Goals and Storytelling

[the dark side]

aahhh, NOW i get you aldigheri, thanks for the examples, i must admit, i do find it a lot easier to understand what people are on about when they give examples.

agreed, it would be more fun to find out about russian #487, not from a massive wall of subtitles, but by actually cracking into the kremlin computer system (via puzzle) and reading his profile on there, make the player feel more like, in this example, a spy, rather than just another grunting marine. good point, i can see there how gameplay and story could become as one item.

agreed, i do agree that enviornment should be part of the story, if there is one thing that ticks me off is the feeling an environment, say, i dunno, siberia, has been put in simply to tick the box marked "snow level" on the "to do checklist" for making "a modern game", as it feels lazy, and lazy design is a pet hate for me. now, sending the player to siberia to say, stop the development of a chemical agent that is highly temprature unstable and can only be produced in a sub zero environment, now that gives a story reason for sending the player to siberia, so it feels a part of the mission, not just making a mark next to the "siberian level" tickbox.

thanks for those examples, they have really helped me see what people are on about. im something of a concrete thinker i am afraid, not an abstract one, so, examples really do help.

hmm, im not that much of a fan of Morality systems and story being affected by player choice, as it leaves me feeling very confused and upset. i need a rigid morality path to cope, moral choices just leave me confused, and often completely Stressed Out, sure, i know they are popular, and most players like them because they give the player more agency on the story, but you need to remember, not everyone is neurologically typical, not everyone can actually COPE with a morality choice system, so, yes, they belong in some games, such as thwe RPG genre, but i really dont want to see them encroach on others, im getting forced out of gaming enough as it is by companies who dont think, without the whole "moral dilemma" things being baught in from other genres.

as for my own play style, i tend to be flexible and will use whatever tactic the situation demands, provided its clearly defined (ie "objective: Dont Get Spotted") although i tend to default tactically to, "if it moves, kill it".

i have never said that gameplay should be sacrificed for cutscenes, that is one of my pet peeves as well actually, especially when the cutscene could so easilly be done as gameplay,lets take project: IGI as example. when jones steals the Mig-27 at the end ov level 3, we see him fly it in a cutscene, that grinds my gears, seeing as the games graphics engine was shared with a flight simulator, i have to ask, how hard would it have been to re-instate the flight sim mechanics and allow the Player to fly the jet themselves!

I agree, you should never make something that would have better as gameplay, into a cutscene. lets say, with the MMS, if i did play them (i dont) why have the bit when the player dodges the falling towerblock as one of those damn boring first person cutscenes, when it would have been cheaper, and a lot more fun, to make the player dodge it himself by practically welding down the straffe keys.

also, no offense to you or your freinds but, personally, i feel that cutscene skipping tends to be a sighn of the impatience of immaturity,... i mean, what is the point, really, in playing a story focussed game, and skipping the story? it doesnt make sense to me i am afraid. unless the story is REALLY, REALLY bad, or the cutscenes are absolutely god-awfull satellite view thingies, then skip away with pleasure as that kind of rubbish is a total waste of dev budget and isnt worth watching,. better NO STORY AT ALL, than a Bad Story or those bloody satellite things.