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Terminatort850

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#1 Terminatort850
Member since 2003 • 84 Posts

Gentlemen!! I got a NEW job. 500+ applicants applied for 20 positions and "yours truly" is one of them. The salary is REAL good. I'm a Project Engineer now. I've been unemployed for 2 years before scoring a job in a small time company but jumping to THE big company just 20 days after initial "little" job.

Yahoooooooooooo

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Terminatort850

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#2 Terminatort850
Member since 2003 • 84 Posts
Wow! Thats GOOD news then. Thx ALL. No I did not punch him in the face...lol
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Terminatort850

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#3 Terminatort850
Member since 2003 • 84 Posts

English is not my native language, please explain this statement for me. I had a job interview today. In the end, he told me to expect a call in 1 week followed by this statement

"I'm not going to keep you off the hook" OR "I'm not going to let you off the hook"

Please, give me little explanation about what he meant with examples.

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Terminatort850

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#4 Terminatort850
Member since 2003 • 84 Posts
The problem with the internet forums is that it has majority of fanboys, lovers and haters. The Longest Journey, Dreamfall, Syberia are best stories in video games but they werent played by many. I only included the games which were played by most player worldwide. & Plzz stop loving hating Halo. U people should thank Bungie for Halo, Valve for Half-Life. Why do u people make competitions? Too many gr8 games = We win. Its good for us.
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#5 Terminatort850
Member since 2003 • 84 Posts
StoryTELLING in Video Games
by Terminatort850

A story in a book makes a reader envision the world in his/her mind and it is unraveled with the help of written words.
A story in movie actually doesn't require the audience to envision the world into his/her mind but instead shows everything literally & as the movie progresses; it entertains the audience with the help of a screen that shows the world, characters, story, and even fantastical special effects to actually make the audience believe everything to be real.
A story in a video game is actually PLAYED at the hands of the player. He/she is actively immersed in the world of the video game. The player usually controls a player character that is actually a part of the story and the story is presented to the player as he/she is actually IN the game, which is the target of the developers.

BUT HOW DO THE DEVELOPERS ACTUALLY CONVEY THE STORY?
Can they do it effectively, convincingly while leaving a mark on the player's mind so that he/she remembers the story for years to come?
Let's see how different games PRESENT the story.

HALO Trilogy
There is no denying that Halo trilogy conveys one of the best sci-fi stories ever created in any medium. Many even consider it better than Star Wars saga. Now each Halo game has such a dense story that they actually make the player feel that they have covered a lot of ground at the end of each game. Halo 1 presents a great beginning to everything and at its end; it feels like it has an end. Halo 2 has a grand story and has every bit as dense story except for its cliffhanger ending. Finally Halo 3 really winds up the story and doesn't seem rushed and does a real good job at feeling like a final chapter unlike what The Matrix Revolutions did. The only problem with the presentation of the story in Halo games is that they assume that the player know a bit about back story. Many people couldn't make sense of Halo 3 at times. The ending celebration cinematic could have been more epic. Overall, the story is simply epic.

HALF-LIFE Series
It's been 9 years since Half-Life and STILL nobody knows much about G-Man, Gordon Freeman himself etc. Half-Life 2 introduced Combine of which Freeman had no idea. Episode One had no story virtually. Episode Two is the real long wanted story teller game in Half-Life universe. Still, where Half-Life games answer 1 question, they raise 100 others. They are still in the process of introducing everything. Episode Two took a series a little forward. Episode Three is definitely going to be something. Still, Half-Life is going to end anytime soon but they take so much time making it.

MASS EFFECT
Another epic, gorgeous world created by BioWare; the masters of storytelling. Mass effect presents the story beautifully and goes easy on the player. Anybody won't have any problem getting along with the story of this epic scale that rivals Halo, Star Wars. This is the way a story is told in a video game.

ASSASSIN'S CREED
The middle-east setting has a lot of promise but hasn't been used by game developers except for war game developers who only consider this part of the world to be warmongering. The Prince of Persia developers set the game in a beautiful era that has a holy feel to it. The Templar vs. Assassins story is ultra cool both in present day and 1191 AD timeline of Altair. The 2012 (present) time story is interesting but that part is too minor in the game. This part of the story wasn't exposed much. Still, there are 2 more games to come. It's no doubt got a promising premise.

PORTAL
Though this game was gameplay centric rather than story but it turned out to be one of the funniest games of all time. Featuring only THREE characters i.e. Chell, GLaDOS & Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube, this game has minimal story. But all the cake stuff and GLaDOS' bluffing really were strong points of that minimal story. This proves that small bits of story can also make a big impact. It will be a shame if there isn't more of it.

BIOSHOCK
Nobody ever created a world like Rapture before. Though the ending doesn't leave a room for sequel or prequel, still something is in development. BioShock presents one of the more nerve wracking stories ever. The moment the player knows about the truth behind the phrase, "Would you kindly?" the world kind of turns upside down. The ending cinematic was way too short.

GEARS OF WAR
Again this is the case of not so fleshed out story. Gears of Wars paid attention to everything including gameplay, graphics, sound, characters, dialogue, architecture but the story wasn't explored much. The Locust Queen's lines were some real strong lines. Let's hope to get more stories in the inevitable sequel.

THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK
Escape from Butcher Bay is a proof that a video game based on the movie of the same franchise can be far better than movies. The Chronicles of Riddick universe suits more to the video game medium than movies.

MAFIA
Mafia was released around the same time as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. It had everything that could make it better than a GTA game. A great story, city of Lost Heaven, music, gameplay compliments the then superior graphics. Thankfully, a sequel is coming.

GRAND THEFT AUTO
The best there was and the best there ever will be in this gansta franchise. Simply put, each game in the series has great story and believable characters.

CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE
People can't remember any character from Call of Duty & Call of Duty 2 except for the big moustache guy Capt. Price. He returns in COD 4 with other memorable characters Soap, Gaz, Imran Zakhaev, Khaled Al Assad. This is how a story is told in military themed shooter. Tom Clancy's games Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six and Splinter Cell never had a strong story and they need to learn. On the other hand Medal of Honor is now just a cash cow.

RESIDENT EVIL 4
It was a revival of a fading series. It employed an over the shoulder shooting mechanic that inspired many other shooters. But along with everything, the European village, the bosses, Leon, Ada Wong, Luis Sera, Las Plagas really presented a compelling which actually immersed the player into the world.

MAX PAYNE
Graphic novels were used instead of the usual cutscenes in Max Payne games that required real actors to pose. It had strong story and memorable characters. The cryptic nature of graphic novel really sucked the player into the film noir story.

Some games have great stories but aren't very effective in telling them. Some games succeed easily. But one thing is sure, people who never played a story driven video game are missing a big experience of life.