next »

[GregWS]

But I hate smilies. heh heh

Edit: Also, as a developer you have to remember that a great "story" in most senses of the word will probably not be a good "game story".  The way I see it, most of the story of a game is the player's experience of playing it, the text and cutscenes are just supplements.

I think this is one of those "truths" of game development that most people in the industry seem to totally miss.  And it's a pity too, because once you get past trying to fit a non-game story into a game, and instead try and use games to tell game stories, your designs will be infinitely better.

[Don Andy]

I always liked that those games had no definite story (disregarding the manual). That left yourself more creative freedom what the game is actually about.

[moi]

Edit: Also, as a developer you have to remember that a great "story" in most senses of the word will probably not be a good "game story".  The way I see it, most of the story of a game is the player's experience of playing it, the text and cutscenes are just supplements.

Yeah story must directly adhere to the gameplay and not seem tacked on (although some games can benefit from tacked-on stories, like some adventure games that had huge sories in booklets)

[gunswordfist]

But I hate smilies. heh heh

NO QUESTIONS.

Also, I like vague stories.  I agree that you shouldn't put storyline you want the player to see in the manual, because not every player will read it, but I think SMB1 has a great story  if you don't have the manual.

One thing I love about the NES era and that I try to emulate with my games is the vagueness of the story, and how it invites the player to fill in the blanks.  The player's imagination will always construct something more relevant to them than the developers ever could.

Edit: Also, as a developer you have to remember that a great "story" in most senses of the word will probably not be a good "game story".  The way I see it, most of the story of a game is the player's experience of playing it, the text and cutscenes are just supplements.

I agree. That's why I would like to see games' stories within their gameplay. I'm not a big fan of the text/cutscene approach. The player should be a player, not a viewer or reader.

[Chris Z]

The biggest offender to this in the NES era IMO was Zelda 2.  There was this awesome backstory on how Zelda got put into a coma and it was all in the form of an illustrated story in the instruction manual.  All you see when you start the game is her laying on that altar in the palace with no clue as to WTF is going on.

Found some of it!

[phubans]

Do it like the original Zelda did if nothing else... Just have a short blurb that scrolls by or fades in if the player is idle on the title screen for long enough.

[Chris Z]

Do it like the original Zelda did if nothing else... Just have a short blurb that scrolls by or fades in if the player is idle on the title screen for long enough.

Now that I think about it, there may have been something like that in this case but it wasn't nearly as long as the manual's story.

[phubans]

Well what kind of story are you looking for? RPGs are story-intensive but simple platformers like Super Mario Bros don't need an elaborate story to be fun, because the emphasis isn't on story but gameplay. Sometimes it's even more fun to some players if there isn't a story- it allows your imagination to fill in the blanks and as a result you create your own unique experience.

[Chris Z]

Well what kind of story are you looking for? RPGs are story-intensive but simple platformers like Super Mario Bros don't need an elaborate story to be fun, because the emphasis isn't on story but gameplay. Sometimes it's even more fun to some players if there isn't a story- it allows your imagination to fill in the blanks and as a result you create your own unique experience.

Personally, I don't have a strong preference either way.  This is all just relevant to the topic.  With the original Mario you don't even know you're looking for a princess until after 4 levels and I was perfectly happy with that.  There are also games that take it overboard with waaay too much story up front when you just wanna blow shit up.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை]

Not enough indie games do stuff if you wait long enough during the title screen. I'm guilty of that myself: the only game that did something interesting if you waited at the title for me is Alphasix (it went into an attract mode where the game played itself with two AI opponents).

[gunswordfist]

Well what kind of story are you looking for? RPGs are story-intensive but simple platformers like Super Mario Bros don't need an elaborate story to be fun, because the emphasis isn't on story but gameplay. Sometimes it's even more fun to some players if there isn't a story- it allows your imagination to fill in the blanks and as a result you create your own unique experience.

Hey phubans. Well I think it would be nice if I could experience a good story through actually gameplay more often.

[tofuforlunch]

WHAT IS YOSHI

[Aquin]

Yeah, Legend of Zelda had a BOOK of a manual.

Actually, King's Quest was awesome for ridiculously lengthy manual backstories.

As for the whole indie thing... not every game needs a story, guys. 

[mewse]

In the super Mario 2 manual Birdo was mislabelled a he, This set off the whole Birdo as a transsexual jokes.

Clipping from the "Obstructing your way -- gangs of enemy characters" section at the back of the Super Mario Brothers 2 manual:



I don't think that could be the result of "mislabelling".

More likely to be the modern family-friendly Nintendo being embarassed about the character design and trying to rewrite the past to be more palatable to a more mainstream audience.

[Aquin]

Yeah, it's canon that Birdo is a transsexual.  At least, in the original Japanese version of the original game anyway.

Hell, I'm pretty sure it was still canon by the GBA remake.

[Gryphon]

In the super Mario 2 manual Birdo was mislabelled a he, This set off the whole Birdo as a transsexual jokes.

Clipping from the "Obstructing your way -- gangs of enemy characters" section at the back of the Super Mario Brothers 2 manual:



I don't think that could be the result of "mislabelling".

More likely to be the modern family-friendly Nintendo being embarassed about the character design and trying to rewrite the past to be more palatable to a more mainstream audience.

Clawgrip is the Giant Enemy Crab. I KNEW IT.

Also...SMB1 blocks were people? Oh well...I have no regrets...

[William Broom]

I've always said there should be a game starring Birdo, in which he can switch genders at will, each gender having different abilities.

[Radix]

Birdo and Ostro are mislabelled in the credits of SMB2 (where all the enemies appear), with their names being switched, not in the manual.

[Zaratustra]

princess is kidnapped
you must rescue princess

[Mipe]

Why the hell do crabs throw rocks? In every friggin' game that contains crab enemies they fling rocks! I want to strangle the guy who first used rock-lobbing crabs.