Kaucukovnik
Cipher
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2009
- Messages
- 488
RPG quests and plot events usually operate on the basis of true/false flags. Games are unable to interpret player's actions in context.
Example no.1: Assassination quest. The moment the person drops dead, quest is completed, even if you shot your target from 200 meters, unseen, and ran away to hide. Nobody needs any proof that it was really you - the target is dead and nobody except the player could have done it, after all.
Example no.2: You are a hero in certain town, you have saved half of their children and trade routes are secure thanks to you. Then you assault a man on the street and the whole city guard goes after you, without a single question.
Example no.3: You are considered a scum in that town. A noble man approaches you, accuses you of something (doesn't even have to be truth), attacks you, you kill him, and...nothing. Guards are fine with that since he started the combat.
Except for when the situation is pre-scripted, but you cannot script every possibility.
The more realistic the graphical presentation of games is getting, the more pathetic such game logic looks.
There was a discussion about a detective RPG some time ago. You cannot properly make such a game with the kind of systems we have now. Scripting all those possible lies, misconceptions and false clues would take insane amount of time, and the result would be extremely vulnerable to game-breaking bugs.
All the detective games so far basically let you just walk in the footsteps of the detective, find already existing solutions. You don't solve anything because there is no way you could operate with information within the game. You are just recreating an existing story.
What I'd like to see:
You assassinate the king in his sleep and silently disappear. Then you approach someone and you can tell him:
-The king is dead.
-I have killed the king.
-Person XY has killed the king.
With the appropriate results, like disbelief, calling the guards, blackmailing, person accused by you getting arrested, etc.
If such interaction would be possible, we could get an RPG where you write the story, you would play the story itself, not just the filler combat and subquests in between.
Any ideas how to accomplish this? Does any existing game incorporate similar possibilities?
For example i can't imagine a way to make a game distinguish between shooting someone by accident or deliberately.
I think the best way would be an MMO, if you could find the audience interested in anything beyond phat loot and exp.
Excuse this chaotic post, I find myself surprisingly unable to express my thoughts properly - I hope all this mess makes some sense. My examples are pretty lame too, all the mentioned silliness can be avoided by much simpler means than what I'm proposing. Still I hope you get the picture.
The basic message is that current games can operate only with truth or pre-scripted lie, and cannot put your actions in context.
Example no.1: Assassination quest. The moment the person drops dead, quest is completed, even if you shot your target from 200 meters, unseen, and ran away to hide. Nobody needs any proof that it was really you - the target is dead and nobody except the player could have done it, after all.
Example no.2: You are a hero in certain town, you have saved half of their children and trade routes are secure thanks to you. Then you assault a man on the street and the whole city guard goes after you, without a single question.
Example no.3: You are considered a scum in that town. A noble man approaches you, accuses you of something (doesn't even have to be truth), attacks you, you kill him, and...nothing. Guards are fine with that since he started the combat.
Except for when the situation is pre-scripted, but you cannot script every possibility.
The more realistic the graphical presentation of games is getting, the more pathetic such game logic looks.
There was a discussion about a detective RPG some time ago. You cannot properly make such a game with the kind of systems we have now. Scripting all those possible lies, misconceptions and false clues would take insane amount of time, and the result would be extremely vulnerable to game-breaking bugs.
All the detective games so far basically let you just walk in the footsteps of the detective, find already existing solutions. You don't solve anything because there is no way you could operate with information within the game. You are just recreating an existing story.
What I'd like to see:
You assassinate the king in his sleep and silently disappear. Then you approach someone and you can tell him:
-The king is dead.
-I have killed the king.
-Person XY has killed the king.
With the appropriate results, like disbelief, calling the guards, blackmailing, person accused by you getting arrested, etc.
If such interaction would be possible, we could get an RPG where you write the story, you would play the story itself, not just the filler combat and subquests in between.
Any ideas how to accomplish this? Does any existing game incorporate similar possibilities?
For example i can't imagine a way to make a game distinguish between shooting someone by accident or deliberately.
I think the best way would be an MMO, if you could find the audience interested in anything beyond phat loot and exp.
Excuse this chaotic post, I find myself surprisingly unable to express my thoughts properly - I hope all this mess makes some sense. My examples are pretty lame too, all the mentioned silliness can be avoided by much simpler means than what I'm proposing. Still I hope you get the picture.
The basic message is that current games can operate only with truth or pre-scripted lie, and cannot put your actions in context.