NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

[Noz]

There needs to be an open world with villages, different biomes, and races to talk to and fight throughout the world. From each village or random person you encounter you will receive quests that could include fighting, retrieving, racing, or assassinating.

Definitely:The devs shouldn't get to work on broom and dustpan assets immediately.

You probably should base your expectations on what the devs have said. Or maybe you could just play some of the very first alphas to find out that making OG open world would be ridiculous. The level of detail in each level couldn't possibly translate to an open world game, even a very seamy one. Plus, making OG open world is like making a theme park where you're required to complete a jigsaw puzzle each time you enter a line. Both would completely ruin the enjoyment of experiencing a precisely engineered system designed to do one thing very well. The whole linchpin of this game is the combat mechanics. A linear, level based system is the only one that perfectly accents the quick and decisive combat.

Why does everyone want Overgrowth to be stitched together from dismembered Syrim and Minecraft body parts and given consciousness with the brain of Assassin's Creed? In the end, it just throws your nephew down a well and makes you design an equally abominable wife for it. Nobody wins.

[Noz]

:removed:

[syamada37]

I do get that this would take a TON of work on the game, and I am not disagreeing with a linear story, but i just don't want to see OG in a bad state. I'm just saying that if OG's story will be linear, there should be a different story for each character, and if Wolfire works super hard, they might be able to get a SMALL open world terrain map with a few villages and NPC's thrown in there.
THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
THX A TON WOLFIRE COMMUNITY!!!

[zzwerty]

This open-world love is starting to kind of get on my nerves. I have a friend who won't play the classic thief series, which contains what in my opinion is the best game ever made, BECAUSE IT ISN'T OPEN WORLD. What the hell?

[Glabbit]

Agreed, zzwerty - Open world isn't the gamemaker by a long shot.
I do love freedom and exploration, but the games I remember as the best from my childhood (Rune, for instance) were certainly not open world. I haven't played the Thief series, but still intend to someday.

Linearity might be inhibiting in the terms of choice, but it also gives a clear line to follow and is usually closely incorporated with a coherent storyline.
In 'open-world', free-range and exploration games such as Assassin's Creed, Legend of Zelda: OoT, and Castlevania it gets really easy to lose the thread of what was going on and why you were doing what you're doing.

I have yet to see a flawless alloy of those aspects, but something tells me OG will take a good step in the right direction.

[Korban3]

I think you absolutely CAN look at shadow of the colossus for inspiration for Overgrowth. I like minimalistic storytelling, don't see any point in excessive dialogue. Especially since we're dealing with rather primitive cultures here, I'd prefer a style of storytelling that needs as little dialogue as possible and focuses on emotions and graphical immersion.

Consider for example a situation where Turner spots a camp of wolves in a mission, it would be a very bad idea to bring up a sign where Turner thinks "Oh, that must be the wolves who kidnapped x, looks like that guy with the silvery mane is the leader blah blah blah". Much better to just have him watch the camp in silence and let the player do the thinking.

In fact, I believe you could make a great and complex story with almost no dialogue.

^
Shadow of the Colossus told much more story, for me, than Lugaru did. Not a fair comparison, of course, but still. Minimalism really does just work a ton better for me like that.
And yeah, the ending of SotC does tie the story down quite a bit.

[TheWayOfTheCarrot]

I don't think it matters to be honest... I mean....

[Warior135]

This guy... lolwut.

[Cat_Fuzz]

I wouldn't be so happy pre-ordering this if it turns out to be Lugaru with a few new items and a better engine/graphics. It would be kinda disappointing to end-up with a game that had this great combat system, the ability for customization of units and maps, and just boxed it all into levels which loaded up and you played for about 2 minutes at a time.

I'm also NOT up for an open-world game. Minecraft and SOTC pulled this off because their games were designed with this in mind, and I agree that Overgrowths quick and fast play style wouldn't fit well with a huge open-world game. Even if these environments were to be littered with objects etc. I imagine that since no formal campaign level design has begun in earnest, that would be another x years of development and that wouldn't be fun.

MY ideal scenario would be a combination of both - EXACTLY how Jak and Daxter did it. The game was based on an island - much like Overgrowth, and it was mainly level-based, which Lugaru's game style would suit, however it also had seemless loading screens and connecting areas to travel, which helped you feel immersed within the environment, kept the structure of the game together whilst still giving the player a sense of freedom to explore without having to keep jumping in and out of maps all the time from a menu screen.

I feel that if Wolfire implemented this style of map design, and actually built a seamless world where levels inter-connected with each other, it would put to bed this open-world debate and everyone would be happy...

TL;DR : No linear levels, no open-world - make it a mixture of the two Jak and Daxter style.

[Advance123]

Since when did "linear" gain connotations of "bad" or "not fun"?

[Stuntddude]

Since when did "linear" gain connotations of "bad" or "not fun"?

Indeed. Every game I've played/seen that was open-world has quickly devolved into "do whatever I want just because." That's a lot of fun in many cases, but you don't end up taking the story seriously.

All of the art and assets that have been made for the game so far (I'm looking at you, OG comic) set the game up for a genuine, emotionally moving storyline, and the best way to tell such a story is to make it linear.

As for what others have mentioned about dialogue, etc., I wouldn't be surprised if you could pull off a storyline for Overgrowth with NO dialogue. Good scenery can tell an equally deep and much more personal story than any menu-based chat sessions with NPCs ever have. You need only look at some of the custom levels to see how well it could be implemented. Better to be the character and experience the world than to talk about it, I say.

[Cat_Fuzz]

Since when did "linear" gain connotations of "bad" or "not fun"?

Indeed. Every game I've played/seen that was open-world has quickly devolved into "do whatever I want just because." That's a lot of fun in many cases, but you don't end up taking the story seriously.

All of the art and assets that have been made for the game so far (I'm looking at you, OG comic) set the game up for a genuine, emotionally moving storyline, and the best way to tell such a story is to make it linear.

As for what others have mentioned about dialogue, etc., I wouldn't be surprised if you could pull off a storyline for Overgrowth with NO dialogue. Good scenery can tell an equally deep and much more personal story than any menu-based chat sessions with NPCs ever have. You need only look at some of the custom levels to see how well it could be implemented. Better to be the character and experience the world than to talk about it, I say.

I think those who feel linear games are "bad" are those who want to put a personal touch into their games - they want to be the hero themselves as it were, not just guide someone else along their story. Personally, I love linear games, but the story has to be just right and that's a difficulty in itself, let alone building a game around one.

Personally, I don't want an open-world RPGMMO something or other as it would be boring to have to trek everywhere - that's not what this game is. But on the other hand, I wouldn't want to be funneled into a corridor or have to make decisions that I wouldn't make myself. I guess I'm kinda hoping for a more branching narrative that isn't the plot of Ong-Bak/Elephant Warrior/another generic kung-fu revenge story. I want there to be choices.

So I think to answer that question, I think people want an open-world game because they want to be in charge of the story and being able to "go anywhere, do anything" and immerse themselves in the world, rather than be told what it is would achieve that. So I guess for some, they feel comfortable that an MMO Open world RPG explorer thing would make this happen.

But as I said above, I think if they can get it to be like Jak and Daxter - both linear in terms of story and where to go, but keep it seamless, and not have to keep ducking in and out of "level select" sections then I'd feel that you'd get the best of both worlds.

[Constance]

I agree; I would be in love with Overgrowth even further if it had a world exploration like Jak & Dexter.

[Tanya Sapien]

I give a resounding "third" on the Jak & Daxter concept.

Maybe mission or goal based linear progression worlds connected to a hub would work. And perhaps this hub would open up to become bigger or other hubs would become available as the game progresses. This has worked marvelously for like...every Nintendo game ever made.

Assassin's creed did it, all three Banjo & Kazooie games did it, as did Conker's Bad Fur Day. Fable could be said to have hubs to a degree. And Borderlands 1 and 2 both have free roam, but the linear progression within said worlds created by map sculpting and one-way obstacles as well as respawning enemies and dynamic landscaping manages to maintain a nice healthy level of active combat. I think linear environments scattered within a segmented free roam world would be a nice healthy balance between the two.

Here's the cake, now who wants to eat it?

[atomtengeralattjaro]

I don't know what Jak&Daxter is, but I like where this is going.

I think it's possible to have a not-too-linear storyline, with some level of choice, even if there are no free-roam parts at all.

I'd just hate to feel that everything around me is scripted, and the only choice I have is to continue trying to beat some big-ass wolf or give up and go to sleep.

The level of freedom to give to the player is a very delicate balance.