The Game's Intro / Opening. An Idea.

[LexiiO]

The Game's Intro / Opening. An Idea.

So I just yesterday saw Watchmen again, one of my favourite films (and comics) of all time. Zack Snyder did a fantastic job on it, but the one thing that stands out of the whole thing, is the intro sequence, no doubt. It's phenomenal. It plucks my heartstrings every time I watch it, literally. Especially the Kennedy assassination scene and Kent University massacre.

Point is, I imagined something similar for the beginning of Cyberpunk 2077. It would fit perfectly (And yes I think it deserves an own thread). The sequence could start with one of the most important technical innovations of recent years. The introduction of smartphones. I imagine an in-game Steve Jobs presenting the first iPhone in front of raving photographers.

Going further back into the past doesn't really fit I think, otherwise newbies to the universe might just be overwhelmed with to much info. What I imagine is the lore of CP2020 - mixed with real events of our world plus fictional stuff that might happen before 2077. It's a good compromise since 2077 obviously is going far into the future. Since the game was announced I always liked the idea of some unwritten future that starts nowadays instead of the 80s, but also uses the original lore. Imagine a compromise between our world and the PnP's lore. Imagine a CP2013 with Smartphones. It would be something new players could hold onto. Something they know, it would prevent them from being all too confused.

Maybe there's space for another contemporary event, possibly a great collapse of the worlds financial markets in 2018 or sth like that, but from then it should focus on new lore, fitting together with the existing lore, on years later the the future - before 2077-, as I said.

...Oh, and do I have to remind you that I would LOVE to hear the same song as Snyder used in Watchmen (Bob Dylan - The Times They Are Changing)? I know it's unlikely that this happens since CDPRED are innovators, not plagiarists, but if done right, it would be like the coolest intro of a game EEVVVEEERRR. Ah, one can dream.

Melancholy aside, I honestly have no idea how the introduction to this world would properly work otherwise. And there is no discussion, 90% of players will be new to this world and they WILL NEED something like that. I don't want to be thrown into a world full of lore that I don't understand. If there'd be a sequence that shows me a couple of very important events from the lore that happened before 2077 and that grabs my attention, I'd be like, "oh okay, so all of this leads up the world that I experience now. Plus, hell yeah I love its style."

Oh, in case anyone wonders what sequence I'm talking about:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xaj41e_watchmen-intro_shortfilms

 

[username_3688833]

Wow, I'm guessing you kind of liked the intro to Watchmen just a bit, eh?

Me, I'd prefer something entirely original, like you waking up in a dumpster with a codelocked briefcase handcuffed to your wrist, and no memory of who you are and how you got there...

Wow, quitting smoking really does make me a prick! I'm sorry!

 

[LexiiO]

Wow, quitting smoking really does make me a prick!

Yes it does. I recommend electronic cigarettes. Don't stink, are cheaper, and provide less nicotine step by step.

Again, I am not talking about the beginning of the gameplay, and I'm not talking about some CG video that might play during main menu if you don't press a button. I'm talking about the game's intro sequence.

You obviously didn't read my post, not in-depth at least.

 

[username_3688833]

Yes it does. I recommend electronic cigarettes. Don't stink, are cheaper, and provide less nicotine step by step.

Again, I am not talking about the beginning of the gameplay, and I'm not talking about some CG video that might play during main menu if you don't press a button. I'm talking about the game's intro sequence.

You obviously didn't read my post, not in-depth at least.

No, I did, it's just that you probably didn't read it through the filter of "Wow, that Captain Death, he's one sarcastic cunt!".

I was being mean. Lashing out. Generally being a prick. I'll apologize properly for it all tomorrow, when I'll be capable of actually feeling sorry. In the mean time, read the entire post to yourself in this guy's voice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziH9St7ajuw , then throw a shoe at me and await your apology :/

 

[LexiiO]

No, I did, it's just that you probably didn't read it through the filter of "Wow, that Captain Death, he's one sarcastic cunt!".

I was being mean. Lashing out. Generally being a prick. I'll apologize properly for it all tomorrow, when I'll be capable of actually feeling sorry. In the mean time, read the entire post to yourself in this guy's voice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziH9St7ajuw , then throw a shoe at me and await your apology :/

I don't await an apology, but another try to answer my idea of an intro would be nice.

And really, no need to be so vulgar.

 

[Decatonkeil]

Maybe there's space for another contemporary event, possibly a great collapse of the worlds financial markets in 2018 or sth like that, but from then it should focus on new lore, fitting together with the existing lore, on years later the the future - before 2077-, as I said.

Another one of those is coming in 5 years? Well, FUCK! We haven't even started to see the light at the end of this tunnel!

 

[LexiiO]

Another one of those is coming in 5 years? Well, FUCK! We haven't even started to see the light at the end of this tunnel!

Ha.

As long as the mighty and powerful don't change their ways, this will happen again and again.

And they won't change. They're humans.

 

[Garrison72]

I think they should throw us into the city as quickly as possible. Although risky, I'd want the player to feel disoriented at first. An intro screen where we pick a class, and then BAM, we wake up in specific situation based on our selection. There should be no prologue or tutorial, just you in the world left to your own devices. You have to wander for a bit, make it to a certain check point. This can be triggered by in-game prompts, like a device we have on our person ( cell phone). Once we arrive at this destination, the game introduces us to our first mission, a debriefing for a rookie cop for instance. Through this roughly two hour experience, the plot is sketched out, databases are revealed for codex entries and the enormous scale and lore of Night City become apparent, flooding the player with info and overwhelming him with visuals. I'd call it a micro to macro approach.

 

[LexiiO]

I'd call it a micro to macro approach.

More like a Macro to Macro approach. Definately the wrong way in my opinion.

This is not Dark Souls.

 

[Garrison72]

How is it macro to macro, or like Dark Souls? I'm talking about throwing the player in deep right away. It's a technique both movies and games have done to great effect, ie: ME2, Cast Away, Saving Private Ryan.

 

[dragonbird]

How is it macro to macro, or like Dark Souls? I'm talking about throwing the player in deep right away. It's a technique both movies and games have done to great effect, ie: ME2, Cast Away, Saving Private Ryan.

Obviously this doesn't apply to everyone, but in my case, the impact of "throwing the player in deep right away" on ME2 was "player gives up after 10 minutes and uninstalls the game".

It might have been different if I'd paid for it*, or if I'd played ME1 already, but I suspect that it's still a policy that has a lot of drawbacks.

*No, not what you think. Bioware gave ME2 away for free to DA2 owners.

 

[Garrison72]

Like I said, it's risky. By tossing the player in deep I'm addressing narrative and immersion, just so we're clear on that. Maybe it wasn't your thing but I count ME2 as one of my favorite intros to a game. It mixed cinematics and drama to great effect. And only after that did you get the character creation screen.

Imagine the intro for your Solo or Techie as waking up in a pool of your own blood in an alley filled with trash and debris. For me, that kind of scenario has me glued to the screen till I discover the premise of the setting.

 

[username_3688833]

I don't await an apology, but another try to answer my idea of an intro would be nice.

And really, no need to be so vulgar.

Um... Okay, so third day of quitting smoking makes me quite emotionally labile. I do apologize for any offense caused, either to yourself or bystanders.

To elaborate on the gist of my post: I was merely drawing attention to one tired old trope with another. What I'd prefer for the intro (if any) is something not steeped in 50 years of repetitive convention. The "bringing you up to date" montage has been done, done well, poorly, adequately, wonderfully and disappointingly. There's no new reaction CDPR could get from this. That's not to say any other tired trope wouldn't be as bad, nor does my opinion discount the sad fact that there are very few original ideas left, and even those are just novel combinations of miniature tropelets.

Usually, I'd be far more upbeat come 4th day of quitting, but today Satan gets to run my country, and I start looking for escape options...

Oh, and trust me, the former post barely qualifies as vulgar if I'm passing old ladies in the street. On the third day, it barely rated a mention. Where I live, true vulgarity is something one has to work hard to get to. If you can make a friend blush, you win. I won't elaborate or describe actual terms, as you seem a sensitive soul, and all my urges to crush puppies faded with the dawn...

 

[username_3688833]

Like I said, it's risky. By tossing the player in deep I'm addressing narrative and immersion, just so we're clear on that. Maybe it wasn't your thing but I count ME2 as one of my favorite intros to a game. It mixed cinematics and drama to great effect. And only after that did you get the character creation screen.

Imagine the intro for your Solo or Techie as waking up in a pool of your own blood in an alley filled with trash and debris. For me, that kind of scenario has me glued to the screen till I discover the premise of the setting.

LOL! I'll just agree to disagree there. An intro that starts with killing off the main character just to play with the resurrection trope, and mixes that with long, linear playable, unskippable cutscenes in a game that encouraged multiple playthroughs? I'd tear my hair out just thinking of it, but I have so little left...

Hey DragonBirdPlane, can we team up and keep slimgrin away from the writers?

 

[Garrison72]

LOL! I'll just agree to disagree there. An intro that starts with killing off the main character just to play with the resurrection trope, and mixes that with long, linear playable, unskippable cutscenes in a game that encouraged multiple playthroughs? I'd tear my hair out just thinking of it, but I have so little left...

Hey DragonBirdPlane, can we team up and keep slimgrin away from the writers?

I didn't say ME2 had a solid narrative, I was talking more about how it shocked the player in the beginning with a gripping scenario.

 

[username_3688833]

I didn't say ME2 had a solid narrative, I was talking more about how it shocked the player in the beginning with a gripping scenario.

If by "The player" you mean you, then yes. Me, I got bored, annoyed, frustrated, and could see exactly what they were doing. Before the ship got blown up, I said to myself: "Who's so bad that the writers kill me (not at the end of the last episode, but at the beginning of this one), just to make me work with them? Hmmm... probably Cerberus." In hindsight people should have seen the end to three coming if writers were willing to use such heavy-handed tropes just to begin part 2...

TL;DR: Shock me it did, with the bad writing. I'm starting to warm to CyberCity's notion if ME2-style chicanery is the only other option...

 

[dragonbird]

LOL! I'll just agree to disagree there. An intro that starts with killing off the main character just to play with the resurrection trope, and mixes that with long, linear playable, unskippable cutscenes in a game that encouraged multiple playthroughs? I'd tear my hair out just thinking of it, but I have so little left...

How about starting with a character who died five years ago, has been resurrected, but suffers from amnesia?

 

[Garrison72]

@ Captian Dearth: well, you know how to strawman.

 

[dragonbird]

@ Captian Dearth: Well, you know how to straw man.

To be honest, I considered that a tired, clichéd approach, even though I also thought it was probably necessary given the back-story. And that long, linear prologue in TW2 almost made me give up on the game.

So I do hope they try something new.

Oh, and thinking about it, I suspect that one reason why the ME2 intro really pissed me off was that the free download of ME2 didn't automatically come with a manual. I was really struggling to work out what the keystrokes were for everything. So there's a level of basic tutorial that I do think that games need to include.

EDIT: Oops. Ok. So that first comment wasn't aimed at me. My reply still stands though.

 

[Garrison72]

The tradition in open-world games is to restrict at first and then give player freedom 1- 2 hrs later. My idea may not be popular, but I advocate for the opposite: put the player in a totally open environment right away, coax them to the first objective, which then introduces them to the world. Make the intro like a splash of cold water to the face, make it a bit confusing, then orient them shortly after. Just my opinion, I'm open to see what other gamers think. Aside from Capin' Dearth.