Lunchtime Discussion: Scenery

Have you ever tried to glitch out of a map to see what the scenery is like? Were you disappointed as you hit a 2D wall with some trees on it? If the game looks good enough, we shouldn’t be paying too much attention to the scenery behind the game environments, but if you were to catch a glimpse of it, and then realise it’s ugly, would this affect your view on the game?

Sometimes the 2D scenery over in the hills beyond the gameplay area can actually look quite good, with it giving the effect of a 3D object being there. Sometimes it can look like someone’s taken an in-game object, flattened it and stuck it to a wall.

Since modern games are allowing for more exploration and camera control than ever, we’re more likely to notice this scenery. This can be good, if it’s done right, as we’ll end up noticing the detail the developers have put in their game. As you play through God of War 3, you’ll notice the dynamic scenery with Titans clambering up Mount Olympus, but does this add to the gameplay experience? Does seeing other battles happening outside of the map, in an online shooter for example, add to the experience and make it feel like an actual war, or does it just distract you from the game area?

Some games just use mountains and cliffs at the edge of game areas to get a quick way around this, but this can become boring and repetitive. Would this make the environment feel less like a real, living word? All games have to have an edge of a map, so would you rather they put this to use and made an interesting piece of scenery behind this, or would you just prefer them to get the game area to look as good as possible?