Help me Theres too much sttory in my game!"

Can someone please tell me What on earth is the Problem with cutscenes in games Back inthe Day they would advertise over 30 minutes of Cutscenes,Didnt we always wantedgraphics to be like Films now we are almost there and People Just whinge about the games becoming actuallymovies like its bad thing!, Mgs4 An amazing game but so many complaints about Cutscenes If your not looking for a story play Pes or Fifa (a game that get re-released every year and receives no backlash...), and i get it the frustration of having the pad in your hands watching the avatar Doings things you cannoy even do in the game but at the end of the day it usually looks awesome. I Want The system wars to answer this Question as i think this contains the most broad andKnowledgable people maybe we can work this out together and Figure out what we as consumers Actually want then maybe they will make it!.

I Want The system wars to answer this Question as i think this contains the most broad and Knowledgable people stace22

...seriously?

No one's ever happy.

Good enough answer???

Clicked the Wrong button, yea i think this one should target the more Direct gamers they should know what they want right!

because nicer technology just reveals how lacking in talent a lot of video game writers are, ie: MGS4 had terrible dialogue

back when all the work you had to put into a cutscene was a sprite and a text box it wasn't as noticeable

I Want The system wars to answer this Question as i think this contains the most broad andKnowledgable people

stace22

Well if I want to watch a movie, I'll watch a movie. I don't want to spend $60 for a bunch of cutscenes and only a few hours of gameplay.

[QUOTE="stace22"]

I Want The system wars to answer this Question as i think this contains the most broad andKnowledgable people

Well if I want to watch a movie, I'll watch a movie. I don't want to spend $60 for a bunch of cutscenes and only a few hours of gameplay.

Wasdie

this right here

[QUOTE="akbar13"]

[QUOTE="stace22"]

I Want The system wars to answer this Question as i think this contains the most broad andKnowledgable people

stace22

What I like in a game story is:

Something that explains the characters that you go around with stories well. Something that can make me care about the characters.

And some mystery in the overall plot to keep me engaged to try and figure out what is going on.

Good writing and dialogue. It doesn't matter if it is text or voice acting. Older games like Planescape: Torment don't have very much voice acting at all.

[QUOTE="stace22"] I Want The system wars to answer this Question as i think this contains the most broad and Knowledgable people jethrovegas

...seriously?

Can someone please tell me What on earth is the Problem with cutscenes in games Back inthe Day they would advertise over 30 minutes of Cutscenes,Didnt we always wantedgraphics to be like Films now we are almost there and People Just whinge about the games becoming actuallymovies like its bad thing!, Mgs4 An amazing game but so many complaints about Cutscenes If your not looking for a story play Pes or Fifa (a game that get re-released every year and receives no backlash...), and i get it the frustration of having the pad in your hands watching the avatar Doings things you cannoy even do in the game but at the end of the day it usually looks awesome. I Want The system wars to answer this Question as i think this contains the most broad andKnowledgable people maybe we can work this out together and Figure out what we as consumers Actually want then maybe they will make it!.

stace22

I grew up in the gen where adventure games and deep dungeon crawlers and other rpgs were king... story was alway the thing that moved you forward, (well not in atari days but with the nes forward). First it was little animated scenes or text then later it became complete cutscenese. Back in the 90's and early 2000's these were cherished. It wasn't til the halo/COD -console shooter craze hit that a crowd grew around hating story and cutscenese.... These are the frat boy style multiplayer only gamers. You know the ones that start threads about how all single player games should stop being made... I have actually seen threads like that lately in system wars. The guy was bashing games that contained story, and no multiplayer. Being a more single player gamer, its hard for me to see someone wanting that. To me its just crazy. I guess if your idea of fun is non stop repetitous "pawning nubs" then story just gets in the way.... glad I don't game like that.

I'll make this very simple, I expect my games to provide a fun experince. If a 30 minute cutscene bores me to death and removes me from the action, then it has failed. Cutscenes are fine, but anything over 10 minutes runs the risk of losingmy interest, especially if they are frequent. I buy video games for the interaction and gameplay, not to sit around watching hundreds of cut scenes.

Sands of Time and Half-Life 2 were two of the best examples of how video games should approach storytelling.

[QUOTE="stace22"][QUOTE="akbar13"]

akbar13

What I like in a game story is:

Something that explains the characters that you go around with stories well. Something that can make me care about the characters.

And some mystery in the overall plot to keep me engaged to try and figure out what is going on.

Good writing and dialogue. It doesn't matter if it is text or voice acting. Older games like Planescape: Torment don't have very much voice acting at all.

on planescape torment though....i usually equate that to a good book rather than a good movie (if i was to be asked what industry it kinda resembles). fantastic game.

i dont like the idea of games becoming like movies. i think its a bad idea because, fundimentally, games are nothing like movies.

i very much subscribe to the HL/metroid prime school of telling stories in games. tell the story though the action...keep the extra stuff optional for people who are interested and dont, for the love of god, let the story dictate the gameplay or its structure. the player should be doing something as much as possible...not just watching a cutscene or a long dialogue sequence. games like mass effect are fine. even something like FF7 is fine (1 hour of FMV in a 35 hour game is nothing...and the FMVs themselves tent to be only a few second long..except for the start and end). mass efect is fine generally (a couple of lengthy yarns..nothign serious). zelda is fine. shadow of the collossus is another fine example of great story telling in games (long intro sequence but once you get started its all good). this method does not excuse poor writing or any of that..but its a story telling method that suits games alot more.

something like the MGS series is a fine example of how it should not be done imho. DMC4 i think can be hauled in as well...theres some sequences where dante does some really cool stuff....but the player is just watching it instead of doing it. pointless.

Story doesn't go hand in hand with cutscenes - at least it shouldn't. For video games to be considered an art form, narrative must play a strong role in them. I, however, feel that cutscenes are a cheap 'easy way out' situation. The trick is trying to tell a compelling story while taking advantage of all the interactive medium has to offer. Just think how bland MGS4 would be had it been a book. Private military? Doomsday machines? Cloned soldiers facing some strange epidemic? And good lord, that dialogue.DonPerian

My point is story based narrative has its place. If you don't like those style games don't play them, play something else simple as that. That doesn't mean they shouldn't exist as so many people this gen have been shouting about. That is what I get a bit peeved about. I am a fan of all story based gaming.... I can't stand when these people review games and knock off points because there is no "Multiplayer", this led to less story and tacked on multiplayer or boring repetitive optional modes. I fear for the day that all we have is short 4-5 hour story modes and multiplayer as the main theme. but its seems like that's what the masses of youth want... I really hope the devs don't go that route as it would leave me to play ony retro games.

Playing mass effect is like an interactive movie

on planescape torment though....i usually equate that to a good book rather than a good movie (if i was to be asked what industry it kinda resembles). fantastic game.

i dont like the idea of games becoming like movies. i think its a bad idea because, fundimentally, games are nothing like movies.

i very much subscribe to the HL/metroid prime school of telling stories in games. tell the story though the action...keep the extra stuff optional for people who are interested and dont, for the love of god, let the story dictate the gameplay or its structure. the player should be doing something as much as possible...not just watching a cutscene or a long dialogue sequence. games like mass effect are fine. even something like FF7 is fine (1 hour of FMV in a 35 hour game is nothing...and the FMVs themselves tent to be only a few second long..except for the start and end). mass efect is fine generally (a couple of lengthy yarns..nothign serious). zelda is fine. shadow of the collossus is another fine example of great story telling in games (long intro sequence but once you get started its all good). this method does not excuse poor writing or any of that..but its a story telling method that suits games alot more.

something like the MGS series is a fine example of how it should not be done imho. DMC4 i think can be hauled in as well...theres some sequences where dante does some really cool stuff....but the player is just watching it instead of doing it. pointless.

osan0

You mention Planscape Torment, one of my favorite rpgs... imagine of all the people who bashed on that game because it didn't have multiplayer or you had to gasp.."read" ...lol... Games like that wouldn't be made again (unfortunately it looks like those people had their way, today there is no games like PS:Torment.) there are many gamers who hate to read, have short attention spans and just want to "pawnz da nubes" does that mean that games with text shouldn't be made? or that mutltiplayer shouldn't be made? No , all games of all types have thier place. The industry is large enough to cater to all crowds. And that is a great thing.

[QUOTE="DonPerian"]Story doesn't go hand in hand with cutscenes - at least it shouldn't. For video games to be considered an art form, narrative must play a strong role in them. I, however, feel that cutscenes are a cheap 'easy way out' situation. The trick is trying to tell a compelling story while taking advantage of all the interactive medium has to offer. Just think how bland MGS4 would be had it been a book. Private military? Doomsday machines? Cloned soldiers facing some strange epidemic? And good lord, that dialogue.Midnightshade29

My point is story based narrative has its place. If you don't like those style games don't play them, play something else simple as that. That doesn't mean they shouldn't exist as so many people this gen have been shouting about. That is what I get a bit peeved about. I am a fan of all story based gaming.... I can't stand when these people review games and knock off points because there is no "Multiplayer", this led to less story and tacked on multiplayer or boring repetitive optional modes. I fear for the day that all we have is short 4-5 hour story modes and multiplayer as the main theme. but its seems like that's what the masses of youth want... I really hope the devs don't go that route as it would leave me to play ony retro games.

I like cutscenes, gives me a chance to take a couple hits off my Cig or Bowl, so its a win / win for me

No one's ever happy.

Good enough answer???

GreenGoblin2099

I like cutscenes, gives me a chance to take a couple hits off my Cig or Bowl, so its a win / win for me

The_saint1976

Can someone please tell me What on earth is the Problem with cutscenes in games Back inthe Day they would advertise over 30 minutes of Cutscenes,Didnt we always wantedgraphics to be like Films now we are almost there and People Just whinge about the games becoming actuallymovies like its bad thing!, Mgs4 An amazing game but so many complaints about Cutscenes If your not looking for a story play Pes or Fifa (a game that get re-released every year and receives no backlash...), and i get it the frustration of having the pad in your hands watching the avatar Doings things you cannoy even do in the game but at the end of the day it usually looks awesome. I Want The system wars to answer this Question as i think this contains the most broad andKnowledgable people maybe we can work this out together and Figure out what we as consumers Actually want then maybe they will make it!.

stace22

The complaints come from an improper balance of cutscenes to gameplay. Players want to be active in their gaming experience, so as long as the cineamtics are brief, and the means of progressing the missions the gamers will play through, it works well. The problems arise when cinematics are so long, creating too large a gap in the gameplay, breaking up the game flow, and switching out to a passive observer.

All that said, the best kinds of cinematics are the ones that always remain interactive, where the player is directly immersed in the unfolding story. Bioware does this with interactive dialog in which the scenarios rely on their input. Then there's the cinematic that essentially isn't a cut scene, but an integral part of the gameplay, where it all still takes place from the players character perspective - like in HalfLife2 and Bioshock that has the NPCs playing out the scene right before your eyes from within your game character, and you are never pulled out of the game to watch a scene passively.