Stuff you wish game devs would do
Jun 19, 2006 20:33:02 GMT -5
Post by Weasel on Jun 19, 2006 20:33:02 GMT -5
The premise of this thread is simple: what do you wish somebody would put in a video game?
With all this focus on motion-sensitive gameplay (with the Wii-mote and the PS3's controller), I'm surprised that somebody hasn't made a game that makes body language a big part of gameplay. I'm not talking about character body language (like people smiling at you in Oblivion or something) - I want a game where you can actually communicate with characters by nodding or shaking your head. It'd have to be a first-person game, but the applications for this would really improve the immersion factor. Say an NPC has just asked you a question. Instead of displaying a dialogue choice on the screen like many games would, just allow the player to answer with a nod of their head (a flick of the mouse).
I wish somebody would also make a game that had decent voice recognition. Select conversation topics by speaking them aloud. Granted, your words would probably be very Avatar-like (instead of speaking complete sentences, you'd just say certain keywords and the NPC's would respond to them - keywords like NAME. JOB. BYE.).
Finally...I wish more games would try and do away with traditional heads-up displays. King Kong was a step in the right direction, using character dialogue and screen flashes/blurring to dictate health and ammo levels. Condemned almost got it right, minimizing the use of HUD elements by only showing health, stamina, and interaction icons when they were needed. But I wish there was a full-featured first-person shooter that had no heads-up display whatsoever. You'd use iron-sights to aim, judge your health by listening to your heart pounding, and have to guess how much ammo you have left. Looking down and checking your person (your ammo belt) would tell you how many clips you have. The view would have a subtle depth-of-field effect when you can interact with an object - slightly burring everything, and bringing focus to whatever object it is you're going to use.
Of course, most game developers are probably going to just stick with health bars, ammo counters, and tacky-as-hell crosshairs. Whatever suits them. I just wish somebody would go for a "total immersion" type of game - I've been waiting for years for something like that, and the closest I've seen so far is Myst. And that's not good enough.
With all this focus on motion-sensitive gameplay (with the Wii-mote and the PS3's controller), I'm surprised that somebody hasn't made a game that makes body language a big part of gameplay. I'm not talking about character body language (like people smiling at you in Oblivion or something) - I want a game where you can actually communicate with characters by nodding or shaking your head. It'd have to be a first-person game, but the applications for this would really improve the immersion factor. Say an NPC has just asked you a question. Instead of displaying a dialogue choice on the screen like many games would, just allow the player to answer with a nod of their head (a flick of the mouse).
I wish somebody would also make a game that had decent voice recognition. Select conversation topics by speaking them aloud. Granted, your words would probably be very Avatar-like (instead of speaking complete sentences, you'd just say certain keywords and the NPC's would respond to them - keywords like NAME. JOB. BYE.).
Finally...I wish more games would try and do away with traditional heads-up displays. King Kong was a step in the right direction, using character dialogue and screen flashes/blurring to dictate health and ammo levels. Condemned almost got it right, minimizing the use of HUD elements by only showing health, stamina, and interaction icons when they were needed. But I wish there was a full-featured first-person shooter that had no heads-up display whatsoever. You'd use iron-sights to aim, judge your health by listening to your heart pounding, and have to guess how much ammo you have left. Looking down and checking your person (your ammo belt) would tell you how many clips you have. The view would have a subtle depth-of-field effect when you can interact with an object - slightly burring everything, and bringing focus to whatever object it is you're going to use.
Of course, most game developers are probably going to just stick with health bars, ammo counters, and tacky-as-hell crosshairs. Whatever suits them. I just wish somebody would go for a "total immersion" type of game - I've been waiting for years for something like that, and the closest I've seen so far is Myst. And that's not good enough.