Immersion

[HaiderGill]

Hi,

Does anybody know what immersion means to David? He hasn't really outlined his vision and how is implemented in ED. I think it is the most important quality of video-games and Elite.

Immersion for me is: -
Mercenary - Paul Woakes
Damocles - Paul Woakes
Mercenary 3 - Paul Woakes
SimCity - Sid Meier
Midwinter - Mike Shingleton
Midwinter 2 Flames Of Freedom - Mike Shingleton
Carrier Command - Ian Oliver, Andrew Onions and Graeme Baird.
Another World - Delphine
Flashback - Delphine
Fade to Black - Delphine
Resident Evil
Silent Hill
Dune/Command and Conquer

Immersion seems to be atmosphere, user interface, complexity that grows...


Thanks
Haider

 

[Mobius]

oddly enough your post hit a mark, immersion appears to be a single player game. and i would agree to that aswell, once you bring in the human element you can say good by to immersion unless you play with Role players who like to keep in charactor. once you bring in that human element it may aswell be a Call of Duty online match. with other players informing you of how well your mother perfomed the previous night and that you probably come from Africa.

Immersion is when you dont have to deal with other people breaking that immersion,

 

[warbaby2]

I think the question is: What makes said games immersive to you?

Elite will feature many immersive features... starting with the feeling of controlling a highly detailed, complex star ship and (for now) ending in the simulation of a living, breathing universe of billions of stars to explore, fight and trade in.

 

[Susimetsa]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Mobius.

Also, I like the fact that you put some great classics on your list, HaiderGill! Midwinter certainly deserves a remake!

It is fortunate that Elite allows for grouping or whatever it was called where you can choose to play with like-minded people.

I just hope that once I find a good group of roleplayers, the game will not drop me from the group if I log out for the night or a few days and that the group is permanent even if all the gamers were not online at all times.

 

[Maxeren]

oddly enough your post hit a mark, immersion appears to be a single player game. and i would agree to that aswell, once you bring in the human element you can say good by to immersion unless you play with Role players who like to keep in charactor. once you bring in that human element it may aswell be a Call of Duty online match. with other players informing you of how well your mother perfomed the previous night and that you probably come from Africa.

Immersion is when you dont have to deal with other people breaking that immersion,

Ahh.. the folleys of online competitive play.. seems true immersion will only truly be witnessed when playing in private groups etc. with like minded people, since you can't enforce "immersion" on someone else and you know for certain the odd "you-are-such-a-noob-i-ownz-you" people will come your way

 

[izzy]

ED will be immersive like Elite, FE.
I agree with Mobius all immersive games I've played was single player.

 

[warbaby2]

Ahh.. the folleys of online competitive play.. seems true immersion will only truly be witnessed when playing in private groups etc. with like minded people, since you can't enforce "immersion" on someone else and you know for certain the odd "you-are-such-a-noob-i-ownz-you" people will come your way

Hm, ok, but in the contrary to many true MMOs, communication in E.D will be somewhat limited... I actually was under the impression that this will also limit "immersion breaking influences" like that, no?

Also, I wouldn't call that immersion, I'd call that "mood".

 

[Sparticus]

In the C64 days - I would say that I was immersed in Elite.

Then I matured - and realized that I have control, and focused on life etc.

Then - I regressed - and become immersed again - I became immersed in a game several yrs ago - and played it every spare minute.

Now - I am released again from immersion - but - E.D. might again find me immersed.

But looking forward to it

 

[Maxeren]

Hm, ok, but in the contrary to many true MMOs, communication in E.D will be somewhat limited... I actually was under the impression that this will also limit "immersion breaking influences" like that, no?

Also, I wouldn't call that immersion, I'd call that "mood".

I agree yes.. you have more options in that regard, you could of course not pick up the comm to talk the person, true. But would you do that with every encounter you came across, in fear of getting mr. mcwhinernoob on the "phone"?

 

[warbaby2]

I agree yes.. you have more options in that regard, you could of course not pick up the comm to talk the person, true. But would you do that with every encounter you came across, in fear of getting mr. mcwhinernoob on the "phone"?

Probably not... meh, I'll simply pretend he speaks a language unknown to me and hang up.

I gave up on "adjudicating" non-roleplayers years ago...

 

[HaiderGill]

Probably not... meh, I'll simply pretend he speaks a language unknown to me and hang up.

I gave up on "adjudicating" non-roleplayers years ago...

May be if you get so many hates from fellow players in a certain amount of game time you get put in jail then eventually if you don't reform you get executed and game-over. Hey Mr. Braben what do you think?

 

[Maxeren]

May be if you get so many hates from fellpow players in a certain amount of game time from your fellow players you get put in jail then eventually if you don't reform you get executed and game-over. Hey Mr. Braben what do you think?

Wow... then i won't last very long as a pirate ingame

 

[Rog]

How about a game mechanic where hordes of bloodthirsty NPCs/Thargoids or police turn up and start vapourising anyone saying "LOLOLOL Noobz!!!" or similar?

Seriously...

 

[Sterlino]

if you wanna know the game with the most incredible immersion sensations...

..well, there is only one: THIEF*

i never felt such feeling and such real/life sensations like in that game.
Every good dev should study it to understand some basic tricks to make a fuctional immersive game.

(*the first 2 of course, the third just broke the magic.)

 

[Mobius]

been a few games that I can honestly say that had me immersed in its story or mood.

some of the obvious games
Skyrim
Fallout 3
Freelancer
Elite Frontier
Halo reach.

and some of the not so obvious.
FTL
Evil Genius
GTA5
Assassins Creed 2 and Brotherhood.
Halo reach.

these are all games with a single players element. when you get into the multiplayer side they just become games with other players in them and all immersion is gone.

 

[FoxTwo]

One thing that I think will add to "Immersion", which many, if not all other, space games similar to ELITE seems to ignore -

Radio comms chatter during docking/departure.

Even better would be when you request to dock at a station, you are truly put into a queue for landing/departure, much like how an air-traffic controller would do IRL.

Of course it doesn't have to be detailed. Just maybe telling you to "hold your position" while an AI ship (or player, if in MP) is engaged in landing or taking off, and then when that ship has "cleared the runway", the radio comms will tell you to "you're clear to land/depart".

And if you try to ignore the radio and land/depart anyway, have some panicky voice coming over the radio yelling "break off break off!"

 

[Rog]

One thing that I think will add to "Immersion", which many, if not all other, space games similar to ELITE seems to ignore -

Radio comms chatter during docking/departure.

Even better would be when you request to dock at a station, you are truly put into a queue for landing/departure, much like how an air-traffic controller would do IRL.

Of course it doesn't have to be detailed. Just maybe telling you to "hold your position" while an AI ship (or player, if in MP) is engaged in landing or taking off, and then when that ship has "cleared the runway", the radio comms will tell you to "you're clear to land/depart".

And if you try to ignore the radio and land/depart anyway, have some panicky voice coming over the radio yelling "break off break off!"

Yeah, I like that. Even if you had to get in line occasionally, and the delay was brief, I think it would add a lot.

Totally agree on the comms chatter too.

 

[Philip Coutts]

I remember the first time I played Resident Evil you walked along a corridor and 2 dogs jumped in at you through the windows. I think I had to change my pants after that it because I was so engrossed in the game. I'm hoping for similar heart stopping moments in ED when scanning a wreck a ship suddenly attacks you.

 

[Jenner]

It's a sticky thing, isn't it? If immersion is total suspension of disbelief and being completely in character & in universe, then I agree multiplayer is anathema to that. It's like watching a movie where a large chunk of the actors are pointing at the camera and making faces. You just can't get into the experience when you're constantly reminded that what you're doing is watching a bunch of guys act rather than seeing a real story unfold.

If being immersed is more about being completely engaged in the experience and enjoying the possibility space presented by the game then it doesn't matter if it's single or multiplayer. If you ask any die-hard WoW or EVE player if they feel immersed in the experience I'll bet you dollars (pounds?) to donuts that they'd say yes.

Both ED and SC are trying to walk the line between pure multiplayer and single player experiences. I feel for the single-player advocates out there, since I consider myself one of you. I'm willing to see how it pans out. Gotta support innovation, right? Otherwise we'd all still be playing Pong.

 

[Mobius]

To my knowledge the only immersive multiplayer player game that i can think of is Journey on the PS3, it keeps its immersion through out the game because of the simple yet very effective feature, that being no text of voice over.