Cut scenes

[Diplexer]

After playing Hl2 with no cut scenes (movie sequences) who wants to play any other game with them.

Doom3 rocked great game, but cut scenes ruined it for me, left me detached from the game unlike hl2 which brought u further in, because there was no cut scenes.

Are the next generation of games still gonna have cut scenes? I hope they dont and follow HL2 lead, keeping the player right in the story...

 

[Unimita]

You're right. HL and HL2, two of the best games produced, and barely no-one has copied the story telling techniques of constant first-person and no cut scenes. An almost totally unused but potential gold mine of story techniques for games.

Far Cry might have been good like this.

 

[GonzoBabbleshit]

Some will, some won't

 

[Pulse]

I always loved the way HL would let you almost "live" the cutscenes and events as they would take place. Gave you alot more freedom... hopefully developers will catch onto this for future games.

 

[Solver]

The way the story is told is what makes HL so great. It has all the advantages of cutscenes (can show events related to the story), but without taking away your ability to move and such. Think the first scene in Kleiner's lab, it was all scripted, but still it felt very good.

 

[Ranga]

It's brilliant. It makes YOU Gordon Freeman. At no point do you see yourself, so the illusion isn't broken. :thumb:

I really didn't copy that out of a PcPowerplay magasine

 

[Cypher19]

Actually, Far Cry had a pretty good cutscene pacing if you ask me. Doom3 however, I often felt like I was getting interrupted when they introduced new enemies, when they could have left you in the action the whole time (They came VERY close with the first Pinky encounter)

 

[Ravioli]

Strategy games like CC should have Cut-scenes for Singelplayer, but not a First Person, just doesnt fit!

 

[SystemShock2]

I like having no cut scenes, it really does put you "in" the game, but unfortunately the loading screens took me out of it. I'd like to see some mods for hl2 with cutscenes. I generally like cutscenes in non fps games unless the fps are very very deep in story and the only way to explain it woould be through cut scenes.

 

[DarkStar]

You're right. HL and HL2, two of the best games produced, and barely no-one has copied the story telling techniques of constant first-person and no cut scenes. An almost totally unused but potential gold mine of story techniques for games.

I've wondered about this alot.

Why oh why don't developers use this storytelling form more often?!? Total interaction without interruption is PERFECT for the videogame medium, yet it seems as if most developers are just frustrated filmakers. HL and HL2 pioneered a narrative technique that suits the medium completely, yet for some reason other developers have not realized this. It seems like developers are also constraining themselves to the traditional notion of seperate and distinct levels instead of a seamless uninterrupted experience. I just can't understand why the industry hasn't learned anything from the examples set by HL and HL2.

 

[clarky003]

another element the unbroken gameplay adds is a real sense of a journey through time, where you can more directly relate to what happened at the start of your adventure to where you have gotten to, creating a string of constant events that bring you upto your present position, its all very effective.. and Im also suprised other game developers dont utilise this technique.. like you said DarkStar, especially EA, when it comes to the genre,, it all seems like a bunch of frustrated filmmakers trying to make sense of a plot with cutscenes, theres usually no flow.. and it can be destructive to the experiance.

 

[DeusExMachina]

Some games should, some games shouldn't. Cutscenes really flesh out the story better. But in some cases, you don't need cutscences so it all depends.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

I've seen quite a few games almost ruined by their cutscenes, but I've never seen a game worsened by a lack of cutscenes.

Psi-Ops was one of those games with cutscenes so ass-awful that an otherwise good game was brought down quite a few pegs.

 

[Diplexer]

Surely other game manufactures will follow HL2 lead, considering HL2 it is the best game ever made, and produce games without cut scenes, , they would be stupid not too.

Im surprised no one has done it b4 Hl2, as Unimita said "a potential gold mine"

 

[Lanthanide]

I think partly what it comes down to is that it's more work to make an interactive cut-scene and make it impossible for the character to break/ruin it.

In Doom 3 for example, the marine -can- shoot any NPC dead if he wants to. So when you find other important characters (see RoE for example) it puts you into a cutscene so you can't harm them and end up in a rediculous situation of a corpse talking or the game simply breaking and grinding to a halt.

Sure, this sort of thing generally isn't too hard to get around and all of the flaws can be worked out, but it does take more time to do it this way than to simply shove a cutscene in.

Cutscenes also give the developer more control over the story and what the character sees - for example if there is a minor but important detail that you need to hear/see, then you WILL hear or see it. But if you're allowed free roam, it's possible you might be too far away from the other character to properly hear their voice (or you're shooting bullets at a wall for no reason, making noise), or you never look at the important detail that you're supposed to - a good example would be the 7-hours war newspaper clippings in BME.

 

[DarkStar]

I think partly what it comes down to is that it's more work to make an interactive cut-scene and make it impossible for the character to break/ruin it.

In Doom 3 for example, the marine -can- shoot any NPC dead if he wants to. So when you find other important characters (see RoE for example) it puts you into a cutscene so you can't harm them and end up in a rediculous situation of a corpse talking or the game simply breaking and grinding to a halt.

Sure, this sort of thing generally isn't too hard to get around and all of the flaws can be worked out, but it does take more time to do it this way than to simply shove a cutscene in.

It takes more time to craft a complicated cut-scene than simply make important NPCs non-killable?

 

[Qwert93]

It takes more time to craft a complicated cut-scene than simply make important NPCs non-killable?

But making them unkillable is very unbelievable. I mean, if they just can't die, why don't they just charge into the fray and kill everyone?

No insults on HL2...

 

[Asknoone]

Who needs cutscenes? It takes you out of the action...well it certainly does in half life 2 anyway...any other game i dont mind.

 

[Lanthanide]

It takes more time to craft a complicated cut-scene than simply make important NPCs non-killable?

You're scripting it either way, remember. Making it so they can't die (or trying to create a believable situation where you can't harm them) -is- extra work, no matter how you look at it.


One thing I didn't mention, but should be included, is if the characters need to walk around the scene, what happens if the player blocks them or puts objects in the way? Yet another thing that needs to be sorted out. Sure, it seems trivial "just have them push it out of the way", but it is still extra work.

 

[corkscru74]

But making them unkillable is very unbelievable. I mean, if they just can't die, why don't they just charge into the fray and kill everyone?

No insults on HL2...

NPCs can die in HL2, just not from friendly fire. I've had both Alyx and Barney die from enemy attacks before.

Agree with peeps re: Doom3. The cutscenes completely disorientated me after playing HL2. And pissed me off something chronic when introducing each new creature - sure it may have been atmospheric to do it that way but being put exactly where 'id' wanted me to be when facing each new monster was annoying. It also ruined the suspension of disbelief coz it made it feel more like a game "Hey gamer, check out the new monster we made! Lookit, ahhh lookit!".

More games should have in character cutscenes and more options if I don't particularly want to speak to them. I know I'm a big supporter of HL2s linearity but I do like non-linear gameplay. I want to be in charge of my own destiny, not just led around by the hand to the next scripted encounter.