Intro sequences... how long should they be?

[Das Plans]

HiÃ,  there,

I'm just working on a game called “Bloodlands”.Ã,  Right now I'm up to writing the story and already some of the puzzles. The thing that bothers me is the fact, that the intro sequence will be quite long. I myself love lengthy introductions. I love, when I get to know the playable character a little better before I actually can control him. I love credit-sequences with a cool soundtrack, before the game begins. Actually, I like games, that behave like movies. But that's me...

How about you? What do you think? After clicking on the “Start new game”-button, how long are you willing to wait and watch before you can point and click your way through the game for yourselves? 10 seconds? One minute? Five minutes?

Just to show you, that I'm really working on something… here's some work in progress (nevermind the hands… this is not for c&c):

[Darth Mandarb]

Firstly, dig the sprites.Ã,  They look cool.

Alright ... onto the question.

I went through this debate a few years back when flash intros were all the rage on websites.Ã,  How long is the perfect intro ...

Well, when it comes to adventure games, I think (my opinion coming up) that there's really no set length to adhere to.Ã,  If the cutscene is interesting/well put together, it could be ten minutes and I wouldn't care.Ã,  As long as it holds my interest.

I think it's similar to the graphics or story debate ... well, with intros, if the story is gripping and interesting the length of the intro isn't what you notice.

Short answer, I don't think there should be a set length, but a set quality level.

If an intro doesn't hold my interest, 10 seconds is too long and I'll just skip over it.Ã,  If it's good, I'll just keep watching.Ã,  But I'm also like you where I like my games to be more like interactive movies.

[Snarky]

First of all, however long the intro is, it must be skippable!

How long...
I think it depends on many things. It depends on the length of the game itself. If the intro is five minutes, the game better take more than five hours to finish. Actually, one minute per hour of gameplay seems like a reasonable guideline.

I think more important than the length of the intro is how tight it is. A three-minute intro which actually fills its running time with useful and entertaining events is better than a thirty-second one which doesn't actually achieve anything.

Since I think an intro should limit itself to introducing the initial situation and conflict, and maybe sketch out a couple of characters, if you're spending more than a few minutes you're probably not being very efficient in your storytelling. And that's bad.

Another thing I would suggest is to not pack too much text and dialogue into the intro. Later in the game, once the players have established a connection with what's going on, then you can throw as much text as you want at them, but wordy exposition or conversations in the intro are a sure way to kill interest from the get-go. I much prefer intros that are almost like silent movies, that show characters acting, not just talking.

For examples of overlong intros, only one really comes to mind: KQ2VGA+. Listening to King Graham bicker with his minister for nearly ten minutes isn't exactly my idea of riveting. Still loved the game, so clearly you can get away with it.

[lawrenceofarabia]

As long as you're willing to put in the effort to make the intro interesting then I am more than happy to watch it no matter how long it is. Make sure you script it well with lots of animations and ACTION. Making it skippable is the number one thing though. I know you've made the worlds greatest cutscene ever, but I don't want to watch it every time I start the game.

[Moox]

That third sprite looks like evil lol


On topic thanks to Erics advice....

I think that intros can be aslong as you want if their informative or humerous. If its just a red herring intro then theres not really a reason to watch it. Just make sure to include a method of skipping. I dont want to sit around for 5 minutes if I want to replay the game.

[Dave Gilbert]

This is something I think about a lot.Ã,  I replay my old games now and I groan during the horrendously long cutscenes I wrote.Ã,  I refuse to skimp on the dialog though, since I love writing that stuff, so what's the solution?

One thing I started doing now is adding more interactivity to the cutscenes, mainly through dialog trees.Ã,  Instead of having your character respond blindly to an NPC, present the user with a dialog choice.Ã,  Then have the NPC respond to the dialog choice, then continue the conversation as normal.Ã, 

I did this recently with "Without a Prayer" and it broke up an otherwise long intro/cutscene sequence nicely (demo HERE, if you are so inclined to see what I mean).Ã,  It's a design choice, really.Ã,  Long intros/cutscenes are okay, but if you can make them interactive in the process, so much the better.

[m0ds]

To put it shortly;

Fully animated intro, I'll sit and watch 30 minutes worth.

Minimally animated, mostly text - 5 minutes max

No animation, souly text - 1 minute, unless really well written, perhaps 2 or 3.



Watch the opening of The Dig to see what kind of intro keeps me gripped.

[Darth Mandarb]

First of all, however long the intro is, it must be skippable!

Totally!!Ã,  I'd say that's the most important part.

There's nothing more annoying for a game to do than have cutscenes you can't skip.Ã,  Even if they're the coolest you've ever seen, by the third or fourth time you just don't want to watch them again (sometimes).

[GarageGothic]

First of all, how long does it NEED to be? What exactly do you need to tell to get points across to the player. Can't you leave some of the information to be uncovered through gameplay? Make the intro mysterious - make the player wonder why these things are happening and what will happen next. Set up the story, but don't reveal everything to the player from the word go - audiences are smarter than artists usually them credit for, they often pick up a lot of little things even though it isn't told or shown explicitly.
How about starting In Media Res - with the story already going - you can probably slip a lot of backstory into the details and let the player discover it himself.

Also, make it as visual as possible. This doesn't mean that everything has to be animated, just that you tell the story in pictures. One great example that comes to mind is Cruise for a Corpse - hardly a word is spoken (written), yet it does everything to set the mood.

[Goldmund]

Dave Gilbert: that's an absolutely lovely method I also started using - and for the same reasons as you described!
When I divide a long dialogue with a possibility to choose what to say, sometimes the choice doesn't really matter at all, and it's there only for an illusion of interaction. Still, I've found it makes a game much more interesting.
This is why it's somewhat uncomfortable that you can't have rundialog in the middle of a script. I have a workaround, but it's still a bit dull.

[Das Plans]

Hey, this is quite a collection of helpful replies...

Regarding your comments, I think the intro sequence I'm working on will be just fine. It's definetly going to be skippable. I hate lengthy unstoppable dialogue myself. There's not going to be a lot of action, though. But I figured, that setting the pieces of dialogue that I have in a different room each, and having the characters walk between those rooms and not just standing there, could pace up things a little.

I think it's a good idea to spice the intro with some interaction by adding dialogue trees and stuff. I'll keep that in mind!

There's still the question of what information do I have to give the player in this sequence. That's a tough one, and I think it's a matter of taste, really. I prefer identifying the PC as a writer by showing him talking to his publisher in the intro, to having the player roam the character's appartment and read stuff like: "This is my new book. I just finished writing it two weeks ago."

Oh, and by the way: I don't want to get into this whole "10 best intro sequences"-discussion, but the one for THE DIG is one of my favourites, too.

[GarageGothic]

I prefer identifying the PC as a writer by showing him talking to his publisher in the intro, to having the player roam the character's appartment and read stuff like: "This is my new book. I just finished writing it two weeks ago."

Oh, I totally agree that you should avoid on-the-nose references like that. As I said: "audiences are smarter than artists usually them credit for, they often pick up a lot of little things even though it isn't told or shown explicitly".
How do you show that he's a writer? Put a typewriter in a central position on his desk. Fill the notice board with notes - or better yet, show and empty notice board and the wastepaper basket below it full of crumpled notes and index cards. Have him remark something like "I don't want to look at that damn manuscript ever again - I'll leave that to my editor." Of course, if his publisher is part of the story, show the conversation - if it's just to show he's a writer - there are better ways.

[PurpleMouse]

Intro's should be as long as you need them to be. But should be skippable, also you should be able to start the game up and load a save game straight away without having to watch an intro you have already seen. I really hate it when I have to wait for an intro to finish before I can get back into the game.

[fivetrickpony]

I think a good intro can be as long as it wants to be, but like was mentioned before, the option to skip it is a must-have... especially when it comes to replaying/restarting the game. The same should go for all cutscenes in general.

[Eggie]

First off, I would like to say that I LOVE cutscenes and I love gasme dialogs. Probably more than I enjoy actually playing the damn thing.

I think there is a point where intro's stop being intro's and start becoming movies. The tendancy then is to forget you're playing a game and it feels weird once the actual playing starts.
Many games with involved plots get past this by having a short (or no) intro, a small playable bit and THEN a long cutscene. That way the game has already been put into motion so the player can leap right in once the cutscene is over.

But, as everyone has said. There's no rule. The trick is, if you have a long intro, make it so the player will enjoy sitting through it for that long. Otherwise I recommend breaking it up with  gameplay...