12-06-2003, 05:41 PM | #1 |
Vampire
Join Date: January 29, 2003
Location: Sweden
Age: 43
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This is an interresting article on narrative elements in computer games, written by Jonas Carlquist, a senior lecturer and researcher in Nordic languages at Umeå University in Sweden. It deals with whether a story exists or not in games, and if so, how is it presented. It's fairly long, scholarly in nature and contains some spoilers to games like, BG 1&2, Max Payne, Deus Ex, Planescape Torment, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Diablo 2 amongst other but is an interresting read nonetheless.
Here it is (.pdf file) Any opinions on it?
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12-06-2003, 08:25 PM | #2 | |
Lord Ao
Join Date: May 17, 2001
Location: San Antonio, Texas, USA
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Quote:
When I was reading the article, I remembered a RPG that I played back on the Sega Genesis, called Shadowrun. I loved the game; for its time it was an awesome game. The story was decent, and allowed you lots of flexibility in your actions. However, I absolutely despised the ending; I would play up to the point where you would face the main bad guy, then erase and start over with a different character. Why? Because you would face the main bad guy, knock him down to almost dead, then a creature you saved in a previous encounter showed up and told you how to finish the fight. What was wrong with that? After it told you how to defeat the bad guy, the game ended! It just showed a movie of you defeating the bad guy. That was a prime example of how NOT to use cutscenes and narrative in a game.
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12-07-2003, 08:04 AM | #3 |
Vampire
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I was amazed that there are so many scientists actually researching computer games. It has become an established form of entertainment.
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12-07-2003, 02:17 PM | #4 | |
Lord Ao
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Quote:
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[img]\"ubb/noncgi/smiles/new/ghoul.gif\" alt=\" - \" /><br /><br />\"The middle class pays all of the taxes, does all of the work.<br />The lower class exists just to scare the middle class.\"<br />-George Carlin |
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12-07-2003, 03:08 PM | #5 |
Vampire
Join Date: January 29, 2003
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The results of the research about this by J. Carlquist was presented 3 years ago and was probably the fruits of years of research, this article was just the first and only English text made by him. It's really just an update of the original. I agree that it's long overdue, but computer and video games haven't really been regarded as 'cultivated' enough to make it a subject of research for many scientists. The industry has indeed been booming the past couple of years, something that have made it a waking call for the scientific establishment.
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