Is there any excuse to not make cutscenes skippable anymore?
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Loading times. Also, sometimes things that seem like cutscenes are actually inengine, which means that things have to move, skipping would break the sentence.
Otherwise, no i cannot imagine anything. Maybe gameover cutscenes that taunt the player? I think the problem of not being able to skip something, grows with the length of cutscene. Most people probably wouldnt mind 4 sec cutscene thats unskippable.
Otherwise, no i cannot imagine anything. Maybe gameover cutscenes that taunt the player? I think the problem of not being able to skip something, grows with the length of cutscene. Most people probably wouldnt mind 4 sec cutscene thats unskippable.
I don't think there is. The issue was painfully obvious to me and actually in the same game that you (OP) mentioned. The long, drawn out explanation/preparation talking scene before fighting you know who, and then getting absolutely destroyed by Zombie - Life combos and Mega Death and having to sit through the whole damn thing again.
Maybe they don't want people to miss things. All well and good but if that's the case then they should just put in an abridged slate that lasts a few seconds to summarize the scene. Using the above as an example: 'Party talks with X, disagrees with opinion. X decides best course of action was to horribly murder Party for their own good. Fight ensues.' and then it goes straight into the battle with 10 minutes of reiterative exposition cut out.
Maybe they don't want people to miss things. All well and good but if that's the case then they should just put in an abridged slate that lasts a few seconds to summarize the scene. Using the above as an example: 'Party talks with X, disagrees with opinion. X decides best course of action was to horribly murder Party for their own good. Fight ensues.' and then it goes straight into the battle with 10 minutes of reiterative exposition cut out.
Often, especially with big releases, the games come out unfinished and full of bugs because of deadlines given by the publisher.
It would make some sense to assume that not being able to skip a cutscene is just 1 thing they forgot or didn't have time to to put in.
It would make some sense to assume that not being able to skip a cutscene is just 1 thing they forgot or didn't have time to to put in.
No excuses other than the loading excuse, and even then it's still kind of stupid. I've never bought the idea that people should be forced to sit through them in order to force them to appreciate all the time and effort that went into it, nor do I buy the excuse that they may miss something otherwise. If people want to skip it then they aren't going to thank you for preventing it regardless of effort, and if they're stupid enough to skip information that would put the story into context then they deserve the frustration.
I guess you could argue that the frustration of stupid people may drive down the score, but that's a pretty big assumption to make.
And I agree on pausing cut scenes. Seriously, why is this not standard yet?
I guess you could argue that the frustration of stupid people may drive down the score, but that's a pretty big assumption to make.
And I agree on pausing cut scenes. Seriously, why is this not standard yet?
any excuse? sure, some games do it to hide their load times. I'm sure there's something about "cinematic" that could be argued by some figurehead somewhere.
now, any GOOD excuse? not really. I get being proud of your story and the work on the cutscene's graphics, but making them impossible to skip is a pretty underhanded move, especially if you like to throw them right in front of insanely heard bosses. Lookin' at you, xenosaga.
now, any GOOD excuse? not really. I get being proud of your story and the work on the cutscene's graphics, but making them impossible to skip is a pretty underhanded move, especially if you like to throw them right in front of insanely heard bosses. Lookin' at you, xenosaga.
There is only one excuse as far as I am concerned, which is hidden loading screens. And even then, just make it unskippable until the loading is done. Also, pausing is a must.
Perhaps just as importantly, the industry needs to decide on a standard for these functions. They all need to work the same and use the same buttons as much as possible. If I need to pause a cutscene to go take care of my baby I need to know that pressing start will pause and not skip a cutscene.
I like the idea someone in here purposed of fully controllable cutscenes, including rewinding and fastforwarding, but since we don't use prerendered cutscenes anymore that is actually a really, really difficult problem to solve. It could be done, but it would not be easy. I bet there will eventually be standardized tools to do this, but first the tech needs to stabalize and that probably wont happen for years. I think there are three good stop gap solutions, depending on the game.
First, every game should allow you to rewatch any cutcene you have already seen. Second, if this is viable in your game, record the in engine scene and then seamlessly integrate it into your game. This one does not work with many games these days because they take into account your characters current state (weapons, costume) when running the scene. Third, key point the cutscene.
For anyone who does not know, how modern cutscenes tend to work is that every actor (objects and such in the cutscene) has a starting position and then they are moved and manipulated in sequence using a sort of script full of instructions. You can only get to a certain point in the cutscene by starting at the beginning and then following the set of instructions to that point. This is the same way video encryption works, you start with a key frame and then only note the changes. But you can a specific scene in a movie without seeing the entire first half of the movie first because there are multiple key frames through the movie. This is the pattern cutscenes should follow. This way the cutscene could be started from many points.
Now, this could not easily be used to fully imitate rewinding and such because loading a cutscene state can take some time, but it would be a start.
Perhaps just as importantly, the industry needs to decide on a standard for these functions. They all need to work the same and use the same buttons as much as possible. If I need to pause a cutscene to go take care of my baby I need to know that pressing start will pause and not skip a cutscene.
I like the idea someone in here purposed of fully controllable cutscenes, including rewinding and fastforwarding, but since we don't use prerendered cutscenes anymore that is actually a really, really difficult problem to solve. It could be done, but it would not be easy. I bet there will eventually be standardized tools to do this, but first the tech needs to stabalize and that probably wont happen for years. I think there are three good stop gap solutions, depending on the game.
First, every game should allow you to rewatch any cutcene you have already seen. Second, if this is viable in your game, record the in engine scene and then seamlessly integrate it into your game. This one does not work with many games these days because they take into account your characters current state (weapons, costume) when running the scene. Third, key point the cutscene.
For anyone who does not know, how modern cutscenes tend to work is that every actor (objects and such in the cutscene) has a starting position and then they are moved and manipulated in sequence using a sort of script full of instructions. You can only get to a certain point in the cutscene by starting at the beginning and then following the set of instructions to that point. This is the same way video encryption works, you start with a key frame and then only note the changes. But you can a specific scene in a movie without seeing the entire first half of the movie first because there are multiple key frames through the movie. This is the pattern cutscenes should follow. This way the cutscene could be started from many points.
Now, this could not easily be used to fully imitate rewinding and such because loading a cutscene state can take some time, but it would be a start.
Yeah, the main reasons as I see it to not allow skipping are:
1) Technical limitations -- maybe the cutscenes mask horrific loading times. If the loading's happening on a separate thread/core, cutting out the cutscene might not even decrease the loading time. A two-minute unskippable scene could well be seen as preferable to a two-minute loading screen. This is an argument against fast-forwarding in cutscenes as well.
2) Story/plot limitations -- if the cutscene explains what to do next, making it required could be a way to keep players from getting hopelessly lost and frustrated. Most games can get around this with a quest summary box or similar, but it is extra work to implement if the quest system isn't there already, which leads to greater development costs and delays.
3) Greater development costs and delays -- a feature is a feature, and features require implementation. The costs could be anywhere from "next to nothing" to "way more trouble than it's worth".
4) "But my game is totally awesome and everyone must see every last second!" -- maybe the game is a seminal masterpiece that will irrevocably alter the lives of everyone who plays it. If you allow skipping, players might miss out on the full life-changing experience. At this point, why are they even playing the game at all?
Obviously some of these reasons might be better than others (there's also stuff like "We spent good money making these scenes, by God people are going to watch them"), but I think they cover the gist of it.
1) Technical limitations -- maybe the cutscenes mask horrific loading times. If the loading's happening on a separate thread/core, cutting out the cutscene might not even decrease the loading time. A two-minute unskippable scene could well be seen as preferable to a two-minute loading screen. This is an argument against fast-forwarding in cutscenes as well.
2) Story/plot limitations -- if the cutscene explains what to do next, making it required could be a way to keep players from getting hopelessly lost and frustrated. Most games can get around this with a quest summary box or similar, but it is extra work to implement if the quest system isn't there already, which leads to greater development costs and delays.
3) Greater development costs and delays -- a feature is a feature, and features require implementation. The costs could be anywhere from "next to nothing" to "way more trouble than it's worth".
4) "But my game is totally awesome and everyone must see every last second!" -- maybe the game is a seminal masterpiece that will irrevocably alter the lives of everyone who plays it. If you allow skipping, players might miss out on the full life-changing experience. At this point, why are they even playing the game at all?
Obviously some of these reasons might be better than others (there's also stuff like "We spent good money making these scenes, by God people are going to watch them"), but I think they cover the gist of it.
The only valid reason for them being unskippable is if they don't take away control from the player like in half-life.
It isn't really possible to "skip" the "cutscene" of the soldier shooting the scientist, g-man talking or the guard walking to the eyescanner to open that door because it is an event tied to in-game functions.
Your "do stuff" buttons still do stuff like jumping or shooting your weapon and disabling that to let it skip things every time a thing happens doesn't seem feasible.
Short of slapping a designated "skip" button that does nothing but skip "cutscenes" in a horrible and clunky way, I don't see how to make those cutscenes skippable.
Something like that skyrim intro is an inexcusable warcrime though.
It isn't really possible to "skip" the "cutscene" of the soldier shooting the scientist, g-man talking or the guard walking to the eyescanner to open that door because it is an event tied to in-game functions.
Your "do stuff" buttons still do stuff like jumping or shooting your weapon and disabling that to let it skip things every time a thing happens doesn't seem feasible.
Short of slapping a designated "skip" button that does nothing but skip "cutscenes" in a horrible and clunky way, I don't see how to make those cutscenes skippable.
Something like that skyrim intro is an inexcusable warcrime though.
I can think only of 2 things
1. the game's loading things in the background and uses the cutscene as a "loading screen". Witcher 3 sorta does this
2. it's a scripted event where you have to make QTE or input decisions
every other reason seems to be related to annoying gamers
1. the game's loading things in the background and uses the cutscene as a "loading screen". Witcher 3 sorta does this
2. it's a scripted event where you have to make QTE or input decisions
every other reason seems to be related to annoying gamers
Only if it's really short, just to point you in the right direction or if they are using it as a loading screen but even then they should do what Mirrors Edge did and let you skip when the load is complete.
I wish more developers would put in a PAUSE button especially of its a game where the cut-scenes to tell you information you need.
I wish more developers would put in a PAUSE button especially of its a game where the cut-scenes to tell you information you need.
That's the players choice. If they are skipping cut-scenes chances are they don't care about things making sense and if it gives you hints for how to progress they could put a warning up when it asks you to confirm. Plus if it doesn't let you skip for a first play through if you install the game on a different machine or don't have the save file any longer the game would make you watch the cut scenes again.PureChaos said: