"][QUOTE="GodLovesDead"][QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]Relatively new concept? When did you start gaming?GodLovesDead

Well when do you think it really came about?

Last time I checked, Zelda.

What is this "Zelda"?

Does it have a PC equivalent?

I assume it something quite like Colin Mcrae Rally

It doesn't have a PC equivalent, but Morrowind came out 7 years ago, which isn't really recent. And I doubt it's the first one. And yes, it's very similar to Colin Mcrae's series.

might & magic series (at least starting with 2). ultima series (at least starting with 4). most rpgs, in fact.

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"][QUOTE="biggest_loser"][QUOTE="GodLovesDead"][QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]Relatively new concept? When did you start gaming?fireandcloud

Well when do you think it really came about?

Last time I checked, Zelda.

What is this "Zelda"?

Does it have a PC equivalent?

I assume it something quite like Colin Mcrae Rally

It doesn't have a PC equivalent, but Morrowind came out 7 years ago, which isn't really recent. And I doubt it's the first one. And yes, it's very similar to Colin Mcrae's series.

might & magic series (at least starting with 2). ultima series (at least starting with 4). most rpgs, in fact.

But its still most like Colin Mcrae yes?

[QUOTE="fireandcloud"]

might & magic series (at least starting with 2). ultima series (at least starting with 4). most rpgs, in fact.

biggest_loser

But its still most like Colin Mcrae yes?

isn't that a racing game? not sure what being like colin mcrae means exactly...

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"][QUOTE="fireandcloud"]

might & magic series (at least starting with 2). ultima series (at least starting with 4). most rpgs, in fact.

fireandcloud

But its still most like Colin Mcrae yes?

isn't that a racing game? not sure what being like colin mcrae means exactly...

I believe it is but there was a fellow here telling me that that is what this uh "Zelda" is just like...

[QUOTE="fireandcloud"][QUOTE="biggest_loser"][QUOTE="fireandcloud"]

might & magic series (at least starting with 2). ultima series (at least starting with 4). most rpgs, in fact.

biggest_loser

But its still most like Colin Mcrae yes?

isn't that a racing game? not sure what being like colin mcrae means exactly...

I believe it is but there was a fellow here telling me that that is what this uh "Zelda" is just like...

lol!!! i see.

It doesn't have a PC equivalent, but Morrowind came out 7 years ago, which isn't really recent. And I doubt it's the first one. And yes, it's very similar to Colin Mcrae's series.

GodLovesDead

The first Elder Scrolls game, Arena, was released in 1994. It allowed you to roam pretty much anywhere. :)

Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall (1996), took it to the extreme, and had an explorable world of around 160,000 square kilometres (mostly randomly generated) which would be equivalent to three quarters the size of Great Britain. By comparison, Oblivion has approximately 16 square kilometres of terrain to explore.

Of course, Daggerfall became a bit long and boring, especially with randomly generated dungeons and people. Just goes to show that big isn't always best.

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]

It doesn't have a PC equivalent, but Morrowind came out 7 years ago, which isn't really recent. And I doubt it's the first one. And yes, it's very similar to Colin Mcrae's series.

RobertBowen

The first Elder Scrolls game, Arena, was released in 1994. It allowed you to roam pretty much anywhere. :)

Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall (1996), took it to the extreme, and had an explorable world of around 160,000 square kilometres (mostly randomly generated) which would be equivalent to three quarters the size of Great Britain. By comparison, Oblivion has approximately 16 square kilometres of terrain to explore.

Of course, Daggerfall became a bit long and boring, especially with randomly generated dungeons and people. Just goes to show that big isn't always best.

So Oblivion is a "back to the roots of the series"-game? Lol. Copy and paste FTW!

Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall (1996), took it to the extreme, and had an explorable world of around 160,000 square kilometres (mostly randomly generated) which would be equivalent to three quarters the size of Great Britain. By comparison, Oblivion has approximately 16 square kilometres of terrain to explore.

Of course, Daggerfall became a bit long and boring, especially with randomly generated dungeons and people. Just goes to show that big isn't always best.

RobertBowen

Sounds like a huge game indeed. I've never played it before. Do you think it's still worth playing now?

[QUOTE="RobertBowen"]

Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall (1996), took it to the extreme, and had an explorable world of around 160,000 square kilometres (mostly randomly generated) which would be equivalent to three quarters the size of Great Britain. By comparison, Oblivion has approximately 16 square kilometres of terrain to explore.

Of course, Daggerfall became a bit long and boring, especially with randomly generated dungeons and people. Just goes to show that big isn't always best.

Herrick

Sounds like a huge game indeed. I've never played it before. Do you think it's still worth playing now?

I found the gameplay to be a chore. It's probably cool if you can get past that.

Sounds like a huge game indeed. I've never played it before. Do you think it's still worth playing now?

Herrick

I couldn't finish it and in the end gave it to a friend. The randomisation of everything made it quite monotonous. If you are a die-hard fan of the Elder Scrolls series it's worth a look, but it's nowhere near the quality of Morrowind or Oblivion. It had some pretty nasty bugs as well, if I recall - like dropping through the floor into 'the void' and that sort of thing.

One thing I will give it credit for, though, is that when it snowed you actually saw the ground and roofs of buildings go white. When the sun came out it returned to normal. That was quite impressive for the time, and I don't think I've seen another game that managed to accomplish that. It had a proper day and night cycle, and you could turn into a werewolf if you got bitten.

So it was a mixed bag. They made the right decision to drop the random generation of characters/towns for Morrowind.

Anyway, Daggerfall is extremely rare to find these days. You might be able to track down a copy on ebay, or something.

I found the gameplay to be a chore. It's probably cool if you can get past that.

artur79

Is it too old and clunky?

I couldn't finish it and in the end gave it to a friend. The randomisation of everything made it quite monotonous. If you are a die-hard fan of the Elder Scrolls series it's worth a look, but it's nowhere near the quality of Morrowind or Oblivion. It had some pretty nasty bugs as well, if I recall - like dropping through the floor into 'the void' and that sort of thing.

One thing I will give it credit for, though, is that when it snowed you actually saw the ground and roofs of buildings go white. When the sun came out it returned to normal. That was quite impressive for the time, and I don't think I've seen another game that managed to accomplish that. It had a proper day and night cycle, and you could turn into a werewolf if you got bitten.

So it was a mixed bag. They made the right decision to drop the random generation of characters/towns for Morrowind.

Anyway, Daggerfall is extremely rare to find these days. You might be able to track down a copy on ebay, or something.

RobertBowen

Hmm...it sounds interesting enough to check out. I think they have a free download of it on the official Elder Scrolls website. Thanks for the info, mang 8)

Is it too old and clunky?

Imo? Yes. But I guess you'll decide for yourself soon. :)

Doesn't appeal to me much, for shooters anyway.

I thought Oblivion was fantastic.

But the Crysis, Far Cry, Stalker etc concept doesn't really do it for me - good games, but not because of the open world.

Give me a linear shooter any day, ie Half-lifes, Dooms, Quakes etc.