What makes a game great?

[Space_hamster]

@Hormalakh, you're a fan of shortcuts, I respect that. My knowledge of them are limited...they're sort of, cut'n paste related. doh. I think if Obsidian spends a whole lot of resources in developing a 'revolutionary' new gui, they may thread wrong. I, uh, haven't mentioned windows 8 yet and I will not do so. Maybe the resources are better spent elsewhere? I dunno. But , a few keyboard shortcuts will -defintely- be more user friendly than a radial nwn on screen menu. *shudders*

[Space_hamster]

@Metabot, do you have some examples that come to mind?

Edited November 6, 2012 by Space_hamster

[Hormalakh]

@Hormalakh, you're a fan of shortcuts, I respect that. My knowledge of them are limited...they're sort of, cut'n paste related. doh. I think if Obsidian spends a whole lot of resources in developing a 'revolutionary' new gui, they may thread wrong. I, uh, haven't mentioned windows 8 yet and I will not do so. Maybe the resources are better spent elsewhere? I dunno. But , a few keyboard shortcuts will -defintely- be more user friendly than a radial nwn on screen menu. *shudders*

 

I wouldn't mind coming up with one and presenting it to the devs. In a lot of the older IE-based RPGs that I played, I saw just little things that would have made the game easier to play with a keyboard. That's why I think that if the devs start creating their UIs with this in mind from the beginning it would be easier to implement and shouldn't waste resources. BG2 was a great example of keyboard shortcuts being done right (with a few small changes). I don't want to talk about this in your thread, so we'll continue the discussion over in the relevant thread, for those interested.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Hormalakh

[JFSOCC]

good shortkey mapping is always very comfortable, especially if you're the type who doesn't pause during combat. (not me, but I certainly think many)

[Metabot]

A great game is that which makes issuing commands to your protagonist as if you were the protagonist yourself by utilizing an intuitive control interface. You are thinking about what you want your character to do, not what mouse buttons/keyboard keys to push to make that happen.

 

Eh no. You aren't playing yourself, you're playing as a character.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Metabot

[Space_hamster]

Metabot: I'm sorry. I am me. I assure you. However, sometimes words fail me. . I wish for a pause in this thread. I don't know what to say anymore. And I don't know what to read. I've got so much work cut out for me. I'm dead tired. Honestly.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Space_hamster

[Space_hamster]

A great game is that, which has an ending.

[Space_hamster]

as endings in my hermeunetic circle go.

[Metabot]

Metabot: I'm sorry. I am me. I assure you. However, sometimes words fail me. . I wish for a pause in this thread. I don't know what to say anymore. And I don't know what to read. I've got so much work cut out for me. I'm dead tired. Honestly.

 

I meant that your character is not you.

[Space_hamster]

Yes. I'll be wearing the mask of the rodent. Now...thank you all for...everything. I have many roleplaying rules yet to learn.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Space_hamster

[Space_hamster]

Boo out.

[SophosTheWise]

I like turtles, personally.

 

Well, then you should play Grimoire.

[Sacred_Path]

I like turtles, personally.

 

Well, then you should play Grimoire.

 

But, you can't kill any children in Grimoire. Immersion broken.

[Tsuga C]

• gameplay--think NWN1 & 2, not Diablo.
  
• storyline--something written by adults for adults (e.g. Planescape).
  
• companions--love 'em or hate 'em, they need to be fully fleshed out and inspire a reaction from the player; generic, forgettable NPCs are the bane of roleplaying games because you don't care about interacting with them.
  
• replayability--if the game is sufficiently engaging that I want to play through it 5 or 6 times, it's a solid game.
  
• player agency--if the game is totally on rails, then the replay factor is largely shot to heck.
  
• tactics and party formations--if I can stumble through encounters blindly while chatting on the phone, the game is lame.
  
• thorough bug testing/quality assurance--I'm paying for a finished product, not a beta test.
  
• art and design intended for adults, not 8 year-old children--let's keep the arms & panoplies realistic and avoid blowing my credulity out of the water; de-emphasize "teh kewl", over-the-top nonsense.
  
• toolsets that are reasonably friendly for novices--NWN1 was excellent in this regard.
  

[Space_hamster]

This, I like.

[Cpl Halsbart]

Setting

 

About the only variable in storytelling is the geography: its people and environment. How those diverse people believe they and the world came to be is also important, even moreso in fantasy. Tekumel and the Dark Crystal are my favorite fantasy settings, with Fallout my sci-fi choice. I'm not afraid to see genre blending, I actually love it (not steampunk, though).

 

Art is next on my list. I'd like the style to complement the setting, but still let me stretch my imagination and infer. I can think of the Van Buren and Morrowind concepts, both its developer letters and drawings. Of course, those concepts never made the game 3d artists on frequency with the concepts helps.

 

Once I'm immersed, the mechanics of leveling and range of dialogue keep me in. Music is nice the first playthrough, then it gets switched off.

Edited November 7, 2012 by Ada'tyool

[Dersu42]

A game is comprised of many parts. From the story (if there is one) to controls, to music, to characters, to visuals to gameplay; each of those parts has the potential to be amazing and can really carry a game in spite of other parts not being very good. Also, a game can be comprised of many fairly mediocre parts, but they work so well together, that the overall experience is greatly improved and the game itself seems great despite any short comings. A truly great game however, is when all of the parts work well together AND those parts are amazing in their own right.

 

This doesn't happen very often but when it does people tend to remember it fondly.

Edited November 7, 2012 by Dersu42