I just can''t win around here. Well P.T. Barnum said it best about pleasing people...
My fave ''everything-is-always-in-the-same-place'' games were the Twinsen {LBA} games. Every enemy dutifully showed up everytime so I could bean with my ball. Perhaps it has more to do with context that genre whether or not random encounters should exist or not.
I kind of liked the tact that was taken in Blade Runner {the game.} Every time you play the scenario is a bit different. Not so much as to completely confuse you or puch holes in the plot, but just enough to add to the replay value. It''s sort of like the treasure chest you open and have a certain chance of finding different weapons inside. It''s just taken a step further into a randomly given possibility of a scripted situation. Best still is that it can be used in MMORPGs as well, and would give more stories for people to tell that others never heard.
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When Encountered Randomly...
Ok, what i'm really trying to say is the best random encounter are the one's that you don't realise that they're random encounter's until at least one applies retrospective to the situation.
Suprise i good to a degree. Personally i would use them to add spice to a game rather than using them overwhelmingly like most adventure/rpg's do.
I've been suprised many times in life mainly because my mind is elsewhere at the time. But you can still get a surprise when your mind is fully withit. An example is an accident, we all have them (damn it ;-). There's nothing we can do to much about it because sometimes it's other peoples fault, or mechanical etc.
What's the difference between a completely randomised encounter and one that occurs more predicably. A completely randomised encounter may not suprise you but one that is more predicable still could, even more so (i knew i'd catch a fish but i didn't expect it to be this big, oh my!).
Really, life would be boring if there was no suprises. As the old chinese man said "May you live in interesting times".. curse or blessing?
- edited due to accident, it caught me by suprise ;-)-
The measure of intelligence is in the question not the answer.
Edited by - Paul Cunningham on June 20, 2000 9:06:11 PM
Suprise i good to a degree. Personally i would use them to add spice to a game rather than using them overwhelmingly like most adventure/rpg's do.
I've been suprised many times in life mainly because my mind is elsewhere at the time. But you can still get a surprise when your mind is fully withit. An example is an accident, we all have them (damn it ;-). There's nothing we can do to much about it because sometimes it's other peoples fault, or mechanical etc.
What's the difference between a completely randomised encounter and one that occurs more predicably. A completely randomised encounter may not suprise you but one that is more predicable still could, even more so (i knew i'd catch a fish but i didn't expect it to be this big, oh my!).
Really, life would be boring if there was no suprises. As the old chinese man said "May you live in interesting times".. curse or blessing?
- edited due to accident, it caught me by suprise ;-)-
The measure of intelligence is in the question not the answer.
Edited by - Paul Cunningham on June 20, 2000 9:06:11 PM
Wath could be fun is Half-Ramdom enconter.
Wath I mean is to keep the sema amont of monster (lest say in a doungeon)but to change thei location from time to time, this way the enconter will follow ther story and bring some good replay value.
Also it would be fun to have a ramdom attack on the road have a goal...Lets say than the bunch of orc whio just attack you were ired by the evil mage eho want the players dead! And let the layer kep one or two alive for an intorogation!
Delisk
Wath I mean is to keep the sema amont of monster (lest say in a doungeon)but to change thei location from time to time, this way the enconter will follow ther story and bring some good replay value.
Also it would be fun to have a ramdom attack on the road have a goal...Lets say than the bunch of orc whio just attack you were ired by the evil mage eho want the players dead! And let the layer kep one or two alive for an intorogation!
Delisk
Wath could be fun is Half-Ramdom enconter.
Wath I mean is to keep the sema amont of monster (lest say in a doungeon)but to change thei location from time to time, this way the enconter will follow ther story and bring some good replay value.
Also it would be fun to have a ramdom attack on the road have a goal...Lets say than the bunch of orc whio just attack you were ired by the evil mage eho want the players dead! And let the layer kep one or two alive for an intorogation!
Also, I like the idea of holsting the wapons... Wath would you say if police man would always have their gun in their hand ? And a bunch of stranger armed to the teeth in the missle of a twon...and people actinf if it was normal?
Delisk
Wath I mean is to keep the sema amont of monster (lest say in a doungeon)but to change thei location from time to time, this way the enconter will follow ther story and bring some good replay value.
Also it would be fun to have a ramdom attack on the road have a goal...Lets say than the bunch of orc whio just attack you were ired by the evil mage eho want the players dead! And let the layer kep one or two alive for an intorogation!
Also, I like the idea of holsting the wapons... Wath would you say if police man would always have their gun in their hand ? And a bunch of stranger armed to the teeth in the missle of a twon...and people actinf if it was normal?
Delisk
Author
Even when you are suprised by combat in real life (especially frequent if you are know to drink alot) you still have the chance to run away before combat begins! It''s just not a very good chance.
Really, rent Jade Cocoon if you can. I''d rather not try to explain why it''s so pleasant to encounter monsters in that game. Actually, Quest for Glory 1 had the same kinda thing going. Just because you could choose to run from a monster didn''t mean you would get away...
Really, rent Jade Cocoon if you can. I''d rather not try to explain why it''s so pleasant to encounter monsters in that game. Actually, Quest for Glory 1 had the same kinda thing going. Just because you could choose to run from a monster didn''t mean you would get away...
I don''t know about you guys, but I liked the betrayal at krondor encounter system. It was easy for the processor to handle, which allows for other cool things to hog the processor, and still have good encounters. What happened was the people just sat there in scripted positions, but alot of the time they would be behind trees and take you by surprise. Then, you fought on the terrain you were on. Now that we have gigahertz processors, something more is probably possible, but it''s a good base to work off.
If all these errors are so fatal, why am I still alive?
If all these errors are so fatal, why am I still alive?
Author
Oh, yeah, baby. He gets it. I think you all get it in one way or another. Lemme put it a better way than I have been...
If an encounter doesn''t have a direct bearing on the story or sub plots, has no motivation for taking place, doesn''t validate the mood or theme of the game, or exists solely to generate experiential or monetary income... it sucks. Everything else is good. =)
Simplicity is good, sometimes too!
If an encounter doesn''t have a direct bearing on the story or sub plots, has no motivation for taking place, doesn''t validate the mood or theme of the game, or exists solely to generate experiential or monetary income... it sucks. Everything else is good. =)
Simplicity is good, sometimes too!
quote: Original post by Landfish
Oh, yeah, baby. He gets it. I think you all get it in one way or another. Lemme put it a better way than I have been...
If an encounter doesn''t have a direct bearing on the story or sub plots, has no motivation for taking place, doesn''t validate the mood or theme of the game, or exists solely to generate experiential or monetary income... it sucks. Everything else is good. =)
Simplicity is good, sometimes too!
Robin''s after the holy grail and bumps into a three headed giant. Are you saying that this is bad to the story?
quote: Original post by Paul Cunningham
Robin''s after the holy grail and bumps into a three headed giant. Are you saying that this is bad to the story?
Bah, no! It''s just a fleshwound! Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time
.Pointlessness is one of the major strengths of the Monty Python movies, I guess that COULD be a playing style
Give me one more medicated peaceful moment..
~ (V)^|) |<é!t|-| ~
If a part of the story is random weirdness (like the three headed giant, or the Castle Anthrax, etc.), then random encounters not only fit in with the story, but are an integral part of it. The randomness of Monty Python''s work is what makes them funny.
However, a game with a level of randomocity equivalent to a Monty Python sketch would not be much fun (unless there was some discernable underlying theme to the randomness).
There is an interesting and very good article by Ernest Adams (like all of his other articles) on how to do weirdness well in video games:
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19990212/ernest.htm
However, a game with a level of randomocity equivalent to a Monty Python sketch would not be much fun (unless there was some discernable underlying theme to the randomness).
There is an interesting and very good article by Ernest Adams (like all of his other articles) on how to do weirdness well in video games:
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19990212/ernest.htm
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