Whats your preference? Narrator makes descriptions...or the Main Player?

[Knox]

Hi,

I was curious as to the preferences of people here on a certain aspect of adventure games:

When the player clicks on an object to look at it, or perform a certain action, do you prefer that a display text pops up giving you a certain message (like an invisible narrator in Sierra games, 3rd person), or do you prefer that its the main character that says the messages...for example:

Version A--> Imagine you click on a door to open it, but you cant...a text box appears and says "You cant open this door, its locked".

Version B--> The main character's dialog portrait pops up and he says "I cant open this door...its locked!"

Just curious, Id like to get a percentage of the majority I guess to help me decide what version to use

[Igor Hardy]

I like the man player giving his opinions more.

But I like to have a narrator in games from time to time as well.

Having a variety of styles in games I play is great.

[GarageGothic]

I think the "character thinking out loud" works best in comedic games while having a narrator (be it first or third person) is preferable in more serious games. Narrators can also work well in comedy games if they actually interact with the player character - like in Freddy Pharkas - though sometimes it gets quite annoying (Al Emmo, I'm looking at you).

My personal favorite (i.e. what I use in my own game) is to have the player character deliver his observations in first person but display it differently than the normal speech to indicate that he's thinking rather than talking to himself. I think the recent McCarthy Chronicles game accomplished this really well.

[Ali]

Broken Sword is another example of internal monologue being rendered well. If I remember correctly, George wasn't animated while thinking, the text was displayed in a different colour and the recording had different equalisation. This is the approach I'd favour for a serious game.

The only Sierra game I've played in which the narrator felt like they were taking the game seriously was Gabriel Knight. The rest of the time Sierra narrators seem overly interested in making jokes and mocking me for dying.

[poc301]

I much prefer the text-box narrator style method.

No real heavy-duty reasons, I just do

-Bill

[auriond]

I prefer the main character just because I feel that it's more immersive. If I'm playing a Sierra adventure I'd turn off the voiceover for the narrator. I just think it's really jarring to have someone between me and the character I'm supposed to play.

I think the McCarthy Chronicles and Broken Sword method is the way to go. Having the character voice out everything can be annoying too, so some way of intinguishing between thoughts and speech would be ideal.

Of course, a narrator does provide plenty of opportunity for breaking the fourth wall, so it's up to your style of game really.

[Calin Leafshade]

I love that you can have The McCarthy Chronicles and Broken Sword in the same sentence with a straight face :p

[auriond]

You don't know my face is straight. I'm actually laughing myself hysterical as I type this.

[Calin Leafshade]

You don't know my face is straight. I'm actually laughing myself hysterical as I type this.

how kind of you :p

[Charity]

If I had to pick one, I'd say first person narration, present tense internal monologue.  At least, I think that's the least intrusive and most personal, for any given character driven story.  But it really depends.  Just like any story, different game narrators are useful for different things.  Past tense narration allows for more perspective and foreshadowing, while present tense keeps the player in the moment.  2nd person helps put the player inside the character, especially if that character is the generic, customizable silent protagonist type.  And omniscient 3rd person takes the player out of the story a bit, but allows you to do all kinds of exposition.  A narrator who is an actual character in the story (whether a PC or NCP) allows you to cast doubt on how how objective an account of events your story is.  Your basic 3rd person limited makes character switching fairly seamless, but that shouldn't stop you from using 1st and even 2nd in the same way.  And don't forget that plenty of games in other genres don't even have narrators--don't take it as scripture that you need one.  These will all affect the mood and tone in a serious game, and allow for different kinds of jokes in a humorous one.  So really, I'd say do what fits best or mix things up a bit for the fun of it.  But barring that, you can't go wrong with 1st person, present tense.

Having the character actually turn and talk to the screen worked great for Monkey Island, and you can probably make it work for you, too.  But it entails some serious implied 4rth wall violation and suspension of disbelief, so I wouldn't use it (especially in a serious game) unless I knew exactly why I was doing so.

[poc301]

I am amazed at how many people like the character to reflect on things, or to use a method other than the popup text boxes that I am accustomed to (and use).

-Bill

[blueskirt]

I prefer narrator boxes. But to make myself clear, I don't really care whether it's a third person narator or the main character who's the narrator, I just like the narrator boxes. Try to imagine Version C: You click on a door to open it, but you cant...a text box appears and says "I cant open this door...its locked!"

For one, narrator boxes tend to be easier to read than dialogues, they're easier on the eyes on backgrounds with lot of clashy colors and dialogues tend to disappears after a while, forcing me to read faster, while the boxes stay on screen until I'm done reading and click the mouse button.

I've also an irrational hatred for those dialogues that heavily rely on silent pause in between sentences, and nothing irritate me more than games where the main character pause in between every sentences while looking at its surrounding. Narrator boxes generally don't have this problem.

Except for games where the main character has a sidekick following him/her around and they both take turn at describing their surrounding or throwing some witty banter, I'd choose version C.

[Stupot]

Broken Sword is another example of internal monologue being rendered well. If I remember correctly, George wasn't animated while thinking, the text was displayed in a different colour and the recording had different equalisation. This is the approach I'd favour for a serious game.

If I'm not mistaken, doesn't George Stobbart talk in the past tense when narrating, as though recalling the story.  So when he's talking to Nico he'd say 'Nico, I can't open the door', but when he's narrating he'd say 'I couldn't open the door...'

I might be remembering it wrong, but either way, that's a good trick to use to separate the main character's speech from his narration.

[Anian]

If I'm not mistaken, doesn't George Stobbart talk in the past tense when narrating, as though recalling the story.  So when he's talking to Nico he'd say 'Nico, I can't open the door', but when he's narrating he'd say 'I couldn't open the door...'

I might be remembering it wrong, but either way, that's a good trick to use to separate the main character's speech from his narration.

Yeah, he's talking in the past, at least in the first game (which I still think is the best one in the series). Because he is remembering "Paris in the fall...city holds many memories for me..." and yes, now that you mention it, it does sound much more interesting cause it's not only internal voice/first person narrator but also in the past tense.

[Matti]

Personally, I hate it when a texbox pops up, especially when you have to click to make it disappear again. I generally prefer the main character expressing his thoughts. GarageGothics way is a good one.

[Intense Degree]

Personally I prefer both together.

"Smaller" thoughts and comments such as "The door is locked, I can't open it" come best from the player, but larger sections of text/narrative are better in text boxes/narrator format.

[Darth Mandarb]

For me it depends on the "tone" of the game ... Games like Full Throttle just wouldn't work without Ben's gruff and scratchy voice givin' you what-for.  Games like Space Quest feel better suited with a narrator.

Though I think this kind of thing boils down to simple personal preference.

[Crimson Wizard]

I'd agree to Darth Mandarb, it depends on "tone of the game". And also on occasion when the comment is made. For example, I can imagine a game where both character and narrator may make comments, which are different in style and mood, like narrator actually having fun over character, or vice versa, criticise him.

I made 2 games so far, both were MAGS, first was a sort of fairy tale and I chose narrator to make comments, because it felt more like story-telling. In the second game, a comedy, I made character comment his actions, because I wanted him to have fun while doing that.

[Dualnames]

For me it depends on the "tone" of the game ... Games like Full Throttle just wouldn't work without Ben's gruff and scratchy voice givin' you what-for.  Games like Space Quest feel better suited with a narrator.

Though I think this kind of thing boils down to simple personal preference.

Seconded. To add HHGTG sort of has comments either from the narrator or Arthur.
Example:

You couldn't have the same effect, if the narrator would say "So this is we're going to die".

[Knox]

Wow, it seems pretty divided! Its true, it does depend on the type of game you want to create. I personally prefer both being used, as in, if its something that the player has no opinion on (like the door is locked), Id rather that a simple text-box pops up and says "its locked"...however, if the door is locked and the character has an opinion on it (like its pisses him off), then I might use the chracter to tell the player its locked, like "Damn it, the door is locked...", etc.

Its really interesting to see people's different outlooks on this subject...its funny how something kinda "simple" can really get people to have different opinions!

Ive only played Sierra games (police quest 3 + space quest 4 being my favorite)...I think I really to need to get myself some Lucas games and see how its done in those games...Yikes! I know...I never played monkey island...(hides in corner)