And, expanding the theme of the post, what ideas will help to achieve a game that playing it could create to the player this great emotion response?

Galapagos: Mendel''s Escape had me close to tears at times. It was an ''exciting puzzle game set in a true 3D world'', and after the hundredth time of being killed by a scripted enemy, while the autonomous 3rd-person camera decided that a closeup of that wall over there was a really good idea, I decided that I wasn''t quite ready for that much emotional involvement in a game. Haven''t played it since 1998, and it put me off automatic cameras for life.

Eliciting tears isn''t a great objective. After all, there are some people who won''t cry even when presented with the most powerfully tear-jerking artistic works of all times. I''m sure that someone choked back tears for Aeris, and I''m sure that there''s some incredible sissy out there who shed a tear for Jehuty at the end of Zone of the Enders. I had a strong emotional response to the death of Dogmeat in Fallout, but that was rage and vengeance, not sadness or grief. Damn super-mutants picking on my dog...

I''d say that if you''re willing to not hold back at all, you can acheive a pretty strong response in a serious player.

If you can grip the player with a good storyline and make him or her attached to your character(s), you will definitely cause a strong reaction if you decide to have something really bad happen to one of the characters the player is attached to.

Everyone reacts differently though. Maybe the player''ll shrug and move on. Maybe he''ll be pissed off and will just stop playing. Maybe he''ll be struck by grief and anger. I know I felt pissed at Sephiroth in FF7 for the Aeris death scene; I felt like I had a reason to play this game after it happened. At least, until I tired of 3D games and stopped finding them fun.

A game either pulls off sad scenes well or it doesn''t. Most of the time, your target audience will either be indifferent (especially if they don''t grow attached) or be frustrated, though.

So what would be your answer to the following question:

**It is easier to get someone to cry watching a movie than it is playing a game**

A) Yes
B) No

Some people are easier to make cry than others. For example, it''s much easier to make a six year old girl cry* than a twenty-six year old guy.

Now consider the demographics of gameplayers. I suspect that the vast majority of your target audience will be pretty resistant to bursting out into tears mid game.


*Not that I''d know or anything...

metal gear solid made me cry

MindEngine Development
http://medev.sourceforge.net

I like games that play with your emotions. Dreamweb was cool ... the end especially.
And Final Fantasy Adventure ... beginning and end especially

A good idea is using contrasts. A sad event after something happy/funny for example.
Buffy/Angel fans know what I''m talking about.

But I also read or saw an interview where a game designer said that a game needs a happy end (as a reward).

boolean,

RPGs are great for instilling emotion in a player. I''ll agree it is easier to make someone cry in a movie.
However, now that games are getting so realistic including the drama created by story lines and depth of character( eg espically in RPGS such as the Final Fantasy series ) it feels like you are playing/watching a drama movie anyway.

You have to keep in mind you can''t compare games and movies directly. Movies are scripted with specific depth of character and back story built in. The only games which compare so far are RPG''s with deep character profiles and involving story lines.

Games with great graphics and sound make you go ''wow'' look at that, isn''t it great. This however doesn''t compare to a game which has, effectivly, the equivalent of a movie script backing it up.

So cesc,
if you want a good way to instill emotion in the player in a game, think movies. Think of the clever tricks the movies use to get the viewer trapped in. Spooky music and lighting in a horror for example( think resident evil ). Camera angles.( wide shots, close ups, etc etc ). Setting( setting including acsents of chaarcters speech, location, atmosphere etc ). Plot twists( eg death of a favorite and/or main character ). You should look at how all these things are bleneded together in a movie and try to do the same in your games.

This is the wave of the future. Big companies are starting to take these techniques seriously already. Part of the reason games now cost so much to develop.

Anyway, thats all I''ve got to say.
Hope I gave some good insight.

Pete

Or you could set the monitor to 10 Hz and use vibrant colors which hurt the eye...