Story and Art in Games - NO ONE CARES
- Thread starter Mastercylinder
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Unfortunately, the people you mentioned / had the misfortune of talking to are frat boys. I feel your pain.Mastercylinder said:
Fortunately, I have an amazing quote from one of them that will make you piss yourself with laughter. "Nah brev, Assassin's Creed 2 was shit! The gun wasn't even a machine gun!"
I usually try not to care about story/writing because the vast, vast, VAST majority of it is really, really, REALLY horrible.
When someone gets it right, I'm typically dumbstruck. At that point, most of a game's faults melt away.
When someone gets it right, I'm typically dumbstruck. At that point, most of a game's faults melt away.
Ok, think of it like this.Mastercylinder said:
I assume you drink alcohol (if you don't just roll with it), you will get giving a glass of wine and neck it, you won't pay much attention to the taste or smell or anything.
Now a wine connoisseur will, let the wine breathe, smell the wine, do that sucking thing to let all the flavors out then drink it. They might not do it every time but they know the difference between a cheapo bottle and £2,000 bottle.
Much like you, you take in everything a game has to offer, they just jump on the multi-player and don't even realize there is a solo campaign.
And as the late great max once said, your never the only one.
The way I see it, a good game is much the same as a well-crafted novel.
That is, all the inherent parts have to be working: it has got to have a well thought out and developed story, characters you can actually care about, it must have a good hook etc etc.
That being said, it has to read (play?) well and it has to look the part. After all, who ever picked up a tatty third-hand pulp fiction novel and thought "Wow, this is really going to blow my mind"?
The story, presentation/art and actual gameplay have to compliment each other; they are all required to produce a quality product. A game lacking solid visuals and such is a book with no cover - one you're likely to pass over, and a game lacking solid play mechanics is a book you're going to look at and subsequently be awed by its shininess, but then put down and most likely forget. Although, an excellent presentation does tend to lessen the impact of a game's faults more so than say, a unique gameplay feature.
So yes, great gameplay and a fun factor are vital, but the story/art most definitely does have its quite prominent place within the multifaceted entity we call a game.
That is, all the inherent parts have to be working: it has got to have a well thought out and developed story, characters you can actually care about, it must have a good hook etc etc.
That being said, it has to read (play?) well and it has to look the part. After all, who ever picked up a tatty third-hand pulp fiction novel and thought "Wow, this is really going to blow my mind"?
The story, presentation/art and actual gameplay have to compliment each other; they are all required to produce a quality product. A game lacking solid visuals and such is a book with no cover - one you're likely to pass over, and a game lacking solid play mechanics is a book you're going to look at and subsequently be awed by its shininess, but then put down and most likely forget. Although, an excellent presentation does tend to lessen the impact of a game's faults more so than say, a unique gameplay feature.
So yes, great gameplay and a fun factor are vital, but the story/art most definitely does have its quite prominent place within the multifaceted entity we call a game.
Phew! I was in a murderous rage when I saw this pop up on screen. I was ready to shout at you Master Cylinder, calling you something along the lines of a low-brow moron with no respect for artistic flourish giving games a case for the big argument that they are/aren't art.
But I read the opening post and calmed down a little.
I am an English Literature student. Like Catholicism is drilled into children's heads, I have grown an appreciation for narrative (story for everyone else. I have to refer to stories as this word because its more academic. Try it when ever you get into one of these stupid arguments everyone on this thread has had with all the arse-hattingly stupid prats that defend this game that is little more than another gritty war-shooter). Also, I'm an Artist as a hobby. I have some idea in artistic direction.
I mean, there is going to be Halo Reach soon and I don't care. I have a PC and a Wii, why should I? I played through Halo and it was just running around and shooting stuff. Why should I care when I have Half-Life or Deus Ex beckoning me back to finish them off?
As for CoD: MW? Meh...Its all right...Everyone's out for themselves so you can't get much fun out of it unless you become a loner. The RPG system is a good way of rewarding skill but the highest lever will usually be the top gun. None of the maps are particularly memorable or exciting.
Granted, I've only ever seen the multiplayer but I'm not that interested all the same.
I still prefer Team Fortress 2. It might be losing or even lost its original charm as a mockery of action blockbusters in my eyes because its not always there in its game-play, only in the advertisements does the charm manifest itself. Although, as a souly multiplayer game, it does a good job in its characterisation and map design. Both are charming without becoming ridiculous. What maps the fans have built have some real gems amongst them (my favourite being Balloon Race). Everything has a massive impression on the player: music, action, characters, weapons, areas and hats. The blog's fixation on hats makes it a joy to skim through. The comics that have been commissioned for the Engineer Update put the entire game in perspective as it routes itself in the America of the wild west where two businessmen fight in a petty brawl over territory and superiority. Dell Conagher (The real name of the Engineer for those who don't know) who gets roped into fixing the immortality machine one of the two business men have to try and outlive the other. The OTT idea of a petty fight like this is worth putting in the next Team Fortress game, provided that Valve make one because its stupid. Its stupid that no-one has tried to stop the business men fighting. Its stupid that they both hire mercenaries to take over each others industrial property. Its daft that Australians are the this universes Japan - leading in technology and wealth but not attitudes to alcohol and drunken fighting. This is something that deserves to be foregrounded in a game of its own, in my opinion.
Oh! And the Art style has a lot of effort poured over it. Valve had to make the HDR effects (that's a texture shader that sorts out light effects and renders details in materials like water or metal, I think) simpler to get that painted feel of a comic book. Its far, FAR more compelling than shooting in bleak bombed places no-one stops and notices details in.
But I read the opening post and calmed down a little.
I am an English Literature student. Like Catholicism is drilled into children's heads, I have grown an appreciation for narrative (story for everyone else. I have to refer to stories as this word because its more academic. Try it when ever you get into one of these stupid arguments everyone on this thread has had with all the arse-hattingly stupid prats that defend this game that is little more than another gritty war-shooter). Also, I'm an Artist as a hobby. I have some idea in artistic direction.
I mean, there is going to be Halo Reach soon and I don't care. I have a PC and a Wii, why should I? I played through Halo and it was just running around and shooting stuff. Why should I care when I have Half-Life or Deus Ex beckoning me back to finish them off?
As for CoD: MW? Meh...Its all right...Everyone's out for themselves so you can't get much fun out of it unless you become a loner. The RPG system is a good way of rewarding skill but the highest lever will usually be the top gun. None of the maps are particularly memorable or exciting.
Granted, I've only ever seen the multiplayer but I'm not that interested all the same.
I still prefer Team Fortress 2. It might be losing or even lost its original charm as a mockery of action blockbusters in my eyes because its not always there in its game-play, only in the advertisements does the charm manifest itself. Although, as a souly multiplayer game, it does a good job in its characterisation and map design. Both are charming without becoming ridiculous. What maps the fans have built have some real gems amongst them (my favourite being Balloon Race). Everything has a massive impression on the player: music, action, characters, weapons, areas and hats. The blog's fixation on hats makes it a joy to skim through. The comics that have been commissioned for the Engineer Update put the entire game in perspective as it routes itself in the America of the wild west where two businessmen fight in a petty brawl over territory and superiority. Dell Conagher (The real name of the Engineer for those who don't know) who gets roped into fixing the immortality machine one of the two business men have to try and outlive the other. The OTT idea of a petty fight like this is worth putting in the next Team Fortress game, provided that Valve make one because its stupid. Its stupid that no-one has tried to stop the business men fighting. Its stupid that they both hire mercenaries to take over each others industrial property. Its daft that Australians are the this universes Japan - leading in technology and wealth but not attitudes to alcohol and drunken fighting. This is something that deserves to be foregrounded in a game of its own, in my opinion.
Oh! And the Art style has a lot of effort poured over it. Valve had to make the HDR effects (that's a texture shader that sorts out light effects and renders details in materials like water or metal, I think) simpler to get that painted feel of a comic book. Its far, FAR more compelling than shooting in bleak bombed places no-one stops and notices details in.
I;m the type of guy who can't play a game unless the story is compelling enough to draw me in, and the art is at least halfway decent to look at. Story is one of the most important elements of a game to me, which is why I end up being very picky with my games.
Considering how many people will readily admit to wanting to tap catgirls, bunnygirls, Twi'leks and the Na'vi (among others...), not really.zHellas said:.........Is it wrong for me to want to tap that? Preferably after... 15 beers or so?LadyRhian said:Baa. Sheeple.
Really? At least Halo 3 had a coherent story. In Halo 2 I really didn't have a clue what was going on at any given moment and the game ended at the height of the action.Duke Machine said:
That DOES look like a peach-colored Na'vi. Without the ponytail. Maybe a human hybrid?Amnestic said:Considering how many people will readily admit to wanting to tap catgirls, bunnygirls, Twi'leks and the Na'vi (among others...), not really.zHellas said:.........Is it wrong for me to want to tap that? Preferably after... 15 beers or so?LadyRhian said:Baa. Sheeple.
It is a culture of consumption, people are more concerned with what will satisfy their gaming addictions and vices, rather than playing and experiencing something truly special. The last game I truly enjoyed as a piece of art was Mass Effect 2, and I am no longer sure of Bioware's intentions thanks to their current owner and publisher EA's desire to milk said game. I have no trouble with more people experiencing a game, but it just attests to the lack of variety amongst platforms and the general desire of companies to fashion gaming into a product factory. Art and art appreciation of gaming is gone from this generation, with each passing year less and less games focused on creativity and originality are being made.
Frankly, I am saying fuck it all to this current generation of gaming and focusing on past platforms for the unique games they offer. I would rather play games like Paper Mario, Okami, Star Wars KotOR, and many more, than the made-for-the-masses overpriced junk that the 'factories' of gaming produce now.
Frankly, I am saying fuck it all to this current generation of gaming and focusing on past platforms for the unique games they offer. I would rather play games like Paper Mario, Okami, Star Wars KotOR, and many more, than the made-for-the-masses overpriced junk that the 'factories' of gaming produce now.
Meh, I haven't actually played all the way through Halo 2 so you're probably right but Halo 3's story was garbage, I mean really now? A deceased computer program talking to me and slowing down gameplay at random moments? Or the fact that by the end of the game I was taking orders from some little girl? I dare say they could've done better.Eclectic Dreck said: