Linear games.

[omega 616]

They're about the same thing in this context. You're complaining because your original sentiment was stronger?

No, there not I have played games I hate just to see if there better than I expect. Dismissing them would be what I do with games like boaderlands cos I can't stand there graphics.

Ok, I don't know any games that have a commando roll so I'll just say prototype, it doesn't pretend to simulate a sensation or simulate playing a guitar, it is just a game.

I was thinking of the bits in Resident Evil mid cutscene where you have to press a button to move out the way even though you are watching a clip. A "quicktime event" that you said that's all Guitar Hero is just one big quicktime event. It was mentioned because quicktime events usually take away from the game immersion whilst it doesn't with GH.

That is tailoring the situation to suit your argument though, if we had a 10 hardcore gamers over I think they might prefer C.O.D:MW2 over rock band.

Obviously, but then the party would just turn into a game session, if we were actually having a party I would prefer GH even with my hardcore gamer friends because it is better for the occasion.

I said are they so popular cos of casual gamers and somebody shot down that point. (Et3rnalLegend64's post).

People who aren't usually interested in games are going to look at this not in the same light as other games. They are going to be intrigued by it's gimmick and more likely to pick it up over other games they wouldn't glance twice at.

But it still boils down to preference, which is where you are failing to see from other peoples point of view and not see at all why anyone could find what the game offers to be fun.

I did say I hadn't played them,

Then don't use them in an example. You shouldn't talk about things you have no clue about

I would much rather buy a guitar and be proud that I mastery a song rather than I some how manged to fluke some song on a game on a really hard difficulty.
You could even be romantic with that skill, hardly any girls are going to find beating a song on rock band attractive.

As would I, and as I have done. Other people however wouldn't. Maybe they aren't interested in the amount of effort it takes to learn an instrument, and just want to play something like it. I don't want to put all the money and effort into surgery to turn into a dolphin to swim and explore the seas, I will still play Echo.

Most games offer a story and the chance to be something or somebody else, to do things I can't. I've used this game a few times before in this thread so in prototype I am a person who can change there appearance, run up walls etc. I find out why this is happening and who I am then I can press eject and put in a different game and I am somebody else.

Games don't need a story to be fun, I don't look to games for a gripping tale, I look to them for interactive entertainment. I fucking love Pacman (to the point that he's tattooed on me), I don't give a crap what it is about.

Rock band (from what I have seen) has no real story (maybe you start out as nothing and become the next queen or something) and the gameplay is a long Q.T.E.

You haven't played it, you don't know fuck all about the gameplay.

At the moment I'd happily be a crane operator!

So would I... so would I.

Edit:

People don't make game choices based on whether or not it is linear. They chose it for the game type they find fun. (unless open world gametypes are what you find fun, then obviously that is what you will go for.)

Just because something has choices, doesn't make it awesome, it can make it much worse.

Acknowledge that without the book analogy.

Wow, thats massive.

I've never had a problem with QTE's but a game which is basically loads of QTE's just seems really boring.

Like I have said, I have never been to a party were any kind of console was brought out and we all had a sing song with our plastic instruments.

That is why I made this thread to understand what the attraction is with these games, I fail to see how being ordered to press buttons at the correct time could translate into a fun experience.

I have heard people say "it tastes like cardboard" do you think that, that person has ever eaten cardboard, No! You don't have to do something to know what it's like.

What? "I don't want to put all the money and effort into surgery to turn into a dolphin to swim and explore the seas, I will still play Echo." Scuba diving is easier.

I know games offer more than story, it's about gameplay and other things. With pacman it was a challenge, hell, I couldn't get past the third level.

The gameplay can't be that hard, otherwise casual gamers would be screwed, plus the last thing you need is to be thinking about controls while your trying to time it right.

I would happily buy and play a game that has loads of average stories over a game that had one great story, I am getting more for my money.

 

[wizzerd229]

I really like linear games because there more like a movie. (I don't like guitar hero and rock band though because your not really playing, your just pressing buttons.)

Stop! Grammar time. You're*.

Ah! GRAMMAR NAZI!
OT: i like linear games

 

[omega 616]

I was more making an observation than actually saying that all games are linear: as I said, "I'm not saying this makes games with multiple story paths actually linear, but I am saying that there is no such thing as true freedom within a game." It was a bit of a tangent, but a related one if you know what I mean. Understanding this concept helps with understanding why linear game stories tend to be better, because a lot of people don't properly understand that non-linear games still guide us along a story, even if we do have some choices as to which one we follow. If you get that, it's easier to understand why it's harder to make a good story along those lines.

Man, that last post of mine had a few mistakes. Must be getting tired, although I am posting back to like 3 people and watching TV.

I know what you mean about being truly free, though. I would be happy with loads of average stories though cos theres much more re-play value to the game, for example: I recently bought KOTOR 2 over MW2.

 

[DazZ.]

Wow, thats massive.

I've never had a problem with QTE's but a game which is basically loads of QTE's just seems really boring.

Like I have said, I have never been to a party were any kind of console was brought out and we all had a sing song with our plastic instruments.

That is why I made this thread to understand what the attraction is with these games, I fail to see how being ordered to press buttons at the correct time could translate into a fun experience.

I have heard people say "it tastes like cardboard" do you think that, that person has ever eaten cardboard, No! You don't have to do something to know what it's like.

What? "I don't want to put all the money and effort into surgery to turn into a dolphin to swim and explore the seas, I will still play Echo." Scuba diving is easier.

I know games offer more than story, it's about gameplay and other things. With pacman it was a challenge, hell, I couldn't get past the third level.

The gameplay can't be that hard, otherwise casual gamers would be screwed, plus the last thing you need is to be thinking about controls while your trying to time it right.

I would happily buy and play a game that has loads of average stories over a game that had one great story, I am getting more for my money.

Basically you haven't played it yet you are arguing with people who have played it.
You do have to do something to know what it is like, and I have eaten cardboard, therefore am allowed to say things taste like it.
You can't just say things are shit without trying them, you sound like a misinformed eejit.

Your idea of a party is a LAN party (or playing Call of Duty or Fifa...) my idea of a party is get drunk and mess about, if there is a massive TV and a toy drumset/guitar in the corner, that is very appealing when wasted to anyone.

Instead of making a thread trying to find the attraction of these games and then not listening to people when they tell you, try playing them.
Peggle looks god awful if you just watch it, my friend who was taking the piss for about 10 mins watching me playing it was hooked in the time I let him on whilst I made tea.

Gameplay is immensely hard, play Dragonforce just on medium and anyone with normal fingers will get raped by the difficulty, but again you're just spouting about things you haven't tried.

So you like quantity over quality? Fair enough, that is your preference.
(see what I did there, I looked at someone elses point of view and accepted people like different things to me, try it)

 

[Thaius]

I was more making an observation than actually saying that all games are linear: as I said, "I'm not saying this makes games with multiple story paths actually linear, but I am saying that there is no such thing as true freedom within a game." It was a bit of a tangent, but a related one if you know what I mean. Understanding this concept helps with understanding why linear game stories tend to be better, because a lot of people don't properly understand that non-linear games still guide us along a story, even if we do have some choices as to which one we follow. If you get that, it's easier to understand why it's harder to make a good story along those lines.

Man, that last post of mine had a few mistakes. Must be getting tired, although I am posting back to like 3 people and watching TV.

I know what you mean about being truly free, though. I would be happy with loads of average stories though cos theres much more re-play value to the game, for example: I recently bought KOTOR 2 over MW2.

Yeah, I definitely see the value in it. Personally I play games mostly for the story, so I'd take an epic like Final Fantasy VII over a game with more freedom and less story. That's why I like a happy medium: otherwise known as Mass Effect.

 

[NeutralDrow]

They're about the same thing in this context. You're complaining because your original sentiment was stronger?

No, there not I have played games I hate just to see if they're better than I expect. Dismissing them would be what I do with games like borderlands cos I can't stand they're graphics.

But you'd dismiss a game after you determined that you hated it. If it makes you happy, though, I'll amend my original statement:

I'm pretty sure most gamers aren't stupid enough to automatically hate at least 90% of all games ever made...

 

[qazmatoz]

Yeah like a lot of people have said, I like linear because I enjoy a nicely paced, well developed story. An open world sandbox deal may be more immersive, but not always right for the job.

 

[ChildofGallifrey]

I think the appeal of linear games is that a good deal of people (myself included) like the fact that a professional story writer put together this experience for us, rather than letting us go crazy. Sure, sandbox style is all well and good (especially for blowing off stress), but it's a bit like building a cabinet. Would you rather build it yourself, or let a trained professional do it for you? Sure, it would be more personal if you did it yourself, but the quality would probably be lacking.

I think so, anyway.

 

[Slaanax]

Rock Band is a fun game you can drink beers and get everyone in the room to play. Not everyone wants to shoot people in the face. My problem with sandbox style games even like Morrowind and games like that I just get bored because you kind of do the same thing over and over again. In my game every game is doing the same over again you just have to hide with different scenes and baddies to shoot or stab in the eye.

 

[squid5580]

Edit: Most are commenting they like linear games, which is fine (kind of off topic though) but why do you think that free roaming games can't deliver the same quality of story telling that a linear game can have?

A story needs structure. If you go to place C then F then B you are getting the story out of context. If you go to the wrong place first you could find out a "spoiler" before you were meant to and instead of that piece of the story having the emotional impact it should have is gone. Or miss out on a good part of the story. Prototype was a fairly linear game. Sure you could run around the city but you couldn't do the next mission and get the story until you finished the last. A game like Fallout 3 though is an open world game. *spoiler alert*

If you went and talked to the vampires before Andale you missed out on the impact of the citizens of Andale. And there is a million things like that. Hell 1 time in Fallout 3 I skipped 3/4 of the main story by accident just by going to Rivet City to early. How is that a good story if you aren't there for most of it?

 

[Srkkl]

The main reason I like free roam games a lot is so that after upgradeing all I can I can still roam the world and kill things. But linear games like most of the Call of Duty franchise is really fun to me.

OT: I like Rockband mainly because I love playing the drums and I like drumming along to my favorite songs. Also I like the spinoff joke, even if it wasn't intended it made me chuckle.

 

[Hiphophippo]

I don't make a fuss over linear, non linear, all that mess. All I ask is the developers put before me a great game.

 

[Carlston]

Well in shooter games your not accually shooting a firearm your just pressing buttons.

I never understood to dislike the GH or RB, since it's not that you are a musician, just like people not liking a game because it makes people think they are solid snake.
It's your old music you enjoy and a little game to play it by.

But as the movie games go...if they are well done fine. But say rpg wise allow people to have thier grind like in Baulders gate, Not the horrid set up Neverwinter Nights was.

 

[PxDn Ninja]

Edit: Most are commenting they like linear games, which is fine (kind of off topic though) but why do you think that free roaming games can't deliver the same quality of story telling that a linear game can have?

As a game designer myself, I am inclined to answer this.

The basic answer is, there is very little reason why a sandbox title can't deliver the same quality of story telling that a "linear" game can. What it comes down to is dev time.

A story requires one basic thing. The story cycle. You need an introduction/hook, a problem, and a solution (basic quest setup for any mmo). Many of these build into the overarcing story of a game (or movie, book, whatever).

With a linear title, the designer is certain that if you are getting Information_Set_A, then you have Key_Item_A, and have been to Key_Location_A to trigger CINEMA_STORY_A. In an open world environment, you might find Key_Item_A before seeing CINEMA_STORY_A depending on what way you come in (since a true sandbox title will usually have dozens of ways by intent, and even more by bug or glitch).

If the game is fairly linear, then we control the story and the player gets to experience a well written, well delivered, and well TESTED story. The converse is an open world game with an ok story that isn't as embellished because all the existing story stuff needs to be implemented.

Add to this that people who pick up an open world title tend to want to create their own scenarios and stories, where people picking up a fairly linear RPG or whatnot want to be guided the a fantastic story already created.

To address your comment about GH/RB, those titles have a story mostly as comic relief so the linearity of them is moot. Plus with the most recent release of each of those, all songs are unlocked from the start for the most part, thus the story mode is only a series of challenges presented to the player.

 

[Twilight_guy]

A lot of games are linear. There is more of a push for non-linear and open-world games now but most are still built around a defined path that many branch but never really loops or merges into a nonlinear world. The defining feature of if a game is good or not still rest in gameplay and story though(and if the previous game was good) so linear or non-linear is overruled by these larger factors. Of and people like rhythm games because they are fun to play with friends, they are easy to pick up(just press the right button at the right time), and they let one pretend to be a rock star(apparently). I never understood there appeal though. They just seem like DDR with fingers to me.

 

[NuclearPenguin]

I really like linear games because there more like a movie. (I don't like guitar hero and rock band though because your not really playing, your just pressing buttons.)

Stop! Grammar time. You're*.

OT: I like linear games like Splinter Cell. Where you have a clearly defined mission structure, but options on how you can get to the goal.

Stop! Grammar time! They're*.
On his post that is, you just forgot it.
Linear games are fun sometimes
But they dont give much for your money.

 

[omega 616]

Am I the only one who notices the OP just made this thread to hate on GH/RB?

I never made it to hate on them, I made it to "enlighten" myself on why being told to press a button at a certain time is fun for some people.

 

[Jekken6]

I like a mixture of linear and sanbox type games in my collection. Just to keep things varied.

 

[Plinglebob]

I like linear games because I like the stories. I am actually part of the minority that likes being told exactly what to do in games. In sandbox games I'm often overwhelmed by the amount of quests and choices. It's more fun in my opinion to follow the story of a game. Like Borderlands could probably have used more of a story element.

Thanks for saving me from having to type this out.