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happydolphin on 12 March 2012
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TruckOSaurus said:
happydolphin said:
TruckOSaurus said:

While they are linear in the sense that there's only one way you can go, you're less limited in the ways you can tackle a certain stage. I think Mega Man is not a very good exemple for linearity since you can choose the order in which you beat the bosses which in turn opens up many variations on how you handle the following stages.

If you take a look at Castlevania which doesn't allow level selection, there's always the variation of how you handle the enemies, obstacles, which sub weapon you choose to carry, when you choose to use it. All of this explains why these games could be replayed many times over even though you always went from point A to point B.

Okay, Ninja Gaiden is one of my favorite classic NES games, and it's totally linear, despite some flexibility in going backwards a tad so as to retake your forward run, but that's it.

But I bet each time you replayed it you altered you playstyle, adapted it to avoid taking damage in certain sections, saved your energy for a boss so you can pound him with ninja stars, opted to keep a subweapon because it shot downwards and you knew you'd be dealing with enemies on lower ground later on, etc...

For sure! I would redo it and try to perfect it! I do that with classics all the time! :D

I think I might have been unclear this far as to what I saw for a vision. Within the context-driven actions, it may not be a cinematic adventure per se where actions are pre-programmed. In other words, one player could do a much better job than another, and could even be ranked over a points system or by achievements. Cinematic adventures are but one possibility within the variety of what would be the intensely story-driven genre.

For example, you're in an area where you are bare hands, no items, and you need to make your way beyond obstacles to get to the next thread in the story. The objects you find along the way will help you get there, but you need to find the objects, and execute the actions properly. Say you only have a knife, and, for instance, you find material to make a hut or something, or make a passage over a chasm. Maybe you'll need animal bones and ligaments? The challenges are always new and so the player is always interested, like in a good book, the face-offs are always new and fresh. Takes thos to a whole other level where you can play this online with other people and cooperate. What about a LOST game? When you try to bring new ideas, it's hard but the trick is to not choke them with "oh that'll never work" mentality.

I don't think I'm doing a good job at expressing this though. :(