This is where games based on books, movies or Tv series might have an advantage since if you choose this game you could assume the player has some knowledge of the world they have chosen to play.
Good episode. I like that this is example heavy. It's worth noting that this is hardly unique to video games. I constantly come across novels where a character spends far too much time thinking about something he or she should already be completely comfortable with.
I've always thought the best way to convey exposition without it being immersion-breaking, jarring and intrusive is interactive items in the environment. Audio Logs and Books are great examples of this.
This explains why I found KOTOR fun and immersive and found Dragon Age Origins obtuse and unsatisfying. KOTOR had the benefit of familiarity with the environment and setting (even if it was set in a different timeframe, whereas dragon age was a completely fresh setting with TONS of boring proper names and concepts. I think they could have benefitted from watching this video, perhaps.
The two biggest problems I had with the exposition in Metal Gear Solid (the first of those titles for the original Playstation) were the times when the writers broke the fourth wall during codec conversations in which NPCs would just blatantly tell Snake what certain buttons on the controller do and the moments when Snake would ask incredibly stupid sounding questions strictly for the sake of the player who, admittedly, may not actually know. But, in this latter case, it might have actually worked if Snake sounded like he was engaging the NPCs in a discussion of whatever subject matter was at hand. Whereas instead Snake comes off as kind of a brick who has no comprehension of what is going on around him. And it often makes his extensive career as a special forces operative, for example, seem highly implausible.
Great episode guys! I think ideally a game should have the necessary good exposition narrative told through cut scenes, NPCs etc, but also give the player the option for further research. On the surface treat the character as a natural part of your world, but with the option of being engaged by the character as an alien without being condescending.
Example: I meet a friend and they tell me their iPhone got shut down for lack of battery power. I would then drive the conversation further knowing what everything they said meant or have the option to ask what an iPhone is without being told "were you just living under a rock for the past years?" but get a genuine informative answer. RPGs like the Elder Scrolls are best fitted for that sort of thing as it doesn't break immersion.
On the other hand action titles don't need that much exposition. First time I played Gears of War I felt the backstory in the manual or the cut scenes weren't enough to understand what's going on. But then I thought "hey, you know what? It doesn't matter, I'm a soldier and I follow orders. The command tells me to go to point A and B and shoot everything that moves and I do that."
Certain amounts of exposition can be made optional to the player to, two great examples of this are the codex in Mass Effect and, well, just about every part of Skyrim. The codex provides information which helps explain the world, and even current events, but the player has the option to find it. Skyrim on the other hand has books and quests to complete the world around you. The hundreds books don't actually need to be read to complete the game, and yet they help players understand the complex culture of the civilization in the game. These thing are part of what gives video games such deeper imersment than movies, as the player who looks for these things does so independently.
I love how Section 8: Prejudice tackled their tutorial: Instead of the classic CoD training sequence, you were a living legend that recruits all around you were talking in awed whispers about. As you approached each activity, the sergeants explained it to green recruits, and then asked the player if you wanted to show them how a pro does it, to the wild cheers of the onlookers.
Their tutorial was entirely in-character, damn fun, made the player feel awesome and was a kick in the nuts for any CoD tutorial ever made, even as they effectively presented features and abilities unique to their specific game.
@Maz-, because PATV doesn't work for everyone? For me works, but I know about two other people for which it doesn't.
@warcot That exactly my "library" parallel I've mentioned few comments down. Just scroll there. Or press Ctrl+F and enter "darkhog" (without quotes) and press find next few times.
It's a bit weird that the extra credits guys explain how to properly deliver exposition to a story as if it was something to get out of the way to start the game.
Telling a story is everything a game should ever do instead of creating this awkward cut between narrative and gameplay that can be found in so many games.
@B_R
Well that's not completely what they're saying. They're telling us how to try and avoid bad exposition dump, or really exposition dumb altogether. Condense the words, cut any extraneous/redundant details, get straight to the point, and leave the stuff that can be left up for interpretation by the world, the characters, or even the actions.
Telling a good story good. Long boring redundant speech bad.
Honestly, I figure the easiest way to easily deliver objectives without it being odd... is just to have characters discuss what to do next - it's realistic (unless they're some kind of psychics or something), and can pretty explicitly spell out "go here, do this".
IIRC, in FFVII the exposition dialogue about how things work is made by the main character to some random student. More recently, in Assassin's Creed 1 the fighting tutorial is made my Altair "showing" to the novices how fighting works.
I like how the places are reversed from the standard MC being ignorant of how things work and needing to be explained to the MC, being the special snowflake of the setting, is the one providing information - which make more sense for characters supposed to be already experienced. It helps giving the game a better immersion.
If you'd like an interesting, if initially maddening, experience in minimal exposition check out Jasper Fforde's book Shades of Grey. It's a good book, but drops you into a pretty foreign fantasy/sci-fi world and just runs, often feeling like you're reading the 2nd or 3rd book in a series rather than the 1st.
"My dad was a swatchman, you know how they are".... Um, no.... I don't! Exposition is an interesting thing to play with certainly.
If you'd like an interesting, if initially maddening, experience in minimal exposition check out Jasper Fforde's book Shades of Grey. It's a good book, but drops you into a pretty foreign fantasy/sci-fi world and just runs, often feeling like you're reading the 2nd or 3rd book in a series rather than the 1st.
"My dad was a swatchman, you know how they are".... Um, no.... I don't! Exposition is an interesting thing to play with certainly.
I usually don't comment here, but Youtube is making me nervous. More and more of the internet shows that I like are switching from Blip to Youtube. I'm assuming that its a financial move; Monetizing on Youtube must be more lucrative than using Blip. But it feels like Google,the big search engine company, is trying to kill off it's video hosting competition by throwing money at the video content providers.
I know I'm being paranoid, but I'm worried that Google is trying to make itself "Too big to fail," but not a monopoly.
@PlasticLion Mike has made a few posts on why they moved PATV content to YouTube, and it was because YouTube allows content delivery more seamlessly across all platforms.
A lot of anime seems to have a problem with throwing out a lot of terminology and then either explaining it all at the beginning (Code Geass) or explaining very little (Eureka Seven). (And yes, I've seen stuff besides what's on Adult Swim/Toonami. And I do consider both of those good shows, but heavily flawed ones.) Either way, it leaves the viewer confused at the beginning.
D. Gray Man is the worst among the major recent franchises about this, as it eschews why we need to care about any of the characters, the writer assuming dropping a bunch of mysterious stuff will create audience interest.
Exposition is a tricky thing to get right... but I always find it best to allow the player the opportunity to discover more about the world or less, leaving it up to their discretion. If you streamline the exposition so much (such as a character has two daughters, and that's all we're allowed to know, as if we should care just because this character has two daughters?), certain players might just feel bored by the experience. I know I find myself yawning during many games that do this very thing, especially FPS games.
If I'm intrigued by the setting, I want to know more and I want to have the ability to learn more. A lot of good, solid RPGs allow this. Septerra Core and Deus Ex had books and texts all over that you could pick up and read, that would give insight into the world around you... but you didn't necessarily need to read this stuff to play the game. It creates a more immersive experience for some of us. The KOTOR games allowed you to get to know all about your traveling companions... or not.
Exposition is a tool and if used correctly and in the right place, can enhance... but as pointed out in the video, can just as easily detract. It should be about finding a balance, not just outright dismissing it.
One film that is a truly masterful example of exposition done RIGHT is the first (and to a lesser extent, second and third) "Back to the Future" movies. The writer(s) showed a great talent for delivering exposition in an inherently entertaining way. Again, this might not be entirely compatible with the forms of exposition unique to games but it STILL may contain a few nuggets of wisdom worth retaining as examples of how to CORRECTLY convey exposition.
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And did the speaker's voice modulation get lowered just a tweak?
Example: I meet a friend and they tell me their iPhone got shut down for lack of battery power. I would then drive the conversation further knowing what everything they said meant or have the option to ask what an iPhone is without being told "were you just living under a rock for the past years?" but get a genuine informative answer. RPGs like the Elder Scrolls are best fitted for that sort of thing as it doesn't break immersion.
On the other hand action titles don't need that much exposition. First time I played Gears of War I felt the backstory in the manual or the cut scenes weren't enough to understand what's going on. But then I thought "hey, you know what? It doesn't matter, I'm a soldier and I follow orders. The command tells me to go to point A and B and shoot everything that moves and I do that."
And great job on the video guys, i'm a huge fan.
Their tutorial was entirely in-character, damn fun, made the player feel awesome and was a kick in the nuts for any CoD tutorial ever made, even as they effectively presented features and abilities unique to their specific game.
@warcot That exactly my "library" parallel I've mentioned few comments down. Just scroll there. Or press Ctrl+F and enter "darkhog" (without quotes) and press find next few times.
Cut and print.
Telling a story is everything a game should ever do instead of creating this awkward cut between narrative and gameplay that can be found in so many games.
Well that's not completely what they're saying. They're telling us how to try and avoid bad exposition dump, or really exposition dumb altogether. Condense the words, cut any extraneous/redundant details, get straight to the point, and leave the stuff that can be left up for interpretation by the world, the characters, or even the actions.
Telling a good story good. Long boring redundant speech bad.
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I like how the places are reversed from the standard MC being ignorant of how things work and needing to be explained to the MC, being the special snowflake of the setting, is the one providing information - which make more sense for characters supposed to be already experienced. It helps giving the game a better immersion.
"My dad was a swatchman, you know how they are".... Um, no.... I don't! Exposition is an interesting thing to play with certainly.
"My dad was a swatchman, you know how they are".... Um, no.... I don't! Exposition is an interesting thing to play with certainly.
I know I'm being paranoid, but I'm worried that Google is trying to make itself "Too big to fail," but not a monopoly.
D. Gray Man is the worst among the major recent franchises about this, as it eschews why we need to care about any of the characters, the writer assuming dropping a bunch of mysterious stuff will create audience interest.
If I'm intrigued by the setting, I want to know more and I want to have the ability to learn more. A lot of good, solid RPGs allow this. Septerra Core and Deus Ex had books and texts all over that you could pick up and read, that would give insight into the world around you... but you didn't necessarily need to read this stuff to play the game. It creates a more immersive experience for some of us. The KOTOR games allowed you to get to know all about your traveling companions... or not.
Exposition is a tool and if used correctly and in the right place, can enhance... but as pointed out in the video, can just as easily detract. It should be about finding a balance, not just outright dismissing it.