The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Technology is moving so fast now that surely there must be ways to improve the player’s interactivity? We have had huge graphical leaps over the last few generations of consoles, jumping into fully 3D worlds and now seeing them come to life more and more. But these do little to immerse the player into the game world unless the game world is trying to imitate reality. So how can we increase interactivity and immersion? Well, are there ways to do it that the player would not even realise?
I’m sure I have mentioned before that there was a Tetris game (I don’t think it got a UK release though) released on the N64 which had a sensor you clipped to your ear. It measured heart rate somehow to tell how nervous / excited you were, and if your heart rate increased, the game would up the ante so to speak. Couldn’t this be used in other games and genres? I think it would be especially cool in a survival horror such as Resident Evil. If the game senses a low heart rate, low tension, you aren’t likely to be too scared if something then jumps out at you. So it waits, and builds tension, maybe through music, having doors creaking or various sound effects and then when the player’s heart rate increases and they are nervous the game springs a surprise on them. It could be used in other genres such as space shooters (a la Lylatwars or Star Wars: Rogue Leader) so when your heart rate is high, more enemies appear.
Another idea is measuring adrenaline levels in the body. Now I’m not sure how this could be achieved short of putting something into you blood stream to pump out blood and measure it in a machine, then put blood back, but in the future I’m sure something could be devised that wouldn’t involve sticking needles in your arm. Anyway, if you remember Perfect Dark and the combat boosts used, it could act as a similar system to that. As adrenaline levels rise in the player, the game gets a little slower, allowing the player to be more accurate or react to the game quicker (well, quicker in game terms… you know what I mean). This could be used in something such as the Tony Hawks franchise too. One of the cheats on it is when you jump the game moves in slow motion, allowing you to pretty much land perfectly every time. If the player’s adrenaline level raised then this could happen so the player could land more easily. And it could be done in levels, so if there is only a little adrenaline the game only goes a little slower than normal, if there’s a lot it’ll slow down a bit more, giving more of an advantage.
These could add a lot to the gameplay experience, quite simply because if you’re far into a level that you’ve never won before and it’s a hard one, your heart is pumping as you frantically try to win it. Your adrenaline levels go hyper. It would give a much more on edge experience. And developers could add any effect to it. I remember reading about a formula one game based on a film starring Sylvester Stallone (I think it was called Driven) which allowed you to get ‘in the zone’. This could be measured with adrenaline levels, or heart rate, or a combination of the two. They could make the effect for you to go a little faster (in racing games), the gameplay to move slower so you can react better, to make the game more frantic with more enemies, or to make the game less frantic. It could also be used to great effect with the shock value as detailed above for Resident Evil.
All this time the player would be interacting more with the game, and they wouldn’t even know it.
I’m sure I have mentioned before that there was a Tetris game (I don’t think it got a UK release though) released on the N64 which had a sensor you clipped to your ear. It measured heart rate somehow to tell how nervous / excited you were, and if your heart rate increased, the game would up the ante so to speak. Couldn’t this be used in other games and genres? I think it would be especially cool in a survival horror such as Resident Evil. If the game senses a low heart rate, low tension, you aren’t likely to be too scared if something then jumps out at you. So it waits, and builds tension, maybe through music, having doors creaking or various sound effects and then when the player’s heart rate increases and they are nervous the game springs a surprise on them. It could be used in other genres such as space shooters (a la Lylatwars or Star Wars: Rogue Leader) so when your heart rate is high, more enemies appear.
Another idea is measuring adrenaline levels in the body. Now I’m not sure how this could be achieved short of putting something into you blood stream to pump out blood and measure it in a machine, then put blood back, but in the future I’m sure something could be devised that wouldn’t involve sticking needles in your arm. Anyway, if you remember Perfect Dark and the combat boosts used, it could act as a similar system to that. As adrenaline levels rise in the player, the game gets a little slower, allowing the player to be more accurate or react to the game quicker (well, quicker in game terms… you know what I mean). This could be used in something such as the Tony Hawks franchise too. One of the cheats on it is when you jump the game moves in slow motion, allowing you to pretty much land perfectly every time. If the player’s adrenaline level raised then this could happen so the player could land more easily. And it could be done in levels, so if there is only a little adrenaline the game only goes a little slower than normal, if there’s a lot it’ll slow down a bit more, giving more of an advantage.
These could add a lot to the gameplay experience, quite simply because if you’re far into a level that you’ve never won before and it’s a hard one, your heart is pumping as you frantically try to win it. Your adrenaline levels go hyper. It would give a much more on edge experience. And developers could add any effect to it. I remember reading about a formula one game based on a film starring Sylvester Stallone (I think it was called Driven) which allowed you to get ‘in the zone’. This could be measured with adrenaline levels, or heart rate, or a combination of the two. They could make the effect for you to go a little faster (in racing games), the gameplay to move slower so you can react better, to make the game more frantic with more enemies, or to make the game less frantic. It could also be used to great effect with the shock value as detailed above for Resident Evil.
All this time the player would be interacting more with the game, and they wouldn’t even know it.
Page:
Cheers Sonic, yeah I don't think at least some of the ideas would be hard to implement, although it would probably take a fair amount of fine tuning to get it to feel right.
And I think adrenaline is spelt right... Word didn't pick up any mis-spelling... maybe I'll check my Biology revision book later :D
And I think adrenaline is spelt right... Word didn't pick up any mis-spelling... maybe I'll check my Biology revision book later :D
Excellent ideas in here...
The idea about measuring adrenaline (I'm sure there's an "h" in there somewhere?) in survival horrors is a particuarly good one- relating to your character's accuaracy, reaction times and perhaps the timings that monsters jump out.
Such an idea isn't as hard to implement as you make out either- adrenaline, heart rate and sweating are all linked. All you'd need would be a finger clip *thingy* that they use on lie detectors.
Good post!
The idea about measuring adrenaline (I'm sure there's an "h" in there somewhere?) in survival horrors is a particuarly good one- relating to your character's accuaracy, reaction times and perhaps the timings that monsters jump out.
Such an idea isn't as hard to implement as you make out either- adrenaline, heart rate and sweating are all linked. All you'd need would be a finger clip *thingy* that they use on lie detectors.
Good post!
Technology is moving so fast now that surely there must be ways to improve the player’s interactivity? We have had huge graphical leaps over the last few generations of consoles, jumping into fully 3D worlds and now seeing them come to life more and more. But these do little to immerse the player into the game world unless the game world is trying to imitate reality. So how can we increase interactivity and immersion? Well, are there ways to do it that the player would not even realise?
I’m sure I have mentioned before that there was a Tetris game (I don’t think it got a UK release though) released on the N64 which had a sensor you clipped to your ear. It measured heart rate somehow to tell how nervous / excited you were, and if your heart rate increased, the game would up the ante so to speak. Couldn’t this be used in other games and genres? I think it would be especially cool in a survival horror such as Resident Evil. If the game senses a low heart rate, low tension, you aren’t likely to be too scared if something then jumps out at you. So it waits, and builds tension, maybe through music, having doors creaking or various sound effects and then when the player’s heart rate increases and they are nervous the game springs a surprise on them. It could be used in other genres such as space shooters (a la Lylatwars or Star Wars: Rogue Leader) so when your heart rate is high, more enemies appear.
Another idea is measuring adrenaline levels in the body. Now I’m not sure how this could be achieved short of putting something into you blood stream to pump out blood and measure it in a machine, then put blood back, but in the future I’m sure something could be devised that wouldn’t involve sticking needles in your arm. Anyway, if you remember Perfect Dark and the combat boosts used, it could act as a similar system to that. As adrenaline levels rise in the player, the game gets a little slower, allowing the player to be more accurate or react to the game quicker (well, quicker in game terms… you know what I mean). This could be used in something such as the Tony Hawks franchise too. One of the cheats on it is when you jump the game moves in slow motion, allowing you to pretty much land perfectly every time. If the player’s adrenaline level raised then this could happen so the player could land more easily. And it could be done in levels, so if there is only a little adrenaline the game only goes a little slower than normal, if there’s a lot it’ll slow down a bit more, giving more of an advantage.
These could add a lot to the gameplay experience, quite simply because if you’re far into a level that you’ve never won before and it’s a hard one, your heart is pumping as you frantically try to win it. Your adrenaline levels go hyper. It would give a much more on edge experience. And developers could add any effect to it. I remember reading about a formula one game based on a film starring Sylvester Stallone (I think it was called Driven) which allowed you to get ‘in the zone’. This could be measured with adrenaline levels, or heart rate, or a combination of the two. They could make the effect for you to go a little faster (in racing games), the gameplay to move slower so you can react better, to make the game more frantic with more enemies, or to make the game less frantic. It could also be used to great effect with the shock value as detailed above for Resident Evil.
All this time the player would be interacting more with the game, and they wouldn’t even know it.
I’m sure I have mentioned before that there was a Tetris game (I don’t think it got a UK release though) released on the N64 which had a sensor you clipped to your ear. It measured heart rate somehow to tell how nervous / excited you were, and if your heart rate increased, the game would up the ante so to speak. Couldn’t this be used in other games and genres? I think it would be especially cool in a survival horror such as Resident Evil. If the game senses a low heart rate, low tension, you aren’t likely to be too scared if something then jumps out at you. So it waits, and builds tension, maybe through music, having doors creaking or various sound effects and then when the player’s heart rate increases and they are nervous the game springs a surprise on them. It could be used in other genres such as space shooters (a la Lylatwars or Star Wars: Rogue Leader) so when your heart rate is high, more enemies appear.
Another idea is measuring adrenaline levels in the body. Now I’m not sure how this could be achieved short of putting something into you blood stream to pump out blood and measure it in a machine, then put blood back, but in the future I’m sure something could be devised that wouldn’t involve sticking needles in your arm. Anyway, if you remember Perfect Dark and the combat boosts used, it could act as a similar system to that. As adrenaline levels rise in the player, the game gets a little slower, allowing the player to be more accurate or react to the game quicker (well, quicker in game terms… you know what I mean). This could be used in something such as the Tony Hawks franchise too. One of the cheats on it is when you jump the game moves in slow motion, allowing you to pretty much land perfectly every time. If the player’s adrenaline level raised then this could happen so the player could land more easily. And it could be done in levels, so if there is only a little adrenaline the game only goes a little slower than normal, if there’s a lot it’ll slow down a bit more, giving more of an advantage.
These could add a lot to the gameplay experience, quite simply because if you’re far into a level that you’ve never won before and it’s a hard one, your heart is pumping as you frantically try to win it. Your adrenaline levels go hyper. It would give a much more on edge experience. And developers could add any effect to it. I remember reading about a formula one game based on a film starring Sylvester Stallone (I think it was called Driven) which allowed you to get ‘in the zone’. This could be measured with adrenaline levels, or heart rate, or a combination of the two. They could make the effect for you to go a little faster (in racing games), the gameplay to move slower so you can react better, to make the game more frantic with more enemies, or to make the game less frantic. It could also be used to great effect with the shock value as detailed above for Resident Evil.
All this time the player would be interacting more with the game, and they wouldn’t even know it.
Page: