I''ve never posted this forum before, preferring to stick to the technical side on DirectX and Graphics programming but thought in my few spare minutes I''d ask this question here: has a game ever made you sad/cry and if so or if not, would you like to see such games? I mean, a good book or movie can do this, and can be really cool in that kinda way, but I''ve never seen a game which can do this. Drama is generally left alone in games, but I think its heavily lacking. The closest I''ve seen is Max Payne - which is still way not close. Is drama the untapped area in games which will bring games out of the geeks domain and into the world at large? whaddaya reckon Toby Gobsmacked - by Toby Murray

I think I would have cried in FF7 when Aris died...if my buddy hadn''t walked in the door the very first day I started playing, and warned me about it.
Bastard.

I''m sure I''ve played games involving tragedy.. I just can''t remember any right now.

[tragedy is good]

Superpig
- saving pigs from untimely fates
- sleeps in a ham-mock at www.thebinaryrefinery.cjb.net

The FF games are great for this. :-) You will mostly find drama in RPG''s, and thus... FF takes the stage. I had a few tears for Aeris in FF7. FF9 just kept making me angry... lmao! Everything kepted on turning out worse and worse... (uh, as in bad things where happening to the pplz in the game... lol, aka, very compelling storyline...) I have a few good planned drama scenes in the game I am making titled "Cross Eclipse"(tm) :-) I hope I can tap pure human emotion with these scenes... That''s my goal for my game, I suppose.

Yeah, on that note. To succesfully do this, you obviously have to find a sure way to captivate your audience... You have to make the player feel like... The character (in the case of an RPG) are like his/her family... If Aeris was your sister or extremely good friend, and she died, you''d be crushed, right? Right, so this is what you gotta do... You have to tap the true feelings of the player, and once you got them, you can manipulate them in anyway you want to amaze your audience. (not just in drama, but all types of situations...)

Well, I don''t know... That''s just my theory. :-)

Alex Ford
PointSoft EA Co., Ltd.
http://www.pointsoftonline.com

Although I didn''t cry, I think one of the best moments I''ve ever had playing a game was watching the end of Fallout. The Vault Dweller walks into the desert, "Maybe" begins to play... beautifully done, and very sad.

------------------------------
Omnipotent_Q
"Poor people are crazy. I''m eccentric."

Yeah, tragedy and drama has pretty much been hands off. In terms of creative writing, the game industry has been a series of technical documents. However, you have to be careful with both elements. In trying to create drama, the responsibility to be realistic about is far more great than making a 3d shooter realistic. Hit one element that doesn''t seem right and the criticism starts getting very heavy. But yes, if it can be fit into a game, take advantage of it. Its like a freebie in the sense that the programming required isn''t as great yet you get some more features to boast about the game. Otherwise games like the final fantasy series wouldn''t be very appreciated.

-> Will Bubel
-> Machine wash cold, tumble dry.

I found several aspects of Ultima VII very sad... not quite to the degree where I would cry or anything like that, but it was emotional and profound. I don''t think it''s too hard to achieve... make someone care for something, and then take that something away. Fairly easy to do in a story-led game, I think. But yes... it is underexploited.

[ MSVC Fixes | STL | SDL | Game AI | Sockets | C++ Faq Lite | Boost | Asking Questions ]

What about Metal Gear Solid 1+2? I think Hideo Ki-whatever(CAN''T REMEMBER NAME DARN IT!) did well. (why did Emma have to die..)

quote:
The Vault Dweller walks into the desert, "Maybe" begins to play... beautifully done, and very sad.

Offtopic, but similar to this, the intro was pretty cool with all the TV comercials and then it zooms out to the destroyed city and the song skips and "Mabye...mabye..mabye." fades out. I just remember saying: Whoa!

But, back to the topic. Many people used the example of FF7. Arie was in the party, right? (I havent played it). But how does one create feeling for a character, and have him/her still an important gameplay part, if a non-party based game? Where you only have direct control over the main character. The player is usually not going to like sitting through tons of dialog with the doomed character, unless it is relevent, and not just to get to know him/her. And are they going to care if the person dies if they are just story despensers? And thoughts?

PHRICTION

I agree with everybody on FF7. As to the question of how you can develop feelings for game characters... It''s just my personality, I guess. The third time I played FF7, I wanted to go on a date with Yuffie... This involves shunning both Aeris AND Tifa. The first time I ran into Aeris, I just couldn''t do it. Buy a flower? YES! Darn my sensitivity! Oh well...