my most player-hating video game opinion is that cut content isn't full of secret mysteries and people are killing the conversation by insisting that data-mining is a good way to approach a narrative. when you're baking a cake, licking the batter off the spoon is a real pleasure, but it ain't cake. - ThreadSky

iamdavidbrothers.com • 6 days ago

my most player-hating video game opinion is that cut content isn't full of secret mysteries and people are killing the conversation by insisting that data-mining is a good way to approach a narrative.
when you're baking a cake, licking the batter off the spoon is a real pleasure, but it ain't cake.

Comments

thatguywasfly.bsky.social•6 days ago

The Baldur’s Gate 3 players who are obsessed with either “there should have been less - the early access version was better!” or “there should have been more - it’s unfinished!” drive me up the wall. Like, I think this cake is agreed to have turned out pretty okay, guys?

kelslewin.bsky.social•6 days ago

similarly, prototypes and early builds are not the “true vision” of a game and are not inherently more interesting than the finished product

unkienic.bsky.social•6 days ago

100%, but there are the few odds and ends that are interesting. The cut last act from Phantom Pain seems like it would have really helped that game.

theozilla.bsky.social•6 days ago

I think that’s more just an issue if a game is contemporary though. Data-mining for older games can sometimes huge wealths of insight on the development process. It’s almost like doing archaeology for video games, or fans creating their own behind-the-scenes special features https://youtu.be/EX3Tl7NY8kg?si=MGykxdXvDvxB1oJW

iamdavidbrothers.com•6 days ago

Yeah, I think there's definitely something to the historical aspect. Someone could probably make eighty hours worth of interesting stuff about Xenogears alone. But there are some times it feels like we zoom past what's there in favor of what was left out. Which is a contemporary thing, you're right.

axamoretl.bsky.social•6 days ago

-grabs leftover strips of fondant off the floor and jams it into my mouth- THIS IS THE EXPERIENCE WE WERE MISSING OUT ON

wishda.bsky.social•6 days ago

It’s like how a DVD will have special features where the director explains that a scene was cut because it didn’t work and they went another direction.

And then someone comes out years later, edits it back in, and proves the director right.

iamdavidbrothers.com•6 days ago

every single patch and DLC getting instantly data-mined and debated is sooooo tedious. arguing over some microsoft excel file instead of the beautiful game right in front of us.
it kills the mystique when you know someone's gonna figure everything out from the demo/beta onward.

soupness.bsky.social•6 days ago

Agreed.

iamdavidbrothers.com•6 days ago

if video games are gonna be art, then you gotta let sketchbooks be sketchbooks, so to speak. the work is the work, and the cuttings are sometimes very interesting but not the work. the data-mining thing feels like pretension to authority. I see why an air of objectivity appeals, but it's not real

sarcasmorator.bsky.social•6 days ago

If it's a vestige, a decision was made to not include it!

monoxide.bsky.social•6 days ago

You’re not wrong but there is something about the really rushed and bad way many games are made because of higher ups/deadlines/funding that I think makes this really easy to think. When you have any evidence the creator WANTED it to exist it can make it hard not to wonder what could’ve been

lukeplunkett.com•6 days ago

"leaked concept art shows character was originally something" no my guy, they had an idea and changed it, if you think you're gonna have steak for dinner but end up making pizza, your pizza wasn't originally a steak"

soupness.bsky.social•6 days ago

It's literally called concept art.
Some people...

kobayashimaruu.bsky.social•6 days ago

concepts are cool and I ADORE concept art but it ain't the real deal lol. just a step on the way to the finished thing. it shows the thought process sure, but still... concept lmao.

wantonviolins.bsky.social•6 days ago

I really enjoy all of that stuff, but from more of an instructive standpoint. They prototyped X but ended up shipping Y, they had ideas A, B, and C but went with D, E, and F, the themes and concepts they were exploring changed as the development continued yet some lingering threads remain.

wantonviolins.bsky.social•6 days ago

This helps me think about the process of creating, of making something of enormous commitment and complexity, and how others approach the problems inherent with that kind of work. What worked for them in that moment? What didn't? What was going through their head as they made these decisions?

franzferdinand2.bsky.social•6 days ago

Right. It's cool when you see an original script to see how things changed, or a deleted scene that might have changed some stuff, but for whatever reasons the creators decided they weren't doing that.

franzferdinand2.bsky.social•6 days ago

I remember Phonte talking about this stuff after Prince died and people were talking about getting stuff from the vault. How as an artist, he's made tons of stuff that he's never releasing because he doesn't think it's very good and doesn't want people to hear it.

gmstrangestars.bsky.social•6 days ago

There's a particular series that gets a lot of this, and it always makes me bristle. People will insist all the earliest and grandest plans, the failed tech experiments, the swathes of cut content, and the outright dropped features still count as something the games have. It's very frustrating.

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply