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It is becoming increasingly popular among developers to implement in games, due to pretty much undefined boundaries in game development and extremely advanced technology. What? Weather effects. If you want to make a great game in this day and age, you have to have adjustable weather.
Metal Gear Solid 2, possibly the greatest game on the PlayStation 2 had varying weather effects. Outside it was raining some of the time, and cloudy other times. The rain was heavy and light. It was one of those small minor effects which on its own didn't make much difference, but combined with all the other nifty little nick-nacks, it added up to a brilliant game. It happens in Wave Race Blue Storm; weather effects affect the way you can play a track, the size of the waves and more. In GT3 and Grand Prix games, different tyres work differently in different conditions, dry, wet or mild. Yes; weather conditions are a necessity in all modern games.
They fit in the neat little category of customisation. As a general rule of thumb, any game which gives you control of what you want to happen are much better off than those which don't. Imagine if you were stuck listening to K-Jah radio on GTA3. That certainly wouldn't be a very nice thing, and while on my game its constantly left on Chatterbox, variety does let YOU decide what you want. After all, variety is the spice of life, and after many decades of striving for ultimate interactivity, developers are finally cottoning on to the fact that customisation is the key to immersion.
I think that in all modern games, weather conditions are a necessity. And not just weather conditions themselves, but weather conditions which affect the way the game plays. For example, if it was very windy and you were playing an aeroplane game, you'd have to fight against the wind. All modern plane games implement this, although there are many which don't. Rain and fog can affect visibility and traction in certain games, and snow or hail could damage your car and make it run slower. There are tonnes of different things which could happen, and can be implemented in all ways.
Nintendo, the master of innovation, have even managed to have weather effects in Mario Sunshine. You know that water meter in the bottom corner of all screenshots? Well apparently, depending on how hot it is, that acts as a coolant/spray type thing. You'd think weather conditions wouldn't work in platform games, but there are many ways to do so. Perhaps in a game if it got so hot, you'd see mirages and heat haze due to the temperature. In a game you could have to find water in a desert which seems to have water surrounding it. It could work, and is another way to implement weather effects.
They really are starting to play a big role in modern games and in order to let you play the game the way you want, weather is almost standard in games nowadays. In years to come, weather could become such a common feature in games as multiplayer compatibility, but then again, there are so many other features which could do also. Variety is the spice of life; customisation is the key and if you want to make a great game, let the player decide what and what not to do.
Metal Gear Solid 2, possibly the greatest game on the PlayStation 2 had varying weather effects. Outside it was raining some of the time, and cloudy other times. The rain was heavy and light. It was one of those small minor effects which on its own didn't make much difference, but combined with all the other nifty little nick-nacks, it added up to a brilliant game. It happens in Wave Race Blue Storm; weather effects affect the way you can play a track, the size of the waves and more. In GT3 and Grand Prix games, different tyres work differently in different conditions, dry, wet or mild. Yes; weather conditions are a necessity in all modern games.
They fit in the neat little category of customisation. As a general rule of thumb, any game which gives you control of what you want to happen are much better off than those which don't. Imagine if you were stuck listening to K-Jah radio on GTA3. That certainly wouldn't be a very nice thing, and while on my game its constantly left on Chatterbox, variety does let YOU decide what you want. After all, variety is the spice of life, and after many decades of striving for ultimate interactivity, developers are finally cottoning on to the fact that customisation is the key to immersion.
I think that in all modern games, weather conditions are a necessity. And not just weather conditions themselves, but weather conditions which affect the way the game plays. For example, if it was very windy and you were playing an aeroplane game, you'd have to fight against the wind. All modern plane games implement this, although there are many which don't. Rain and fog can affect visibility and traction in certain games, and snow or hail could damage your car and make it run slower. There are tonnes of different things which could happen, and can be implemented in all ways.
Nintendo, the master of innovation, have even managed to have weather effects in Mario Sunshine. You know that water meter in the bottom corner of all screenshots? Well apparently, depending on how hot it is, that acts as a coolant/spray type thing. You'd think weather conditions wouldn't work in platform games, but there are many ways to do so. Perhaps in a game if it got so hot, you'd see mirages and heat haze due to the temperature. In a game you could have to find water in a desert which seems to have water surrounding it. It could work, and is another way to implement weather effects.
They really are starting to play a big role in modern games and in order to let you play the game the way you want, weather is almost standard in games nowadays. In years to come, weather could become such a common feature in games as multiplayer compatibility, but then again, there are so many other features which could do also. Variety is the spice of life; customisation is the key and if you want to make a great game, let the player decide what and what not to do.
I like it when you post links to your old topics in newer ones, because people reply to them. Thanks!
While I see that there are plenty of games that do use weather now, I still see that there are a lot which don't and many which do use weather use it for purely cosmetic purposes. I think in the future we should see weather effecting actual gameplay more, as you said about flight sims and wind etc. although flight sims really should have this feature (they are simulators after all...) I think more games should implement weather which effects gameplay...
I think this has yet to appear properly in First Person Shooters due to their nature... if the developer wants weather that effects the environment it is usually scripted if you know what I mean... as in the weather doesn't dynamically change on its own, when you reach a certain point/ level in the game it will change because it is told to... And then the developer will give the illusion of the weather effecting the environment, but really it is all scripted.
I think proper dynamic weahter that changes randomly or due to some kind of wether pattern should be implemented more rather than scripting weather to change at a particular point in the game...
I think this has yet to appear properly in First Person Shooters due to their nature... if the developer wants weather that effects the environment it is usually scripted if you know what I mean... as in the weather doesn't dynamically change on its own, when you reach a certain point/ level in the game it will change because it is told to... And then the developer will give the illusion of the weather effecting the environment, but really it is all scripted.
I think proper dynamic weahter that changes randomly or due to some kind of wether pattern should be implemented more rather than scripting weather to change at a particular point in the game...
Star Wars Rogue Leader has 'weather' if you like; If you're playing at night, its night, and the same with the day time. You all know that, but its quite cool how you have to finish certain missions at certain times of the day to unlock stuff. Although you could just mess around with the GameCube clock to play when it suits you.
It was also the same with Pokemon Gold/Silver. I remember that I was too often playing at night time, cos I only played after school at about five. So I got my password and reversed the clock. It was sweet, but cool that different times of day affect the play.
It was also the same with Pokemon Gold/Silver. I remember that I was too often playing at night time, cos I only played after school at about five. So I got my password and reversed the clock. It was sweet, but cool that different times of day affect the play.
So they did! The only other games I can remember are games like Ready 2 Rumble having skeletons in the crowd on Halloween, and Christmas trees in the background on 25th December.
As for MSR, the environment and situations changed depending on the time you played it in real life. I actually thougt it was a good feature but can remember on more that one occasion aertificially changing the time so I can race during the day rather than at night!
As for MSR, the environment and situations changed depending on the time you played it in real life. I actually thougt it was a good feature but can remember on more that one occasion aertificially changing the time so I can race during the day rather than at night!
RM18 wrote:
> If I remember correctly, my personal favourite game ever Shenmue
> (1+2), had this, in what was termed 'Magic Weather and Time Control'.
> Essentially, weather can change for every player, and in so, the
> conditions that you are in change and so does your surrounding
> environment. I think it worked a treat, and I'm surpried it hasn't ben
> imlpemented in more games.
>
> Good post as well :)
Actually, the Shenmue games went even further than that and mapped the weather patterns to the dates and times of the actual day you were playing, so May 1st 1986 in the game had the same weather as May 1st 1986 in real life Japan!
It may seem to be going over the top a bit, but it was pretty impressive. Sonic Team loved playing with the Saturn clock too, Christmas NiGHTS was the best example of this as it changed the backgrounds and weather according to the time of year, you even had a valentines background, Sonic Adventure had some of these designs too. Metropolis Street Racer got darker as you played later in to the night, which made it worth staying up to all hours playing it!
Perhaps more games designers should use the internal clocks now included in most of the consoles, they could be used to great effect on realistic games or just for fun like in NiGHTS.
> If I remember correctly, my personal favourite game ever Shenmue
> (1+2), had this, in what was termed 'Magic Weather and Time Control'.
> Essentially, weather can change for every player, and in so, the
> conditions that you are in change and so does your surrounding
> environment. I think it worked a treat, and I'm surpried it hasn't ben
> imlpemented in more games.
>
> Good post as well :)
Actually, the Shenmue games went even further than that and mapped the weather patterns to the dates and times of the actual day you were playing, so May 1st 1986 in the game had the same weather as May 1st 1986 in real life Japan!
It may seem to be going over the top a bit, but it was pretty impressive. Sonic Team loved playing with the Saturn clock too, Christmas NiGHTS was the best example of this as it changed the backgrounds and weather according to the time of year, you even had a valentines background, Sonic Adventure had some of these designs too. Metropolis Street Racer got darker as you played later in to the night, which made it worth staying up to all hours playing it!
Perhaps more games designers should use the internal clocks now included in most of the consoles, they could be used to great effect on realistic games or just for fun like in NiGHTS.
½pint wrote:
>customisation is the key to immersion
*
It is definately an important factor: ripping the music of my choice to the XBOX's hard drive and playing it over Project Gotham Racing certainly improves and adds enjoyment.
*
On games like Shenmue and GTA3, I often stand about for hours [in-game time] and watch the weather change and the time shift from day to night and vice versa.
>customisation is the key to immersion
*
It is definately an important factor: ripping the music of my choice to the XBOX's hard drive and playing it over Project Gotham Racing certainly improves and adds enjoyment.
*
On games like Shenmue and GTA3, I often stand about for hours [in-game time] and watch the weather change and the time shift from day to night and vice versa.
If I remember correctly, my personal favourite game ever Shenmue (1+2), had this, in what was termed 'Magic Weather and Time Control'. Essentially, weather can change for every player, and in so, the conditions that you are in change and so does your surrounding environment. I think it worked a treat, and I'm surpried it hasn't ben imlpemented in more games.
Good post as well :)
Good post as well :)
Nice one ;)
For the idiots that mean "rain to gain".
It is becoming increasingly popular among developers to implement in games, due to pretty much undefined boundaries in game development and extremely advanced technology. What? Weather effects. If you want to make a great game in this day and age, you have to have adjustable weather.
Metal Gear Solid 2, possibly the greatest game on the PlayStation 2 had varying weather effects. Outside it was raining some of the time, and cloudy other times. The rain was heavy and light. It was one of those small minor effects which on its own didn't make much difference, but combined with all the other nifty little nick-nacks, it added up to a brilliant game. It happens in Wave Race Blue Storm; weather effects affect the way you can play a track, the size of the waves and more. In GT3 and Grand Prix games, different tyres work differently in different conditions, dry, wet or mild. Yes; weather conditions are a necessity in all modern games.
They fit in the neat little category of customisation. As a general rule of thumb, any game which gives you control of what you want to happen are much better off than those which don't. Imagine if you were stuck listening to K-Jah radio on GTA3. That certainly wouldn't be a very nice thing, and while on my game its constantly left on Chatterbox, variety does let YOU decide what you want. After all, variety is the spice of life, and after many decades of striving for ultimate interactivity, developers are finally cottoning on to the fact that customisation is the key to immersion.
I think that in all modern games, weather conditions are a necessity. And not just weather conditions themselves, but weather conditions which affect the way the game plays. For example, if it was very windy and you were playing an aeroplane game, you'd have to fight against the wind. All modern plane games implement this, although there are many which don't. Rain and fog can affect visibility and traction in certain games, and snow or hail could damage your car and make it run slower. There are tonnes of different things which could happen, and can be implemented in all ways.
Nintendo, the master of innovation, have even managed to have weather effects in Mario Sunshine. You know that water meter in the bottom corner of all screenshots? Well apparently, depending on how hot it is, that acts as a coolant/spray type thing. You'd think weather conditions wouldn't work in platform games, but there are many ways to do so. Perhaps in a game if it got so hot, you'd see mirages and heat haze due to the temperature. In a game you could have to find water in a desert which seems to have water surrounding it. It could work, and is another way to implement weather effects.
They really are starting to play a big role in modern games and in order to let you play the game the way you want, weather is almost standard in games nowadays. In years to come, weather could become such a common feature in games as multiplayer compatibility, but then again, there are so many other features which could do also. Variety is the spice of life; customisation is the key and if you want to make a great game, let the player decide what and what not to do.
Metal Gear Solid 2, possibly the greatest game on the PlayStation 2 had varying weather effects. Outside it was raining some of the time, and cloudy other times. The rain was heavy and light. It was one of those small minor effects which on its own didn't make much difference, but combined with all the other nifty little nick-nacks, it added up to a brilliant game. It happens in Wave Race Blue Storm; weather effects affect the way you can play a track, the size of the waves and more. In GT3 and Grand Prix games, different tyres work differently in different conditions, dry, wet or mild. Yes; weather conditions are a necessity in all modern games.
They fit in the neat little category of customisation. As a general rule of thumb, any game which gives you control of what you want to happen are much better off than those which don't. Imagine if you were stuck listening to K-Jah radio on GTA3. That certainly wouldn't be a very nice thing, and while on my game its constantly left on Chatterbox, variety does let YOU decide what you want. After all, variety is the spice of life, and after many decades of striving for ultimate interactivity, developers are finally cottoning on to the fact that customisation is the key to immersion.
I think that in all modern games, weather conditions are a necessity. And not just weather conditions themselves, but weather conditions which affect the way the game plays. For example, if it was very windy and you were playing an aeroplane game, you'd have to fight against the wind. All modern plane games implement this, although there are many which don't. Rain and fog can affect visibility and traction in certain games, and snow or hail could damage your car and make it run slower. There are tonnes of different things which could happen, and can be implemented in all ways.
Nintendo, the master of innovation, have even managed to have weather effects in Mario Sunshine. You know that water meter in the bottom corner of all screenshots? Well apparently, depending on how hot it is, that acts as a coolant/spray type thing. You'd think weather conditions wouldn't work in platform games, but there are many ways to do so. Perhaps in a game if it got so hot, you'd see mirages and heat haze due to the temperature. In a game you could have to find water in a desert which seems to have water surrounding it. It could work, and is another way to implement weather effects.
They really are starting to play a big role in modern games and in order to let you play the game the way you want, weather is almost standard in games nowadays. In years to come, weather could become such a common feature in games as multiplayer compatibility, but then again, there are so many other features which could do also. Variety is the spice of life; customisation is the key and if you want to make a great game, let the player decide what and what not to do.