I think the red screen of death is one of the best solutions to 'how do you inform the player that they are dying no matter where they look on the screen'. If you do it through audio, some people...
I think the red screen of death is one of the best solutions to 'how do you inform the player that they are dying no matter where they look on the screen'. If you do it through audio, some people might miss it, and if you just have a health bar (or other ui element), you'll forget about it mid-game.
EDIT: Also this article is kind of strange to me... So it starts by acknowledging that it's a good game design feature, talks about some upcoming ps5 game, and then ultimately ends saying "but it's annoying and there's already a healthbar". Maybe it was a slow news week at Kotaku?
I'm also confused as to why the "ouroboros of death" is implied to be an unintended negative effect I mean, that's kinda how it works in real life too. Dying tends to make it easier to die. I...
I'm also confused as to why the "ouroboros of death" is implied to be an unintended negative effect
In games like Doom and Outriders—where you restore health by killing enemies—being low on health makes those enemies harder to see, which makes it harder to kill them, which makes it harder to get health, so then you die. It’s an ouroboros of failure.
I mean, that's kinda how it works in real life too. Dying tends to make it easier to die.
I thought that was part of the point - being close to death makes it harder to see as punishment, making you scramble and give a better sense of your impending doom.
I can understand still being personally annoyed by it, but the statement is just there - alone, as if it speaks for itself... but it doesn't.
Not to demean your entire argument, but that is often not a strong line of reasoning for thinking about fiction. There are lots of things about video games that are dissimilar from real life, that...
I mean, that's kinda how it works in real life too. Dying tends to make it easier to die
Not to demean your entire argument, but that is often not a strong line of reasoning for thinking about fiction. There are lots of things about video games that are dissimilar from real life, that is not really an issue.
The point isn't that all games must work in this way, it's that it's not unintuitive for it to work this way. My point in bringing up IRL is to show how it is an intuitive concept, not that all...
The point isn't that all games must work in this way, it's that it's not unintuitive for it to work this way. My point in bringing up IRL is to show how it is an intuitive concept, not that all games should have feedback loops towards the failure state.
That point is presented with no further elaboration like everyone will read it and be like "Yeah, that doesn't make sense!"
But that's not how it is; the "Ouroboros of Failure" is very common in both games and life itself. I imagine few people find the idea that dying => weaker body => easier to die as a completely alien concept. That kind of feedback loop exists all the time. And it's not like escort missions either - a gameplay concept that is known to produce bad results in most cases.
Yes, I agree that it is very much intuitive. I don't think I ever had any trouble understanding this mechanic, right from the start. I personally grew tired of this mechanic because it can become...
Yes, I agree that it is very much intuitive. I don't think I ever had any trouble understanding this mechanic, right from the start.
I personally grew tired of this mechanic because it can become quite boring if the game relies on it too much, or if I'm not competent enough in that game (which happens often). If I'm walking around almost dying all the time, I'd rather just deal with the consequences of dying already.
I'm currently playing The Division 2 with friends, and, in that particular case, things are not entirely intuitive. I get the "red screen of death", but I can be saved by teammates. If no one saves me, then I "die", but I can still be saved (the consequences are unclear). And sometimes I get a "hit kill" that sends me straight to the graveyard even if I'm standing. But that's probably more about The Division than it is about the general state of gaming.
It's actually their weekend coverage mode, they've done it for years now. Because there's no business on weekends, they use those days to post lighter editorials and more fun articles. Every...
EDIT: Also this article is kind of strange to me... So it starts by acknowledging that it's a good game design feature, talks about some upcoming ps5 game, and then ultimately ends saying "but it's annoying and there's already a healthbar". Maybe it was a slow news week at Kotaku?
It's actually their weekend coverage mode, they've done it for years now. Because there's no business on weekends, they use those days to post lighter editorials and more fun articles. Every weekend, they have one of these kinds of "loose thoughts" articles from one or two of their writers. They've done it for close to ten years now.
One thing the author doesn't mention is accessibility, and I'd be interested to know which (health bar vs whole-screen changes) is more accessible. One thing I like to do when people make a...
One thing the author doesn't mention is accessibility, and I'd be interested to know which (health bar vs whole-screen changes) is more accessible.
A better solution might be to have it [edit: red-screening] turned on by default, and turned off as a setting, with an additional competition setting that makes sure everyone has the same.
Coincidentally I am playing Nier Replicant and instead of this, it applies a blue-tinted shader alongside a smear effect and a time slowdown whenever a hit takes your HP to 1/4, but it only does...
Coincidentally I am playing Nier Replicant and instead of this, it applies a blue-tinted shader alongside a smear effect and a time slowdown whenever a hit takes your HP to 1/4, but it only does this for a second. If you have a health meter, you only need a momentary reminder when your health is getting low. Keeping it up doesn’t really help unless you’re playing a game built around regenerating health.
I think the red screen of death is one of the best solutions to 'how do you inform the player that they are dying no matter where they look on the screen'. If you do it through audio, some people might miss it, and if you just have a health bar (or other ui element), you'll forget about it mid-game.
EDIT: Also this article is kind of strange to me... So it starts by acknowledging that it's a good game design feature, talks about some upcoming ps5 game, and then ultimately ends saying "but it's annoying and there's already a healthbar". Maybe it was a slow news week at Kotaku?
I'm also confused as to why the "ouroboros of death" is implied to be an unintended negative effect
I mean, that's kinda how it works in real life too. Dying tends to make it easier to die.
I thought that was part of the point - being close to death makes it harder to see as punishment, making you scramble and give a better sense of your impending doom.
I can understand still being personally annoyed by it, but the statement is just there - alone, as if it speaks for itself... but it doesn't.
Not to demean your entire argument, but that is often not a strong line of reasoning for thinking about fiction. There are lots of things about video games that are dissimilar from real life, that is not really an issue.
The point isn't that all games must work in this way, it's that it's not unintuitive for it to work this way. My point in bringing up IRL is to show how it is an intuitive concept, not that all games should have feedback loops towards the failure state.
That point is presented with no further elaboration like everyone will read it and be like "Yeah, that doesn't make sense!"
But that's not how it is; the "Ouroboros of Failure" is very common in both games and life itself. I imagine few people find the idea that dying => weaker body => easier to die as a completely alien concept. That kind of feedback loop exists all the time. And it's not like escort missions either - a gameplay concept that is known to produce bad results in most cases.
Yes, I agree that it is very much intuitive. I don't think I ever had any trouble understanding this mechanic, right from the start.
I personally grew tired of this mechanic because it can become quite boring if the game relies on it too much, or if I'm not competent enough in that game (which happens often). If I'm walking around almost dying all the time, I'd rather just deal with the consequences of dying already.
I'm currently playing The Division 2 with friends, and, in that particular case, things are not entirely intuitive. I get the "red screen of death", but I can be saved by teammates. If no one saves me, then I "die", but I can still be saved (the consequences are unclear). And sometimes I get a "hit kill" that sends me straight to the graveyard even if I'm standing. But that's probably more about The Division than it is about the general state of gaming.
I personally would just like the option to turn alpha down, adjust the thresholds, or turn it off.
Some titles are worse than others.
It's actually their weekend coverage mode, they've done it for years now. Because there's no business on weekends, they use those days to post lighter editorials and more fun articles. Every weekend, they have one of these kinds of "loose thoughts" articles from one or two of their writers. They've done it for close to ten years now.
One thing the author doesn't mention is accessibility, and I'd be interested to know which (health bar vs whole-screen changes) is more accessible.
One thing I like to do when people make a criticism[1] is to imagine what would be a worse solution - this helps me think about what I do and don't like. So, the sound of an ECG machine that intensifies its alarms as your character takes more damage would be pretty terrible.
A better solution might be to have it [edit: red-screening] turned on by default, and turned off as a setting, with an additional competition setting that makes sure everyone has the same.
[1] I'm not complaining about people doing this!
Coincidentally I am playing Nier Replicant and instead of this, it applies a blue-tinted shader alongside a smear effect and a time slowdown whenever a hit takes your HP to 1/4, but it only does this for a second. If you have a health meter, you only need a momentary reminder when your health is getting low. Keeping it up doesn’t really help unless you’re playing a game built around regenerating health.