Searching for the perfect C.R.P.G.
                        By Roy Sims

During the three years I've owned a PC, I've played a number of
role playing games including both "Ultima Underworld" quests, both
"Legend" adventures, "Darklands", The "Eye of the Beholder"
series, "Lands of Lore - The Throne of Chaos" and a few more that
don't immediately spring to mind. Each and every game has had
features of merit and weak elements that ultimately mean they fail
to reach the heights my expectations had for them.

Now I'm sure that I can't be the only one who has thought
"wouldn't it be great if all the elements that I liked in all
those games could be combined into one great game?". Well, it's
one thing to say it, and something entirely different to actually
try and produce the ultimate C.R.P.G. 'wish list', but here goes
anyway...

The single most important element that a game absolutely must have
if it's to grab my attention and hold onto it, is atmosphere. This
encompasses a number of game elements, but I'm going to begin with
the graphics. If the graphics are poor (in either quality or
style) then I don't become as wrapped up in the game as I should.
Good graphics stimulate my imagination whilst poor graphics have
the reverse effect. A good (or should that be bad?) example would
be "The Legacy" by Microprose. Here is a game that uses rendered
graphics for the locations and monsters, yet it also includes some
very poor graphics in the surrounding game interface and screens
that ruined any chance of the 'spooky' atmosphere reaching me. In
contrast, "Dungeon Master" has rather simplistic graphics by
comparison but they had a quality and atmosphere all of their own.

Obviously the location of the game also dictates the graphic
style. Many people believe that dark and dingy corridors are the
only way to generate real atmosphere. I would say that "Myst" from
Broderbund is as atmospheric a game as I've seen to date, and that
is set both indoors and out. It's also the first game where the
raytraced graphics considerably enhance the atmosphere instead of
making it look false and artificial.

The second element that helps to generate that elusive atmosphere
is the sound effects and/or music. I have to state here and now
that I'm not a big fan of music in C.R.P.G.s. I much prefer to
play some music of my own choice during the quests I undertake.
(If anyone's interested, I tend to find Vangelis albums put me in
the right mood, especially "Heaven & Hell"...). Some games feature
music that changes depending on the circumstances. For example,
"Ultima Underworld" plays 'themed' music whenever you pull out a
weapon anticipating trouble ahead. Sometimes this can work, but I
nearly always turn it off in the end. Sound effects can also add a
lot to a game. With CD-ROM set to become the standard, we should
see an increase in the quality and range of sound effects in
future. However, their effectiveness on the overall feel of the
game depends on how well they are used. For sound effects to work
well, they have to remain constantly on in the background. Sparse
sound effects penetrating long periods of silence sound tacky and
again ruin the overall illusion.

The jury is out when it comes to digitised speech. I've played
games where the speech enhances the game considerably ("Lands of
Lore" CD-ROM springs to mind), and where the speech ruins the game
completely ("Beneath a Steel Sky"). It might sound obvious, but
good acting and subtle accents are essential if the speech is to
work.

The final element that helps to generate atmosphere is in the
technology employed to get the game working. For example, "Ultima
VIII" scrolls around frequently, but on a slower PC it jerks very
badly. Similarly, the "Ultima Underworld" style 3D engines are
getting more and more detailed with each new release, but this
adds stress onto the PC's processor as it attempts to keep up with
it all. However, games that use the single step approach ("Dungeon
Master", "Eye of the Beholder" etc) have no such problems. The
less I see of my PC struggling to scroll fast enough, the happier
I am. I could always buy a faster PC (and in the future I probably
will), but for now my 386 still has its uses.

Okay, that's atmosphere out of the way. Now we move onto the
actual interactive side of things, i.e. the gameplay. It's a word
that people use frequently but what does it mean to you and me?
If we're playing a role playing game, we don't want the control
system to get in the way of the role playing experience. The
control method employed depends on the game viewpoint. For
example, there are generally two viewpoints used in C.R.P.G.s -
first person ("Dungeon Master" being the Granddaddy) where you
view the action as if you are actually there, and third person
(The "Ultima" series) where you view from a remote position above
or behind the characters. I used to like the first person view,
but there have been so many over the last few years that I now
favour the third person style instead.

Naturally, this viewpoint lark isn't quite as straightforward as
it seems. Within the first person perspective there are two main
camps - 'the single step pseudo-3D' system and the 'full 360
degrees bitmapped 3D' camp. The latter first came to notice in
"Ultima Underworld" and has since been copied time and time again
by nearly every programming team on the planet. I find that whilst
it can look great at times, it's difficult to control exactly
where you move. This forces combat into a 'hit and miss' exercise
(pun intended). On the other hand (another intentional pun!), the
single-step system is neat, clean and combat is much easier to
handle. Movement around the game is also much simpler than in the
freedom of the real 360 degrees bitmapped 3D systems on offer.

Third person perspective games also have two camps. They can
either be viewed directly overhead (sometimes at a slight angle)
or be displayed at an angle of 45 degrees (referred to as being an
'isometric' view). All of the "Ultima" games up to and including
VII and its data disks featured the overhead with or without a
slight angle. On the other hand "Legend" and "Son of the Empire"
used the isometric third person view. Personally I prefer the
isometric view from a visual point of view and from a control
point of view.

As you can see, this 'wish-list' is already turning into an epic.
I haven't even touched on auto-mapping, character interaction,
general N.P.C. A.I., puzzles, combat systems, spell systems etc.
It's no wonder that I've yet to find a game that measures up to my
'perfect' system! Is the plot and setting that important? Do we
really all continually strive for originality in the plots?  I'm
quite happy to go off in search of yet another fabled crystal set
in a Tolkienesque land if the game has great graphics, appropriate
sound effects, an isometric third person viewpoint and an easy
control system. What about you? What are your favourite elements?
Do we all agree on the basics or do we all prefer something
different? Do we all want less combat hack 'n' slash and more
puzzles? There's only one way to find out...

@~Votes, please! ... Sue










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