- Joined
- May 30, 2018
- Messages
- 1,890 (0.82/day)
- Location
- Cusp Of Mania, FL
Processor | Ryzen 9 3900X |
---|---|
Motherboard | Asus ROG Strix X370-F |
Cooling | Dark Rock 4, 3x Corsair ML140 front intake, 1x rear exhaust |
Memory | 2x8GB TridentZ RGB [3600Mhz CL16] |
Video Card(s) | EVGA 3060ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming |
Storage | 970 EVO 500GB nvme, 860 EVO 250GB SATA, Seagate Barracuda 1TB + 4TB HDDs |
Display(s) | 27" MSI G27C4 FHD 165hz |
Case | NZXT H710 |
Audio Device(s) | Modi Multibit, Vali 2, Shortest Way 51+ - LSR 305's, Focal Clear, HD6xx, HE5xx, LCD-2 Classic |
Power Supply | Corsair RM650x v2 |
Mouse | iunno whatever cheap crap logitech *clutches Xbox 360 controller security blanket* |
Keyboard | HyperX Alloy Pro |
Software | Windows 10 Pro |
Benchmark Scores | ask your mother |
GTA would be the other game I'd mention when it comes to that style of emergence. Though more earlier editions than later. Later games still have a lot of sandbox elements, but in terms of missions/controls/general interactions, a lot more is higher complexity than it used to be and thus more predetermined. They've added so much polish with the world and animations... and so much they want you to specifically see/do in every mission that the experience can become rather sneakily linear for long stretches of play. You start to get locked into how they want you to experience things... this is where all of the open-world games out there bug me. So obsessed with hype. They show you the thing. You buy it. You do the thing. This is not emergent gameplay. It's a linear story game with an overworld and some modules. Every feature and extra complexity takes up more space in the sandbox. There is a balancing act, but with the things publishers want to market to players, there is no room for the game and player behavior to really breathe outside of specified confines.This, its a little bit what GTA also has. Yes, stuff can fly in weird directions, who cares![]()
I've never really been sure what Bethesda wanted its players to experience. I think as a whole, Bethesda itself doesn't know, either. And that's what made the games good. They added a bunch of different sources of potential outcomes... all of this random stuff that can happen in random places, but never went and did the final polishing and directing, so the behavior actually is highly variable. So many random things can just line-up. As much as Bethesda NEEDS to step it up majorly in the polishing department, I think all of their contemporaries need to think a little more about what it actually means to let the player steer the experience. I don't think they understand that it's not simply about providing set choices and paths for the player to then discern, with cues leading in. Bethesda has actually never been great at that. Sometimes it's about giving them no path. It's about the overall sense of predictability. When the choices and outcomes available are too curated, you lose the sense of mystery in all of the action. You always know what and how the game decides for you. However, nobody EVER knows what and how a *Bethesda* game decides for you. It's such a ridiculous thing to say, but their basic, sloppy-ass games feel more alive than a lot of the big open-worlds coming out now. And I think a lot of it really is just down to the fact that they do leave you a bigger sandbox. The game is okay with you breaking it, if you are.
![Wink ;) ;)](https://tpucdn.com/forums/data/assets/smilies/wink-v1.gif)
I think the first studio to figure out what I'm getting at revolutionizes the genre again. Right now, they're kinda headed in the opposite direction, on this truncating path to further refining all of the things we all already know always happen in every open-world game. I dunno. It'll be interesting to see what becomes of Starfield. I don't have the highest of hopes but we shall see.
Last edited: