are scripted levels/missions really that bad?

[cerebus23]

All games use scripting just about it is how their AI functions at all.

Scripted games, the ones us "gamers" hate, are COD style where you are shoved down a narrow linear pathway, with set spawns that will endlessly clown car spawn until you take each point to progress or die a few times and realize the game is wholly staged with no replay value at all. Because you know each and every door/window alley you are going to be shot at from each and every time, and they will just spawn and spawn, making the game a duck shoot nearly the minute you figure it out.

What you are experiencing is more along the terms of emergent gameplay, using game mechanics in a way the devs may not have intended to suit your playstyle to to change the gameplay in some way. And bravo. that makes games fun.

 

[Flames66]

Scripted missions can be great fun. The problem I have is when I am forced to do something stupid or against my character when there are clearly other options available that make more sense but can't be enacted because it's off script.

 

[Robert Marrs]

Depends on the game. Never been a big on rails sequence guy. Some games do them really well but most of the time I am thinking about how much more fun it would be if I could control the movement of the character. Then you have games like max payne 3. The whole entire game is pretty linear and more or less scripted but its one of my favorite games. So as long as its done right and does not feel out of place it can actually be a good thing.

 

[Something Amyss]

Obviously there are some scripted events, such as chasing down someone or in some cases making your get away when you have to follow someone else...the AI car is always going to take the same route. I was just saying that the examples that the OP brought up weren't really scripted events.

And I was ageeing, but expanding upon the concept. And they don't just take the same route, they often seem to be programmed to do better than you even if you're in a better vehicle. I've been outstripped in a tricked out buggatti, or however you spell that, by the same vehicle that barely beat a stock van.

And no, you're not the only one who shook the cops in the garbage truck, I did that too. The way I did it was I just jumped in the truck, got my stars, jumped back out, and ran off and hid until they went away. I've come to find that it's infinitely easier (at least for me) to lose the cops while on foot rather than trying to lose them in a vehicle...especially if said vehicle's a frickin' garbage truck.

I find the cops to be really easy to lose in this game as long as you stay at two stars or below. All I had to do was avoid the cones of sight, which is what I usually do. The fact that this works so well is probably testament to the fact that your method (hats off, by the way), never occurred to me--I simply haven't had to try another method yet.

I got gunned down on foot for it once, but that was simple luck of the draw. They spawned two cops with my back against the wall.

 

[RJ 17]

Obviously there are some scripted events, such as chasing down someone or in some cases making your get away when you have to follow someone else...the AI car is always going to take the same route. I was just saying that the examples that the OP brought up weren't really scripted events.

And I was ageeing, but expanding upon the concept. And they don't just take the same route, they often seem to be programmed to do better than you even if you're in a better vehicle. I've been outstripped in a tricked out buggatti, or however you spell that, by the same vehicle that barely beat a stock van.

And no, you're not the only one who shook the cops in the garbage truck, I did that too. The way I did it was I just jumped in the truck, got my stars, jumped back out, and ran off and hid until they went away. I've come to find that it's infinitely easier (at least for me) to lose the cops while on foot rather than trying to lose them in a vehicle...especially if said vehicle's a frickin' garbage truck.

I find the cops to be really easy to lose in this game as long as you stay at two stars or below. All I had to do was avoid the cones of sight, which is what I usually do. The fact that this works so well is probably testament to the fact that your method (hats off, by the way), never occurred to me--I simply haven't had to try another method yet.

I got gunned down on foot for it once, but that was simple luck of the draw. They spawned two cops with my back against the wall.

Yeah, certain chases do have the "enemy" car on frickin' rocket boosters. No matter how fast you go, how perfectly you drive, they'll ALWAYS stay ahead of you. And if you manage to get in front of them, they apparently kick in the nitro to blaze right past you.

As for outrunning the cops, it really isn't too bad at all. I do like how they actually made it so that not only do you have to be in the sight-cone, but the cops also have to be able to have a realistic line-of-sight on you. So if you're behind a building but in a sight cone, they won't spot you. I just tend to have bad luck with cops spawning right in front of me or coming down an intersecting street right before my stars are about to vanish, thus starting the whole process over again. The thing is, though, the cops never get out of their cars and never go off roading (unless you're up north, in which case they've got those Border Patrol SUVs that will go off roading to seek you out). But with that in mind - as long as there's not a chopper after you - all you have to do is get out of their sight, hope out of the car, and run into someone's backyard or something and the cops will just keep on going. That's how I did the garbage truck. Got in it, got the stars, but no cops were around me to be "actively chasing me" so I just hopped out and ran off behind a house and they never found me.

Like I implied, it also works if you just go off roading. Like if you're on one of the highways going north or south, as long as the cops can't see you (so your stars are flashing) if you just go off into the hills, they won't find you. Again, though, if you're too far north they'll start spawning border patrol SUVs that will go off roading to hunt you down.

One thing I miss, though, are the Pay'n'Sprays. Yeah yeah, they really didn't make much sense at all...seeing as how you could have the frickin' army hunting you down, pull into a garage, come out with a different colored car and suddenly they can't recognize you...but still, it was nice to have those around. :3

 

[michael87cn]

I remember when the first Half-Life was so highly praised for having Scripted levels (it was new).

I've always thought it was cool for an initial wow-factor, but that it added a 'staleness' to the game on 2nd playthroughs.

I kinda like how older games were made.

 

[ReleGamer]

i think there is a place for both...as long as they are done well.

The examples you gave showed ingenuity on your part...which you are proud of..you achieved a goal by a different means. As in games like Deus Ex where you could solve the same scenario by different methods.

Sometimes i like a bit of defined direction, and having a narrative or set-piece expressed directly to me either by cutscene or very linear mission.

That being said, too much of either isn't a good idea. The shooting hallways of Modern Shooters bore me and sometimes i can get lost or feel out of my depth in a big open world.

Some of my most memorable gaming experiences have been a result of both.

Enjoy what you enjoy...whether linear or open world

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

Scripted doesn't really bother me so much. However, linear gameplay where the game is basically playing itself and I am just doing one or two things really irk me. I used to have a lot more tolerance for it but as I get older, I find I more and more prefer just being left to my own devices. I tried to play Metro 2033 Last Light and after 3 hours of being led around by NPCs and doing sections where there really wasn't any gameplay, just kill guys who stand around or who spawn in. Wait for NPCs to progress the story for me. It really puts me to sleep.
That isn't to say scripted sequences can't be well made and interesting but it certainly takes a lot. The less in control I feel, the more dull the game gets for me.