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id Software On Rage, Storytelling In Games
Tom Willits of id Software took some time recently to speak about storytelling as it relates to id's previous games, and how it will be a part of their upcoming shooter, Rage. He also dispelled rumors that Rage would suffer content cuts due to Xbox hardware limitations. Unfortunately, he called into question whether mods will be a possibility for the game, saying that the issue is still under consideration.
There are a few FPS games that do a decent job of storytelling. Half Life comes to mind, but even that doesn't have much of a storyline. id did some nice things with datapads in Doom 3 and such to try and tell a story, but id games, and the FPS genre in general is certainly not famous for story.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
Ideally, Id should just work on the PC for the real version and let another company do a downgraded console version.
Really though, Id has a lot to prove after Doom III. RAGE, while it does sound like a good design, has a lot of iffy little catches floating around it. The mere fact that Id is questioning whether or not to have mod support is bizarre to say the least.
Welcome to the emerging future of gaming, where everything is dumbed down so as to be marketed toward console kiddies.
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
Well, if you're supposed to 'participate actively in creating the storyline', as you inside, then there's absolutely no problem with today's FPS's. If it's all in your head, why spend the time creating a story for the game?
Personally, I prefer a well-wrought story, that allows the ability to affect the story, around the edges. Branching level progression, for example, that depends on player decisions during the game.
http://marathon.bungie.org/story/ , for example, Bungie's previous FPS trilogy before Halo, is still regarded by many as one of the pinnacles of story design in an FPS, and this came out in the mid-90's.
Story games are good, but sometimes you have to appreciate the games that take a minimalist approach to story-telling.
What's the value of information that you don't know?
And while I'm ranting -- ideally a game designer shouldn't even need to shoot down any rumours regarding graphics. A good game doesn't need to rely on super realistic FX... and this goes for "mindless" FPS games, too. Just look at Painkiller for the epitome of a fun game where you shoot things with guns (mind you, any game with a lightning-enchanted ninja star gun is going to come out ahead).
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, watch it -- I'm huge!
Ever play the PS2 port of Deus Ex? It's not actually downgraded. I'd use the term..altered. They upped the graphics (character models are better), divided up levels into pieces, kept most of the interface with some minimal streamlining AND they put keyboard and mouse support in (though I personally recommend playing with analog stick and mouse)
I think you are only partially right though: the first game was great because it had a great story that turns out to be more and more like the world we live in. The second game had dumbed-down mechanics, but it also had a crappy irrelevant story where you could switch allegiance on every level if you wanted and it never mattered.
As for Deus Ex 3... It is in production, but I fear the worst. About the only info we have is that it will be a game about "what it means to be human". That's not at all what DX1 was about - DX1 was about what it means to live in a world where those in power are unscrupulous powerhungry bastards.
Ok, so maybe we don't actually need a game anymore to see what the result of that is, but that is what DX1 was about. That, and open, non-linear gameplay, and interesting locations and characters, and mildly amusing AI and physics problems ;-)
even the best 'storytelling games' involves really poor writing and really poor story telling
why place this demand on game developers?
if you want a good story, read a book
be sensitive to games - they can't attract the talent for story telling because ultimately, if your good at writing stories, you wouldn't be working in the industry
While that is true, I liked the stories of e.g. Deus Ex and Wing Commander IV, and of course several adventure games and RPGs (including KotoR).
Of course, none of these reach the levels of literature, but they are good stories, as opposed to "run through this level, shoot at everything that moves and push the button".
While shooting at stuff is cool, the story keeps me motivated enough to turn that next corner and shoot more stuff. Or, if there is a lack of story, I get bored relatively quickly.