Current Events > Apparently direction indicators in games is a problem now.

(+) Yeah! (+)

"I like Elden Ring, so no game should tell you where anything is regardless of what kind of game it is"

I get that.

But I also don't really think there are many better solutions when they design these open world areas but also want Uncharted style cliff climbing.

If anything the criticism should be for this type of design being used for a game like this at all moreso than the yellow paint specifically. Nothing about this design supports the illusion of freedom. Uncharted can get away with normal scuff marks because you will always end up near those cliffs and will see them.

Similar with RE4. They need distinct language to show the crates and ladders you can use. They probably think painting the entire box or ladder yellow looks too clean for the style of the game so they went with splotchy paint instead. It's weird but it's not really a big deal. It's the cost of having those detailed rooms and houses.

I'm just not really sure why people are focused on yellow paint specifically when this sort of stuff has always been around. The more detailed the design is the more effort needs to be made to make things look interactable.

We saw this in action when guns suddenly had to glow in third person shooters during the 360 era to indicate we can pick them up. It's always a thing.

xlr_big-coop posted...

Absolutely agree with you there, I hated the remake and couldn't bring myself to finish it. Glad to see other people weren't fooled by the pretty visuals.

Remake is so much better than RE4

UI elements would be much easier on the eyes than weird shoehorned in-universe stuff. The whole point of making guidance in-universe should be to make it organic, but yellow paint is anything but. Other than flashing UI elements, they could do like what one user suggested and use the Lifestream as the in-universe reason for guidance.
Though, the biggest thing would be making any of this an optional toggle. That would really solve 70% of video game complaints.

Nemu posted...

That would really solve 70% of video game complaints.

No it would not.

hockeybabe89 posted...

"I like Elden Ring, so no game should tell you where anything is regardless of what kind of game it is"

I think most elden ring players used a guide at some point. Tho they say it's a good thing cuz of some community-related reason

Its for the dspgamings of the world. God of War used him as a measuring stick as shown off in GDC.

UI elements would work if the game was linear like FFXVI was but it's meant to be a much more open world. Would there be a waypoint specifically for every cliff you can climb in the distance?

Would the lifestream be visible over a long distance? Would there be glowing trails all over the world instead? Would people be happy if they followed the lifestream to find a chest with Gil and nothing else?

A toggle would work if the game actually worked without them. But like what happened to the Bulletstorm developers they have probably found mid development that the climbable cliffs weren't attracting the players to try and climb them. So this is their solution. A toggle would mean they would need two solutions for that problem instead of one.

Overall player readability and function matters more than immersion does. It always has and always will.

Nemu posted...

That would really solve 70% of video game complaints.

Haha good one

A small UI dot on all interactable objects would hardly be anything crazy. Having all interactable objects give a light flash certainly wouldn't be anything harder than manually painting all of them.
If the Lifestream idea was used, it'd ideally light up all possible paths like an alternate vision toggle like Arkham, AssCreed, or something to that effect.

Those are just very basic ideas that could easily be changed or expanded on, but way better than the lazy route the chose.

Man did you forget how many people complained about detective vision back in the day? I'm playing Dead Space Remake now and the worst thing about it is how often I'm clicking in those sticks to make sure I'm going the right way. Overall I'd say that was worse.

I don't think having UI dots to know that you can break a crate is any better than having them with yellow paint personally. That actually sounds more visually busy. Imagine having a UI dot over anything that is breakable or interactable. Instead of painting a barrel red it had an explosive icon on top? No thanks.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

except there's no flaw nobody ever had a problem controlling the characters and making them go where they wanted and the areas aren't obscure and what's the problem with areas not being linear? wasn't being linear the reason why FF13 was trashed so much? does FF has to be completely linear because people don't want to explore and have multiple areas they can go? Freedom is part of why FF7-9 were so great also the indicators were optional, they didn't treated the players like they were dumb and didn't ruined immersion and were unnecessary since anyone could tell where you had to go

It is ugly, and in that first screenshot that's a bit much. There's other games that take place outdoors where I'm pretty sure it's just made to look like bird shit and it's white and brown/black splotchy. That makes more sense than yellow paint anywhere.

RE4Remake is ugly as shit and uncalled for. The cliff one doesnt look bad at all, very natural.

Wow who'd thought the turn against RE4R would be yellow directional paint

VeggetaX posted...

Wow who'd thought the turn against RE4R would be yellow directional paint

I love RE4R and don't mind yellow paint tooooo much, but even I rolled my eyes at it in that game. It isn't natural at all, it's intentionally made to look like some slackass contractor just threw a paint bucket at it lol.

Its so in your face its immersion breaking and made to feel mindless. If youre playing a game then you want some degree of control/input/decision making. I dont want the entire game to feel like a step by step follow along tutorial.

Let's go back to game design 101.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/1a3d2302.jpg

See that grey marble area? You can't scale that. The player is dropped off in a location for which he or she will naturally want to explore their environment. This area offers a low-risk opportunity to find out what you can or cannot climb. And everything resembles actual earthy colors within the limitations of the game.

This was nearly three decades ago. Why do they suddenly feel like they now have to paint rock formations yellow to show the player that they can climb?

FortuneCookie posted...

Why do they suddenly feel like they now have to paint rock formations yellow to show the player that they can climb?

Because graphics are nearly photo-realistic now so having an entire cliff face look like that will be far weirder and immersion-breaking than a few splashes of yellow

mirrors edge did this really well

I'm not against it intrinsically but it has to mesh stylistically to not be an eye sore

pegusus123456 posted...

Because graphics are nearly photo-realistic now so having an entire cliff face look like that will be far weirder and immersion-breaking than a few splashes of yellow

I stand by what I said about color-coding. You can tell in black and white photography what is climbable and what isn't. Even when they're just hues, you can tell what is what.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/eecc0d3c.jpg

They don't need to lather it with paint. They just need to make it a slightly different color and of a shape that looks like it was meant to be climbed. If natural platforms on a mountain wall are immersion breaking, then we need to do away with platforming altogether.

And the next Mario game to feature Bowser's castle had better include a restroom on every floor, Bowser's personal bedroom, and multiple guest rooms.

FortuneCookie posted...

See that grey marble area? You can't scale that. The player is dropped off in a location for which he or she will naturally want to explore their environment. This area offers a low-risk opportunity to find out what you can or cannot climb. And everything resembles actual earthy colors within the limitations of the game.

This was nearly three decades ago. Why do they suddenly feel like they now have to paint rock formations yellow to show the player that they can climb?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e8d04004.jpg

Punished_Blinx posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e8d04004.jpg

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/adeb35af.jpg

I feel like I'm selecting floor tiles.

Left is slippery. Right is not.

FortuneCookie posted...

And the next Mario game to feature Bowser's castle had better include a restroom on every floor, Bowser's personal bedroom, and multiple guest rooms.

That's ridiculous, Bowser obviously just shits on the floor and then Kamek turns it into Goombas.

Can't wait for the "Too much yellow paint 7/10" reviews.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5e3292f5.jpg

Kind of true though, isn't it? You don't really want your neighborhood flooded.

When they are obvious to the point of obnoxious, that's when they are a problem.

Honestly the bigger problem is how many games these days don't have a fart button. You should be able to fart at *any* moment during gameplay. Climbing a cliff? You can fart. Fighting the ancient monster? You can fart. Sneaking into Fandom headquarters to remove your main from purg? You can fart. But nope. Most games at best have your character fart at predetermined, scripted points. This is not okay. I'm boycotting Grand Theft Auto 6 unless games start adding a fart button just like all time classics like Abe's Oddysee and Stick Of Truth had.

What do you mean now? People have complained about this since this became a thing.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

and again the navigation wasn't bad at all and you didn't had to press weird directions, everyone navigated every area of the games just fine, there was nothing annoying or obnoxious stop making things up

It used to be white paint, which is honestly less distracting because yellow makes you think of caution signs from real life

I mean, there's also the thing where they have A LITERAL GUIDE with them.

It's kind of ridiculous to die on the "I want to have to figure out where to go" Hill when your characters have hired somebody specifically so that you don't.

Trumble posted...

Honestly the bigger problem is how many games these days don't have a fart button. You should be able to fart at *any* moment during gameplay. Climbing a cliff? You can fart. Fighting the ancient monster? You can fart. Sneaking into Fandom headquarters to remove your main from purg? You can fart. But nope. Most games at best have your character fart at predetermined, scripted points. This is not okay. I'm boycotting Grand Theft Auto 6 unless games start adding a fart button just like all time classics like Abe's Oddysee and Stick Of Truth had.

Speaking of which why can we not piss or shit in video games? It really hurts my immersion when I can't have Cloud zip open his fly and take a leak, or have Aerith lift up her dress and squat to take a piss, or Red XIII dropping a fire log and Cloud steps in it saying "Ugh, I got it on my shoe..."

No more games until we have realistic pissing and shitting in games to appeal to immersion.

Trepan posted...

Oh boi I can't wait to play DOoM 20i6 with the green navigation lights turned off

i heart radiation