I'm not sure where to put this. If this is the wrong spot, please move. I have a finished game I am planning to sell. Now, I have my splash screen as just text telling a short backstory. Also, this and the ending text are my only story things. It seems bland. I don't want to have to make any sort of 3D movie (Modeling isn't my thing). Is a text splash acceptable for an indie game that is being sold? If not, what could/should I do? thanks! -Brandonman

(imo) The splash screen is rather immaterial if the game is good. The intro music is what really gets me into the mood, but really if they suck it's not going to be a big deal. If they're great/funny (dwarffort's intro, baldur's gate's music) they'll add to the game, but I can't remember a functioning intro (not buggy, with esc/space/click through enabled) detracting from a game ever...

Flash animations? (You could also export them into AVI movies if you need). But maybe you haven't ever used flash...

You could just have pictures you made to illustrate your text maybe. You could have pictures of characters or game objects that are moved in an "animation" too (might be kind of cheesy though).

You could also use the actual game-play for the intro... For example, the scripted 'cinematics' in Age of Empires II (I mean how in the Single Player scenarios there were scripted events with dialog...). I've never seen this done for an intro though, but just an idea... You could tell your game back-story overlaid on top of game-play (for example, the text goes "Once upon a time, there was a powerful empire...", and you show the armies and buildings of the empire using in-game elements, and then if it said "But it fought many wars and was repressive to its citizens..." and then show in-game battles...). Something along those lines? I don't know if that helped... I'm not sure what kind of game you have though. This is what you could do though if it was an RTS.

[edit]

But text can also be really interesting if you use it well... have you ever seen Bladerunner? You might use dramatic text that phases in and out... (Take a look at

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. This is actually an intro re-made by a fan, and in the original the text phased in and out, but you get the idea...)

But maybe it depends on what kind of back-story you want to tell. It might be different if you're back-story is drawn out and doesn't consist of short snippets that could be phased in and out.

Also check out the intro in Cortex Command (you can download a demo of the game there). The intro is really good, and it just uses text, cool illustrations, and a good soundtrack... But maybe you can't do as spiffy illustrations or have a soundtrack, but you could at least do some illustration I think. Maybe that gave you some ideas?

[Edited by - polyfrag on February 6, 2008 11:25:40 PM]

strap a camera to your head and walk through your house being a dickhead.