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Realism. One of the great enigmas that has overshadowed the gaming community
since the onset of the genres it invades. The spark of immense debate
among gaming communities everywhere: "This game isn't realistic enough!
We must mod it to make it become realistic!"
Even Generals shipped with a boast of "Realistic". Yeah. Right.
This ties in closely with my What Makes A Good Game? article, although
it differs in purpose.
So, what exactly is "Realism"? Is realism the as-near-as-damn-it accurate
portrayal of reality? Or is realism something less obvious?
After all, Gran Turismo is often touted as the most realistic racing game
of all time. But many of the cars, tracks, etc you find in it are either
concept cars or you simply won't even find one for love nor money. The
lighting and graphical effects are very false, and the only things that
look good in the game are the cars. On the other hand, the handling of
the cars is as close as you can possibly get without getting behind the
wheel of the real thing. So is it realistic?
Flight Simulators. We know them. We either love or loathe them. Many call
them the pinnacle of realism, because you can fly an endless number of
the world's aircraft across the world to its many airports, passing realistic
landmarks as you go. Realistic? Probably. But isn't it a little boring?
On the other hand, you turn towards a less realistic end of the scale,
finding as you go games such as Tactical Ops and Strike Force UT, which
aim to provide a modern-day environment, with modern-day combat, in fairly
real-life-like locations, however do not hold the anal realism of others
in the style (eg, Action Quake, Infiltration) where one is certain to
die very quickly, and there's no such thing as prolonged combat. I could
give examples from the RTS world, too. Sudden Strike (the game, not the
mod!:P) was incredibly realistic, but I never really got into it as much
as I did even RA2. The mod True War aimed for as near-as-damn-it realism.
But prolonged battles were impossible given the nature of how fast you
could decimate your opponent. And those cruise missile boats with infinite
range...nope, sorry. Realism to that degree isn't wholesome.
To be fair to all games, though, whether realistic or not, the goal of
total realism is impossible outside of a Better Than Life headset. One
way or the other a player is constrained in his or her actions, either
because the game doesn't support that function, or their means of control
don't, either. I daresay I'd be a lot more deft in my bullet-dodging and
a lot better at sniping if I was holding the weapon myself, as opposed
to twiddling a mouse and frantically thumping my arrow keys.
So there is always a constraint on how realistic a game is. But do we
want realistic? Do we want to have to sneak from house to house actually
hoping we don't find an enemy to kill? Do we like losing health gradually
through bleeding, or would simply to lose health for the shot (and perhaps
a locational damage handicap if you must) be good enough for you? Do you
want to be encumbered by your inventory and be forced to slow down due
to fatigue, or would you rather be able to charge in all guns blazing
without a care to how many guns you're holding or how long you've been
running? Also, would it be so bad if every now and then I could find a
nice big laser gun?
There will always be a divide between the Realists and the, um, Unrealists,
but I believe that if games become TOO realistic, then we will lose the
fun element that exists in them. Lifelike and believable environments,
I love them, don't get me wrong. I think any graphics that you feel you're
there, or you feel as though you can reach out and touch it, then those
are awesomely done graphics. Modern-style (or period-based, eg WW2) weapons,
I don't mind either. But those cannot be realism. Realism is an attempt
to simulate reality to its fullest. Realism is death in the first shot,
or legs being blown off while you scream in pain writhing in agony on
the floor, losing blood constantly and without a hope of survival. Realism
is shrapnel from the grenade you just threw a little too short firing
into your face and blinding you. No, I don't want that, either. I want
to be able to take a little damage, and deal some too, to be able to jump
around like a maniac as I frantically try to gun this pesky enemy trooper
who just won't die. And most of all, I want to have the laughs and the
fun value associated with it. Realism is just too horrific to make its
way truthfully into any game. But the realism that there currently is
is too much for me. I don't like the way it's heading, because I will
miss my rocket launchers, my pulse guns and my flak cannons and my shield
belts and my (continue adding fictional futuristic weapons, items and
abilities ad nauseum).
I accept that "if I was doing it for real," I wouldn't be charging out
into the middle of the street firing my machinegun like a maniac. But
I am not doing it for real. I don't want to do it for real. And if I am
ever in the situation where I am doing it for real, God knows I'm gonna
keep my friggin' head down. But until that dreaded day arises, I want
to have fun in my killing, not be killed every time I look around a corner.
So, to try to please all gamers, is it possible to have a futuristic game
where I can have my much-loved lasers, yet still kepe a degree of realism?
Well, yes, actually, you can. You can make the actions that the character
can do a little more constrained. You can slow the pace a little bit.
You could up the damage slightly. And you can make the atmosphere of the
game suck you in and make you feel like you're there. Because that's another
definition one could pin on realism: To create an artificial 'reality',
a believable 'reality' that feels 'real' to the player, that they become
involved in, interact with, and perhaps blow up :) And isn't that what
it's all about? Having fun? So if you're making something realistic, shy
away from total realism. By all means slow it down. By all means make
the weapons hurt that bit more, but don't go too far, else I fear that
the entire object of a game will be taken out. I fear I won't enjoy playing.
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