Posts by Skjalg

Yeah I'm also wondering what they are going to do about single player games. Crytek isnt really renowned for their multiplayer experiences and thats where the f2p money is, right?

Anyways, this is super exciting

I didn't watch this real time, so I guess I'll have to catch it the next time.

You heard me right; I'm gonna live that long

I know warby hates uppercase or anything that makes him type more, and I think its a bit painful to read huge texts that doesn't use uppercase and this was a really interesting read so I FTFY.

Quote from Warby

Okay i played some of the God of War games again recently. For those of you who don't know me personally let me just say i fucking LOVE those games:

And then somewhere, I think it was on "extra credits", someone blamed the GoW games for making quick time events popular and by implication held it against God of War.

Just for history sake i am going to point out here that i think it was actually the Shenmu games that introduced them(and coined the term) and resident evil 4 that made it popular but it doesn't really matter who is to blame.

[Blocked Image: http://www.goodcowfilms.com/farm/basement/ga-archive/us-shenmue-box-art_09-26-00_files/shenmue_box.jpg]

Now, I understand that everyone, (most of the time including me) hates qtes, but I think there are some simple rules one as a designer could follow that will make them not suck and I am going to attempt to list those rules below.

And before you ask "Why bother?" and that "Designers should just get rid of them all together". Let me say that i think that video games at their heart are about interactivity. The one major "feature" that games have over movies, music, books, comics and tv-shows as entertainment is the involvement of the audience. The more we can bring the player in to participate the better. Usually story telling happens during completely none interactive cut-scenes as we all know, which in my eyes is diametrically opposed to what games are - or should be.

So the more narrative we can shizzle away from the none-interactive side of games and bring it to the "verb"-driven player controlled side the better. Game-designers/Writers/(Creative-)Directors would be severely limited in the kind of stories they could tell if everything had to be accommodated with just the core mechanics or a none-interactive cut-scene. Qtes are a great "catch all" device that theoretically could turn anything none interactive into something that the player participates in. Lets not forget right here that Qtes don't necessarily have to be used for a giant Michael Bay-esque set pieces where somebody jumps from an exploding roof top to a helicopter. Something slow and subtle could also be a qte. For example the Deus Ex HR dialog bosses are essentially qtes (although clearly not reaction based, I really think we need a better name for qtes. One that doesn't involve the word QUICK).

Now that we have established my intent, lets get on to the meet an potatoes:

DO:

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  [*:49thx0at]Arrange your prompts of buttons in screen-space based on where they are on the controller. (I have seen so many people stumble over issues like: "where is the yellow Y button on the xbox controller ?" or "that reddish-purple square button looks exactly like the reddish-orange circle button on the play-station controller in peripheral view"). God of War 3 did this right. Triangle button always appeared on top of the screen and the cross button always at the bottom. Even if you were completely unfamiliar with the controller layout you could do those qtes. Plus it let you keep the eye on the action.
  [*:49thx0at]When using analog sticks, utilize a motion that resembles the motion performed on screen as close as possible. Heavy Rain did this to great success and a much higher degree of immersion was the reward.
  [*:49thx0at]If there is some kind of overlap between the animation that plays and your core mechanics use the same buttons! Example; If in your qte, two characters are fighting, use the punch button for the attack prompts and the dodge button for whenever the protagonist evades. This lets people anticipate the action even before the prompt appears. When kratos jumps from the shoulder of a titan to his face and I didn't have to press x(the jump button) it feels like a missed opportunity. If you cant pull it of with your core mechanics tech wise than at least FAKE it properly.
  [*:49thx0at]Always have a checkpoint auto save after a qte. The none or less-interactive parts of a game are always the ones you least want to repeat.
  [*:49thx0at]Setting the game difficulty to easy should increase the time window for the button presses or slow down the entire qte altogether.

DONT:

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  [*:49thx0at]Randomize the button prompts unless there is actually a different animation/action following because for one it directly contradicts the idea that the button you press has something to do with the action you perform(anti-immersion)and it doesn't allow people who repeat play the game to become "better" at the game call me old school but i still think that experience is something that exists in the players brain and is not an "integer" variable stored in a save-game people need to be able to master their games.
  [*:49thx0at]Force quick time events on players always let them choose when to start them. the god of war games are pretty good at this but they also occasionally "jump" you which is less cool.
  [*:49thx0at]Have a long none interactive sequence and than 1 quick-time event in the end that can fuck you up the longer nothing happens the saver players feel to put the controller down. qtes you either are all in or all out. sooner or later i hope games will become " fully interactive " and than this issue will solve itself never to return.
  [*:49thx0at]Force people to button mash! I am an old man by now it seems. My joints hurt all the time. Normal game-play is okay but button mash qtes can hurt like hell. Usually game designers are so caring making sure its always red vs blue (not red vs green for the color blind people) but people with aching joints like me seem to get no love from the game industry. Another dis-benefit of the button mash prompts is that they cant be followed by regular prompts. I see people all the time failing qtes because they don't realize the mash phase is over and a regular prompt appeared and was immediately failed because people were still mashing.
  [*:49thx0at]Use qtes for stuff that can easily be done with the normal mechanics. Example: In Call Of Duty Black Ops, in the rocket launch pad mission, there is a moment where you walk up to a soldier(as a qte !) and melee kill him (also as a qte). Last time i checked walking and melee killing dudes where things that players in call of duty games can do at all times. NO NEED FOR QTE!
  [*:49thx0at]Instant kill the players for failing a qte ever.

feel free to add more

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  [*:49thx0at]Setting the game difficulty to easy should remove parts of the qte's as well as make them slower so you have more time to react.
  [*:49thx0at]If you use qte's in your game you must use the all the time. Its a game mechanic and you need to teach the player that your game uses them and keep reminding the player that you are using them. Surprising the player with a qte after 3 hours of game play is a bad idea. BF3 and Crysis 2 are two example games that are horrible at this. You basically run around the entire time shooting stuff and then when the camera is taken from you and you sit back to enjoy the view (Both games look gorgeous) you are suddenly surprised to see the quick time event which you of course fail and it leads to certain death. Not cool.

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It was a bit weird that they didnt have the same map as the one on prometheus. Kind of a mystery that they got lost at all.

This game looks really awesome.

Quote from Jetsetlemming

I actually felt like there was a bunch of stuff in there that implied player agency in a cool way. The PC could have confronted the target in a bunch of different ways and places, and chose to use hacking to cause a dramatic traffic pileup to stop him. The PC could've instead waited inside the club and had a shootout, or rammed the target's car with a hijacked one, etc. The implication of those options in what you do and where really sold me on the game.

Unless the trailer is lying and you really didn't have any choice as the moment you don't hack the traffic lights its fade to black and mission failed.

I was expecting to be scared. At least for 2 minutes.

After I reached level 60 I didnt have any incentive to play more. So I guess thats it for me.

After reading what you guys have to say I gotta agree. It was weird. 7/10 for me.

I have tickets for sunday. (in 2d ofcourse).

Cant wait

Quote from FrieChamp

Nothing makes you feel more vulnerable than being put into the shoes pyjamas of a 2-year old - I love the concept. Have they disclosed any information on the gameplay other than finding out what's going on?

Not that I know of.

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":3ffu54rr]http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/ze…n/5777-Diablo-3

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  [*:3ffu54rr]hasnt played d1 and d2
  [*:3ffu54rr]doesn't "get" dungeon crawling, doesnt like grinding for items
  [*:3ffu54rr]doesn't like randomly generated dungeons, compares it to chapters in a book which is stupid to randomize? wtf.

I generally love zero punctuation reviews but this one is just plain retarded

They are just a couple of dudes working on the game, so don't expect 12 hour game play

I saw this in game a while back and was scared shitless. definitively a day 1 purchase for me.

Quote from SpronyvanJohnson

The Rock, regardless of how awesome it is, does not come close to Gladiator imo. If you want something similar and even better, watch Braveheart

for me braveheart is a 8/10 movie, the rock is a 9/10. Gladiator is ofcourse a 10/10. (Gladiator special editon 4 hour long piece of shit is a 3/10)

Quote from SpronyvanJohnson

Fair enough, they were not at a 'Gladiator' level. But let's be honest, which movie is?

The Rock

Quote from SpronyvanJohnson

I think both Kingdom of Heaven and American Gangster are pretty kick ass. I also loved Body of lies. So please, what did you dislike about those three? Really, I'm curious.

The fact that I cant even remember the plot in one of those movies. I remember enjoying watching them, but they weren't that memorable. I can however remember almost all the dialogue in Gladiator.

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":19vzcywn]

have you seen robin hood?

It's like 10 years since ridley directed something kick ass.

lol so much hate.

I think diablo 3 is fucking awesome. There is no such thing as insta kill bosses on normal, its just you being shit at the game

edit, ofcourse you get instagibbed if you dont equip what drops or if you dont move when the warning signs appear.

I had an AWESOME time with my barbarian all through normal and nightmare and the first act of hell. I was playing with my brother and two of my friends. There was two monks and one wizard + me. I specced tank and just stood there taunting and stunning packs while receiving two heals all the time.

Then the lan party ended and I tried to continue on act II by myself. I just had to respec some skills and i demolished most creeps.

Then I hit 3 blue and i died and died and died and died. Everything Molten, plagued, frozen, jailor kills me. Basically everything that can hold me in place or has an aoe that i cant stand in kills me right away. Whenever I meet anything like this I have to kite for what seems like hours only to trade in shitty blows and if the elites are extra health or vampiric I might as well quit trying.

haha yeah lets all see a blurry version of this movie lol