What's the story? - October 28th, 2001 - Drew Cosner
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of the participants and the moderator, and do not neccessarily reflect those of the GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. You can turn it up if you want, nobody'll notice. Don't say we didn't warn you.
Today's column is non-stop laughter, insight, and just plain fun. Okay, so I lied. It's just a bunch of crap. | Privateer | | One word: Privateer. I don't know how familiar you are with computer games, but Privateer, despite having a crappy flight engine, was just as open-ended as GTA3, and for its time, was arguably more immersive. Who could forget New Detroit, New Constantinople, or Oxford? Bars of varying quality were almost as numerous as the pirates. The world of Privateer felt truly alive, and I've been trying to get back to it for years. My only problem is that I can't get the damn game to run on my current computer, and Origin scrapped any and all plans to make another sequel (Privateer 2 sucked) as well as a massively multiplayer online version. There have been clones, but all of them lack Privateer's inspired universe. GTA3 definitely rocks. I'm kind of sad to see the farting and burping noises go, though.... -Walter |
I figured I may as well post this so those of you who like PC games and don't mind playing old PC games can check it out. Chances are my ancient PC wouldn't even be able to run that game, so I pretty much never play PC games. In other words, sorry, not familiar with the game. Sounds cool though. I would, however, love to see a multiplayer mode in the next GTA title. You could either death match it, with unwitting citizens serving as fodder, or they could even throw in cooperative missions that could only be accomplished with a buddy. That would rock. As for the burping/farting noises, considering what a badass your character is, that would've seemed a little out of place I think. You have to keep in mind that this is the same guy who casually nods after being asked to off 15 shotgun-toting gang members with a 9mm. | Non-linear games | | Dear Mr. Agent Person: What I want out of a non-linear game is a non-linear GAME. The story can be as linear as it likes for all I care. In fact, I would PREFER that the story be linear. FF7, FF Tactics, Metal Gear Solid, and other such games have very linear stories, and they're all very, VERY good ones. This is not a problem. But they are not, not, NOT linear GAMES. The tasks that they set before the player can be completed in various ways. In FF Tactics, everyone you ask will have a different opinion about the "best" way to complete a given battle, or what the "best" combination of abilities is. This is because the game gives the player enough tools to play with that he or she is free to find his or her OWN way past the obstacles. In FF7, materia can be combined in a kerbillion different ways. Is this linear? So let's all shut up about how linear today's games are, because they're not. And all the so-called non-linear games have gameplay as piddly and linear as their stories turn out to be. GAR! - George Moffitt |
That is an interesting point. If you want a good story line, it will definitely have to be linear, as it were. Stories happen in a linear fashion; event A precedes event B. It's just the way it goes. Even Grand Theft Auto 3 is linear if you want to follow the story line at all; you have to accomplish certain tasks before others will be available, and the results of your mishaps in one task will be reflected in later missions. However, game play can certainly offer players a myriad of ways in which to solve the puzzles present. Again citing GTA3, you have a mission, and how you choose to accomplish it is entirely up to you. Some of the most satisfying moments are when you think of a particularly clever solution to a difficult task. So sure, the tasks may be presented in a linear fashion, but the game play itself is entirely open-ended. However, whether or not this definition of "non-linear" works for you is, well, up to you. | I saw your picture on the... radio. | | Drew, FWIW, you can have a somewhat interesting time as a good guy in GTA3...just drive your car around like any boring normal guy, and instead of paying attention to the road, listen to the Chatterbox radio station - the comedy value is higher than anything I've ever heard on the real radio. :-) KZ |
True, the radio stations are pretty damned funny. The only problem is that driving along listening to the radio requires you to first steal a car, which is kind of not savory. Or legal. So I still say being totally law-abiding would suck. That may explain why my personal life is so boring. | Private Eyes | | Hey Drew, I am dying to see a real fully developed detective game. Back in the day when that god awful Dick Tracy movie came out(I hate Madonna) all the kids my age were into it and my cousin rented the NES game. If you don't remember/never played it/avoided it like the plague, you, of course played as Dick Tracy and drove around a fairly big(by NES standards) city getting clues and questioning the bad guys like Flattop(he's the only one I remember) to solve some crime. So my thought is, now that the systems are light years ahead of the NES and the storage mediums are hundreds of times larger than the old carts, why can't someone make a detective game? Put about ten possible victims, a couple of hundred NPC's to question, like a thousand possible clues and a ton of locations, a few action or fighting or driving or sneaking around scenes, and every time you start a new game the engine would randomly choice the killer, victim, clues and locations. Anyway that's the kind of game I'd like to see in the future if not this generation of consoles. achilleszero |
Your idea kind of sounds like a more film noir version of Shenmue. Not that I'm knocking it; the idea of playing as a private eye sounds like a ton of fun. It could be mission based, much like GTA3, except your actually aiding the law rather than shredding its figurative parchment to bits, throwing up on them, and feeding them to hungry dogs that don't mind barf. | Ice cream truck of death | | Damn, after getting GTA3, I don't know if another non-linear title of this calibur can be up to snuff. I bought it out of sheer spontaneity because I just knew it would be much better than the first two which only served as weekend rentals for me. In what other game can you carjack an ice cream van, and then attempt to run down the kids that come up to you asking for ice cream? I couldn't actually nail one, though. I think the developers purposely made them quicker as to avoid any more issues. I'm not evil, really. I think Shenmue 2 will be the next worthy game to follow the non-linear example. Shenmue 1 has better graphics than GTA3 (but the environments weren't nearly as big), and Shenmue 2 is supposed to be even bigger in scope. I'm just sad that I won't get to play it on my DC. However, I personally like going on a crime spree in my free time rather than shadow boxing and buying trinkets. I'm very excited about the things to come. -Jonezy63 |
I admit that I never played the original Shenmue, mainly because it's one of those titles that retailers refuse to liquidate for some reason. However, from what I've heard of it, it wouldn't appeal to me much, anyhow. Sounds much too open-ended for my tastes. However, word is that Shenmue II will be substantially more focused than the original title, so it might be interesting. Too bad it's on the Xbox, a.k.a. the System Drew Will Never Buy Until It's Being Sold for 50 Dollars in a Bargain Bin. | Going nowhere fast | | Drew - Non linearity...hmm...considering I havn't seen a case where it was done well yet ( I havn't played GTA 3...so lay off...) I'd say I want a completely pointless yet fun experience. Give an objective, just one, and a million and one ways to accomplish it. Something with a cliched, minimal story, just barely enough to give you an excuse to go on to the next extremely pointless level. Sure, some would say that idea is horrible, but if the game had insatiably fun gameplay, and enough crazy things to do and enough equally crazy ways to do them, I would stand by it to my death. So, the concept of Bubble Bobble, with the addictiveness of NiGHTs, with as many pointless things to do as Mario Party. Stir in a giant dash of DDR qaulity fun, and....well, I'm not sure how GOOD it would be, but it sure wouldn't suck, and it wouldn't get boring for a long time.... And that's all a non linear type game really has to offer anyway. Nothing truly engrossing, just, distracting and amusing. Peace, Ray Stryker |
You know, along the lines of what you're saying, I had this idea for an off-roading game that I thought would rock: see, all you have is a starting and finishing point -- how you get from the one to the other is entirely up to you. Naturally, the straight route would be fraught with peril and exceedingly difficult, but if you could navigate it, it would be the fastest way to go. Conversely, perhaps the easier route would be off to the sides, but it would be quick-and-dirty, with less chance of blowing your vehicle up when you fall off of a steep incline and land on a big rock. You could have tons of environments, like deserts, polar caps, fields, etc. Yeah. It would rule. Okay, okay, sorry to subject you to my brain farts once again. Moving along. | They just need some... convincing | | Hi Drew, Did you ever notice that the more non-linear and innovative a game is, the more boring it to other people? me: "It's a game! and you get to do whatever you want!" guy: "You mean like in real life?" me: "Yeah, but-- You can steal cars! Or NOT steal cars!" guy: "You already have a real car, why would you pay $40 to steal an imaginary car?" me: "Wha... no! It's a GAME, man! A game where you can do whatever you want!" guy: "You mean like in real life?" me: "Yeah, but--" etc, etc, etc.... My point being that a truly great non-linear game probably wouldn't look that exciting on paper. The MYST series, for example. I love it, I still play Riven every now and again (and I'm currently dreaming about Exile, if only I had money *sob*) but the idea of "walking around and looking at pretty stuff" sounds like a dumb idea for a game, unless there's some kinda real, linear game stuck in the "background", so to speak. If you can really just walk around and do whatever, where does the drama go? What's the point? Which brings us to that eternal question... What IS the meaning of Li--er, Game? Friarjohn PS: ya mama, Cosna'! YA MAMA! |
From my experience, all you have to do is show them the havoc the game allows you to wreak, and they're hooked. Me and several people in my dorm like to have "havoc contests" to see who can get the most heat after them before eating a tad too much lead. We still haven't been able to get past the FBI. Closing comments: Okay, so, knowing how Pikmin's turning out, what do you think of it? Why don't you let Brooke know. Or, you know, don't. You don't have to follow the topics if you don't want to, you know. They're just sort of suggestions to get the brain juices flowing. -Drew Cosner | | | |
