Quote:
Originally Posted by Siddhi
It is a question of immersion.. when you move from point A to point B, you are consciously doing the moving, and while doing so you take in the environment. So you feel like you are actually in the story. You get immersed in it, and you get a different experience compared to reading a book or watching a movie.
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Immersive or not, moving from narration to narration is not a gameplay mechanic, no matter how you look at it.
And i can liken to it watching a movie, because even though i get to choose where i go next in the virtual world of Dear Esther, ultimately it will be the same experience as if watching a movie. Which is different than playing a game (even a simple one like snake or canabalt) that has actual gameplay mechanics and its interactivity is more invloving than walking to the next place that triggers an audio file.
If there was anything for me to do in this world (a quest, an interaction with the scenery that would result in a change in the game's world and rules) except walking to hear the next narration, i'd consider it a game. As it is, it's not a game.
I wouldn't even call it interactive fiction, because you don't make any decisions and you don't interact with the story in any way. You just hear it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter254
You see, it is my belief that the simple act of being able to navigate a simulated environment in an implied perspective, with the goal (however random) of triggering hotspots, is what qualifies Dear Esther as being a game.
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You're navigating through a simulated environment in an implied perspective with a goal while working in 3D Studio MAX, so by your logic these 3 variables are enough to qualify it as being a game. 3D Studio MAX (and other modelling software) is a game by your logic. You really have to see there is a flaw in your logic. Either that, or your definition of games allows mostly anything to fit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter254
to you it is no different than the page-turning of a book. But you are dismissing the simulated environment, the implied perspective, and the implied goal. The gameplay mechanic is that these three fundamental variables in game design allow the player to interact with the gameworld, in which there are clear rules and goals.
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To me Dear Esther is not a game. It is a virtual exploration software in which i can't interact in any other way with the area i'm exploring other than walking through it, while hearing a story.
How can i explain that those 3 variables (walking through a simulated env, in an implied persepctive, with a basic goal) can be found in other software that you wouldn't call 'game'. Those 3 variables alone do not make a gameplay mechanic... But i guess you think otherwise so, we should just leave it at that...we disagree on what makes a game being a game.
