Quote:
Originally Posted by DarthBull
There was definitely a lot of dialogue with Fiona, Charlie and Emma but I didn't mind. I'm not sure how else they could have set up the relationships. I know I wouldn't have read it if it was in the manual.
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It - putting it in the manual - was just an example of designing things differently. If the character back stories (or part of these) are put into the manual, a player can skip those if she/he isn't interested in the back stories. It's better that way than use the Esc-key to speed up the dialogues, as that "breaks the wall" I think.
Sure you know how to set up the relationships differently! For example, only give information when it is needed, so not all at once (about Mickey, Emma, Zack, Fiona etc.), but after a meeting with Emma etc. But there are other ways (nice exercise for us, if we weren't playing the game).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fien
Oh no, please no back stories in the manual for me. They can be fun, but not in a game like TLE. Gradually getting to know the characters and their relations is an important part of the immersive experience.
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I agree, but that's one of the examples I mentioned I believe (splitting it up, doing it gradually). It's simply bad design in my - subjective - eyes, a dialogue right after the game has started that takes around 15 MINUTES or so (!!). I know it's not a big deal and that some don't mind at all, and KasiaD pointed out that the name of the game is the LONGEST journey afterall :-). But I am always interested how designers solve these kind of problems (dealing with/using exposition scenes). And I must admit I stopped playing some games that were enormously "talkative."
But though of some interest I think as a design issue, this unimportant comment just melts away because of the grandeur of the game. The alternative ending of the chapter Zane just mentioned is a perfect example of the imagination and talent of the designers. I think it was maginficent (the bewilderment of the Banda!!!).
