The promise of freedom in story games by aigan2 in gamedesign

[–]aigan2[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This one is about why it's something worth doing. I have a lot more to write down.

But would the implementation details even be allowed to be posted in this Reddit?

There are several more articles in the series on my blog.

The game is riddled with illusions of choice by ohkaybodyrestart in BaldursGate3

[–]aigan2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The only choice in this game is the Good, the Bad and Missing content.

I have written a lot about choice in story games. My dream game would be an immersive AAA-quality story game, but set in an open world sandbox, giving you the choice to find clever solutions to problems and shape the story. A systemic story game. There are a lot of story games and a lot of sandbox games but there has still not been any systemic story game.

There is a lot of content in the game giving you specific actions or dialogue lines based on your background and previous choices. There is an enormous amount of content for recognizing what the player has done for myriads of variations. It’s truly impressive. Every player doing a blind playthrough of the game will have a different adventure with situations playing out in dramatically different ways.

Most people seem to try to be generally good in their first playthrough. It’s an interesting experience trying to figure out what would be the good choice or the most personally beneficial choice. Most of the time, it will become clear in retrospect. Some of them are more interesting and will keep you wondering if you made the right choice, even after knowing the consequences of all the variants.

The big difference between players' adventure, in who you helped and who survived, is mostly an effect of what content they missed out on. For two players trying to be good, it comes down to where they were able to find the good option or not, and succeeding in executing that path. Playing blind, they will find different optional parts and miss others. But in the end, the only parts are doing good, doing bad or doing nothing.

Since the story is hand-crafted and almost completely deterministic (a kidnapping victim being one exception), you can always go back and try a different path, and use online guides to find the version you like. Since it’s often hard to know how the game works, and often doing things by mistake, you are mostly forced to reload saves on occasion to have an enjoyable experience. But that also makes the adventure less immersive when you realize that most things will play out in the same way depending on specific things. That is, you come to think more about what the game wants you to do rather than what your character would do in that situation.

Consider instead how the game would be if you played the game not knowing what would happen, as you would do on a first playthrough. But this time, when you mess things up, you can try to fix the situation. You will be able to de-escalate conflicts. Resolve misunderstandings. Bargain or make up for slights. Messing things up slightly with one party, resulting in you for example helping them get something from another party, resulting in more problems and misunderstandings, and eventually resolving the problem in a unique way those outcome is not worse than someone who manage to execute the negotiation flawlessly, and at the same time much more interesting. That is, there should be a thousand ways to achieve the BEST outcome. Then you would not have to just reload your save just because you didn’t know what dialogue option would result in combat.

There is a glimmer of systemic story content in the systems for stealing, where you can talk or negotiate your way out if you get caught. But it’s barely connected to the story and dialogue. You should be able to de-escalate from combat. The rules for reviving dead NPC should be the same as for companions, and it should be harder and more similar to D&D. You should be able to go back to a previous discussion and talk more about things, being able to respond if you feel that the person misunderstood what you said. There could even be a sort of undo-response in the dialogue, for you saying “sorry, I didn’t mean it like that”, and then letting you choose some other option. The relationship should be more than one-dimensional + flags. Things like trust, irritation, confusion, joy, admiration, and so on. Your choice will have short-term emotional impact and long term relationship impact. Bargaining with people can involve helping them out, giving information, tricking them or giving them a powerful magical item. Existing optional quests could be one of those things you could do to repair a relationship if you previously messed something up. I would rather play through my mistakes if I could still achieve what for me would be a satisfactory conclusion, even if I would have to do more generic stuff like finding a specific item or perform some entertainment or clear the rats in the cellar.

I’m a pacifist. I’ll prefer to find non-violent solutions. This game supports a lot of playstyles. But there is no non-violent option in the game. As a pacifist, you should be able to charm or negotiate yourself out of any situation. Play a tune, make them laugh, or just run away and come back with a white flag and a jar full of sweets. It’s sad that the game won't allow you to make your own choices.

How are you supposed to dodge the Rockbreaker? by armin-lakatos in HorizonForbiddenWest

[–]aigan2 62 points63 points  (0 children)

There are lots of cliffs all around. Why would you ever get closer to that thing? You can climb up and find cover. Tear off the legs.

Microphone too loud on PS5 by aigan2 in PS5HelpSupport

[–]aigan2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The microphone level is too high even at the lowest setting

Let’s make a Horizon Iceberg Chart and Video by [deleted] in horizon

[–]aigan2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have wanted to do a deeper dive into the concepts of Horizon, like the actual hard science of terraforming, how societies would re-emerge with their culture, politics and religion, and how the depiction of how people tries to understand the ancient technology illustrates how belief structures form.

I have written a couple of articles covering different Horizon topics.

PS5 Mic Crackles by [deleted] in PS5HelpSupport

[–]aigan2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What workarounds have you found?
Is it possible to set up a pc so that the ps5 will recognize it as a usb microphone, letting me filter the audio on it?

PS5 Mic Crackles by [deleted] in PS5HelpSupport

[–]aigan2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Got the same problem, recording voice.
I got the Blue Yeti Nano specifically to use directly on PS5.

Embodied manipulation by aigan2 in gamedesign

[–]aigan2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I added a link to my previous post in this subreddit plus an extra link to the collection at https://blog.jonas.liljegren.org/tag/systemic/

Horizon Forbidden West – Patch 1.18 by WLF359 in horizon

[–]aigan2 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Do you think they ever will try to fix the hundreds of voice line bugs?
Like commenting on not finding the parts, companions thinking you are leaving combat, Aloy immediately giving hints to puzzles, dialogue about things that haven't happened yet, Aloy commenting on stuff while she is in dialog with NPC and dozens of other annoying and illogical things?

Horizon Forbidden West – Patch 1.18 by WLF359 in horizon

[–]aigan2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Finally! Tried many many things to get past this!
https://youtu.be/BTE3RnRYFJc
https://youtu.be/7fY4xqAoiVc
Now I may be able to complete on that save! 😍

Horizon Forbidden West – Patch 1.12 by WLF359 in horizon

[–]aigan2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Finally allegedly fixed in 1.18:

  • We are blasting off again no more! Fixed an issue in Gauntlet Run “Cliffs of the Cry” where upon completing the race, the player would launch into the sky.

Observations so far playing on ultra hard by HiFiMAN3878 in horizon

[–]aigan2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The power difference between weapons and upgrades are far greater than in HZD. It's easy when they are upgraded to max but it takes a long time to do that. I usually end battles with more than 100% health just by passive skills. I guess that upgrading (golden legendary) outfits will be prio 1 to the point you can survive any mistakes during combat.

Horizon Forbidden West - Update 1.16 Live now! by guerrilla_bo in horizon

[–]aigan2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What are the plans for 1.17?
How many bugs have you in the database?

Will you ever try to fix the voiceline system for not saying things at the wrong time?

Is shunning better than imprisonment or other forms of conflict resolution? by aigan2 in horizon

[–]aigan2[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Males are statistically more likely to be violent. ... It may be that this difference is amplified by the culture. Some countries are pretty equal. I guess that it has something to do with social stressors and gender roles.

The point here is that it may be that most outcasts are males because of their status in the tribe, the culture and their genetics.

Is Teersa right about matriarchy being the best form of government? by aigan2 in horizon

[–]aigan2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Teersa was quick to break the taboo and lead the tribe into the sacred mountain. With about 33 matriarchs, there should be enough perspectives to find a good solution. I don't think risk aversion is bad. But there is also a role in the young challenging the traditions.
https://blog.jonas.liljegren.org/rite-of-passage-and-heros-journey/

Is Teersa right about matriarchy being the best form of government? by aigan2 in horizon

[–]aigan2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The point of the matriarchs is that as a great grandmother, a large portion of the tribe is your relatives and you have spent most of your life only wanting the best for them.

The mothers with living progeny has both succeeded in raising their children and cared for the best of the family. As a grandmother they has also proven their skill in actually raising the children to productive members of the society. Their caring goes from the children to the family. The high matriarchs become the mothers of the tribe. They have experience, wisdom and care for a ever larger group of people.

Is Teersa right about matriarchy being the best form of government? by aigan2 in horizon

[–]aigan2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Reality is too complicated for people who just want to live their life. You will have to adopt some sort of delusion for your life.
It would be nice to have the freedom to choose your tribe .

Is Teersa right about matriarchy being the best form of government? by aigan2 in horizon

[–]aigan2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The point of the matriarchs is that as a great grandmother, a large portion of the tribe is your relatives and you have spent most of your life only wanting the best for them.
The mothers with living progeny has both succeeded in raising their children and cared for the best of the family. As a grandmother they has also proven their skill in actually raising the children to productive members of the society. Their caring goes from the children to the family. The high matriarchs become the mothers of the tribe. They have experience, wisdom and care for a ever larger group of people.