ID:1318630
 
Gameplay > Artstyle > Graphics > Story = Music > Sound


Ideologically I would like to say:
Gameplay > Story > Art Style > Graphics > Sound/Music

But I always end up with:
Gameplay > Art Style/Graphics > Sound/Music > Story

I'm absolutely terrible with Story, I am too fascinated by the game mechanics and invest a lot in them. I'm not that into graphics and Art Style either, but they end up kind of decent for BYOND. Sometimes I add Music/Sounds, sometimes not, looks like I do not care much for them. And Story, as stated previously, I am seriously bad at it, to tell the truth, I never spend any time with it, mostly because it has none.
I go with

GM codes > Base > Everything else
But why would you ever put story above graphics?

Picture thus: A game without graphics, but a fantastic story. Many people would not even call that a game

To make a game functional you pretty much HAVE to have graphics and gameplay, artstyle is important because if shit is mismatched all over the place it looks stupid, but technically speaking Artstyle isn't THAT important. I guess I'd put it equal to story in retrospect.
Have to have graphics? I beg to differ, ever heard of MUD? In any case Art Style and Graphics do have a great importance, since they are what bring the players, but the sad fact is that it doesn't really guarantee that they keep playing because of it. Gameplay and Story keep the player interested and the rest is just extra.
In response to Taitz
Taitz wrote:
Have to have graphics? I beg to differ, ever heard of MUD? In any case Art Style and Graphics do have a great importance, since they are what bring the players, but the sad fact is that it doesn't really guarantee that they keep playing because of it. Gameplay and Story keep the player interested and the rest is just extra.

MUDs arguably have graphics.
Popular text-based games say that graphics aren't really that important.
But those games have graphics, they're the text characters you see. When I say graphics I mean graphics on some level. I don't mean polygons or sprites, I mean graphical representation of what you're doing. That's in earnest the point behind the video part of video game.
Well sure it has, using text as the form of graphical expression, sure, I won't argue with that. Try to recall what you said, but yes a game without graphics is still a game. A game is merely an activity, which is guided by some set of rules. Who do you call "many" people anyways?
In response to Taitz
Taitz wrote:
Well sure it has, using text as the form of graphical expression, sure, I won't argue with that. Try to recall what you said, but yes a game without graphics is still a game. A game is merely an activity, which is guided by some set of rules. Who do you call "many" people anyways?

I should of explicately mentioned I was talking about video games in specific.

Board games do not generally have very good sound, or polygon count.
In response to Rushnut
Do remind me when did I say that graphics do not matter? It seems like I think they don't, I believe I even stated that they do.

Starts to seem like you are barking up the wrong tree.
Well no, you're saying that an interesting story, is more important than one of the name defining features of a >video< game.

A >video< game without the >video< is not a >VIDEO< >GAME<


Have I banged that point hard enough yet?

Maybe once more?



Sorry if I'm a big angsty, I've been having this argument with a friend of mine all morning.
A game is a game, don't care about the video part, as long as it has some of it in it, it is defined as one.

You seem to underestimate the power of the story, an interesting and powerful story, which keeps you going is an important part, very much so, not that I myself apply it much. If at all.

I get where you are coming from though. However I do not value the graphics as highly as you do, if you keep improving your graphics and put a large importance on them, you will reach a point where you get stuck and won't get any more progress, since even though you get new players, they will leave if you have neglected the gameplay and story.
All that is required for a video game is for the game to be displayed on some kind of console. Other than that, everything is free, including text-based rpgs.
In response to Taitz
Well no, following my forumula of gameplay > graphics, you'd have to keep adding gameplay as well.

A game with fantastic gameplay and fantastic graphics, but no story, will be a good game.

See: Cube World, Minecraft, Dwarf Fortress, any-sandbox-game-every, League of Legends, a million other games.
The reason why they have no story is because it doesn't need one, they are intended to require none, which is why they are forgiven, it all depends the type or category of the game, sandbox games don't use stories to entertain the players, there is a large difference. Sandbox, round-based do not need a story plus some other categories.

In general the Story would be something, which gives the player a purpose in his play, whatever their goals are. The games you listed make you give yourself a purpose in it self, it is what drives you to play it, gameplay/mechanics is what supports you doing it.
I'm making the point of, a video game does not NEED a story to be a game.

A video game does NEED visual representation of what is happening (The Video part) and actual interaction (The Game part)

As such a video game built around story and not the other two elements, fall short of what a good game should be.
Gameplay > Intuitive Controls > Cohesive Style > Story > Graphics > Sound/Music
I replaced art style here with cohesive style, because I feel that it comes closer to the meaning that I intend. Even a game without art or graphics can have a cohesive, well-polished style, which can make it much more professional than it would be otherwise.

Also, how can you leave out controls!? I think they are a big enough issue that they deserve their own category, separate from gameplay. If your game's contols don't work, your game doesn't work! It's as simple as that. It's sad how often they are overlooked here in BYOND, and even in some "professional" titles. There can be nothing more frustrating about a game than it having really bad controls, assuming that it does in fact run correctly.
0bit by Fugsnarf speaks otherwise, all a game needs is an exchange of information and the decryption of it in a systematic manner. Look at the origin of games, try to understand where I am coming from.
In response to Taitz
Taitz wrote:
0bit by Fugsnarf speaks otherwise, all a game needs is an exchange of information and the decryption of it in a systematic manner. Look at the origin of games, try to understand where I am coming from.

Obviously there are gimmicky games that are going to be exceptions, don't bother strawmanning my argument.
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