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Got your email – my replies kept bouncing back for some reason. Reapplied, anyway. Thanks for the heads-up.
Yeah seriously, grammar fail. So inconsistent! lulz.
Anyways, no map editor? I would think RTSs would come with map editors nowadays. It seems like it could be super interesting for something like SC2 too (both SC2s!).
Great article.
I agree with some of your points but I think moreover, “jump scares” are just one of many tools that a horror game designer or filmmaker has in his/her toolbox.
For instance, the film “Halloween” is mostly known for a slow-burn and dreadful build that culminates in some jump-scares. When Laurie goes into the house across the street in the third act and discovers the three bodies, the first disovery is a slow reveal, the second is a jump-scare and the third is slow reveal.
It all works because director John Carpenter knew to build and then release that tension in different ways or the audience not only loses interest, but will feel cheated from a payoff.
The same can be said for the original Resident Evil game. The gamer has a feeling of dread for having to go into, what is essentially, the ‘dark haunted house on the hill.’ The gamer’s first encounter with a zombie isn’t a jump-scare but a slow reveal as he/she stumbles on the creature feasting on a corpse on the floor. The head slowly turns and then the creature slowly shambles toward the player.
I know that when I played the game for the first time, I was fumbling in fear with the controller trying to figure out how to shoot the shambling zombie in the confined space. It was terrifying due to the situation and not at all a jump-scare.
Later in the same game, when moving down a corridor a zombie dog exploded out of the window, scaring me. If I had come across a similar scene as I experienced earlier where the dog slowly turned and then attacked me I’d be more annoyed than scared.
So I believe it’s up to the game designer to look in his/her toolbox and choose the right tool for building that particular scare-moment. If one tried to build an entire house with a hammer, one would have a pretty shoddy house. But choosing the right tool for the right job will yield a better overall house of horror.
AllHallowSteve
HalloweenAddict.com
Cool. Environments indeed.
I’d add in Cave Story, even. It’s really quite detailed and well executed.
I also found Fallout 3’s environments pretty compelling. Team Fortress 2’s maps are cool too.
Good article.
I’ve never really had issue with protagonist colors despite being Korean, but perhaps that might be just how I approach things, I can forgive sometimes ignorant stereotypes and portrayals. Like Kim from GoW. His character was meh, though he was portrayed as heroic, clearly. Something about him still didn’t really mesh.
But on the point, it really does some like a contentious issue to me. Even Asian games are essentially whites with different colored hair and eyes. Which is weird.
But yeah, again, it is a weird issue.
As a quarter Scottish, quarter English, half Second Generation Mauritian-Chinese, I feel entirely under-represented by the current selection of gaming protagonists!
I think you might underestimate the myopia of big companies – the facts may support the hypothesis that colour doesn’t affect sales, but they’ll almost certainly believe otherwise. Another part of it might just be that game designers believe this as well.
I also think that people tend to create things that they’ll relate to personally. I expect that most game designers/writers are white or are at least socialised in a Western environment, though I don’t have any research beyond thinking of the devs I’ve read about. The gaming industry is kind of like Trader Joe’s*.
Brilliant article and I’m looking forward to the second part.
*A store in the US almost entirely frequented by white people and well-off orientals and asians.
Excellent. This LP was originally the reason I subscribed to Gaming Daily.
Same sort of thing happened to me when I was inspired to play empire because of your diaries – however instead I had two large armies, one going straight down, and one going round in a pincer movement but to the right of Moose Factory.
I caught the French off guard as they were advancing towards me and the two armies essentially destroyed each other, but left such a small army they couldn’t do anything with.
Then the Spanish attacked me. The basts.
The ethnicity of a character would never be at the forefront of my mind when considering a game. Its almost certainly an afterthought. At times it has, Dragon age for example (strange choice but bear with me) allowed you to be in the position of 3 different ethnicities.
The elves who were heavily abused in Fereldens past and have only just regained their freedom despite still being seen as slaves by some. The dwarves who reside underground for most of their lives, shunning all who have had the sky over their heads or can’t afford food for the day. And of course humans, the masters of the land. You could also include the feared mages as an ethnic group due to the way they too are treated, kept under watch in a big tower by armed guards for most of their lives.
This caused me to really consider what character would I really want to play as, in the end opting for a female city elf. It was actually quite a shock to see how they were treated in the world, I started off incredibly defensive in the situations where I was being abused. In the last third of the game something changed in my attitude towards the world and I started to be the abuser. I don’t know why but my character changed. This game world was so in depth and I was so immersed that It actually felt quite strong when the racism appeared. Bioware did a brilliant job here of showing how something as seemingly minor as your ethnicity can affect your actions in the world. If it were a game filled with nothing but humans, then the game would be a far more different experience.
In San Andreas however, I played as a black man from a poor background struggling with gang life. It made no difference to me. It is a different kind of game, one in which I blow up half a state with no consequences. An RPG is made with the intent to deal with moral choices. It is one of the genres defining characteristics. That’s not to say other genres cant feature them, its just not expected. They obviously can have non-white characters, it is normally purely aesthetic though. Look at alot of the games with white protagonists. Is the game itself influenced in anyway by being white?
An interesting point, I’m planning to approach Dragon Age and Mass Effect in the second section. Dragon Age in particular is a notable example of how games can get away with ‘fantastic racism’ (the deliberate use of fantasy culture as a racial analogy) but are still reluctant to cover actual racism.
Much like classic eras of sci-fi literature, fantastic racism can be a tool, it allows us to attack the ludicrous of racism by putting it out of context. It is also easier to put a white man in the shoes of an oppressed elf than an oppressed black man, because he can define he elf for himself without worrying about his lack of knowledge of black culture.
Nevertheless, I have to wonder if they cannot also approach the real world aspects of racism, it isn’t much of a stretch. I played a black Shepard in Mass Effect, how hard would it have been to code in a few lines that checked skin colour when Ashley was displaying fantastic racism, and give the option of an appropriate response. Something along the lines of “Two hundred years ago, they might have said that about me.”
I’m not going to knock fantastic racism, it’s a fabulous tool. Hell they used it all the time on Star Trek, which, whatever you think about it, was one of the most progressive TV shows in the world at the time. I just think that it would be nice to see someone unafraid to also tackle the issue head on.
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|Penumbra Spoiler Alert|
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I saw Penumbra mentioned before. That game (Black Plague specifically) sets a great atmosphere, I think, and while the creatures look a little strange for horror creatures, you have to remember: They’re disfigured, possessed humans. And you’re becoming one of them. (The voice isn’t the only thing that shows that; Your DNA isn’t even human anymore!) Plus, they don’t really jump out at you. They tend to break through doors and things, but you always have warning, either you already know they’re chasing you or they’re down the hallway and you just have to hide. You’re faster than them if you just walk, but they DON’T give up. The point of that is that, instead of fighting, you have to sneak around, you’re unable to kill them. (You truly are. I tried killing one by throwing boxes at it, and it can’t be done. I was lucky enough to get into a position that made me invulnerable.)
Anyway, just wanted to point this game out because it actually has the kind of terror you’re talking about. It had me shivering in fear the entire time. (Plus, it didn’t follow me out of the game. It was just a good atmosphere.)
I’ve been checking for this update for a week or so. Love these reports.
I don’t have Empire (still play Medieval: TW II) but I always experienced my playthroughs with the same sort of internal dialogue.
Thanks Tyler, and Chris. I’ve been working for PC Gamer for the last week or so, which is why these have been a little infrequent, but I’m glad people are still reading and enjoying them. It makes it even more fun to write ‘em!
When I saw your Sheppard I thought of Sysko.
In games with no default, as an mmo, I use to play with females with red hair too, I laughed a lot when I saw your comment on your flatmate.
In the rest, I use to play with the defaults. I somehow trust the developers in making a good design choice to fit in the character and the game as a whole.
In Mass Effect I didn’t even notice I could change Sheppard appareance, much less make a redhair woman. I’ve watch videos of a female sheppard, or very different male ones, and I think they all give the very same sensation, mostly due to both great voice actors.
Im thinking… is there any game with a “minority” set as a default?
I’d like to see a game with no character creation other than a big red button with ‘good luck’ written on it; pressing it randomly generates your character’s appearance, race and gender and you just have to live with whatever pops out. Far more true to life. Naturally, you’re only allowed one press per play-through.
Gamers are give sycophantic levels of choice these days when it comes to character creation. I think there’s room for games to be a little more dictatorial.
That certainly sounds like an interesting concept Paul. I think it would require a little more response to your appearance than you get nowadays though.
As I wondered in the last article, it doesn’t seem like it would be too hard to code in some specific lines dictated by the chosen skin tone at appropriate moments. It would be interesting to see something try it.
With your idea you could take it even further, and have the game respond to your differently depending on how attractive your randomly generated face is.
Or further still by including characters with racial, class and gender prejudices. Tough subject to approach. I guess Dragon Age is touching upon it at arms length using a fantasy setting, or so I’m lead to believe – I’ve not actually played the thing.
It really is fairly arms length.
My first character (see below for general description) was an elven mage. There were a few sort of “oh an elf as a mage?” type comments thrown my way to which I could respond with belligerence (fuck you human type answers) or more diplomatically. While these did sort of remind you of the issues the game tried to create it just seemed a bit tacked on to the start of the conversation. I guess it would be pretty complex to do do more elaborately but it would have been nice if it had felt a little less tacked on.
I can’t speak the Mage, but the City Elf and Dwarf Commoner origins stick with you throughout.
I share Tom’s attitude in gravitating towards actions where I see my character as “doing right” and being strongly bound to their moral code. There, however, our similarities end.
Give me a in depth character creator and I’ll always create a woman.
I think it’s perhaps because there’s so few games with female leads but these games have tended to stick in my mind (Tomb Raider 2, Lngest Journey, Beyond Good and Evil). I guess having played so many games with male leads I just fancy a change. If there’s an option for a name she has always been called Dana. I have no idea why, perhaps I just subconciously followed in the short and (with he exception of Jade) dual syllabic nature of the character’s names in the games I previously mentioned. Perhaps I just thought it sounded cool. I can’t really remember. I always aim to make a character who looks pretty as well. Ohm and brunette. Just because.
If there’s a skill system involved I always tend to heavily lean my character towards persuasiveness and intelligence rather than combat. I guess I like to think the lassie can sweet talk her way out of any situation.
Also I like Paul’s idea of a “good luch” button to an extent. It would probably actually have an affect on the way I play a game. For example if I ended up with a character with a stereotypically evil looking mustache I doubt I’d be able to play him as anything other than a conniving, scheming bastard!
Hmm, I appear horribly typo prone today. Proof that revision only serves to fry my brain!
Perhaps you sometimes need a forced dislocation from your character that random appearance generation may allow – as you say, it might encourage you to play differently, not taking the “good” path our ethics are usually attracted to.
Hmm, seems like a good offer but are there any kittens involved?