Hello! I conceived a series of blogs in which I will talk about the atmosphere in games, about the elements that work for the atmosphere and against it, and also tell how it can be improved.
Quote from Wikipedia.
· The objective property of the environment, which can be attributed not only to a separate subject, but also to the method of assembling this environment. Hernot Boehme put forward such an understanding of the atmosphere, suggesting the reproduction of the atmosphere, that is, its equally active effect on different people.
So what can work for the atmosphere or against it?
What we see must correspond to the spirit of what we play. An example of a good visual is the world of Zen from Half-Life. We can imagine that aliens of various species can live in a world that looks like the developers showed us. An example of a bad visual – Fallout 3. A nuclear apocalypse occurred in the world, and not the eruption of a pit with mud, and all these abandoned high-rise buildings had to be inhabited for a long time, and not two or three people, but entire settlements.
Animations also affect the visual. We can mention the animations of the weapon in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019, but it is worth noting that the animations were made manually there.
2. Audio accompaniment.
Yes, the wind should blow in the mountains. Yes, the metal should ring, rustle cardboard, clasp armor, etc. and others. Sounds are one of those things that forms our perception of the world. For this, both music and the Embipation work. Jesper Küd, Jeremy Soul and Inon Zur – I take off my hat, my respect.
Here it is worth making a retreat. This is a very wide topic, and most importantly, very subjective.
But one rule can be distinguished, similar to the rule of the visual: how we play, must correspond to what is happening on the screen. A good example here will be Metal Gear Riding. It is told to us that our vibro -clinic is able to cut metal, and sometimes we can run the mode in which we can chop the model for pieces.
A bad example is Shadow of War and Shadow of Mordor (but generally games are good). Transfer the battleship from Batman to a game where the main weapon sword is not the most successful solution.
4. Script and quests.
Here the rules moved straight from cinema. Set the conflict, make you look for a solution. But not only the main quest affects the atmosphere. Outdoor activity can also affect the atmosphere: both secondary quests and various mini-games.
“Bring” nobody likes it, but sometimes it can benefit. As an example – Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Social elevators in the Middle Ages in action. If you want to become a respected person? Be kind to run a couple of years on the run by Pan, and there, you see, a person will form from you. Another good example: Tyranny. The hand of justice Kayros should not solve the town problems of the villagers, but to announce the Edict for pacifying the rebels – this is just our competence.
All this can be summed up with one very capacious term: "Refusal of unbelief". There are enough materials on this term on the Internet. In the context of the blog, we can only say that the atmosphere either helps the refusal or interferes.
The first game I want to talk about will be the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Chapter 1. Introduction
2007. The author, at that time still a student of approximately the fifth grade, missed the next fantasy-RPG. Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, Homm 3, Arcanum, Witcher and other projects of those times were played to holes. The ADSL Internet has not yet been, I had to learn about games either from friends who somehow got another dubious disk, or from rare magazines. Gambling at that time was still a luxury.
The author dreamed of only one thing – it would be possible to chop the orcs not in isometry, and not as in the first witcher, but as in Enclave. Only so that with the greater world, pumping, and the "Click – Blood" format combat system. About Morrowind at that time the author did not hear heard.
After some time, the author came across a disc with some strange, but interesting game game. Some kind of Oblivion. Yes, and, apparently, the fourth part of a series. Well, the fourth so fourth, the author thought and began the installation process.
After installation, setting and launch, the author got into the main menu. The contour maps that were enough at school did not impress him at all. Unlike music. Epic music invited would go to the adventure. As it turned out later, it was a long adventure ..
Chapter 2. What to praise.
After a couple of hours of the game, the author realized – this is literally the game of his dreams. Without caravans, but without them not bad.
Create your hero from the proposed race? Happy-tiger-casino.co.uk – Check.
You are not constrained by the class, and you can even create a hybrid of a warrior and a magician? – Check.
Dozens of unique artifacts? – Check.
You can even create your own? – Check.
Tons of quests? – Check.
Hundreds of hours were spent on this game. After all, it was necessary to finish all the guilds, find all the Ayda figurines, collect all the dadric artifacts, the main quest … Ay, somehow later. What a quest, here Lucien Lashans was hung by the legs!
And magic? 100% reflection/chameleon? Sigil stones give a free enchanting? You can break the enemy equipment to leave it in one way? Suck all endurance so that the enemy falls and cannot rise? That’s what, Tamriel or Hogwarts?
And more tons and tons of all. Only one thing was not enough for completeness – craft.
What affects the atmosphere here:
The visual is not entirely and completely (more on this), but it definitely works for the atmosphere. Hundreds of equipment is distinguishable at first sight, as, by the way, monsters. Design and equipment, and monsters corresponds to the general style of half -gravity. It is half -time. The unique architecture of cities, reflecting the essence of the inhabitants … or vice versa?
In Oblivion, a picture of nature is one of the most picturesque. And what nights are there … Each vampire adventure in the night was accompanied by Master and second.
I would like to note the races separately: the Kajits and the Argonians are too humanoid, but the orcs turned out to be good, just like their patron malakat – like an aldmer that came out … In general, not from where you need.
2. Audio accompaniment.
I would like to say special thanks to Jeremy Soul for the music. In cities and forests, music evokes calmness corresponding to the general spirit of the game. The Army of Sauron attacks on a sort of pastoral plain plain plain plain plain. Parallels with the works of Professor Tolkien are carried out very easily, which is why the author used the word "half -gravity".
A good contrast arises in the gates of Oblivion – there is almost no musical accompaniment, only a rumble of wind and periodically included combat music. This creates an atmosphere of wasteland, with which the plan of Merunes Dagon is.
Combat music creates the effect of tension and anxiety, which contrasts very vividly with soothing and enchanting music in peaceful moments.
Weapons feel weight – heavy sinks with a hammer are very different from quick strokes with a dagger. Heavy and clumsy daerots do not behave like scams – they try to crush you with weight, and they weigh, apparently, a lot. Scams try to keep distance and throw with fire balls. Even in close combat, they do not try to portray themselves as a kung fu masters, but pushing them with their shoulders.
The abundance of magic opens a wide (Russian) field of experiments. Here you have a call, and spontaneous damage, and the imposition of vulnerability, and paralysis, and reassurance with rage. The same can be said about alchemy. But the alchemy here also serves as an instrument of earning that it is very good for the atmosphere – it is not necessary to use everything that you welded, because you can, sorry for the pun, weld yourself.
Artifacts, although unique, but do not determine parts of equipment. They can be a serious help in different cases, but they are more likely a situational tool, because any sword at the first opportunity will be replaced by a gold brand or umbra. However, the game does not force you to use one, specific artifact, but provides a choice.
4. Script and quests.
Let’s start with the good – Bethesda really tried to make an adventure. Not the story of a completely special character, but an adventure. There cannot be avoided comparison with Morrowind, which will continue to meet in the text. It is with Morrowind – Skyrim that is very strongly knocked out of the styles of the third and fourth parts.
In Morrowind, although you are chosen, but go to prove that you are it. In the meantime, you will not prove – you
Oblivion is a very warm game where you do not feel like a stranger, you are not crushed by the burden of chosenness – because not you elected in this story. Therefore, you can do anything – the plot does not drive you. Martin under the protection of blades, Merunes is not very in a hurry with a full-scale invasion, and Mankar Camoran in his own paradise “While on Chille, on a relaxation”. This is played by the fact that the main events have already happened without your influence – the quatch is destroyed, the emperor is killed, the amulet of the kings is stolen. The situation hints to you, they say, it would be nice to go and deal with it all, but, as you see, the threat is not very strong. Sometimes, guild quests much more affect the alignment of forces than the main quest. Guilds of magicians and fighters tell stories about the confrontation of groups, and the thieves guild will send into the past, and all this is much more interesting than the story of Bastard.
The plot of additions must be mentioned separately. The first came out rather mediocre, but the trembling islands gave many more cool stories. All quests work on immersion in this crazy world.
Chapter 3. For what to scold.
And there was no end and edge of the joy of the author … The first couple of hundred hours. Because then he got acquainted with a whole bunch of other games, much more worked out and interesting.
In addition to the already mentioned races, Oblivion has one very big problem – roundness of models. The whole game seems to consist of everything "inflated". This applies to everything – characters, equipment, and architecture.
In comparison with Morrowind, it looks like another extreme – the entire Morrowind was angular and unpretentious. However, this is still a spectrum of one style. From anxiety and uncomfortable – to calm and warmth.
It is also worth noting the poor textures of caves, forts and plan of Oblivion: it is very difficult not just to distinguish them from each other, but generally understand navigation inside. A little better the situation with Aleledan ruins, but only due to the fact that there are more different objects.
2. Audio accompaniment.
The sound design is very simple, from which it is not completely delayed in memories. But this is not a minus, rather, the absence of a plus.
Only the lazy did not kick auto -overlings and the editor of the characters. The author would like to note another moment. At any complexity at the high levels of the player, it becomes simply uninteresting to participate in battles – all the progression and so happens with jumps, and at high levels you meet a bandit in a long armor. This gives rise to situations when even the most powerful weapons of the enemy have to be raked. And here the game provides tools for his own breaking. Example: 100 % chameleon and 100 % reflection of physical damage. Such things completely kill all interest in the game. And the fault of the developers is not that they provided such tools, but that the balance they confesse to avoid battles. Or use a build without an increase in level.
Another problem is the ubiquitous gates of Oblivion. These are boring, fresh, monotonous locations, still often confusing and with a dubious reward at the end.
4. Script and quests.
Only the main quest deserves censure. You do not empathize, do not worry about the heroes, from that he is not interesting. Because the story is isolated from the player. This is a story not a player, but a third person with whom you play an runaway. All personal in history ends at the time of exiting the sewer. All of your instructions could be fulfilled by one baurus. The line of additions to the trembling islands, where you become the champion of Sheogorata, becomes more interesting.
Chapter 4. How to fix the cons.
Part One, practical.
The most obvious, easiest option. They will correct the models, make the characters more beautiful, and in places they will solve a couple of gameplay problems. At one time, the author really fell in love with the teleportation mod to the beginning of the dungeon – in Oblivion they were not looped, as in Skyrim, and had to return from the beginning to the end. If you want to play now-the game still needs to conduct a cosmetic lift. Fashion for models and textures will save the eyes of pain, and fashion for balance and auto -overlings will save the bandits in Daedric armor.
Otherwise, the game is pretty good in its vanilla performance.
And if you are a sophisticated Loroved Oblivion, then for you on the Internet is full of both ready -made assemblies and modding guides. Everyone will be able to create oblivion dreams.
Part two, theoretical.
The main quest needs very serious processing. The easiest option is to add a pair of personal quests from Martin, in which you needed to help him in several matters that are not related to preparation for the ritual. They will return to the kvatch to bury his friend or bring his personal belongings – a good quest showing Martin not as a thing for part of the ritual. And so, you are already connected with him by a certain personal story, you are no longer a courier.
Quest with the closure of the gate of every city? This is very bad. Drive a guard to show that you need to touch the Sigil Stone? Hmm. This must be cut completely. The gate is enough in two points – near the kvatchch at the beginning, near the bromus at the end. Optionally – leaving the gate near Chaiadinhall to save the son of the count is good Optional quest, but no more.
Conclusion: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion has an atmosphere of unobtrusive adventure, which has only a little. Oblivion atmosphere is remembered, but not eaten into memory.
Rejection of unbelief occurs, but with a creak.
So you can characterize the whole game: "Good, but …"
The immersion and the main quest prevented the immersion, the rest of the game does not violate its own atmosphere.
As a result, an assessment (not reflecting the essence): 7 “Stop Right There Criminal Scum” out of 10