Dishonored 2 - Levels
- Thread starter HiddenX
- Start date
Interesting article. I hadn't really thought of a fundamental difference between games with open worlds and games with levels, and I imagine that there are games which have both, but it is an interesting difference in presenting gameplay.
Open worlds, though, in my view do have ways of being memorable just as levels do, such as the Baron's infant quest in The Witcher 3. I probably slightly prefer the open world approach, but it depends upon the game.
Open worlds, though, in my view do have ways of being memorable just as levels do, such as the Baron's infant quest in The Witcher 3. I probably slightly prefer the open world approach, but it depends upon the game.
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2006
- Messages
- 845
mbuddha
Sentinel
I'm more apt to finish a good game that has levels than a good open world game. Still love open world gameplay though.
N
NewDArt
Guest
I think what he's saying is that he prefers artist-driven and bespoke content to procedural or less dense content.
We all do.
But there's a reason open world games tend to feature less of the former and more of the latter - and that's about providing an alternate type of gameplay.
Which is the key here: the gameplay.
To have a freeform and open world with "endless" content - you need to make sacrifices.
But he's not being quite fair to the open world genre, because some developers actually DO manage to combine these things to a fair extent - and here I have to mention my favorites Skyrim and Fallout 4.
Despite what many seem to think, those games are FULL of bespoke and artist-driven levels.
Obviously, we're not talking Dishonored or Bioshock level of detail attention and they do have to reuse assets a lot more, making levels seem more familiar the more you play - but there's quite a lot of handcrafted and "cared for" stuff in there. The reason for that is simple - Bethsoft employ many level designers dedicated exclusively to creating "dungeon" levels - where other open world games tend to go the easier route of either ignoring dungeon content (PB and CDPR do this for the most part) - or they just half-ass it like Amalur did.
But it IS actually possible to have both - just as long as you understand the compromises involved. It's naturally impossible to create the same unique levels in a game with hundreds of them as opposed to a dozen - given the same time and resources.
As an interesting sidenote, CIG are trying a very novel approach in how they intend to combine procedurally generated content with bespoke content. I don't think anyone has done that to the same extent - or with tools as powerful as the ones they've developed.
It should be very interesting to see if they succeed in a happy compromise.
Another potentially interesting sidenote is that Ken Levine, arguably one of the kings of bespoke content games (System Shock 2, Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite) actually quit Irrational because of how expensive and tough it was to create games in that way - and on that level of fidelity.
The industry and game development has changed TREMENDOUSLY in terms of what's required to create compelling levels in terms of the sheer amount of manhours needed for even the simplest assets.
So, Levine has instead moved in the opposite direction - and he's now working on a way to procedurally generate STORY - which is something I personally doubt is possible at this stage of technology, but I'm definitely very, very curious to see what he comes up with.
He's been at it for a few years now - so we should hear something soon
We all do.
But there's a reason open world games tend to feature less of the former and more of the latter - and that's about providing an alternate type of gameplay.
Which is the key here: the gameplay.
To have a freeform and open world with "endless" content - you need to make sacrifices.
But he's not being quite fair to the open world genre, because some developers actually DO manage to combine these things to a fair extent - and here I have to mention my favorites Skyrim and Fallout 4.
Despite what many seem to think, those games are FULL of bespoke and artist-driven levels.
Obviously, we're not talking Dishonored or Bioshock level of detail attention and they do have to reuse assets a lot more, making levels seem more familiar the more you play - but there's quite a lot of handcrafted and "cared for" stuff in there. The reason for that is simple - Bethsoft employ many level designers dedicated exclusively to creating "dungeon" levels - where other open world games tend to go the easier route of either ignoring dungeon content (PB and CDPR do this for the most part) - or they just half-ass it like Amalur did.
But it IS actually possible to have both - just as long as you understand the compromises involved. It's naturally impossible to create the same unique levels in a game with hundreds of them as opposed to a dozen - given the same time and resources.
As an interesting sidenote, CIG are trying a very novel approach in how they intend to combine procedurally generated content with bespoke content. I don't think anyone has done that to the same extent - or with tools as powerful as the ones they've developed.
It should be very interesting to see if they succeed in a happy compromise.
Another potentially interesting sidenote is that Ken Levine, arguably one of the kings of bespoke content games (System Shock 2, Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite) actually quit Irrational because of how expensive and tough it was to create games in that way - and on that level of fidelity.
The industry and game development has changed TREMENDOUSLY in terms of what's required to create compelling levels in terms of the sheer amount of manhours needed for even the simplest assets.
So, Levine has instead moved in the opposite direction - and he's now working on a way to procedurally generate STORY - which is something I personally doubt is possible at this stage of technology, but I'm definitely very, very curious to see what he comes up with.
He's been at it for a few years now - so we should hear something soon
- Joined
- April 12, 2009
- Messages
- 23,459
Gimme a break, go ebay and buy yourself a crate full of mushrooms already then knock yourself out with them on whatever PS4 nonames.
Or forget me and my words, try to preach gameplay key to StealthGamerBR.
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2009
- Messages
- 23,459
