Wasteland 2 Post on Cutscenes

AtomBomb

It Wandered In From the Wastes
inXile Entertainment has recently posted on Facebook, regarding cutscenes and Wasteland 2:<blockquote>One thing we haven't talked about so far is cutscenes. We want you playing the game rather than staring at cutscenes, but we'd also like to do an opening cutscene that sets up the history of the rangers including the events of Wasteland, a scene as part of our closing sequences and perhaps one mid-game cutscene. We have these written out , and we have some great footage taken from the Wasteland Weekend to use in them. We are not going to do expensive cinematics, nor we will want to, but we'd like to get creative in the execution, find a way of doing them that is not too expensive but still aesthetically pleasing.

And what's the best source of crazy creativity? We've seen some very cleverly done small films done on Youtube, and we're looking for that kind of independent but creative director who could bring a style we want. Maybe you're familiar with a specific artist or director who has impressed you with their work - maybe even though Kickstarter.</blockquote>
 
FearMonkey said:
I have no problem with cutscenes being in a videogame.

There's a growing (it's been growing so long you don't see the growth any more!) trend of gameplay being there just to railroad-bridge the (narrow fucking) gaps between the cinematics.

I truly welcome anything that tries to swim upstream - should perhaps balance things out, short term
 
Gaspard said:
FearMonkey said:
I have no problem with cutscenes being in a videogame.

There's a growing (it's been growing so long you don't see the growth any more!) trend of gameplay being there just to railroad-bridge the (narrow fucking) gaps between the cinematics.

I truly welcome anything that tries to swim upstream - should perhaps balance things out, short term

First of all, anybody worried that Wasteland 2 was going to have a lot of cutscenes was worrying for nothing. If anything it'd be like how Fallout 1&2 had cutscenes. At least this was my expectation.

Secondly, I have no problem with some games being heavily cutscened provided that they're doing so because they're telling story bits that can't be properly conveyed in game. For example, the PS1/PS2/PS3 Final Fantasy games. As much as people like to say there's a lot of cutscenes in them, there really isn't. And they only used the cutscenes to show things that couldn't be done otherwise. For example, the ballroom dancing scene in FFVIII. If they did that in-game it would have looked stupid. In fact, a lot of times I looked at the cutscenes in those games as being rewards for progressing.

But in a game like Wasteland 2, which is the type of game where you make your own experience, then cutscenes are pretty much useless. Even though there is a story to tell, the path you take to get there *should* be different based on how you play it, I would imagine, based on my expectations of what Wasteland 2 will be. :p
 
FearMonkey said:
If anything it'd be like how Fallout 1&2 had cutscenes.

the little movies were nice. I could have lived without the cathedral explosion one or the one after the vats. what I really enjoyed a lot was the introduction and the ending that was customized to what you did in the game and a follow up on what happened with the people you saved (or not). showing your impact on the world you just stepped through.
 
FearMonkey said:
In fact, a lot of times I looked at the cutscenes in those games as being rewards for progressing.

But in a game like Wasteland 2, which is the type of game where you make your own experience, then cutscenes are pretty much useless. Even though there is a story to tell, the path you take to get there *should* be different based on how you play it, I would imagine, based on my expectations of what Wasteland 2 will be. :p

Cut scenes can definitely be a bit of a reward. Warcraft II was one of the first PC games I ever played and the opening cinematic and the short 20 or 30 second clips that were slotted between every 3 or 4 story missions really added a lot to the feel of the world.

I could see them fitting some into Wasteland (disclaimer: I didn't play the 1st one). Despite the fact that they want us to be having our own experiences, there are only so many ways they can script certain events or the game's length would be compromised. So for some major locations, they could pull a Baldur's Gate and give a video of the local. Or they could made videos of certain high points in the story, where if we chose to blow X up, we see a vid of it going up in smoke; but if we chose otherwise we see whatever group doing something else.
 
Looking forward to the opening cutscene for W2. Opening cutscenes give a player the first glimpse into the game, and introduce what the game is about. It sets the tone and gives an expectation of what the flavor of the game should be.

As long as the mid-game cutscenes don't influence the future gameplay, that's fine. They should be kept to a minimum of showing the results of your actions, and not drive the story forward, making decisions for you. If they don't have any mid-game cutscenes at all, that's cool too.
 
some great part of those old games are the cutscenes. Like Diablo 2, or C&C. I mean Red Alert or the first CC. Awesome to see the actors doing their stuff.

If used well cutscenes can be awesome.
 
I would like to see an animated cutscene, cartoony like, like the intro to Priest. None of that CG shit which is so prevalent nowadays.
 
I like cutscenes, it can add ti the game.
However i'm not for animated cutscenes :too expensive and quite horrible if not very well made.
Nothing worse than "cheap" animated cutscenes.
On the other hand photo slideshow with narrative are great and way cheaper.
Something like the fallout intro, earlier Thief game (slideshow slightly animated) or what this dude has made in his wasteland let's play would be amazing ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvYcu5qaO-s ).
 
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