Sven Winka about the most important thing in the RPG
If this name doesn’t mean anything to you, then you probably don’t know Larian , which makes great RPGs. I myself am a fan of many of their games, besides sometimes I correspond with people from their friendly team (more on their official forum, really). Now the guys are working on Divinity: Original Sin , and Sven, in the light of this apparently quite interesting article wrote in his blog about what is really important in the RPG. Fans of this genre please under the cat.
A long time ago, back in the days when we worked on Divine Divinity, I came up with an acronym that describes everything that, in my opinion, is important in computer role-playing games. I thought a lot about it, because I had to tell journalists something, and I knew that there would be many awkward moments during which we had to wait patiently for the new version of the game after many problems.
It was then that I came up with the FUME paradigm, a model with which it is possible to assess the likelihood of Sven falling in love with a particular RPG or not. If her rating is too small on the FUME scale, then you can expect from me pearls like “it sucks” or “make my eyes see it.” But if the game is gaining a good rating on the scale, I will continue to talk about it until the end of centuries. Ultima VII, for example, looks decent on the FUME scale, like Fallout 2. I would gladly include modern RPGs in this list, but unfortunately there are no games among them that could fallout with Fallout 2 and Ultima VII.
')
I suppose that my last statement makes you think that I am one of those cynics who think that all CRPGs are crap, but that’s not true. On the contrary, I think that there have been many breakthroughs in recent decades. The only problem is that there simply was not a single game that would include everything that I want to see in one game. And restrictions in recent years seem to have blocked the path of development that I would like to see. But even if I’m a little disappointed with the latest RPGs, I’m optimistic about the future, because I firmly believe that progress cannot be stopped in the end.
So let's see what FUME is.
Ultima VII has a fairly high FUME rating.
FUME , in short, is my method for measuring the quality of what character development opportunities a game can offer me. Character development is a feature I care most about in an RPG. The higher the FUME points, the more I love it, the lower the FUME rating, the less likely it is that the game will remain on my hard drive (or even be set if its FUME rating is so low).
F in the acronym means accessible freedom in character development.
Can you make such an embodiment of the character that you would like to play? Or are you driven into a rigid framework, into which the game designers have wedged you, who probably did not think about your imagination. This is an important question, because it (freedom) directly affects the degree of immersion in the game.
Freedom also reflects the degree of linearity of the game — you simply cannot have great freedom in a linear game. It also manifests itself in the ability to influence the game when making a choice. If my decisions do not affect even a tiny aspect of the game, then obviously it will not score a normal rating on my scale of Freedom.
Good old Fallout scored a rather high rating on my Freedom scale (surprisingly enough), despite the fact that most of the games from Bioware have a low rating, even if I really enjoyed Baldur's Gates and Icewind Dales. Unfortunately, most RPGs are far from what I would like them to be, but, nevertheless, there were steps in the right direction, so I still continue to hope ...
Next comes U , which characterizes the Universe, in which the whole action takes place.
Is she interesting? Diverse? Original? Have you had any exciting adventures in this universe? Is the game world important to you? Is this the type of universe in which it is interesting to play, not only at first, but also a well-developed character? Also, is this a place that reflects your actions? Does it change as a result of your exploits? Do you influence her? If the answer to most of the questions is yes, I might even be tempted to play it, even if it sucks on other aspects. I like to explore new universes. They are a projection of a complex combination of cultures.
M - the motivation that is given to you during character development.
This does not always have to be the main storyline: for example, Diablo is a game that received its Motivation through looted and a few commercials, rather than a complex storyline. However, it is clear that a good storyline can play an important role in enhancing your desire to explore the universe of the game. When the Universe rating is low (as is often the case), it is very possible that I will continue to play if my motivation is high enough. In general, I believe that if both (the Universe and Motivation) have a low rating, I will not be interested in such a game.
It is interesting to note World of Warcraft. I had two 70-level Persians, (not very impressive, as many people think), but considering the amount of free time, this number is insane. I don't play World Of Warcraft anymore, because I thought there was a good story there, or because I was impressed with his universe — I played only because I was motivated ... other people played it. So, everything that makes you continue to play passes, although my personal holy grail will forever remain a strong storyline that will emotionally influence me.
And finally, E , which means the Enemies against whom you have to develop your character.
This aspect can be interpreted very broadly. E is probably better to replace A (Antagonist (s)), against whom you develop a character, but FUMA does not sound so sexy!
There should be some resistance in the game world in which you will develop, be it the bad guys, the ethical problem, the importance of which increases over time, personal issues ... Whatever form you choose, you want it to be interesting, diverse, original , believable and surprising.
I actually can’t remember a single RPG that would really impress me in that direction. Although, it is probably worth noting SHODAN, which disappointed me so much that I remembered it ( from the translator : SHODAN is the main antagonist in the System Shock series). I think that as technology improves, over time we will be able to make truly memorable villains.
As already said, I have not seen a single game that would score a high rating in all aspects, but I really enjoyed many games that showed themselves perfectly in at least one aspect. So, any game that combines two or even three components, in my opinion, is a successful RPG. If you want to know why I loved Ultima VII, it is because she scored a large rating on the scale of the Universe and Motivation, gave me a sufficient illusion of freedom, and I can at least remember some of the villains.
I wrote this article because I realized (at the time of writing another article) that I never described how I define the concept and design in Larian. The process is quite simple. All that gives one of our games a chance to climb the FUME scale, I will support. Anything that reduces our FUME potential will immediately be discarded, even if it fits well with the game mechanics.
Over the years, I have seen that I often have to make compromises, be it technical, financial, industrial, or humane considerations. And sometimes it looks like something inevitable. A huge number of people are involved in the development of games over a long period of time, and it’s impossible that everyone should have the same opinion, so it’s very difficult to avoid the conflicts and compromises that follow them.
Whenever you see something that reduces the rating of the game, I can say with confidence that this is due to compromises. This is one of my deepest professional desires - one day make an RPG that does not fall under these compromises. This is very difficult to do, so I’ll probably be busy for a while, but at least I have guarantees that I’m not bothered by my work.
By the way, I can say that Divinity: Original Sin , IMHO is a big step in the right direction, and this is our desire to make this game the basis for future high-FUME-rated games. Will we have it or not? I do not know. But then I know that this will not be a futile attempt. In any case, I personally believe that the new game in the Divinity series will have the highest FUME rating among all Larian games. This tells me that even surrounded by many unplanned things, in any case, we are moving in the right direction.
I'm not sure if there is anyone else who has developed his own method for assessing how good the RPG is in their opinion, but I’m really interested to learn about other systems that exist. TV people do things like that all the time.
From the translator: I apologize for any errors. Just decided to share an interesting article with the community. If you notice any errors, or there are suggestions for replacing some points in the text with more suitable ones, please write to the PM.
A long time ago, back in the days when we worked on Divine Divinity, I came up with an acronym that describes everything that, in my opinion, is important in computer role-playing games. I thought a lot about it, because I had to tell journalists something, and I knew that there would be many awkward moments during which we had to wait patiently for the new version of the game after many problems.
It was then that I came up with the FUME paradigm, a model with which it is possible to assess the likelihood of Sven falling in love with a particular RPG or not. If her rating is too small on the FUME scale, then you can expect from me pearls like “it sucks” or “make my eyes see it.” But if the game is gaining a good rating on the scale, I will continue to talk about it until the end of centuries. Ultima VII, for example, looks decent on the FUME scale, like Fallout 2. I would gladly include modern RPGs in this list, but unfortunately there are no games among them that could fallout with Fallout 2 and Ultima VII.
')
I suppose that my last statement makes you think that I am one of those cynics who think that all CRPGs are crap, but that’s not true. On the contrary, I think that there have been many breakthroughs in recent decades. The only problem is that there simply was not a single game that would include everything that I want to see in one game. And restrictions in recent years seem to have blocked the path of development that I would like to see. But even if I’m a little disappointed with the latest RPGs, I’m optimistic about the future, because I firmly believe that progress cannot be stopped in the end.
So let's see what FUME is.
Ultima VII has a fairly high FUME rating.
FUME , in short, is my method for measuring the quality of what character development opportunities a game can offer me. Character development is a feature I care most about in an RPG. The higher the FUME points, the more I love it, the lower the FUME rating, the less likely it is that the game will remain on my hard drive (or even be set if its FUME rating is so low).
F in the acronym means accessible freedom in character development.
Can you make such an embodiment of the character that you would like to play? Or are you driven into a rigid framework, into which the game designers have wedged you, who probably did not think about your imagination. This is an important question, because it (freedom) directly affects the degree of immersion in the game.
Freedom also reflects the degree of linearity of the game — you simply cannot have great freedom in a linear game. It also manifests itself in the ability to influence the game when making a choice. If my decisions do not affect even a tiny aspect of the game, then obviously it will not score a normal rating on my scale of Freedom.
Good old Fallout scored a rather high rating on my Freedom scale (surprisingly enough), despite the fact that most of the games from Bioware have a low rating, even if I really enjoyed Baldur's Gates and Icewind Dales. Unfortunately, most RPGs are far from what I would like them to be, but, nevertheless, there were steps in the right direction, so I still continue to hope ...
Next comes U , which characterizes the Universe, in which the whole action takes place.
Is she interesting? Diverse? Original? Have you had any exciting adventures in this universe? Is the game world important to you? Is this the type of universe in which it is interesting to play, not only at first, but also a well-developed character? Also, is this a place that reflects your actions? Does it change as a result of your exploits? Do you influence her? If the answer to most of the questions is yes, I might even be tempted to play it, even if it sucks on other aspects. I like to explore new universes. They are a projection of a complex combination of cultures.
M - the motivation that is given to you during character development.
This does not always have to be the main storyline: for example, Diablo is a game that received its Motivation through looted and a few commercials, rather than a complex storyline. However, it is clear that a good storyline can play an important role in enhancing your desire to explore the universe of the game. When the Universe rating is low (as is often the case), it is very possible that I will continue to play if my motivation is high enough. In general, I believe that if both (the Universe and Motivation) have a low rating, I will not be interested in such a game.
It is interesting to note World of Warcraft. I had two 70-level Persians, (not very impressive, as many people think), but considering the amount of free time, this number is insane. I don't play World Of Warcraft anymore, because I thought there was a good story there, or because I was impressed with his universe — I played only because I was motivated ... other people played it. So, everything that makes you continue to play passes, although my personal holy grail will forever remain a strong storyline that will emotionally influence me.
And finally, E , which means the Enemies against whom you have to develop your character.
This aspect can be interpreted very broadly. E is probably better to replace A (Antagonist (s)), against whom you develop a character, but FUMA does not sound so sexy!
There should be some resistance in the game world in which you will develop, be it the bad guys, the ethical problem, the importance of which increases over time, personal issues ... Whatever form you choose, you want it to be interesting, diverse, original , believable and surprising.
I actually can’t remember a single RPG that would really impress me in that direction. Although, it is probably worth noting SHODAN, which disappointed me so much that I remembered it ( from the translator : SHODAN is the main antagonist in the System Shock series). I think that as technology improves, over time we will be able to make truly memorable villains.
As already said, I have not seen a single game that would score a high rating in all aspects, but I really enjoyed many games that showed themselves perfectly in at least one aspect. So, any game that combines two or even three components, in my opinion, is a successful RPG. If you want to know why I loved Ultima VII, it is because she scored a large rating on the scale of the Universe and Motivation, gave me a sufficient illusion of freedom, and I can at least remember some of the villains.
I wrote this article because I realized (at the time of writing another article) that I never described how I define the concept and design in Larian. The process is quite simple. All that gives one of our games a chance to climb the FUME scale, I will support. Anything that reduces our FUME potential will immediately be discarded, even if it fits well with the game mechanics.
Over the years, I have seen that I often have to make compromises, be it technical, financial, industrial, or humane considerations. And sometimes it looks like something inevitable. A huge number of people are involved in the development of games over a long period of time, and it’s impossible that everyone should have the same opinion, so it’s very difficult to avoid the conflicts and compromises that follow them.
Whenever you see something that reduces the rating of the game, I can say with confidence that this is due to compromises. This is one of my deepest professional desires - one day make an RPG that does not fall under these compromises. This is very difficult to do, so I’ll probably be busy for a while, but at least I have guarantees that I’m not bothered by my work.
By the way, I can say that Divinity: Original Sin , IMHO is a big step in the right direction, and this is our desire to make this game the basis for future high-FUME-rated games. Will we have it or not? I do not know. But then I know that this will not be a futile attempt. In any case, I personally believe that the new game in the Divinity series will have the highest FUME rating among all Larian games. This tells me that even surrounded by many unplanned things, in any case, we are moving in the right direction.
I'm not sure if there is anyone else who has developed his own method for assessing how good the RPG is in their opinion, but I’m really interested to learn about other systems that exist. TV people do things like that all the time.
From the translator: I apologize for any errors. Just decided to share an interesting article with the community. If you notice any errors, or there are suggestions for replacing some points in the text with more suitable ones, please write to the PM.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/199404/
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