[MoriartyL]

It seems to me the word "nonlinear" is being used in this thread to mean several different things, with each poster assuming everyone else is using their definition. So I can't quite wrap my head around the question, and what it's supposed to mean.

The phrase "nonlinear adventure" leads me to imagine a story whose linear timeline you explore by hopping however you wish from one moment to another (either after it, before it, or in a different place). Make a little change at the beginning, then jump back to the end and see how everything changes. How marvelous an opus that could be!

[Squinky]

Originally Posted by MoriartyL

The phrase "nonlinear adventure" leads me to imagine a story whose linear timeline you explore by hopping however you wish from one moment to another (either after it, before it, or in a different place). Make a little change at the beginning, then jump back to the end and see how everything changes. How marvelous an opus that could be!

Indeed!

[Collector]

Originally Posted by MoriartyL

It seems to me the word "nonlinear" is being used in this thread to mean several different things, with each poster assuming everyone else is using their definition. So I can't quite wrap my head around the question, and what it's supposed to mean.

The phrase "nonlinear adventure" leads me to imagine a story whose linear timeline you explore by hopping however you wish from one moment to another (either after it, before it, or in a different place). Make a little change at the beginning, then jump back to the end and see how everything changes. How marvelous an opus that could be!

No one in this thread has suggested that nonlinear means jumping around in time. The thread might as well be titled "Time Travel or Not". Nonlinear simply means the plot doesn't follow a straight path and/or some puzzles can be solved in a variable sequence. A nonlinear game can have multiple outcomes based on various decisions made during game play. In other words, linear=straight path/plot, nonlinear=forks in the path or multiple solutions, multiple outcomes. Maybe others have a different notion of what nonlinear in games mean, but I don't see anyone else taking it as nonlinear time.

[Keregioz]

Originally Posted by Collector

No one in this thread has suggested that nonlinear means jumping around in time. The thread might as well be titled "Time Travel or Not". Nonlinear simply means the plot doesn't follow a straight path and/or some puzzles can be solved in a variable sequence. A nonlinear game can have multiple outcomes based on various decisions made during game play. In other words, linear=straight path/plot, nonlinear=forks in the path or multiple solutions, multiple outcomes. Maybe others have a different notion of what nonlinear in games mean, but I don't see anyone else taking it as nonlinear time.

That's one definition...I think some people also consider non-linear a game where the story is linear (no multiple paths,endings,or puzzles) but the gameplay is not. For example in monkey island 2 at a certain point of the game you have the task to retrieve 4 pieces of map from each of 3 islands and the game gives you the opportunity to pursue them separately at the same time. So basically you can choose which piece you start searching and if you get stuck you can try finding any of the others instead of having to retrieve the first piece and only then be able to move on to find the second map piece and so on. So the "fork" as you said is in the gameplay not the story.

[MoriartyL]

Originally Posted by Squinky

Indeed!

Yeah, not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about being able to jump however you like, not being restricted to three points which are linear in themselves. Also, I was sort of assuming it was a linear plot, rather than a time travel story. Or to put it in a way that sounds less nitpicky: I was thinking of the interactive version of what you get in "nonlinear movies". Where you can start from the ending and work your way back, or start in the middle and spread outwards in both directions, or jump around randomly and piece together the story from random moments. However you want to play it. The "time-travelly" aspect of changing the timeline is because otherwise you could barely have any influence on the plot at all. But that gameplay device would never be addressed in the story, which could even take place in the real world. It would be a tool through which you experience the story. That's what "non-linear" says to me.

And yeah, I know that's not how it's being used here. Apparently when the word is applied to adventure games, it means a totally different thing than with any other media!

[pygmyking]

Originally Posted by Collector

Non-linear game play/plot can greatly increase the replayability of a game. The 2nd time through can be a different game, if the non-linearness of game is done right. The more linear the game, the less likely I will be to replay it.

This is true: with the 'modern adventures' of recent years, the games that tend towards non-linearity are also rather short (probably necessarily, from a production perspective) ~ and therefore, replaying to get the full experience isn't much of a stretch. I'm talking specifically about my experience with games such as Fahrenheit and Shadow of Memories: I enjoyed both games, but in a way the time restrictions and constant awareness of missed opportunities makes for a slightly tense gaming experience, completely at odds with the leisurely pursuit of linear adventuring.

I like the 'rubber band' game design of Fahrenheit (as it was described by David Cage himself), in which one can deviate from the conventional flow of the game whilst still inevitably progressing through the linear path of the story. I don't think this is fake non-linearity ~ when a game serves the narrative, any freedom must be something of an illusion.