FMV or Real-time?

Manboy

Manboy

Rear Admiral
As we all know , ever since WC3 Full-motion-video has been the primary way the story has been told in WC games. While i actually think that the story benifits from having live actors in it ,in reality this is probably the main reason why we arent going to see another game in the WC series . FMV in games have always had a bad rep with the media and for the most part its with just cause and thats mainly because most "interactive movies" suck hard (all watching , no doing), most publishers see that and tend to shy away from releasing anything with gameplay consiting of FMV, even if its a very good game with a huge fanbase ( WC series , Tex murphy series...err thats about it i think). That and because its expensive to produce .
Ive noticed that Freelancer is using real-time characters to advance its story instead of live actors. Even though the characters arent going to have nearly as much personality as real people , i think its the next way to go ( hell , its the only way ). The gameplay would actually benefit because the story could be more dynamic and have multiple paths at a much less cost. Basically what im getting at is , would you like the WC series more or less if the characters where real-time instaed of actors?
 
Just before the end, Origin actually trained WC artists to do character animations... then they fired them all...

Anyway, I think that properly done, FMV *could* still work -- in fact, I had a very interesting discussion with someone just last night about how to do FMV right...

The thing that killed WC is really EA's damned "one game" mentality -- they see any one game as an example of why they shouldn't make any more. Flaspoint Korea doesn't sell? They decide to never, ever make addons again... Tachyon doesn't sell? No space games ever. UO *does* sell? That's a great reason to make 364,227 new MMORPGs!
 
Well, you can't blame the companies for not be willing to take any risks, LOAF...
It's a stupid theory, because the market and the people's reception might obviously change, with time, trends and en infinity of other factors, but since companies are into business for profits, investigating whether a product will sell or not, costs money...

And as you say, they prefer going after "certain" guarantees: UO sells? Great, it's been tested, let's spawn it!
Sad, but that's how life goes... :(

[Edited by mpanty on 06-18-2001 at 11:52]
 
Times.......they be a changin.

Flight sims are starting to make a huge comeback. Perhaps Space Sims are next. Who knows?
 
Flight Sims are making a comeback, aren't they! I took a trip to the mall the other day and noticed like 7 or 8 new flight sim games.

Let's hope they can spark the space sim genre again...preferably with a WC game.
 
I blame companies for nor properly analyzing the market, though... Flashpoint Korea didn't sell well because it was a stupid addon, not because all addons suck... UO sold well because it was unique, not because everybody in the world wants to play medevil MMPRPGs...
 
Not to mention that WCP *did* sell, it just didn't reach some crazy arbitrary target number :(.
 
Exactly... EA's analysts are the worst in the universe. They're the reason we're going to see 32,416 Sims ripoffs before this is over...
 
Yeah but name one new game that features FMV incorperated into its gameplay. There is none , and thats because they dont sell due to constant bagging out by magazines. People listen to the media and so do the publishers.
I seriously dont think Origin stopped making new WC games because of poor sales in the space-sim genre , i think its the cost and bad reputation of FMV.
I think Origin have it in their heads that WC MUST have FMV in it ,but I'd be happy to play a new WC with or without it .... theres other ways to tell a story.
 
All new Westwood Studios (owned by EA!) games feature FMV. The new Dune has FMV cutscenes between missions and stuff, and Red Alert 2 has both cutscenes and in-mission communications.
 
Most games feature FMV , but im talking about games that use it as part of the gamplay. Even though WC games are hardly like the crappy "interactive movies" im refering to , its got that tag. I actually think WC benifits from having FMV ...some people dont.
 
Red Alert 2's usage of FMV is no different to WCP's usage. And you can't blame interactive FMV for the lack of new WC games since we've already had two new games since those days.
 
One of the few games besides WC that I enjoyed for its plot was Star Trek Academy which used FMV ala Wing Commander. It was also given modest ratings by at least one of the major gaming mags. So I don't think you can say that FMV has a "bad reputation". I can't ever remember anyone equating FMV to "bad game". FMV adds cost of course, so the return on investment is probably significantly lower than a game that uses computer generated cutscenes.

I think that calling EA's analysts "the worst in the universe" may be a *bit* of an overstatement LOAF. That title should probably go to those that okayed the Sierra Bullriders game <g>. Anyway, while they can't take complete credit for a lot of the games they publish, it's hard for me to get too angry with a company like EA that (helps) put out some really enjoyable games.
 
Originally posted by Manboy
...would you like the WC series more or less if the characters where real-time instead of actors?
Click to expand...
I misunderstand... what do you mean by "real-time"? I take real-time as meaning there's actually someone at the other end interacting with you in real-time, eg telephone conversation. I'm guessing you mean CG cutscenes, and no, CG cutscenes don't bother me at all.
 
I think he means that the cutscenes would be rendered in real-time. Like the SO cutscenes, but with people instead of ships.
 
Yeah i mean real-time rendered cutscenes like in SO ,but with todays technology it would look far superior (Geforce3 anyone?).
And CG cutscenes dont bother me either (in fact , i love them), i was just pointing out that real-time was a cheaper alternative and it would be easier for the script-writers to do alot more with the story . Even though WC3 and 4 allowed you to choose your response , filming different scenes must of been costly and maybe thats why Origin cut this feature from Prophecy.
Its just my opinion anyway , like i said i love the cutscenes in WC and its the cutscenes that set it apart from other space-sims , but if thats the reason we're not seeing anymore WC games well then i gladly let real-time characters tell the story.
It also opens up loads of other gameplay possibilitys....imagine walking around the Midway like you would in an adventure game (think Blade runner).Instead of having just static screens to look at you could take control of your character and explore the ship , talking to other characters you would see walking around. There could also be adventure game elements ,but i think you get the picture.
 
Oh, engine-based cutscenes? I was thinking pre-rendered CG cutscenes - they'd still be video, but it'd cut down production costs. I think it's still a fair way off until the average PC is of the standard which can render decent looking people in real time.
 
Although it is not in and of itself the development house it once was, Sierra seems to be *very* good at picking outside games to publish.

As opposed to, say, Origin "We Turned Down Myst and Published 'Abuse'" Systems, Inc.
 
But they've had their bombs too - again, Bullrider!?! And I wouldn't say that EA has done all that poorly - C&C, Nox, Shogun, Need For Speed, UO, Sims, Black & White.
 
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