Audio Logs are terrible.

[Hjalmar Fryklund]

First, something I forgot to respond to last night.

One solution I'd have is collect the tapes as items, and play them using walkman you have found. You have to combine the tape with the walkman using inventory crafting table, equip the walkman, fast forward, re-wind, play, etc. You could have a lot of fun with that, give tapes as proof for dialogue, hell you could find music tapes. I wonder how many people would enjoy just the concept of using a tape-player.

I actually had the same idea. In Bioshock specifically you could perhaps even have a special plasmid that allows you to fuse the tape bits on your own. It would have to be a plasmid that doesn't take up any slot space though (much like the save-little-sister-plasmid).

"Discussion with himself" I think hits the nail on the head... that information Sullivan is trying to get out, it would more naturally come out if it was a recording of dialogue he was having with someone else, another engineer or some sort of inspector.

Developers seems to have missed the real trick with audio recordings, now a written text document must be consciously recorded and it doesn't easily contain the information or information from two different people, hard to interject when one person is holding the pen. But with an audio recording people can be recorded secretly, and not knowing they are being recorded will be much more candid, and two people can easily add information and opinions.

That more or less sums it up.

On a side-note, I came up with an idea that combines the elements of someone recording other people´s conversations without their permission and piecing together the tape bits. The player character would find tape pieces that detailed conversations between two NPCs that had secretly been recorded by another character (using a device similar to Joseph in Amélie). You would occasionally find snippets on the tapes where the spying character would complain about how the two NPCs just wouldn't get to the point and talk about the information the spy wanted to hear about.

Yes, that is very handy. I don't remember if that was in Bioshock 1 though. And if it was, I'm not sure if you had to have listened to the recordings first.

I'm pretty sure the PC version didn't have it. I have a vague memory of seeing some footage from the console version with that feature included, but I can't confirm it. It also had some fairly low resolution which means I might have confused it with the sequel.

Well it's odd when tapes are so often left around as messages and hardly ever a simple note is found.

Sure is.

Seeing as the "text logs < audio logs" argument has come up, and (as usual) gets conflated with the idea of having massage in the form of notes as opposed to audio logs, I would like to point out one thing: Just because a written message is used instead of a tape player doesn't mean the the former can't be an audio log.

Phone messages need to be brief. People leave messages only after expecting to have an actual conversations. It's not supposed to be major exposition, just little snippets, a tiny piece of the puzzle to piece together. Like establish two people are in communication, that's it.

it was really awkward in FEAR I fond a blinking phone and got some messages they went on for almost 5 minutes! It's interminable listening to such forced one sided exposition.

Okay...that sounds a bit over the top for message length. I was thinking of 30 secong long messages myself.

 

[Treblaine]

First, something I forgot to respond to last night.

One solution I'd have is collect the tapes as items, and play them using walkman you have found. You have to combine the tape with the walkman using inventory crafting table, equip the walkman, fast forward, re-wind, play, etc. You could have a lot of fun with that, give tapes as proof for dialogue, hell you could find music tapes. I wonder how many people would enjoy just the concept of using a tape-player.

I actually had the same idea. In Bioshock specifically you could perhaps even have a special plasmid that allows you to fuse the tape bits on your own. It would have to be a plasmid that doesn't take up any slot space though (much like the save-little-sister-plasmid).

Hmm, I don't know if it's just me but that seems awfully silly. Plasmids are for things you couldn't do with other devices.

In retrospect I haven't cared much about the nature of Bioshock's plasmids. Getting the electro plasmid just isn't different enough from finding a tazer or some other electro-gun and just using it in the left hand. I see the utility of plasmids in enhancing the body: like an ability to heal quickly, be physically stronger, a kind of matrix "slow mo" ability. There are all things you cannot do with tools. I mean telekinesis, very similar to HL2's gravity gun. Inferno functioned very like a flare gun I've seen in a few games.

I don't know why the game can't just have a comprehensive inventory. One thing I've seen in few games is a kind of "filing system" you can find a loot sack for WITHIN your loot sack. It should be obvious, when you are packing a bag you don't throw your toothbrush and soap loose with everything else in your bag, you have a sponge bag.

Equally an inventory could have a bag within, click on the bag and that'll inventory will open like a file system on a PC and inside you'll find smaller items like the tapes and the tape-player. Tape player would have other uses, as it can record a computer code and play it back, you could just play some music.

On a side-note, I came up with an idea that combines the elements of someone recording other people´s conversations without their permission and piecing together the tape bits. The player character would find tape pieces that detailed conversations between two NPCs that had secretly been recorded by another character (using a device similar to Joseph in Amélie). You would occasionally find snippets on the tapes where the spying character would complain about how the two NPCs just wouldn't get to the point and talk about the information the spy wanted to hear about.

That's something that can work. As if it is being recorded for someone else (like the spymaster) they may appreciate the spy giving context. But I'd be careful just to avoid having the characters simply tell the story rather than let it come out more naturally.

Well it's odd when tapes are so often left around as messages and hardly ever a simple note is found.

Sure is.

Seeing as the "text logs < audio logs" argument has come up, and (as usual) gets conflated with the idea of having massage in the form of notes as opposed to audio logs, I would like to point out one thing: Just because a written message is used instead of a tape player doesn't mean the the former can't be an audio log.

Well, an ode to the note as a storytelling device:

They add a certain sense of mystery, by removing the author's voice it's not immediately obvious who wrote it: if a man or woman, young or old, local or foreign. But you can discern other things.

Particularly whenever a message is sent that seeks anonymity, it makes a lot of sense for it to be text rather than audio.

And bioshock has the messages, it has things painted on wall, often in blood. Though I'm such a killjoy I think it's red paint as I happen to know that within a few hours blood stains turn brown as the blood cells die.

Okay...that sounds a bit over the top for message length. I was thinking of 30 second long messages myself.

Well FEAR have something like 7 back-to-back 45-second messages from apparently the same person. It would have been really nice if I had some way of constructing the messages on a timeline. As it is, it came across as an information dump that was hard to sift through.

That's the thing, I believe information dumps are best relayed with Text than audio.

Audio should be reserved for telling a story, establish a scene or character's mannerisms.

If you just want to get info out, Tex has the advantage of being easy to skim and re-read and so on.

 

[Hjalmar Fryklund]

Hmm, I don't know if it's just me but that seems awfully silly. Plasmids are for things you couldn't do with other devices.

In retrospect I haven't cared much about the nature of Bioshock's plasmids. Getting the electro plasmid just isn't different enough from finding a tazer or some other electro-gun and just using it in the left hand. I see the utility of plasmids in enhancing the body: like an ability to heal quickly, be physically stronger, a kind of matrix "slow mo" ability. There are all things you cannot do with tools. I mean telekinesis, very similar to HL2's gravity gun. Inferno functioned very like a flare gun I've seen in a few games.

Eh, the chemical thrower can more or less replicate Electro Bolt, Incinerate, and Winter Blast. Besides, if you ask me, most of the attack plasmids come off as rather silly (particulary the mind control plasmids which looked like rotten fruit with Tron lines). They give me kind of a cheesy sixties vibe, if you will.

I don't know why the game can't just have a comprehensive inventory. One thing I've seen in few games is a kind of "filing system" you can find a loot sack for WITHIN your loot sack. It should be obvious, when you are packing a bag you don't throw your toothbrush and soap loose with everything else in your bag, you have a sponge bag.

Equally an inventory could have a bag within, click on the bag and that'll inventory will open like a file system on a PC and inside you'll find smaller items like the tapes and the tape-player. Tape player would have other uses, as it can record a computer code and play it back, you could just play some music.

At the end of the day the game was fairly bare bones. Sure, the plasmids and the weapon upgrades added a few extra levels of depth, but otherwise there isn't much else gameplay-wise that makes an inventory all that necessary. The one thing I could see being useful to have an inventory screen for would be the U-Invent items.

I'd say an inventory would have been very neat to have if the game(s) had more emphasis on RPG aspects which would make having an overview of your stats and other items more of a necessity.

Well, an ode to the note as a storytelling device:

They add a certain sense of mystery, by removing the author's voice it's not immediately obvious who wrote it: if a man or woman, young or old, local or foreign. But you can discern other things.

Particularly whenever a message is sent that seeks anonymity, it makes a lot of sense for it to be text rather than audio.

Yes, but consider this:

Player character picks up a letter adressed to him/her. When the letter is picked up you hear the sound of unfolding paper and then a voice starts reading the letter aloud for you, the voice belonging to the author of the letter. Just have the letter funtion like an audio log. You can do the same with a regular diary as well.

And bioshock has the messages, it has things painted on wall, often in blood. Though I'm such a killjoy I think it's red paint as I happen to know that within a few hours blood stains turn brown as the blood cells die.

It gets particulary silly when the blood is supposedly several years old. It's like someone is adding more blood/paint to it, like they're trying to maintain a crime scene.

 

[MammothBlade]

I like them when they actually add to the gameplay, perhaps containing useful clues or information that can be applied in game. Not a lot of games seem to do that these days sadly. I like story as much as the next person, but it should be well thought-out.

 

[Treblaine]

I don't know why the game can't just have a comprehensive inventory. One thing I've seen in few games is a kind of "filing system" you can find a loot sack for WITHIN your loot sack. It should be obvious, when you are packing a bag you don't throw your toothbrush and soap loose with everything else in your bag, you have a sponge bag.

Equally an inventory could have a bag within, click on the bag and that'll inventory will open like a file system on a PC and inside you'll find smaller items like the tapes and the tape-player. Tape player would have other uses, as it can record a computer code and play it back, you could just play some music.

At the end of the day the game was fairly bare bones. Sure, the plasmids and the weapon upgrades added a few extra levels of depth, but otherwise there isn't much else gameplay-wise that makes an inventory all that necessary. The one thing I could see being useful to have an inventory screen for would be the U-Invent items.

I'd say an inventory would be very neat the have if the game(s) had more emphasis on RPG aspects which would make having an overview of your stats and other items more of a necessity.

Looking back... I know thins may sound ungrateful for being given a game like Bioshock that tries so hard in an age of 2-weapon-limit, rebounding-health, linear corridor shooters... but I don't think the plasmids really added much.

I mean beyond how they all appear to be coming out of his wrist and they could just as easily be different weapons. The only significance of the plasmids is they all used the same "ammo" of Eve and these weapons were limited by what Adam you could get from Little Sisters/Tenenbaum.

But the result of that is a lack of experimentation. If you had a separate "bee resource" and "battery resource" you'd not worry about using the bees for how you might not have batteries later, as would be the case with Swarm and Electro-Bolt both using the same eve pool.

So as a result the Plasmids just became something that looks cool, that I think is the huge problem with Bioshock, a lot of good stuff going on at first appearances and it promises depth but there is nothing beyond that.

And of the Gene tonics only Natural Camouflage and Drill Dash (of Bioshock 2) really changed gameplay. Drill/Wrench lurker changed it quite a lot as well. Things like Wrench Jockey, not much different from simply getting a better and more damaging melee weapon.

Spoiler: my retrospective look at plasmids:

-Elecro Bolt = A tazer or zapper gun
-Incinerate = flare gun
-Decoy/Target Dummy = Duke Nukem 3D (1996) had this with Holoduke grenade
-Winter blast = vial of liquid nitrogen
-Telekinesis = gravity gun
-Sonic Boom = a powerful forward "kick" ability
-Cyclone Trap = this is just a non-lethal land mine
-Hypnotise/Enrage = Dart gun delivering some crazy drug
-insect swarm = a jar full of killer bees
-Scout = I saw this in the N64 game Perfect Dark, it's a small remote control spying insect.
-Security command = something like HL2's pheromone pods

Well, an ode to the note as a storytelling device:

They add a certain sense of mystery, by removing the author's voice it's not immediately obvious who wrote it: if a man or woman, young or old, local or foreign. But you can discern other things.

Particularly whenever a message is sent that seeks anonymity, it makes a lot of sense for it to be text rather than audio.

Yes, but consider this:

Player character picks up a letter adressed to him/her. When the letter is picked up you hear the sound of unfolding paper and then a voice starts reading the letter aloud for you, the voice belonging to the author of the letter. Just have the letter funtion like an audio log. You can do the same with a regular diary as well.

Yeah, but either it's a game that plays fast and loose with both perspective and time, or they have some sort of psychic link capability with a note.

I don't think we should be too afraid of a bit of reading. The problem is not the reading, the problem is the content being so boring that so many don't have the focus to even read it.

I think any voice over be there as an option but should not be voiced by the writer, but by the reader - the playable character - for the benefit of those who can't read it very well. If a mute protagonist is somehow required, have it read out by a third party narrator or a kind of "inside voice". Actually, Jack did speak, during the opening cinematic we hear him speak very briefly but never again after that.

And it should be there as an inverse of subtitles.

And bioshock has the messages, it has things painted on wall, often in blood. Though I'm such a killjoy I think it's red paint as I happen to know that within a few hours blood stains turn brown as the blood cells die.

It gets particulary silly when the blood is supposedly several years old. It's like someone is adding more blood/paint to it, like they're trying to maintain a crime scene.

Hmm, but I suppose this should be taken for how naive and innocent most gamers really are they haven't seen any significant blood spilt in their life.

This could work to a game's benefit as someone notes

"My gad... painted in blood, and it's still red... the killer can't be far"

 

[Treblaine]

What do you mean audio logs are terrible? I DO THEM ALL THE TIME. I record my voice on audacity and then encode the audio so that it can be read on a CD by any standard CD player and scatter them one by one all over the place.

You don't do this?

I don't always record audio diaries and scatter fragments of them randomly over my town in an easy to listen to format...

But when I do, I always make sure to clearly state important passcodes and reveal my most fiendish plots with no hint of ambiguity.

 

[sabercrusader]

I really have no problems whatsoever with Audio Logs. Seriously, I can't think of a single time where it's been a major problem for me. It was kinda annoying when some of the passcodes were only on the audio logs in Bioshock, but beyond that, I enjoy them immensely. I love the backstory they give.

 

[Hjalmar Fryklund]

Looking back... I know thins may sound ungrateful for being given a game like Bioshock that tries so hard in an age of 2-weapon-limit, rebounding-health, linear corridor shooters... but I don't think the plasmids really added much.

I mean beyond how they all appear to be coming out of his wrist and they could just as easily be different weapons. The only significance of the plasmids is they all used the same "ammo" of Eve and these weapons were limited by what Adam you could get from Little Sisters/Tenenbaum.

But the result of that is a lack of experimentation. If you had a separate "bee resource" and "battery resource" you'd not worry about using the bees for how you might not have batteries later, as would be the case with Swarm and Electro-Bolt both using the same eve pool.

So as a result the Plasmids just became something that looks cool, that I think is the huge problem with Bioshock, a lot of good stuff going on at first appearances and it promises depth but there is nothing beyond that.

True, a lot of it is very much style-over-substance that ends up feeling hack-neyed or shallow when you look at it more thoroughly. Not that it can't be enjoyed on that level, but it isn't all that deep or meaningful.

Amusingly enough, the sequel seems to take the opposite tack; it doesn't feel very meaningful or inspired, but it did something interesting with the concept of Big Daddies as adoptive parents when you start to take a closer look at it.

And of the Gene tonics only Natural Camouflage and Drill Dash (of Bioshock 2) really changed gameplay. Drill/Wrench lurker changed it quite a lot as well. Things like Wrench Jockey, not much different from simply getting a better and more damaging melee weapon.

Well, I do know you can do a very wrench-heavy build that turns it into the most powerful weapon of them all. It places a lot of emphasis on stealth (in order to take advantage of Wrench Lurker) and can appearently be used with Electro Bolt to one-shot a Big Daddy. On Hard, even.

Yeah, but either it's a game that plays fast and loose with both perspective and time, or they have some sort of psychic link capability with a note.

Why is that?

I don't think we should be too afraid of a bit of reading. The problem is not the reading, the problem is the content being so boring that so many don't have the focus to even read it.

While it is true that the prose quality in most text logs is fairly abysmal, I can see a way to combine both of them: Giving different characters different levels of writing quality in their logs. This would add an extra layer of depth to the writing and characterization, as it would show the different kinds/levels of writing competency that the text log authors possess(ed).

Actually, Jack did speak, during the opening cinematic we hear him speak very briefly but never again after that.

Which is a bit unnecessary, since his movements kinda show what he feels and what the significance the objects (like the photo) hold to him.

This is one of the (rather few) things I appreciated about Bioshock 2, namely that the protagonist (Subject Delta) has a solid in-story reason to be silent by virtue of being a Big Daddy.

And it should be there as an inverse of subtitles.

Why?

Hmm, but I suppose this should be taken for how naive and innocent most gamers really are they haven't seen any significant blood spilt in their life.

This could work to a game's benefit as someone notes

"My gad... painted in blood, and it's still red... the killer can't be far"

And then perhaps it turns out that the blood was actually paint, and the killer/blood bank abuser put it there as a red herring, while they themselves were long gone.

EDIT: Removed some unnecessary fluff.

 

[Treblaine]

Well, I do know you can do a very wrench-heavy build that turns it into the most powerful weapon of them all. It places a lot of emphasis on stealth (in order to take advantage of Wrench Lurker) and can appearently be used with Electro Bolt to one-shot a Big Daddy. On Hard, even.

That's an example of OP'ness and poor design. I mean the game doesn't tell you that it has damage boosts of 350% and then 550%! Or that stunned/unaware enemies take 4x melee damage.

Wrench may look right as a starting weapon... but then it just became silly how powerful it got. The animation for the swing didn't even look any different. It seems like it might have benefited from weapons upgrades or "side-grades".

Yeah, but either it's a game that plays fast and loose with both perspective and time, or they have some sort of psychic link capability with a note.

Why is that?

Because they would be hearing their voice when they only wrote the note when they likely never spoke a word of their note and they are long gone anyway.

The best way this is done in film is with a flashback AND narration, back to them writing the note and a voice over narration of what the note says as if thinking what they are writing.

I still think if you want to hear their voice say it, then just have a tape recording in that case.

Written notes exist for a reason of distinction. They don't have to be long, they can be concise and still profound.

While it is true that the prose quality in most text logs is fairly abysmal, I can see a way to combine both of them: Giving different characters different levels of writing quality in their logs. This would add an extra layer of depth to the writing and characterization, as it would show the different kinds/levels of writing competency that the text log authors possess(ed).

Well it's simple things, like does the first sentence of a text log both grab the reader's attention yet promise more. It doesn't have to have good spelling nor grammar, Mark Twain famously had very poor ability in that area and by any modern standard Shakespear has incorrect spelling and even grammar that would be technically "wrong".

That's what I'm talking about with "good writing" it's not how you english teacher might have marked your essays.

And it should be there as an inverse of subtitles.

Why?

Well not an inverse.

The point of subtitles is for those who want better ability to discern dialogue, especially when the dialogue is in the same language as the subtitles. It gives the content in a different form.

Reading out a document serves the same function but the other way, easier to take in being heard spoken, rather than read.

 

[nykirnsu]

Let me throw this in there, while I agree with the overuse/bad execution points, I really enjoyed them in the Arkham games... So whether that's rule or exception, I'm leaving up to everybody else.

The Arkham games are how they should be done. They record the conversation of multiple people and give an obvious reason why such a conversation has been recorded, rather than just having a villain explain their plan and record so the hero knows how to stop them (which makes no sense at all). All audio logs should be done like this.

Yes that's right, it's not a, let me make a record of all of my devious plans so the protagonist can find them. They're just patient-doctor sessions that go on record. I especially liked Harley Quinns tape, where she effectively goes from doctor to patient in the course of a number of sessions.

Another game where the audio records work, at least to some extent, is Borderlands. Here the recordings are of someone who is bats@()* insane (Patricia Tannis) or audio logs of field communications. Or just wilfull mocking taunts of your nemesis (Handsome Jack). Additionally, that game is not to be taken too serious anyway, so that helps.

Haven't played borderlands, but yeah, if the characters are given a logical reason to monologue then the monologue has a chance of being quite good. Harley Quinn's tapes were pretty well-done too, one of the few times where I actually sort of liked the character.

 

[Epic Fail 1977]

I haven't read the thread yet, but I totally agree with your OP. Except of course that one bit about Bioshock.

 

[Treblaine]

I haven't read the thread yet, but I totally agree with your OP. Except of course that one bit about Bioshock.

We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/6.402772.16641399]

You may find I am not criticising these games for their lack of writing, but the importance of writing in their narrative and how it is that which holds back the game, not the violent combat nor it's frequency.

 

[Epic Fail 1977]

I haven't read the thread yet, but I totally agree with your OP. Except of course that one bit about Bioshock.

We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/6.402772.16641399]

You may find I am not criticising these games for their lack of writing, but the importance of writing in their narrative and how it is that which holds back the game, not the violent combat nor it's frequency.

Er, yeah, I did find that. Relax, I was just agreeing with your OP. It wasn't disingenuous. No need to drag that other thread in here.

 

[notyouraveragejoe]

I always loved the audiologs because they, to me, made the game even creepier. Just listening to someone saying creepy stuff (I WANT TO TAKE THE EARS OFF) and having to walk around a dark area brought tension to a max. It won't suit every game. It worked in Bioshock because I felt that the point of Rapture was to be scientifically and morally free. So a lot of people who had kept diaries would be pushed to getting audiodiaries since they would be the "Upgrade".

 

[Treblaine]

I haven't read the thread yet, but I totally agree with your OP. Except of course that one bit about Bioshock.

We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/6.402772.16641399]

You may find I am not criticising these games for their lack of writing, but the importance of writing in their narrative and how it is that which holds back the game, not the violent combat nor it's frequency.

Er, yeah, I did find that. Relax, I was just agreeing with your OP. It wasn't disingenuous. No need to drag that other thread in here.

Well yeah, best not cross the streams, it would be bad.

But saying on, err, this thread, what did you not agree with about Bioshock? It was pretty much my prime example of a game that utilised audio-logs a lot but didn't use them very effectively when they were an important part of the gameplay.

 

[Detroit]

Wearing blinders must be pretty comfortable.

 

[Treblaine]

Wearing blinders must be pretty comfortable.

Did you post in the right thread? I don't see the relevance.

I'd rather have audio logs, than chunks o' text logs.
It's terrible storytelling and If I wanted to read that much, I'd pick up a book.

Is the problem the "Text" or the "chunk o" part.

Developers make mistakes with texts that any non-game developer who specialised in text would never do. Things like broad columns of low font size often serif text, that's just hard to read and not to forget the content, it's taking "information dump" to the extreme.

I'd wager even you, Tomfoolery, would like and seek out text logs if they were laid out with actual care rather than just made out of obligation in a hard to consume form.

I know it may not seem like much, but I read all the notes I found in Resident Evil series and enjoyed them... but the notes in these modern games like Farc Cry 3 and Skyrim... euurgh. I think the difference was Resident Evil focused on the clearest text presentation and limited the number of words on a page and on a line.

 

[FoolKiller]

I dunno...


Some of the audio logs in Borderlands where pretty damn hilarious and interesting.

Absolutely...

Anyone who has played the games and heard the recordings of researcher Patricia Tannis will laugh their asses off at how she goes from a basic researcher studying stuff on Pandora to bat shit. But for her it is more of a natural thing since researchers actually do keep audio logs talking to themselves in diary format.

 

[Treblaine]

Matter of taste. If it is kept brief then yes, it can be enjoyable. And I agree, Resident Evil was good about it.
Enough to keep you intrigued but not text heavy.
Skyrim's books aren't worth reading, unless you enjoy scrolling through copious amounts of lore.
Another example would be the dream journals in Lost Odyssey. Some of those were 10 pages or so.

I rarely make a habit of looking for text logs and such in games.
However, I did enjoy collecting audio tapes and notes in Metal Gear Solid Peacewalker.

Yes, developers could do with learning how sometimes, less is more.

But even better they could learn to segment their text heavy content.

I remember Metal Gear Solid, in the starting menu there was a "briefing" option that brilliantly covered the backstory to both MGS1 and the previous Metal Gear games that covered a lot of detail yet kept the attention of my 11 year old ADHD mind. It used both a series of hyperlinks and an index, you didn't just have to "read all of it" you could follow a tree of bite-size chunks that added up to way more than I could have consumed had it all been one solid line. It would seamlessly combine the text and mostly audio-based interrogation scene into one narrative, it would give you a reason to read a text by the well voice-acted audio-file expanding out the knowledge tree.

You could see the tree unravelling and could ignore paths that didn't catch your interest, then go back and look at them later.

And this was a throw away feature for Metal Gear Solid, and it was brilliant. I see it's applications outside a "Briefing" role, it could also work for all the information you have found, you don't have to read it as soon as you get it, but in an "investigation session" reviewing everything you have together.

Ultimately, the game medium needs to take advantage of how it is a GAME and not a book. It is a computer simulation, that gives incredibly freedom of expression. If you have something you want to say in text, the idea that you have to construct it like a published book is the wrong way to go.

The most important part of audio or text logs, is that they should be optional. Not used to tell the narrative, but subtly add to it if the player wishes to know more.

Agreed, this is true for many aspects of gameplay but arguably of greater importance here with supplementary narrative than anywhere.

Though I agree that audio-recordings and notes should be important to a game's narrative, they should be optional and be read because the player chooses to read them.

 

[Vicarious Reality]

I liked the audio logs in Doom 3

Bioshock is a bit annoyingly talkative