In the Beginning

[Sean Sands]

In the Beginning

As Sean Sands looks back over a generation of gameplay, it is the beginnings that stay with him the longest.

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[KDR_11k]

Another option is simply to start with the fun quickly. Tutorials are boring, sitting there and learning how to walk is boring, especially if they want you to demonstrate that you figured out how the left analog stick works. Going right into the action, doing whatever it is the game wants you to do and preferrably already at a pace that's fun rather than fighting ricdiculously easy enemies practically one by one just because they won't spawn faster. Give the player an immediate grasp of WHY he should play the game. Arcade games had only a few seconds to establish "this is something you want to play" and in the modern race to abolish manuals games have lost that immediacy, instead spending an hour on teaching you how to swing a pointy stick and sout "yah!".

 

[Dogstile]

Another option is simply to start with the fun quickly. Tutorials are boring, sitting there and learning how to walk is boring, especially if they want you to demonstrate that you figured out how the left analog stick works. Going right into the action, doing whatever it is the game wants you to do and preferrably already at a pace that's fun rather than fighting ricdiculously easy enemies practically one by one just because they won't spawn faster. Give the player an immediate grasp of WHY he should play the game. Arcade games had only a few seconds to establish "this is something you want to play" and in the modern race to abolish manuals games have lost that immediacy, instead spending an hour on teaching you how to swing a pointy stick and sout "yah!".

strangely enough, thats what made me hate viking, no tutorial whatsoever

 

[KDR_11k]

strangely enough, thats what made me hate viking, no tutorial whatsoever

Dunno, Halo 3 didn't have a tutorial either but with the process known as "hitting random buttons and seeing what happens" I figured the controls out fairly quickly anyway. Of course there's always a manual that you can read and skip right to the parts you want to read.

 

[Stegofreak]

That's why I enjoy RPGs, the worlds have a nice lived-in quality to them that's missing in some other genres. How do you feel about games set on Earth? Resistance 2 or Call of Duty for example. They're stories are engraned in us from an early age (Resistance 2's historical fiction is more what could have happened but the idealic 'American Dream' has existed for decades.)

I feel the way you do about beginnings in relation to the start menu. If the menu bores me it's a bad first impression. Thank god SEGA sorted things out with the Mega Drive Ultimate Collection. Now that was a menu those games deserved.

 

[calelogan]

strangely enough, thats what made me hate viking, no tutorial whatsoever

Dunno, Halo 3 didn't have a tutorial either but with the process known as "hitting random buttons and seeing what happens" I figured the controls out fairly quickly anyway. Of course there's always a manual that you can read and skip right to the parts you want to read.

Tutorials do withhold their value. It is only necessary to find a way to teach the player without holding their hands.

As for beginnings, they represent to me "presentation". If a game begins with a game gameplay/narrative wise, it's already an excellent start and that will get you hyped up for the rest of the experience. The rest of the game might lack in quality, which is sad, but at least it managed to get you willingly involved for the first 5 minutes with a smile on your face (much like movies that start with a bang).

 

[Andy Chalk]

Echoes of Old Man Murray.

Initial impact is important, but sometimes it's worth persevering beyond a rough start. Thief is a good example of that. The first time I tried it, things did not go well and it wasn't until a took a week or so away from it and then managed to get myself into the proper mindset that I really "discovered" the game. Now I consider it one of the greatest I've ever played. Still, good first impressions are important, and padding your game with hours of shit before letting people get to the good stuff is a huge mistake.

 

[Clashero]

Here are some good examples of great first impressions, other than the ones you mentioned:

Fatal Frame III. You walk into this "supposedly" (yeah, right, supposedly) haunted manor in rural Japan because you're a freelance photographer and then you see the silhouette of your dead boyfriend. You follow him to figure out what's going on, and that's when things start to get creepy. The colours become muted, there is a strange static noise, your boyfriend seems to be able to walk through walls. Then you realize it was all just a daydream.
Thing is, 10 minutes later in the game, you go to sleep and have a playable dream about that same manor. Excellent start, in my opinion.

Also, Shadow of the Colossus. There is no dialogue in the opening cutscene. Just an eagle flying over the landscape, and then you, in your house, carrying a dead woman. That's all. And that's all it ever needed.

Of course, some great games have some really, REALLY bad beginnings. Okami, which is one of my favourite games ever, had at least 20 minutes of expository dialogue before you even started to play.

 

[GoldenShadow]

Going retro a bit.
Super Metroid had a very creepy intro sequence from the Ceres space station and that kept on going until you get all the way to the morphball.

Chrono Trigger's intro levels felt a bit slow to me, but this game just kept getting better and better as it progressed. The title screen and the montage were epic and thats what really made me want to keep going, despite the actual game starting kinda dull until you get to Luca's experiment.

I have Deadspace and I find it a bit strange how the trams are not real time vehicles unlike the seamless level transitions of the Half-Life tram ride. I don't like it when that happens. RE5 is very guilty of it too.

 

[Same River New Water]

Good article!

It's interesting to note that some games have a "delayed start" that stays in the mind. Both the Zelda games and the Fallout games typically have a moment when you leave the small sheltered community where you began the game and emerge blinking into a wide-open land: a lush rolling field of green for Zelda or a blasted wasteland for Fallout, but either way an invitation to run out and explore it all.

By contrast, it took me a good few minutes' thought to remember the "real" start to Ocarina of Time: a fairy wakes Link up in his treehouse bedroom, ho hum.

I've heard many times how vast and engrossing the world of Morrowind is, but I've tried to play it three times and always given up in the starting village in disgust and boredom. Maybe I should keep playing and wait for that "delayed start"... but while Fallout and especially Zelda had a moment where they really kicked into gear, the good ones still kept you entertained for the lead-up to that point.

 

[Woe Is You]

And yet despite its horrible beginings, WOW lives on.

That... really applies to all MMOs (especially all MMOs before 2004). Compared to most MMOs (or even RPGs), WoW manages to do the whole thing pretty well: the tutorial is pretty straight-forward, you can shut the tips off if you want to and within 10 or so minutes you already feel much more powerful than you did when you first started the game. And finally, the moment you step out of the starting zone is when you realize how huge the game is.

Actually, Blizzard manages to do the exact same thing in the Diablo games. By the time you're level 5, you have new skills, an inventory full of awesome equipment and you're kicking ass.

 

[Kiutu]

Good article!

It's interesting to note that some games have a "delayed start" that stays in the mind. Both the Zelda games and the Fallout games typically have a moment when you leave the small sheltered community where you began the game and emerge blinking into a wide-open land: a lush rolling field of green for Zelda or a blasted wasteland for Fallout, but either way an invitation to run out and explore it all.

By contrast, it took me a good few minutes' thought to remember the "real" start to Ocarina of Time: a fairy wakes Link up in his treehouse bedroom, ho hum.

I've heard many times how vast and engrossing the world of Morrowind is, but I've tried to play it three times and always given up in the starting village in disgust and boredom. Maybe I should keep playing and wait for that "delayed start"... but while Fallout and especially Zelda had a moment where they really kicked into gear, the good ones still kept you entertained for the lead-up to that point.

The confusion and fear of my begining in Morrowind are some of my fondest memories. Now ofcourse I know tons of it (still not all of it, even stupid things I should have known I only recently found out)
My advice for Morrowind, is be bold. I remake characters all the time, dont worry about doing something that ruins you later, just learn. Go out and see what happens, make things easier if you want. My main character was very trial/error before I decided his true path, which is still undecided.

 

[Same River New Water]

The confusion and fear of my begining in Morrowind are some of my fondest memories. Now ofcourse I know tons of it (still not all of it, even stupid things I should have known I only recently found out)
My advice for Morrowind, is be bold. I remake characters all the time, dont worry about doing something that ruins you later, just learn. Go out and see what happens, make things easier if you want. My main character was very trial/error before I decided his true path, which is still undecided.

Sadly I didn't get confusion and fear, I got boredom. Actually crafting a character was quite fun, but poking around the houses and scrolling through reams of dialogue that didn't relate to anything (yet) just didn't entertain me at all. I'm sure it gets better when you invest more time into it, but like the author of this article, I don't have time to devote to a game that's only going to be fun x number of hours from now. I'd rather play something that's fun for me from beginning to end.

"Fun for me" is key here: you might have enjoyed every moment of it, as I'm sure a lot of people did. I must be more of a Black Isle guy than a Bethesda guy.

 

[man-man]

I started playing Bioshock recently... wasn't all that impressed with the beginning. Didn't seem like the character had any motivation to be doing what he was doing. Plane crashes in the middle of the ocean, so you swim to the lighthouse dealy... fair enough. Then you get inside a bathysphere and plunge into the depths of the ocean... wait, what? Why would you do that? Then everything starts either attacking you, or asking you to save their family, and the character just runs off to do it like a good little boy.

Plus the plasmids... randomly modifying your own DNA just because you can? I'm sure that's nice if you intend to do it, but it didn't even tell you what was about to happen with the first one, and why exactly is a random plane crash survivor suddenly ok with jamming needles into his arm every few minutes?

I dunno... the gameplay seems decent enough, and it's all very pretty, but I can't shake the feeling of "Why in hell's name am I doing this?"

 

[Andy_Panthro]

Baldur's Gate 2 had a great start to me, initial dungeon with plenty to do, lots of story threads for you to begin to look at, very atmospheric. Miles better than the first in the series, which had a dull initial area (Candlekeep, I know it's supposed to be dull and safe, but it's an annoyance so I skip as much as possible) but got better and better as you progressed.

Worst ever? surely the tutorial for Driver... I had to get my brother to finish that for me, I could never manage it in the time. The actual game itself was easier.

Why would you do that? Then everything starts either attacking you, or asking you to save their family, and the character just runs off to do it like a good little boy.
why exactly is a random plane crash survivor suddenly ok with jamming needles into his arm every few minutes?

I dunno... the gameplay seems decent enough, and it's all very pretty, but I can't shake the feeling of "Why in hell's name am I doing this?"

There is a reason to all of this, but it left me feeling very empty. I would have preferred the game to run a bit differently also. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until later to find out more, I don't want to spoil the good parts.

 

[Clemenstation]

Basically any time I start a new JRPG, I figure I can start it up, go outside and have a cigarette, and not really miss anything. It's a huge pain in the ass when a 'game' drags you through 20 minutes of oh-my-god-I-don't-CARE generic fantasy about which stupid empires are fighting which.

Bonus suck points for throwing eight billion place and people names at you in the aforementioned opening cut scene of snooziness. Do they really think you'll be sitting there with a notebook going, "Hmm... okay so it's the GALBARDIANS who excavated ancient technology, and the ZATAPOANS are the nature-loving ones, etc etc etc". Games need context (read: the experiencing of actual play-based events) before any of this stuff becomes relevant and/or interesting in the slightest.

 

[Kiutu]

The confusion and fear of my begining in Morrowind are some of my fondest memories. Now ofcourse I know tons of it (still not all of it, even stupid things I should have known I only recently found out)
My advice for Morrowind, is be bold. I remake characters all the time, dont worry about doing something that ruins you later, just learn. Go out and see what happens, make things easier if you want. My main character was very trial/error before I decided his true path, which is still undecided.

Sadly I didn't get confusion and fear, I got boredom. Actually crafting a character was quite fun, but poking around the houses and scrolling through reams of dialogue that didn't relate to anything (yet) just didn't entertain me at all. I'm sure it gets better when you invest more time into it, but like the author of this article, I don't have time to devote to a game that's only going to be fun x number of hours from now. I'd rather play something that's fun for me from beginning to end.

"Fun for me" is key here: you might have enjoyed every moment of it, as I'm sure a lot of people did. I must be more of a Black Isle guy than a Bethesda guy.

Id rather have a game be fun for a long time than be fun right away. Considering Morrowind has been fun for me for almost 6 years now makes me glad I didnt stop after just entering Seyda Neen. (The starting town)

 

[Same River New Water]

Id rather have a game be fun for a long time than be fun right away. Considering Morrowind has been fun for me for almost 6 years now makes me glad I didnt stop after just entering Seyda Neen. (The starting town)

Fair enough. It sounds like you're a Wholesale Player [http://insultswordfighting.blogspot.com/2008/01/new-taxonomy-of-gamers-supply-and.html] by the Insult Swordfighting definition.

Bonus suck points for throwing eight billion place and people names at you in the aforementioned opening cut scene of snooziness. Do they really think you'll be sitting there with a notebook going, "Hmm... okay so it's the GALBARDIANS who excavated ancient technology, and the ZATAPOANS are the nature-loving ones, etc etc etc". Games need context (read: the experiencing of actual play-based events) before any of this stuff becomes relevant and/or interesting in the slightest.

The worst part of it is that sometimes the story would be interesting if it was told well, but instead it's all thrown at you in a giant infodump cutscene so it loses any sense of being a cool, realistic world.

We've got the whole game to find this stuff out, developers! Right now I want to do something fun!