What is "diegetic?"
- Thread starter Jeffers
- Start date
I guess it means that sounds and other feedback from the world that is relevant to the gameplay cannot be removed; shaking of cockpit, sounds coming from hit to the hull etc....
edit... And they say they will minimize all nonrelevant stuff. So I would understand, they try to maximize the functionality and immersion provided by the cockpit.
edit... And they say they will minimize all nonrelevant stuff. So I would understand, they try to maximize the functionality and immersion provided by the cockpit.
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That would make sense to me too. It is something we have touched on repeatedly before; the possibility of have the bare minimal sound rom your own ship, but with the possibility of ship computer generated sounds for confirmed kills etc. (simulated explosion noise)
While I know what it means, providing definitions is not my strong point, but here goes: Diegetic means within the fictional world.
The term comes mainly from film criticism, and an obvious example is music in Star Wars. The music in the Cantina is diegetic, because there's a band playing it in the background, and the characters would be able to hear it. The music playing during the dogfighting sequences is non-diegetic, as the characters wouldn't be able to hear it, and it's put there solely for the viewer.
I guess the soundtrack to Elite will also be non-diegetic, though Grand Theft Auto used diegetic music, as it was played through the radio.
In terms of the menu interfaces, in MMORPGs, the 'Chat' window is non-diegetic, as is all the info like character health. What Frontier are doing is putting all of that info within the game-world. The 'Chat' window is something that your avatar would be able to see. We know from the DDA that the galaxy map will be a diegetic hologram, and I suspect that Frontier will make the trading screen diegetic too.
The term comes mainly from film criticism, and an obvious example is music in Star Wars. The music in the Cantina is diegetic, because there's a band playing it in the background, and the characters would be able to hear it. The music playing during the dogfighting sequences is non-diegetic, as the characters wouldn't be able to hear it, and it's put there solely for the viewer.
I guess the soundtrack to Elite will also be non-diegetic, though Grand Theft Auto used diegetic music, as it was played through the radio.
In terms of the menu interfaces, in MMORPGs, the 'Chat' window is non-diegetic, as is all the info like character health. What Frontier are doing is putting all of that info within the game-world. The 'Chat' window is something that your avatar would be able to see. We know from the DDA that the galaxy map will be a diegetic hologram, and I suspect that Frontier will make the trading screen diegetic too.
Damn, and I was hoping to tune into the 16,000th episode of Lave radio on my in Cobra Entertainment system...
Great explanation there BTW
Actally, he is referencing Diegesis specifically as applied to videogame user interfaces. Here's a reasonably accessible write-up of it: http://devmag.org.za/2011/02/02/video-game-user-interface-design-diegesis-theory/ (actually a rewrite of a master's thesis portion that two swedish students did at DICE EA a few years back, but I think this is way easier to parse for clarity.)
Thanks for the link - really helped understanding the term.
Yeah, that was a really helpful article, especially as it explained what was meant by 'spatial' and 'meta'.
Thanks for the explanation - new word learned today Don't see how music shouldn't behave like this, although probably optional; normal while in cockpit, off in 3rd person, and "distance filtered" if operating a turret or something else non cockpit.
They shouldn't neglect the possibility to add regular gui elements though, as these tend to be fairly easy to mod in if needed for addons compared to changing other visual cues. Also there are other games that tries to do this relatively fully, but then fails because of limitations in the engine. Like Arma2 (milsim with see own feet and all that funstuff) health status by audio cues ("I'm hurt", but no info on where) or visual cues (textures you can't see in a vehicle or hard to see even outside) - you don't know if your legs are broken until you jump out of a vehicle, I'm pretty sure I'd know in real life
Don't see how music shouldn't behave like this, although probably optional; normal while in cockpit, off in 3rd person, and "distance filtered" if operating a turret or something else non cockpit.They shouldn't neglect the possibility to add regular gui elements though, as these tend to be fairly easy to mod in if needed for addons compared to changing other visual cues. Also there are other games that tries to do this relatively fully, but then fails because of limitations in the engine. Like Arma2 (milsim with see own feet and all that funstuff) health status by audio cues ("I'm hurt", but no info on where) or visual cues (textures you can't see in a vehicle or hard to see even outside) - you don't know if your legs are broken until you jump out of a vehicle, I'm pretty sure I'd know in real life
According to the definitions, diegetic is what belongs to fiction, that perceive the avatar(the personage in the game). Is not diegetic, that perceives the player. For example, music in the cockpit, is diegetic as it is heard by the avatar. Background music in the game is not diegetic because it is not heard by the avatar but by the player. If I understand correctly.
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