Jimquisition: Beneath A Steel Skyrim

[MisterDyslexo]

I think he didn't do a great job illustrating his point like he usually does. Strange.

What I took away from it was that more environments =/= better, because without lack of detail and lack of characterization for that environment, people could give two shits less about it. Not that you can't create a large-scale game with memorable places, but for every Republic of Dave that has you loving it there's a monotonous town with very similar geograpical circumstances and infrastructure filled with twenty copy-paste NPCs with the same faces repeating the same lines over and over.

I think a good example of this would be Bioshock, in regards to revisiting Rapture in Bioshock 2 and relocating in Bioshock Infinite. I hear a lot of people saying they actually regret playing Bioshock 2 because it took away from the first Bioshock. They feel that it wasn't the same place they grew attached to in the first, and was more of an ugly figment. And not in the intentional its-that-way-because-the-writers-want-to-make-a-point way, just in a strange, unsettling way. Whereas for Bioshock Infinite, people are upset that its going to be taking place in Arcadia. They feel isolated because its not Bioshock to them. To be fair, I think the latter group has a point, but it certainly goes to show how much an attachment to a place and its characters can really affect somebody's experience with a game.

 

[Saltyk]

I remember playing a game on Sega Genesis called Oasis. Or was it Legend of Oasis? I don't remember, but the game took place over a small island and you explored the whole thing discovering different spirits to aid you. Years late, I still fondly remember that game.

 

[NaramSuen]

Good episode, I also think it's worth mentioning that you can download Beneath A Steel Sky for free from GOG

I had never even heard of this game before Jim mentioned it. I will definitely check it out now. Thanks for the tip!

 

[gring]

Excellent episode Jim.

I've actually been going through the same process and finding much more enjoyable experiences when I play games that capture the magic of truly compelling environments/story, rather then played games by companies that just throw a bunch of money at a developer and then telling us how good it is through over-saturated advertising.

Skyrim was the first game to wake me up from this, and since then I've been playing a shit load of indies and smaller games and I agree, they are very similar experiences even though they are considerably "different".

I just finished To The Moon recently which also does this well, theres not much to explore and theres no combat, but its without a doubt one of the most fleshed out and real feeling game I've played in years. If you're still in your mellow adventure game vibe, I suggest trying it out.

I dont want to say I've given up on AAA games, but I certainly look at them differently now. Its just sad to see such huge games lacking in such an important area of game design, which is emotion.

It so cool to see you talk about and confirming the exact same thing I've realized just this week.

Thanks again Jim, stay awesome.

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

You know, just yesterday I saw someone mention that the Myst/Riven-style puzzle-adventure game has been reborn as the MMORPG, for pretty much the exact same reasons you mentioned. They're both extremely different from each other, almost complete opposites, but their purpose is to suck you into a world that--if all goes well--you end up falling in love with. Which is what I love the most about games. If only Myst Online: Uru Live had come together better than it did.

And since everyone else is mentioning games, I'll do it too: Ico.

(And even though I know the Facebook commenters won't read this: HELL YES to Machinarium, one of the most perfect games I've ever played, and FUCK NO to The Whispered World, one of the most disappointing games I've ever played.)

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I have been hankering to play those sorts of games recently but it's really hit and miss whether you get a good one or not. The main review sites tend to ignore them so it's hard to know what you are spending your money on.

I wish the guys who made Broken Sword would make another 2D one they were awesome.

 

[Twinmill5000]

Myst.
They have a new one.
Relatively new.
It's as buggy as shit. Really buggy.
And I love the hell out of it.
It's not small, not really anyways, but it still has that loving familiarity to it. Like the last ones, the game was created with a very acute attention to detail, and the feeling you get when you read, on your own will, a 30+ page journal, and start to understand it and see it come together... it's exhilarating.

It's Myst Online Uru-Live.

The best part is that it has Open Source elements to it. Sure, that opens the doors for wierd and undesirable shiiiiieeeeeeieieieieit, but there's probably a couple good developers out there who keep in the Myst spirit.

Hell, I'd go as far to say that every aspiring developer should play this game. It won't teach you how to properly use a shader engine, or why you should just use Frostbyte for everything, it won't teach you alot of things, but at least it'll teach you how to make a game. It'll teach you how to create a world.

Then you can take that knowledge, and create your world in the Frostbyte 2 engine with top quality shaders and explosion physics and all that jazz, and make something nobody can afford not to play. Yes, I could really go for a game with the same attention to detail Myst has always had, but made with more efficient tools right now.

 

[HoradricNoob]

Sadly, the pointy-clicky genre reach it's zenith and subsequent death after Sam & Max: Hit the Road, DotT.

I still miss those gems, and the memories of childhood innocence that is conjured up by those titles.

No game will ever come close...ever.

 

[sinn3r]

He repeated himself about half a dozen times in a row.

So that was his topic. How very subtle, huh?

 

[psilontech]

I'm starting to get sick of everyone sucking Skyrim's dick. It started getting old about two weeks before the game came out.

 

[Lukeje]

Just to say i only recently played "Beneath a steel Sky" and i LOVED it. SCUVV emulation and abandonware for the win.

It's not abandonware. It's freeware.

Edit: and did this really need to be said? Games can be good for different reasons? This is not a revelation.

 

[k-ossuburb]

Umm, what about The Binding Of Isaac? Admittedly TBoA randomizes its level layout every time you play it, but you're pretty much confronted with the same basic order of Basement I, Basement II, Caves I, Caves II, The Depths I, The Depths II, The Womb I, The Womb II and Sheol.

You do eventually get to know it pretty well despite how random it makes the levels since you've always got that basic backbone of familiarity that comes with experience and practice at the game.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

I think it's a good point, if a bit on the old side. Chris Remo of Idle Thumbs fame made the argument for pulling back and exploring a small environment but using that smaller scale to ramp up the level of detail. He was of course talking about The Last Express.

I recently saw someone had made a representation of the Titanic in the CryEngine and thought that that (or something) similar would be a great setting for a game. I for one would happily play a murder mystery onboard the Titanic, trying to solve it before the inevitable end. Add to that the time rewind mechanics of The Last Express and I'd be lost for a very long time.

 

[Vault boy Eddie]

The dog's name was Spunky. I don't know why I found that so funny, but I did.

 

[ExileNZ]

So, regarding his closing point, did anyone else think of Yahtzee's point and click adventures?
I'm fairly certain they're the last ones I played, with the exception of I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream (which travels all over the place).

 

[Dhatz]

Totally sounds like someone's craving a MLP game! yay.
But realistically you have to play Gemini Rue(new oldschool game).

 

[EvilPicnic]

Jim focuses on limiting locations, but this principle of less-breadth-->more-depth can apply to most other aspects of games.

For an example in regards to characterisation, in Portal 2 there are only two real characters who you interact with: GLaDOS and Wheatley. By giving these two characters the space other games give to a whole cast of npcs we feel we can really get to know them to a greater level.

 

[SimGrave]

Exactly how I feel about the first Resident Evil.
And somehow the reason why RE5 was less interesting to me.