Topher
Cipher
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2007
- Messages
- 1,860
ChristofferC said:The problem with discussing immersion is that everybody seems to have their own vague definition of it.
I don't even think of it as immersion. If a character is trapped in a haunted house and tasked with escaping the game would not benefit by adding a bunch of side-tasks related to getting cats out of trees or helping the butler complete his duties. If your goal is to escape then make the players tasks revolve around escaping, if your goal is to save the galaxy/vault then the same concept applies. In Wing Commander your goal is to deal with the war not to rescue every kidnap victim you come across and as such there are no kidnapped victims to save or petty dispute to settle (unless crew related, which makes sense). It's just good consistent design to keep the player working on whatever big goal you've placed before them.
Some games succeed in putting the MQ on the back-burner like Morrowind and it succeed because it was paced in a way that made it seem natural and appropriate to quest around the world. Compare that with the MQ in Oblivion or Mass Effect. In Fallout 1 you had a maguffin(SP?) to find but you had a visible time limit and as such you felt like you had some time (not unlimited) to go questing (it even felt natural sometimes as you would be working for people in hopes of finding out more about the Waterchip). Time management became a mechanic in itself for first time players.
It all in how you present the world and story. Epic tales of impeding doom require a more focused approach in both pacing and narrative. Both approaches(Morrowind and Oblivion) are valid but Oblivion fails because it wan't to have it's cake and eat it too.