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Post by chriscrawford on Oct 30, 2016 10:06:22 GMT -8
I have rewritten this post several times as my thoughts have converged. I have decided to pursue the following strategy:
We will abandon all cosmetic factors in the game. That means the loss of dream combat, music, and any other graphics, animation, or sound that is unnecessary to the gameplay. This really hurts, because we have all put a great deal of effort into these elements, but I have decided that the situation is desperate enough that we must clear away anything that is not absolutely necessary to rewarding game play.
We will complete work on the encounter editor, write more encounters, and incorporate the encounter system into the game.
I must improve the performance of the face display.
I must improve the scripting of the character behavior.
We are no longer constrained by any requirement to get the program running on a small display. If I need 1920h x 980v, I am free to expand into that space.
The most difficult decision concerns the information that we make available to the player regarding past events. Should we require the player to internalize the emotions inherent in the events, or should we permit a close review of all past events relevant to the decision that the player is about to make?
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Post by alexvostrov on Oct 30, 2016 15:43:45 GMT -8
It's a tough decision, but getting the interaction right is the pre-requisite for everything else.
Regarding presenting past events. I'm not up to speed on how this version of Siboot works, but if it's similar to to Siboot '87 my hunch is to show the salient events relating to the current character.
Why? In real life if you have a nasty argument at work, that will generate very intense emotions that you're unlikely to forget. Ditto for film and novels - watch a Pixar short and see how well those guys communicate the emotions in a scene. By comparison, anything we're likely to make right now will have the emotional depth of a wooden log. If we can't make the player feel each scene intensely, they are less likely to be able to absorb it. Knowing this, it might help to give the player a quick recap of what happened before.
Now that I think about it more, I can image where "let the player remember" might work. I recall something about people being to able estimate how "biased" a deck of cards is after drawing some cards from several decks. People start to get a feeling of "I like this deck". I suspect that in order to make this work, you need to give prompt feedback to the player as to whether they drew a good card. It might also take a while for people to form their impressions too - how many card draws does it take to start to get a feeling about the deck? Of course, characters are not decks - if players can form an internal narrative of their interactions with the actor, recall of events could be much better.
The answers to these questions weigh on how fitting it is to display events. Does Siboot give prompt feedback about choices or is it delayed? What is the emotional intensity of interacting with the actors? Is it easy to tell a story about your interactions with an actor? How much time does it take to form a correct impression? Lastly, do the characters change too quickly for the player to form a correct impression of them?
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