What is a 'Set Piece'?

[Shuu]

Obviously I know what it is, and poeple have various feelings towards set pieces in games, but I thought it'd be good for us to try and nail down exactly what defines moments in games as "set pieces" and maybe then try to work out (if just for myself) whether or not they're good game design, and WHEN they are or aren't good game design.
So come on people, what do you understand to be a set piece? How wide is the definition, when does a set piece no longer fit into that definition? When does a non set piece BECOME a set piece?

 

[C F]

It's basically a catch-all term for anything in a game that has little-to-no actual value in a playable, controllable game.

Set pieces in plays were typically wooden cutouts to create artifical environments for the characters to playact in. A classic example of video game set pieces would be those lovingly rendered rocks and trees in open-world environments that you can't interact with aside from moving along near them.

A sequence of barely interactive quick-time events that could easily be replaced with a non-interactive cutscene could be likened to set pieces in a slightly critical and derogatory way, if you want to make a witty passive-aggressive statement along the lines of "hey, it would be really sweet if I could play this myself, thanks". No one usually argues with this usage, so the metaphor became commonplace.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

In my definition a setpiece is a scene staged specifically to awe the player and make the scene look cool. It doesn't necessarily involve the player losing control but it usually involves the game engine showing off all the things it is capable of in terms of graphics rendering, physics etc..

To me the set piece is the same as it is in movies, a memorable scene of high action which aims at making the player remember it vividly. The heists in GTA V are all setpieces for example, or the nuke scene in Modern Warfare.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I think we can condense it down to "uncontrollable event", and no QTE shit is not control you are just unpausing the god damn cut scene.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

In my definition a setpiece is a scene staged specifically to awe the player and make the scene look cool. It doesn't necessarily involve the player losing control but it usually involves the game engine showing off all the things it is capable of in terms of graphics rendering, physics etc..

Gosh darn it, I've got to stop quoting people.
Stop having the same ideas as me!
Anyway.
To me, it's basically anytime the game goes "Hey, look at this!"
And I love them, I don't care if a game is saturated with them, as long as they're done correctly, I'm along for the ride.
Heck, I loved Asura's Wrath and that game's about 70 percent set-piece/QTE.

 

[StriderShinryu]

As others have said, it's basically just a moment that is designed to show off the game and, hopefully, take your breath away. It doesn't, however, have to be something you can't actually play or have no control over. In fact, the best set pieces are the ones where not only are you awed to be seeing it, but you're awed that you are actually playing it as well.

 

[skywolfblue]

In my definition a setpiece is a scene staged specifically to awe the player and make the scene look cool. It doesn't necessarily involve the player losing control but it usually involves the game engine showing off all the things it is capable of in terms of graphics rendering, physics etc...

I'd say more then just showing what the engine is capable of, it's to visually/interactively wow the player.

It doesn't take Crysis level graphics to have the player driving a motorcycle up a rocket... thats blasting off into outer space! (Bayonetta)

A boss fight is a pretty common example of a video game set-piece. You've got your awesomely evil-looking boss lair, your evil monster 50foot tall boss, stomping around casting cool and deadly looking spells at your character, you've got gameplay that is tied to the boss (phases, special "this boss fight only" abilities your character gains).

I'd say a set piece ends when game dictates that it does. Usually this is by falling action (taking a breather/dialing things back for a bit), you get a few seconds of peace after you've finished off that boss, or you reach the safety of your ship's airlock and take a breather as the landscape you were just running through becomes a fiery inferno.

So in order for something to not be a set piece, it'd have to have nothing new or different to offer the player. No new scenery, no new enemies, no new gameplay. (Set Pieces are pretty common in my definition)

 

[SoranMBane]

It's an interactive or semi-interactive moment in a game that's scripted to play out roughly the same exact way every time for every player, often in the form of intense action scenes to provide both climaxes to the story and spectacle, but they can just as often be used for simple storytelling and tone-setting. For examples, just look at the Half-Life games; the series doesn't use cutscenes, so, by necessity, they use heavily-scripted set-pieces to tell their story instead.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

I'd say more then just showing what the engine is capable of, it's to visually/interactively wow the player.

It doesn't take Crysis level graphics to have the player driving a motorcycle up a rocket... thats blasting off into outer space! (Bayonetta)

Oh absolutely, what I meant is that a setpiece is usually the time when the game wants to show you what it can do. Many games do this by pressing their game engine to the breaking point, but it could just as easily be a relatively modest scene where you climb up a nuke in mid-flight to disarm it by punching its' control mechanism.

 

[shootthebandit]

If you think of it like a set piece in a game of football (eg a free kick or a corner). This is when the ball returns to play and the attacking team has control. I know this sounds like a weird comparison but hear me out. A set piece in football will limit the play down to a few isolated aspects of the game and these are often crucial moments where goals are scored. A video game is no different. The set piece will limit the game to one or maybe more isolated tasks at a crucial moment in the game to add tension. Much like a game of football these set pieces are also very scripted

Bad examples of this as when it is mostly cutscene or a press X not to die moment (although last of us nailed the QTE so it can be done well). Good examples are the heists in GTA V or a boss fight in metal gear solid

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

I'd say more then just showing what the engine is capable of, it's to visually/interactively wow the player.

It doesn't take Crysis level graphics to have the player driving a motorcycle up a rocket... thats blasting off into outer space! (Bayonetta)

Oh absolutely, what I meant is that a setpiece is usually the time when the game wants to show you what it can do. Many games do this by pressing their game engine to the breaking point, but it could just as easily be a relatively modest scene where you climb up a nuke in mid-flight to disarm it by punching its' control mechanism.

This is the type of thing I immediately thought of too! But I also thought of scenes which have a bit more control than others have mentioned too... like in Tomb Raider when you are escaping from collapsing ruins, and most of the scenes in God Of War where you climb up titans whilst they are thrashing about! The whole opening sequence to GoW3 comes to mind!

 

[Cabisco]

A moment carefully designed to make you go 'wow' and be in awe. It can be modest or extravagant but it is always trying to be a stand out moment that you can mention to your friends, hopefully hearing the response 'that was awesome'.

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

By my definition, "a large scale scripted event, the out come of which cannot be changed by the player".

Example:
So you're walking through Unspecifiedistan in COD, Some planes fly overhead and blow up an AA emplacement on a tall building. But on of the planes is clipped and goes into a death spin towards another building, causing it to colapse and knock into the first building. There is a lot of worried chatter on the radio as the dust cloud from the debris engulfs you the player. WOW!

Then you are instantly head shotted and killed by an AI sniper, you reload and watch the exact same scene unfold. Nothing dynamic, no part of the scene deviates from last time, it's just a piece of the game that is set in stone.

Alternately: Any large scale encounter or memorable moment.

The first dragon battle in Skyrim is also a set piece. But unlike the COD example, anything can happen because it is part of the gameplay.

 

[number2301]

A large amount of the responses sadden but don't surprise me. Set pieces are one of the key elements which lifted Half Life and HL2 above the typical shooters of their day. Think the final fight in HL2 where you're driving round in the car trying to launch bombs onto the bottom of striders, or that other bit where the rubbish compactor thing is closing round you and you climb up boxes to get out. Or even better, from Half Life, where you've got to get past the tapping tentacle monster thing in the silo.

That is what set pieces are about, and that is where they are best. Unfortunately modern shooters took it to be the spectacle that was important, and that's why you get all these tedious sequences where you have basically no agency.

So yeah, set pieces can be these tiresome pseudo-gameplay bits, or they can be the dramatic, enjoyable changes of pace of Half Life.

 

[Branindain]

As others have said, it's basically just a moment that is designed to show off the game and, hopefully, take your breath away. It doesn't, however, have to be something you can't actually play or have no control over. In fact, the best set pieces are the ones where not only are you awed to be seeing it, but you're awed that you are actually playing it as well.

This. The Uncharted series has a number of moments that clearly fall under the definition of a set piece but are nonetheless fun and interactive (that scene in the skyscraper where the floor starts to slide you toward the window mid-firefight was just so cool). It's rarely done right though, in a way that a core gamer can appreciate.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

It seems like everyone above me have nicely fielded what a set piece is. I'd like to add that some games have used set pieces in place of boss fights kind of like the Lambent Brumak from Gears of War 2 or The Didact in Halo 4.

 

[LAGG]

Any scripted event, place or action sequnce made for the sake of looking impressive (and make it into the trailers) without much interactivity or reason to be (graphics before gameplay/story/atmosphere): a building falling, a ship sinking, a helicopter exploding, QTE sequences, bosses aping Shadow Of The Colossus, chase sequences...

Stuff that costs a lot to make but doesn't give much in return and only works once.

Not every scripted event is a set piece. The whale in the bathsphere section at the opening of Bioshock is a set piece (graphics purpose), the rest of the sequence is to introduce the player to the location (atmosphere purpose) and to Ryan's mind (story purpose) even if it also looks cool, while the Big Daddy killing a thug on the glass room is a non-interactive tutorial (gameplay purpose) even if it's also impressive.

 

[Vegosiux]

A set piece is when the play is stopped for whatever reason (foul, ball going out of bounds...) and then resumed.

Wait, wrong context.

But yes, it's basically a "show-off scene" most of the time. Pulled off well, you get some nice ones fitting into your game; pulled off badly, and it almost becomes painfully obvious they forced the script around the set pieces.

 

[Netrigan]

Set pieces are scenes around which stories are written.

At their best, they're the signature scenes which define stories seemingly flowing organically out of the story, even though they tend to be thought up first. Other scenes are written to make sure all the pieces are in their proper positions for the Big Scene.

At its most banal, it's every cliche level you've ever played because the devs know sewer and warehouse levels work, so they make sure to write them in. I've also seen it used in genre fiction to describe the standard scenes which appear in most stories as the plots (consciously or not) are being written to include such scenes, like the inevitable scene where the villain explains his scheme to the hero.