Realism in Games

[Lucky]

I was reading an article and got thinking about how people seem to be wanting games to be very realistic, including me.

What do you guys think about this?

Aren't games meant to take us "away" from the real world for sometime. Put us in weird situations and just entertain us, or do you think they should be as real as possible including things such as storyline, setting, characters etc.

I guess realism is good in some genres of games but should it be applied to all?
Should it be focused on making every game look realistic? (I would believe there is a difference in a game looking good graphically and in looking realistic.)

Let's take a game like James Bond (or any FPS) for instance, would you quit the game after dying once? Wouldn't that make it realistic?

I'm not sure what to think about this or if I have put forward what is in my head correctly. Anyway, I would like to know what you think.

As to my opinion, I believe that sports game should be caring about realism the most. Other genres need some realism, but truthfully the storyline is sometimes too different to be compared to the issues of the "real" world.

 

[Left_Hander]

Yeah, I think in sports games, they need to be realistic. Though other games such as James Bond as you mentioned would get boring after you die, as you would have to start again.

 

[blackleopard92]

Actually, all gaming companies know that realism is a two edged sword.
Thankfully, they have been on the right side of it.

People tend to confuse realism with simulation.they are vastly different things.
Realism is used in games for enchancing gameplay.It is used so that gamers can more easily associate it with real world, and hence be albe to implement better ways of playing games.
eg: Physics used in HF2 were quiet realistic.Hence game developers implemented the gravity gun as a tool for gamers to utilize those physics in enhancing gameplay.

realism allows game developers to give better gameplay experience, and increase replaybility, without damaging the fun factor.

 

[embi]

There are pretty much two styles of games: arcade and simulation. Arcade games are designed to be fun to play and don't really care that much for realism. Simulation are designed to provide the user with a unique experience, like flying a plane.
I actually have a game, F1 World Grand Prix that has two modes, Arcade and Simulation. Arcade was much easier and fun to drive on, whereas Simulation was bloody hard (as it would be in real life) with more damage and spins.
I would class BLIC as more of an arcadey game (that was supposed to be simulation ). I've never played it, but apparently CK5 is a bit more of a simulation.

 

[usy]

I think Too much realistic games just kill it.

 

[Ritwik]

I think Too much realistic games just kill it.

True. Nobody I know has derived any significant pleasure from ultra realestic F1 simulations, or at least people don't enjoy it nearly as much as the arcade-ish NFS series.

As BlackLeo says - realism is good if it is implemented to a certain degree such that it enables the player to easily associate with the in-game world without making it too difficult since that would put players off.

Interestingly though, game companies are coming up with creative ways to explain away the lack of ultra-real environments and stories. For example, in the new prince of persia trilogy (sands of time, warrior within and two thrones; Not to be confused with the original prince of persia trilogy) the whole story is narrated by the prince and whenever he dies the narrator says - "no, that's not how it happened. Let me say that again" and then you can reload the game and try again. So at the end of the day, it is a matter of how well you can package and integrate your game such that the various storyline elements make sense.


Then, there's also the factor that people want their on-screen personas to be more than just "normal". That is why action movies with unimaginable in the real world stunts do so well at the box office. People basically want a dose of adventure which is missing from nearly everybody's "real" lives.

 

[blackleopard92]

True. Nobody I know has derived any significant pleasure from ultra realestic F1 simulations, or at least people don't enjoy it nearly as much as the arcade-ish NFS series.

absolutley

Then, there's also the factor that people want their on-screen personas to be more than just "normal". That is why action movies with unimaginable in the real world stunts do so well at the box office. People basically want a dose of adventure which is missing from nearly everybody's "real" lives.

This reminds me of HAVOC engine.
Just let your gun go wild in a crowded room(like fear/max payne 2) and see those boxes/racks/ paint box smashing around.

gives a high.

 

[Maxkarter]

True. Nobody I know has derived any significant pleasure from ultra realestic F1 simulations, or at least people don't enjoy it nearly as much as the arcade-ish NFS series.

I for one know that many as in almost everyone on the GPG.org forums crucify and unrealistic games. I for one perfer a heavily realistic F1 or atleast Racing game over arcadish junk. I mean, how real is bashing everyone else of the track without getting a scratch, how long does it take to get bored of it too? Rather, spend one or two days with your force feedback wheel mastering one of hundreds of tracks to show your skills off in an online league.

Personally I much prefer simulation over arcade games if your talking racing.

 

[zimrahil]

I for one know that many as in almost everyone on the GPG.org forums crucify and unrealistic games. I for one perfer a heavily realistic F1 or atleast Racing game over arcadish junk. I mean, how real is bashing everyone else of the track without getting a scratch, how long does it take to get bored of it too? Rather, spend one or two days with your force feedback wheel mastering one of hundreds of tracks to show your skills off in an online league.

Personally I much prefer simulation over arcade games if your talking racing.

I think here you are getting into the realm of casual v's hard core gamer when its comes to individual genres.

I am a casual gamer when it comes to racing, so full on realism wouldn't give me a buzz. However something like cricket games, I am definitely hard core and hated things in BLIC like the batsmen never leaving the ball, even in tests, and no front or back foot options etc

 

[ZoraxDoom]

I love arcady games. More fun, like a game is supposed to be

 

[zimrahil]

I love arcady games. More fun, like a game is supposed to be

And therein lies the problem for developers. whilst Zorax feel games are supposed to be arcadey, many others feel games should be more simulated.

As I said before, for me how arcadey/realistic a game should be depends on the genre, although I think as was iterated by someone else, even when I want more realism, I don't want it to the point of not being able to compete and win, no matter how many hours I put in. Its a fine balance

 

[Stephen Bailey]

I for one know that many as in almost everyone on the GPG.org forums crucify and unrealistic games. I for one perfer a heavily realistic F1 or atleast Racing game over arcadish junk. I mean, how real is bashing everyone else of the track without getting a scratch, how long does it take to get bored of it too? Rather, spend one or two days with your force feedback wheel mastering one of hundreds of tracks to show your skills off in an online league.

Personally I much prefer simulation over arcade games if your talking racing.

I'm with you, I much prefer simulations such as GTR and Geoff Crammond's GP series (although GP4 could be questioned a little when it comes to being an out and out sim). However, I recently purchased Toca Race Driver 3, which is far from a simulation, but I find it immensely enjoyable because the racing is tight and eventful.

I'd personally like to see more racing games try and have basically two seperate sections to them. A good example would be GTR, which has a 'arcade' mode which is much easier than playing on semi-pro and then simulation where it becomes the best racing/driving simulation ever made to date.

 

[blackleopard92]

well, again I say, there is diff between realism and simulation.

There are all sorts of gamers, and a games made to cater their needs.

However, I suppose this discussion is for increasing realism in games, and I personally feel that the industry is going in right direction.

All it needs is a seperate implementation of physics hardware, and more fast CPU's

 

[andy82]

GTR, Now that is hard beyond belief.

 

[usy]

I love arcady games. More fun, like a game is supposed to be

yup, A game should be kept as a 'game', I wonder what we'll have in next 10-20 years.