Later this weekend, I’ll be posting a pretty cool First Seen on PP mod, which features an intro sequence, that “got me in the mod”.
For games it’s obviously important but do we really need it for mods? I suppose that depends on the length and story involved. I wonder whether too often they are added because the modder wants to show people what they can do. Perhaps I am being cynical, who knows?
The length of the intro is very important too. Too long and you risk boring the player, too short and they wonder if it was worth it.
What do you think?
The Poll
Yeah, intro squences are pretty cool, like you said it really get you in the mod. I could play a crap mod till the end if the intro is good… (1187 for exemple).
When you play Human Error or Outpost 16, you are instantly put into the atmosphere, you are bound to the characters, there is empathy…
It entirely depends on how long the mod is alone, how long the intro is, and how much story the mod has for the intro to set the tone for (or alternatively, to make up for)
If the mod is really short, a long intro is just going to feel like a waste. If the mod is really long, then a short 5 second intro may actually feel too fast.
The best intros are going to be the ones that answer basic questions first: Who? (Are you gordon freeman, some other significant HL character, random rebel, random other NPC from HL, specific character not connected to HL universe?) Where? (HL Universe? New one? Alternate timeline HL? Someplace in reality?) When? (During Black Mesa? During HL2? During Ep1? During Ep2? Future HL? Past HL? Past Reality? Future Reality? Present?) and What/Why? (What is the motivation?/why should I care/play?)
Introducing these can be done during a “cutscene” but the sooner the player can get control of their character, the better. If any of this can be introduced “in game” that would be preferable.
It is also a good indicator of how ambitious a mod can be.
Yes I like Intro sequences.. I think they are also very important.
They give the players a first impression about the mod. They give the mapper the possibilitity to tell many details about the story for their mods and they are nice to look at if constructed well.
In my mod hl1-op4 for example you’ll get the good old tram ride along with some other pre cascade maps and many dialogs and play as Freeman. While in the later combat maps itself you will take control over Shephard.
I feel that intros are very important for story based mods and games. Often times they are used to set up what is “normal” as well as adding a lot of details for the player to look at when they are not engaged with any objective or combat. This detail can do a lot to connect the player to the world that they are entering by connecting them to the player characters day to day world before all the chaos starts.
Also intros can be vital to sequels as they give the developer a time and place to recap what happened in the previous episode and to set up what is going to happen in the current episode, especially if there is a time break between the two.
Like? I love them. A nice intro is a great way to add fun to a game.
Grey’s above comments sums up my feelings perfectly, well said Grey.
Well to me it doesn’t matter at least is allways done in MODS, I think doing that in MAPS is another story, altough the inconvenients on that issue is as Phillip says, that could be just bored the player, in personal i’ve seen 2 or 3 cut scenes which are sooo boring, but apart from that minimum most of akk had been cool and in some times they are perfect for great endings.
Yes.
Provided they are good and relevant. Many are poor.
2 stick out in my my mind.
Even though Strider Mountain is my all time favourite mod and the Intro was very well made indeed; it was not relevant to the mod and, especially, the game play.
The Intro” I remember with the greatest fondness is Coastline to Atmosphere.
It had everything.
Atmosphere, mood, great graphics, the music was spot on and even showed the route for most of Map 1.
Marvellous and yet to be even matched, let alone surpassed.
A good introduction sets the scene and makes the all-important first impression, so it really needs more love than simply dropping a spawnpoint into map one. The same can be said for endings, those need to be satisfying and bring about some sort of closure.
In my own case, my mod’s introduction will probably be 10-15 minutes long. I’ve been making a small map that the player explores until they wander out of bounds, what comes next is a reprise of one of Valve’s maps, set several years before Half-Life 2. The intro is kind of intended to be a quick-cut display of some of the places the player’s character has been (and no, he’s not Freeman), to give the player a vague idea of the past before he arrives in the present.
An ” intro movie” no matter how short is a nice touch and some are quite cinematic, with excellent voice acting and original scores!
The ” Intro” is that extra little polish on the gift that is the mod and can be useful in setting the scene. Even if the voice acting is a little uneven and the animations a bit shaky I still smile and appreciate the effort…
Another question for this topic would be: –
“How long is too long for an intro?”
Yes, but they don’t help set the scene, they are just so cool! 😀