Modern Game Features You Can't Live Without

[rock_nog]

I've been thinking about this a lot. I think it's safe to say that most of here love classic games, and we don't require much in the way of bells and whistles. However, I will admit that there are some features that have come along relatively recently in the history of gaming that I would have a tough time parting with.

1) ragdoll physics
Okay, I know it's just eye candy, but it makes killing things 100x more satisfying. In some old games, the crappy death animations would make it look more like the enemy suffered a massive heart attack right in the middle of combat than got pumped with two barrels of buckshot. It makes for so many great moments - enemies falling from rooftops, or being sent flying through the air because of your rocket launcher. Plus, there's nothing more irritating than killing someone on a ledge, and seeing their body hanging over in midair, just lying there even though the only thing actually in contact with the ground might be their legs.

2) in-game server browsers
Ugh, *shudder* the early days of Quake were a nightmare. No matter how you sliced it, it was always a pain in the ass to try to play multiplayer over the internet.

Anybody else got any personal favorite features that they find difficult to be without?

[phattonez]

Since I really don't like current games, I think I don't need any modern features. Game developers focus too much on eye candy rather than focusing on making a good game.

[Din]

Graphics: This is the revolution that keeps coming back. Face it, you would rather have 3D graphics and sound like from the real world, then just have a dot move around, and then it stops moving from coming in contact from another shot and disappears, it is the revolution.

Game-play: Without being obvious, what makes a game great is the game itself. You would rather have selectable classes with a great story then just have a game pop up and say, "This is Bill the bull, don't let him drink any beer."

Bugs: No bugs! It would suck to spend the money you were going to eat with on a video game which bugged when you first got it and it wouldn't do anything! Oh well, at least you can make a nice fire!
:toast:
:ootp::reading:

[MottZilla]

The recent move to High Definition such as 720p and 1080p certainly is a big deal. We were starting to really suffer from 480i. Definitely wouldn't want to see it go back.

Also, bump-mapping for textures. This really is used quite well in Gears of War.

[AtmaWeapon]

Graphics: This is the revolution that keeps coming back. Face it, you would rather have 3D graphics and sound like from the real world, then just have a dot move around, and then it stops moving from coming in contact from another shot and disappears, it is the revolution.I would like to disagree here really. The metric is really how much effort the designer put into graphics that fit the theme of the game. Super Mario 3 stands as one of the greatest games of all time, and was as far as I know the most graphically advanced game of its time. Super Mario Sunshine represents the most realistic presentation of a Mario game so far, but in my opinion 2d and 3d platformers are so different you can't really compare them.

I would rather play a 2D Metroid, Mario Bros., or Zelda. I do like Phantom Hourglass's perspective, but at its heart it is still a 2d game which is why I feel it delivers a more nostalgic experience. I can do without 3d and flashy graphics when the game can deliver an experience without them.

Honestly there's more features of modern games I could live without than features I can't live without, but I won't really hijack this thread :)

[Darth Marsden]

- Saving. Whether it be a quick-save, an auto-save or just a limited amount of times you can save at all, saving mid-level has proven to be a lifesaver and something that's made playing games much more fun, especially when you're about to enter a tricky section.

- Graphics. This is an odd subject, because some of my favourite games are 2D platformers (Metroid), but for the most part, 3D graphics have come a long way and really help to immerse you in a game.

- Sound. Music has become a huge part of games these days, and it's easy to tell why. The right piece of music in the right place can really enhance the game. But it's not just the music - people speaking to you, weapons sparking off different surfaces, footsteps of the enemy... it all makes for a really impressive experience.

- Story-Telling. This has really come into its own in the last few years, around the time that Half-Life came out. It's all well and good having a basic plot, but once you're in the game, the world around you has a story to tell, and it's going to tell it. This is possibly the greatest advancement in the development of games we've had over the past 10 years.

- DVDs. More game for your buck.

...if anyone were to start a thread about Modern Features You Can Live Without, then I'd happily contribute to that as well. Actually...

[AtmaWeapon]

This post quit getting love when the other one showed up and I feel sorry for it.

I have to agree that in general, the artistic merit of video games has done more than come a long way in the past few years. It's not just graphics, sound, and storytelling individually that make a striking game, but achieving a blend of the three that creates an experience that transcends mere entertainment. I've found that the games I've given the most praise lately tend to be less traditional and more artistic in nature.

Take Shadow of the Colossus, for example. There's no music, the graphical presentation is minimal, and the plot can be explained in two sentences. But the game has a pure feeling to it. When I had to spend 15 minutes driving across the ocean to get to an island in Wind Waker, I felt like Nintendo was artificially inflating the playtime of the game. When I have to spend 15 minutes trekking across rough territory in SoC, I feel like I'm having an adventure. There's really no difference between the two; WW's oceans are sparsely populated with only one or two types of creatures, most of which you can simply dodge. SoC's landscapes are sparsely populated with small creatures you cannot interact with. But as I approach the end of the journey in SoC, the tension builds and the landscape transforms from scenery to strategy. Do I need to climb this tower to summon the Colossus? Is that cave somewhere I could hide during the battle? If I travel this way is it safe for me to retreat quickly? Compare this to what happens as you approach your goal in Wind Waker. Oh look, one of those shark things, if I just jump right now it's gone. Oh look a barrel, better veer slightly left. Oh look another shark...

Wind Waker is not a bad game. But to me, Wind Waker was simply a traditional Zelda game with enhanced graphics. It really did little to innovate, and a lot of its best features haven't been reproduced in its successors.

Shadow of the Colossus, on the other hand, represents the potential of next-gen gaming to me: to provide an experience that does more than entertain me, but leaves me with a feeling of appreciation for its art.

To make an analogy, I liken Wind Waker to an Andy Warhol "work"; sure, it's got artistic value, but in a way it's just pop art and while it displays all of the technical aspects of good art, you feel bad giving it a high score because you know it's not pushing any envelopes. The games I like are more like Picasso's Guernica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:PicassoGuernica.jpg); at first glance they don't appear to be much. But as you play the game, you realize it is delivering an experience that can't be recreated by anything else.

Probably only 30% of games qualify as art, and of those probably only 5% qualify as good art. But next-gen hardware has made it easier than ever to present a game that is worth more to the player than a few hours of entertainment.

[rock_nog]

Oh yeah, auto-saving, that's a good one. See, I don't like saving too much. Besides it being a hassle to stop and save, I feel like I'm cheating if I save every 5 steps. On the other hand, I hate losing all of my progress because I was careless at an ambush. Autosaving is the perfect solution. It saves just often enough so that you don't get frustrated, while at the same time not making you feel like you're cheating, and you don't even have to think about it.

[Darth Marsden]

Sorry for taking attention away from this one, but I think we can all agree we can come up with a lot more bad things about games then good.

- Sub-titles. I've found this to be an absolute lifesaver, especially if there's a lot going on audio-wise.