Koki on 19/8/2011 at 05:35
Didn't SS2 came after HL?
Briareos H on 19/8/2011 at 05:44
Also background story didn't mean booklet backstory but piecing the logs together, finding Delacroix, the shuttle with Tony and Rebecca, actually listening to what Shodan and The Many say as you walk along, and many little details.
ps one day I should probably read the booklet
june gloom on 19/8/2011 at 07:03
none of which really fits with your "overtones of serious sci-fi" puffery but you've pretty clearly decided that the bag of dicks is all yours (you can have it btw) so i'm not going to bother continuing this discussion further
Briareos H on 19/8/2011 at 07:25
why are you even here.
Manwe on 19/8/2011 at 07:37
Quote Posted by froghawk
Um... innovative? I'm pretty sure that's just an extension of how most FPSs that came before Half-Life kept their story exclusively in the game booklet so that you could engage with it if you wanted to or ignore it otherwise... only in SS2 it's just the backstory in the booklet instead of the whole thing. There were exceptions like SS1 and Strife, but for the most part all id games and their clones had already been doing that for years.
I can't see it as an intentional and intelligent design decision - just seems like they couldn't figure out a way to actually integrate that stuff into the game just like early FPS developers couldn't figure out how to integrate any story into the game at all.
Wait, what ? The way the story was told in system shock 2 was precisely innovative and intelligent. It's the most effective and immersive way to tell a story in a game, by making it interactive, and by actually integrating it into the whole gameplay. Every game mechanic in SS2 was part of the plot, right down to the very interface of the game. That's intelligent design. That's what video games should be like. And that's not what other FPSs at the time were doing. Especially not id games and their clones. None of id games had a plot. Doom didn't have a plot, Quake didn't have a plot.
And all the backstory (at least the necessary parts) was contained within the game. You could learn anything you wanted about the UNN, Trioptimum, the Rickenbacker, the Von Braun, the Many, Shodan and any characters on board simply by exploring and interacting with the environment. Heck, every single item in the game had a highly detailed description of its purpose and manufacturers. Of course that required playing the game and having a fucking brain, instead of just sitting on your arse watching cutscenes.
And Half Life is the perfect example of a game which kept its story in the booklet. It had no story whatsoever beyond a basic premise.
Yakoob on 19/8/2011 at 15:18
Quote Posted by Briareos H
No, it expanded a lot on it and gave it a good interface. It's not to say I don't like SS1 better, but the audio logs were just better in the sequel.
Wait, whut? In SS1 you click on a log and it shows you some text and plays an audio file. In SS2 you click on a log and it shows you some text and plays an audio file.
They are exactly the same system. What are you on about :weird:
Trance on 20/8/2011 at 14:10
Mostly the same, not exactly. The "play last unread log" button was a welcome addition to the interface.
And I don't think he meant that the logs were better in SS2 in any technological way, but rather that they were better crafted and a more compelling listen.
june gloom on 20/8/2011 at 18:32
That much is true, but the concept is hardly original. I even pointed out a few predecessors, but of course BH thinks anyone who disagrees with him is retarded so there's no point in trying to argue with him.
ZylonBane on 21/8/2011 at 22:00
Quote Posted by Manwe
Of course that required playing the game and having a fucking brain, instead of just sitting on your arse watching cutscenes.
Quote Posted by Manwe
And Half Life is the perfect example of a game which kept its story in the booklet. It had no story whatsoever beyond a basic premise.
Oh, irony.
