Are open world games a scam?

[Makabb]

Or maybe an excuse for lack of content? Open world games usualy mean there is one big level with repeated few assets (trees, grass, ground etc) and placement of mobs/quests.

In non open world game, every level had to be differently designed, with different assets etc.

Is open world basicaly a dumbed down version of non open world games so the talent/cost needed for creation of a good game is lessened?

 

[Child of Malkav]

Or maybe an excuse for lack of content? Open world games usualy mean there is one big level with repeated few assets (trees, grass, ground etc) and placement of mobs/quests.

In non open world games before every level had to be differently designed, with different assets etc.

Is open world basicaly a dumbed down version of non open world games so the talent/cost needed for creation of a good game is lessened?

I don't know about costs but when it comes to the size, open world is still a very large level.
Is it an excuse? Depends from game to game.
For example, Hitman: would it be better if it had a huge open world? MGSVTPP was criticized for going open world. What if Splinter Cell went for open world approach? In Hitman 2 Silent Assassin the levels allowed for more locations around the world to be seen, whereas in Ghost Recon Wildlands and other open world games, it's only one place to explore.

 

[Black]

Video games in general are a scam.

 

[Astral Rag]

The scammy ones certainly are.

 

[Melcar]

Scams of shit.

 

[DraQ]

Don't know about open world games, but Makabb's posts certainly are.

 

[Rahdulan]

I swear to god Gothic got it right on the first outing with that sweet spot of seemingly open world and handcrafted content held in perfect balance. Too many audiences are overly focused on the technical aspect (gee willikers, no loading screens), but you should think about how often were games actually ENHANCED by being open world? Out of more recent examples Witcher 3 sure wasn't in my opinion.

 

[Harkin Hails]

I swear to god Gothic got it right on the first outing with that sweet spot of seemingly open world and handcrafted content held in perfect balance. Too many audiences are overly focused on the technical aspect (gee willikers, no loading screens), but you should think about how often were games actually ENHANCED by being open world? Out of more recent examples Witcher 3 sure wasn't in my opinion.

Pretty sure "NO LOADING SCREENS" stopped being a big deal, years ago.. except for Bethesda games. If they came out with that declaration, their fans would shit themselves.

I have yet to play a open world game where I went around doing random things for no reason. Open world sounds like a nice idea, but it's always implemented in the more banal way possible.

I think I liked what iD software developers said during RAGE development. The world is "open but directed". Gothic games are a good example of this when done right (but ironically, RAGE isn't).

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Quantity vs Quality

 

[DraQ]

but you should think about how often were games actually ENHANCED by being open world?

Games are never ENHANCED by being open world. They are either designed, from ground up, as open world games or they are not.

 

[Harkin Hails]

One kind of "open world" game is just open world so that part can be listed as a "feature" on Steam page. A lot off Indie survival games are like that since making an open world game is the easiest fucking thing to do (you are just streaming different maps together, it takes like 5 mins to do that in Unreal, for example). In AAA world, Skyrim and Oblivion kinda comes between this and second type.

Second, is the "controlled" open world like GTA/Saints Row series. World is big enough for player to fuck around while not being "too big" for the artists/level designers, so they can make it interesting by creating unique areas and sprinkle small quests and events all over the place (people of interest in GTA games is a good one).


I like the later more.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

making a bad open world game is the easiest fucking thing to do

Fixed.

 

[DraQ]

making a bad open world game is the easiest fucking thing to do

Fixed.

FTFY.

 

[RNGsus]

Yes, they are scams.

Focus on good dungeon design and open missions - gameplay - not big empty worlds voiced by sean bean.

 

[tritosine2k]

It'd need some sort of volume rendering instead of polygon sculpting, latter won't really work because once you have volumetric look you won't go back to that eggshell plasticky look.

 

[Beastro]

Wow, I wasn't expecting Makabb to be the OP of this one.

No Man's Sky burn you that badly?

 

[tritosine2k]

Gerrard
"How CAT-scan technology is building Just Cause 3's world"
https://archive.is/gawCg
( www.mcvuk.com/development/how-catscan-technology-is-building-just-cause-3s-world )

-FYI the X-Ray guys were light years ahead back then and ever since, & that's also "true volumetric"

 

[Tweed]

Open worlds are a big fat procedurally generated scam where the developer promises thick and fast updates and then proceeds to cockblock everyone for eight months with no updates and then they shit out an even more terrible version of Fallout 4.
But you know what's worse than that? The fact that people actually gave Sean Murray sixty god damned dollars so he could do the exact same thing.

 

[Plisken]

good games are good and bad games are bad, the specific design philosophies dont matter that much.

i do hope people arent pretending there are hordes of classic game world design vidya that dont fucking stink just as much if not more than filler garbage like nu-far cry.

 

[Friday.13]

I guess you can say every Bethesda games are scams.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Having just started to play RDR2, the most common thought in my head has been "I wish I was back in Kamurocho."

Also a pet peeve of mine: Why do these huge open worlds insist on having an ingame clock that goes super-fast? I mean, you made the game world this huge, can't you at least then make time go normally as well, so ultimately time of day is up to player actions?