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You can't tell the player that it's okey to 'loose', because you can't win anyways. There's no real solution to your tactic in playing this game. I bet by far most people do not stop playing before they actually have been 'beaten'.



Yes? You really think so? Let's say you're down to 10 HP up from 200HP (you know, games nowadays...!) and you haven't damaged him at all.. you would continue? Especially with quickload! Maybe I'm the minority here, but I'd get pretty frustrated and either start again or stop playing and never play again (sorry, game, you lost). It somehow has to be obvious that it's "okay to lose", yet you can't kill the suspension entirely. Maybe one could say that "if you were to win now, we'd be finished, but we wouldn't have lost completely if yu don't." Sure, the sentence needs a little work but I think that might be a good thing. If even I get frustrated, then whats with "non-gamers"? Maybe they quit and won't buy any other game for three years (after all, they just wanted to try that out and it was apparently not fun - not all of them will realize that it is only the (small?) fault of one game!)

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Nowadays, these kind of gameplay problems get solved by letting the player deal an x amount of damage to the opponent and thén there will be a cutscene with whatever alternate ending such a scene would have.



And that one's much better. Show me that I make progress, at least! But in that sequence, he'd block all my shots. Show me that I'm doing at least something correct, even though its not enough. I might even continue long enough, then

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the average shooter: kill all to achieve your goals.
hitman series: you're a contract killer and earn money with the job. you even got to think a lot.




A good point. What we have to consider is that while technically, the "standardshooter" is way more brutal, killing has a very different feeling to it. If you only see "soldier No. 342", who has no backstory and in most cases not even a name, then killing him will "feel" different than killing an established character. In one game, it might feel more like a simple mechanic and not like killing anyone whatsoever. If that is a good thing or not, I'm not so sure.


But why are shooters so stupidly popular these days? It's so unrealistic and it goes completely against anything I've ever learnt or might believe in. You see a new species? Well, kill them! I wouldn't do that in real life. Nowadays, (many) games expect you to do that. You see the weapon onscreen and you now that you probably have to shoot at most things in your view that move. The amount of games in which I solve most problems with communication is so close to zero, it's laughable. Sure, many people want to escape their boring life and become that next actionhero, but it is remarkable how different games and reallife have become. Not in the way of "how-many-bullets-before-you-die" - thats a rule in the game, nothing more - but in the way on how they expect us to think and react. Imagine you'd show such a game to your (grand)parents. Why do I have to shoot at anything and why do gamedevelopers assume us to think that way? Sure, in many games you can also sneak past them or something, but in general...

Adventure games have had a similar story. Over the years, the puzzles in many games have become so weird and unlogical that its more trial and error and most "normal" people would never be able to figure it out, as its so far out there. That was to serve the hardcore-crowd, but it might have led to their downfall, as it made it so difficult to get into it for anyone not used to that. Do FPS move in the same direction with their "weird" expections of the players' feelings, emotions and on how he`ll solve the problems provided (->shooting at them)?

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How can a game developer be so annoying? It would disturb my idea of fun quite a bit.



But isn't that an absolutely intruiging concept? Sure it's annoying and - yes, it's not fun. So what? Some of my favorite movies are "not fun". I have recommended books that are far from "being fun". Why is that not okay with games? There are some notable exceptions, but generally...

I agree though that due to the fact that it is interactive and the player might lose the feeling of being "just" an innocent bystander, we should be very, very careful as to what we are expecting the player to do. The big challenge is to not cross any moral barriers.

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An example would be a military commander who has control over life and death. Killing may seem to be the better way. but in the end, you've killed someone who didn't deserve death, you're bad. it would make people think. Or, maybe, it would make people switch of entirely. but the first option would be intended...



What you have to keep in mind is that for most people, he is "just" a soldier with no backstory, no name, no family, no anything. He doesn't have a past nor will he have a future as soon as you switch off the computer. Why should one care? That is - probably - why gamedevelopers can expect us to shoot anything after all . To make the player really think, you'd probably have to develop that character that has been killed. You have to think of a backstory for him. Where does he come from? What are his goals in life? Where does he live? How does he live? Is he happy? etc, etc. You can also tell the player only after he has made the decision (maybe that would be even more effective as far as emotional "impact" is concerned!). But many games don't even bother to do it with their main characters! What do we know about Sam Fisher? Lara croft? Although it sure isn't necessary for every game, thats something games really should change so people can take it seriously. My beloved PhoenixWright games (or Hotel Dusk, for that matter) have pretty well-developed characters. Tim Schafers games usually have (maybe always? I haven't played them all, I know, I'm a bad person ).
Everyone, play Phoenix Wright and Hotel Dusk. RIGHT NOW.

Did you ever thought about any character from a book or from a movie outside of the book/movie? I'm pretty sure you have. How often did that happen for a character from a videogame? Thought so.


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I would love such a thread, error014!!



Well, I don't know about the interest for the rest, but maybe I'll open such a thread. Or go ahead and do it, I'm fine with that as well

Perhaps this post will get me points for originality at least.

Check out Dungeon Deities! It's amazing and will make you happy, successful and almost certainly more attractive! It might be true!