Issue 37 - Magic Words

[The Escapist Staff]

Will Hindmarch"One moment, you're neutralizing a pawn to complete a mission objective and capture points. The next, you're a vile murderer ambushing a penniless grunt to get your hands on the castle's loot. What happened?" Will Hindmarch details how small details can dramatically enhance the depth of a game.

 

[The Escapist Staff]

Original Comment by: Thomas Crymes

You say the characters cease to exist after the level is over, but I'm not sure I agree with that. I think the instant the character takes form in your mind, that character exists, and every time you think of that character, he/she winks into existence, if only in your subconscious.

I know you are concerned with the data as it resides in memory, but I think it goes beyond that. A DVD player only knows what is being displayed at the moment. The viewer keeps the world in his/her head, and in that head the characters exist and are persistent.

Nevertheless, I liked the article, and it is nice to know that game designers are endevoring to put that level of detail in games.

 

[The Escapist Staff]

Original Comment by: Will Hindmarch
http://www.wordstudio.net
Right on. I totally agree with you, Thomas. The last paragraph is an admittedly hurried hint to that point. Follow any of those links and I hope the point implicitly makes itself: These game worlds have become real enough that fans have helped keep them living long after the game's off store shelves and hard drives.

Thief is eight years old now, but I'm still afraid of the Trickster and the Hammerites. Words co-opt the player's imagination for processing power, rendering stuff (like smells and guilt) that GeForce cards still can't. Just 'cause the console's turned off doesn't mean the player is.

 

[The Escapist Staff]

Original Comment by: Richard Wise, King of the Judeans
http://www.saltcube.com/obe-guide/
A very intelligent, thought-provoking, and overall great work.

 

[The Escapist Staff]

Original Comment by: Brian Downing

I totally agree with Thomas and Will. I like to think about where these "grunts" come from. It makes it more real to hear what they have to say. I'm tired of the legions of "clones" in video games. All your enemies are the same... This makes the world come to life, It makes you pause and just soak it in. I love it. The developers of "Thief" have done a wonderful job.

 

[The Escapist Staff]

Original Comment by: mandaya
http://www.tamtamvienna.com
Another great example of the use of NPC-conversation is Max Payne I and II, although, admittedly, the encounters with the bad guys tend to lead up to shooting them anyway (as stealth is not really as strong an incentive here as the element of surprise).
Great article. Thief is and was without doubt a timeless classic.