rowboatsynclaire asked: "plot is predetermined events that are going to happen no matter what. games are about interactivity and dynamism. something isnt interactive or dynamic when its going to happen no matter what."
ever heard of triggers? aka If statements? aka a possible predetermined event? and also; you're wrong about that. games aren't JUST about that. they can be, but that's a very opinionated statement to say it's all they're about. many games are about story as much as interactivity and dynamism, and i can name a few games that sucked because they had no story. Heavy Rain for instance tells a story, but is still dynamic. Half Life 2 is linear, and tells a story, and is considered by many to be one of this generations best video games.
of course im familiar with conditional statements. youre conflating the internal logic of a game with plot, which makes no sense. there is a total difference between “if a dwarf is on fire, skin state = melting” and “if the player is at node 3, play scripted event 25a.” the former builds up the simulation, the latter contributes nothing to the game itself.
and yes, lots of games are actually more about story than interactivity and dynamism, which is why they’re terrible games. some cant even be defined as games. hveay rina is not a game. it is a choose-your-own adventure novel. if you believe any part of heyva rnai is dynamic youre just wrong. i’ve talked about that on this blog already
hlaf-leif 2, like anything, cannot be considered good by virtue of a massive fanbase. reverence for popularity is the best blinder for quality. hl2 was a stepping stone w/r/t physics in games but beyond that it was just another corridor shooter. its cutscenes were not interactive in any meaningful way so i dont actually know why you brought it up.
