Wounds/Scars in Games

[Scrustle]

Something that I find tends to lessen immersion in games for me is the fact that in hardly any games do characters show any kind of bodily damage from weapons, especially bladed weapons. Like when you see a cool kill move in a game like Skyrim or Assassin's Creed where your character plunges a sword in to an enemy's chest, or a knife cutting a throat. Often you see a small explosion of blood, but rarely do you see any mark left by the damage you have done. I find this jarring. It's as if your weapon doesn't really feel like it's actually doing real damage, but rather some cartoonish magical death stick which makes people turn in to rag dolls when it it touches them. It's particularly irritating when your cutting a throat. I can't think of a single game where doing that leaves a scar. I'm not asking for all games to add Mortal Kombat levels of gratuitous gore and viscera at every opportunity, but something that at least seems logical. Like in the throat cutting example would it be so hard to add a small red decal on the neck that looks like a scar? That simple change would do a lot to add immersion to me.

Is this something that bothers any of you guys? Or am I just some bloodthirsty gorehound who wants to revel in the mutilation of my enemies? I sincerely hope I don't look that way.

 

[Muspelheim]

It's probably just a bit tricky to animate, and speaking only for myself... I haven't ever thought about it, until you brought attention to it. I think that's why.

While I do technically agree, it would be a very nice feature, It's really not a dealbreaker for me. Although the Fallout dismemberment-feature really did bring out the gorehound in me, so you're certainly not alone.

Honestly, after a while, I caught myself constructing a totem of sorts of dead Raiders, trimming them into the shapes I wanted with my sword. Really now, that's serial killer stuff...

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Not sure what you are saying but if someone has their throat cut then it leaves an open wound that they bleed to death out of. It doesn't instantly heal leaving a scar with a faint trace of dried blood on it.

 

[Scrustle]

Not sure what you are saying but if someone has their throat cut then it leaves an open wound that they bleed to death out of. It doesn't instantly heal leaving a scar with a faint trace of dried blood on it.

I know, but I'm not asking for perfect realism. Just something that gives some kind of visual feedback that what's going on isn't just some polygons passing through a hitbox, or however you want to think about it.

 

[ReadyAmyFire]

It's not really something to feel is wrong. Being able to witness the effects of their fire has been shown to give a big boost to soldier morale.

Even though the M1's primary munition is the APFSDS round, they still use HEAT. Because seeing a tank explode in a million bits is more satisfying then just watching it stop. Plus you're more sure it's a kill.

 

[Paulo Belato]

From a technical point of view, I would say they don't do it because it would require a lot of texture work, just for something that most people don't even notice. I am basing this off of Left 4 Dead 2 developer's commentary, where they talk about how the zombie limbs work.

Personally, I don't mind, what bothers me is during a killscene where the weapon doesn't even touch the enemy (like when cutting a throat), or when it clips through something else, like the player's hand or another object.

 

[Scrustle]

I don't think it would require much work really. I'm no programmer, but all I see would be needed to do the job would be to add on a simple decal of a scar (or maybe just blood soaking in to clothing if skin isn't exposed) that appears when it seems appropriate. It doesn't have to be super detailed or have depth or be animated, just some mark left that shows what actually happened. Is that really so hard? I've seen plenty of games which do the blood soaking thing, pretty old ones too. Surely it isn't a stretch to add a simple scar too?

 

[Terminate421]

Dead space 1 and 2 may not have open wounds but it does a very very interesting explanation and execution for your health.

 

[Grygor]

I don't think it would require much work really. I'm no programmer, but all I see would be needed to do the job would be to add on a simple decal of a scar (or maybe just blood soaking in to clothing if skin isn't exposed) that appears when it seems appropriate. It doesn't have to be super detailed or have depth or be animated, just some mark left that shows what actually happened. Is that really so hard? I've seen plenty of games which do the blood soaking thing, pretty old ones too. Surely it isn't a stretch to add a simple scar too?

That bolded part pretty much negates everything else you have to say there.

Bad wound decals (see also: Alone in the Dark, 2008) are far more jarring than no wound decals - and good wound decals are far more complicated.

They're a minor detail that relatively few people actually notice, and even fewer care about - to actually implement them is a lot of bucks for not very much bang.

---

Also, the word is "wound" - it's not a scar until it heals.

 

[Rylot]

Not exactly what you're talking about but Fable 2&3 gave you scars each time you were 'knocked-out'. I rather thought it was immersing. As for the PC's causing visible damage, I've never seen a game do that well.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Two games come to mind: Shadow of the Colossus and Sands of Time.

Neither of these games feature scars, but they do feature a level of visual progression, with Wander becoming more and more sickly looking the longer the game goes, and the Prince tearing away his broken and battered armor as time wears on.

 

[piinyouri]

This reminds me of the great brouhaha that erupted when it was announced the orginal Fable would have scars.
It was admittedly a cool feature.

Until you became older and every character looked like Jesus at the end of the passion.

 

[Vanitas likes Bubbles]

Honestly, after a while, I caught myself constructing a totem of sorts of dead Raiders, trimming them into the shapes I wanted with my sword. Really now, that's serial killer stuff...

I don't know if I should be glad or worried that I'm not the only person that did that kinda stuff.

OT: I don't really notice it at all and I'm sure I wouldn't care if they did it anyway. May as well leave space on a disc for more important things, like sweetrolls.