Gaming Environments

[TheChefO]

Anyone else notice they find themselves looking for a certain look in a game? Not necessarily art direction per se, more along the lines of what environment do you want to "place yourself" in?


With the advancements that are coming this gen I find myself critiquing not only potential gameplay, graphics, story etc. but also what environment are they placing me in with this game. For example putting gameplay, graphic fidelity/quality, and story aside - with all of these theoretically being equal There are certain environments I find myself drawn to. Far cry of course puts you in a beautiful island environment and consequentually I'd rather play that than d3 (the gameplay I know). Test drive unlimited vs nfsmw. I find myself not drawn to nfs because of the always autumn look to it turns me off of the game. Sure its pretty, nice gameplay, good premise, but I don't like the environment they place me in. For a level or two thats fine but when the overall themed environment doesn't agree with where I want to be I find myself avoiding it. Not that I would always like to be in some beautiful and happy place. Id love a gritty blade runner atmosphere to be realized this gen. Id love a futuristic 5th element type environment. Id love someone to redo the syndicate wars game with their futuristic environment. Anyone else feel swayed one way or the other by the environments that game developers place us gamers in?

 

[Graham]

I'm a racing game fan, and I'd aggree with you, however I'd also tend towards sound and feel of the game. This generally is a direct result of the environment too.
The best example I can think of is PGR2, nürburgring, taking the porche gt1 out for a spin on the hardest difficulty. This was simple smooth fun, sounded great, and look very nice. It isn't showy, it isn't garish or glary, it just looked nice and wasn't distracting. Whenever I look at a game I always end up comparing it with that. most wanted is a great example of layering on effects and (shudder) 'bling' to make an otherwise bland game appear interesting. Just look at the trees.

TDU definitly sparks my interest visually, but feel is still more important. If something feels odd, then it's game over. The colin mcrea series has been terrible for this for me, as it feels 'emulated not simulated'. So I find myself drawn to games that have highly technical physics engines behind them.

This ironically has put me off test drive unlimited, due to a split second in a video I recently watched:

this is a frame-by-frame of part of the recent TDU video at xboyde...

([edit] I actually have the frames back to front..)

Seeing that instantly took the game off my radar.. :-/

ok so I sortof got side tracked there. Sorry

 

[TheChefO]

I'm a racing game fan, and I'd aggree with you, however I'd also tend towards sound and feel of the game. This generally is a direct result of the environment too.
The best example I can think of is PGR2, nürburgring, taking the porche gt1 out for a spin on the hardest difficulty. This was simple smooth fun, sounded great, and look very nice. It isn't showy, it isn't garish or glary, it just looked nice and wasn't distracting. Whenever I look at a game I always end up comparing it with that. most wanted is a great example of layering on effects and (shudder) 'bling' to make an otherwise bland game appear interesting. Just look at the trees.

TDU definitly sparks my interest visually, but feel is still more important. If something feels odd, then it's game over. The colin mcrea series has been terrible for this for me, as it feels 'emulated not simulated'. So I find myself drawn to games that have highly technical physics engines behind them.

This ironically has put me off test drive unlimited, due to a split second in a video I recently watched:

this is a frame-by-frame of part of the recent TDU video at xboyde...

([edit] I actually have the frames back to front..)

Seeing that instantly took the game off my radar.. :-/

no no no ... those are perfect physics. The car hit a nail in the road on the front drivers side tire and went flat but with the built in anti-flat tires they immediately restored air pressure. This was one of the features to be highlighted in their commercials coming this summer.

 

[TheChefO]

I'm a racing game fan, and I'd aggree with you, however I'd also tend towards sound and feel of the game. This generally is a direct result of the environment too.
The best example I can think of is PGR2, nürburgring, taking the porche gt1 out for a spin on the hardest difficulty. This was simple smooth fun, sounded great, and look very nice. It isn't showy, it isn't garish or glary, it just looked nice and wasn't distracting. Whenever I look at a game I always end up comparing it with that. most wanted is a great example of layering on effects and (shudder) 'bling' to make an otherwise bland game appear interesting. Just look at the trees.

TDU definitly sparks my interest visually, but feel is still more important. If something feels odd, then it's game over. The colin mcrea series has been terrible for this for me, as it feels 'emulated not simulated'. So I find myself drawn to games that have highly technical physics engines behind them.

This ironically has put me off test drive unlimited, due to a split second in a video I recently watched:

this is a frame-by-frame of part of the recent TDU video at xboyde...

([edit] I actually have the frames back to front..)

Seeing that instantly took the game off my radar.. :-/

ok so I sortof got side tracked there. Sorry

Seriously though I was worried about the footage I've seen so far of TDU. Not from a graphics standpoint, but from a physics/gameplay standpoint. I HOPE they fix these issues before releasing it because aside from that the game looks to have TONS of potential.

question for the devs here -
is it possible to tweak controls through a live download? in this instance would it be possible for them to release the game with ho-hum gameplay to meet a deadline but leave the control open to be edited (patched) later?