1315
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 23 points 11 hours ago

If you think that's impressive, Jeremy Brett did that on his own!

Brett was approached in February 1982 by Granada Television to play Holmes. The idea was to make a totally authentic and faithful adaptation of the character's best cases. Eventually Brett accepted the role; he wanted to be the best Sherlock Holmes the world had ever seen.[37] He conducted extensive research on the great detective and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself, and was very attentive to discrepancies between the scripts he had been given and Conan Doyle's original stories.[38] One of Brett's dearest possessions on the set was his 77-page "Baker Street File" on everything from Holmes' mannerisms to his eating and drinking habits. Brett once explained that "some actors are becomers—they try to become their characters. When it works, the actor is like a sponge, squeezing himself dry to remove his own personality, then absorbing the character's like a liquid".[39] Brett was focused on bringing more passion to the role of Holmes. He introduced Holmes's rather eccentric hand gestures and short violent laughter. He would hurl himself on the ground just to look for a footprint, "he would leap over the furniture or jump onto the parapet of a bridge with no regard for his personal safety."[40]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Brett#Sherlock_Holmes

[-] ProtonBadger@lemmy.ca 3 points 46 minutes ago

Yes, Jeremy Brett was the best Holmes ever, his personal issues and depression augmented the role and he sunk so deeply into it that he sometimes referred to Sherlock the character as a real person.

Other portrayals shows healthy detectives full of vitality and charm but Jeremy Brett understood the brilliant but self abusive sometimes obsessive character with many layers to his complicted personality.

[-] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 32 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

They went to the trouble and presumably significant expense to hire Patrick Stewart to play a character who doesn't live past the tutorial?

[-] rumba@lemmy.zip 11 points 7 hours ago

The cost to have him work longer than the tutorial would probably have been even more significant :)

[-] bstix@feddit.dk 17 points 10 hours ago

Makes sense to spend most money on the tutorial. All players see the tutorial. Fewer players see the side quest characters or final boss.

[-] NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 26 points 13 hours ago

Yup. But by the gods, does it set the tone.

Let me see your face... You are the one from my dreams... Then the stars were right, and this is the day. Gods give me strength!

[-] HawlSera@lemm.ee 10 points 16 hours ago

The things that happen when you don't have the Skyrim and Fallout money yet.

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 48 points 23 hours ago

Actually kind of the funniest thing to me about the VA talent for Oblivion is that they got Patrick Stewart and Sean Bean, but they have the least lines of dialogue to any other MQ character in the game.

[-] TheLowestStone@lemmy.world 39 points 23 hours ago

I bet that's partially because they were expensive.

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 27 points 22 hours ago

No doubt. That's also why they continue to have the same 5 in-house VAs. That's the only good thing I can actually say about Starfield: the dude who voices the ~~Annoying~~ Adoring Fan really hammed it up for this one compared to the same character in Oblivion.

load more comments (6 replies)
[-] alaphic@lemmy.world 55 points 1 day ago

Now, play Starfield and try to wrap your head around the fact that both of these titles were made by the same company.

[-] samus12345@lemm.ee 34 points 23 hours ago
[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 28 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

I can't even put my finger on the difference. Like... They play the same. They feel the same, mechanically and performatively. And yet Starfield is boring; I have no desire to ever install it again. But I still play Skyrim and Fallout 4/New Vegas. They haven't exactly improved in what they offer, and I don't really go crazy with mods so it's not like rose tinted glasses due to being able to change the game.

The lack of environmental storytelling, the lack of emergent gameplay due to the empty worlds, the overall tone of the story where most of the world building is history and politics given to you in dry, long-winded speeches, the feeling that every single sci-fi reference is as vanilla as you can get like it was written by someone who has never actually read/watched anything in the genre they just have secondhand knowledge of it from hearing others talk about it... It all adds up to something very different from everything else they've ever done while still being in the same janky package.

It's actually kind of remarkable, in a not good way. How the hell does this supposedly project of passion have absolutely no feeling to it?

[-] untorquer@lemmy.world 9 points 17 hours ago

Each successive TES game has relied more on procedural content, levelled lists, and repeated content(radiant).

These serve to reduce workload for Bethesda, they can make a larger game with less resources/staff, but removes artists further from the specific details in the world.

The parts of the world you enjoy are the one made by the creative process, the ones you don't come to expect, and the ones with thoughtful narrative. That's where the challenge, fun, and the humor in games comes from.

Procedural content specifically lacks this. The artist's touch only able to affect the architecture of the algorithm. It's good for stitching elements between the parts touched by the artist to create seemless transitions. But when used as a replacement for hand placing detail, it removes the creative process, thereby killing the source of enjoyment.

Leveled lists are a big annoyance because they remove danger from the world. Skyrim did have some notable exceptions: giants, a couple odd caster npc's, the frost troll on the way to the greybeards, etc... But then you get issues like normal creatures being more dangerous than fucking dragons, which are supposedly uber powerful(?).

Radiant quests waste time for negligible reward. They're bad, uncreative practice imo.

[-] Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.org 5 points 11 hours ago

Each successive TES game has relied more on procedural content,

You haven't played a TES game before Morrowind, have you? :D

[-] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 1 points 7 hours ago

Who has besides the olds?

[-] untorquer@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

Haha no daggerfall for me.

[-] qarbone@lemmy.world 27 points 1 day ago

It's been decades between them. I choose to believe none of the devs and designers (and the synergy they had) that made the games I love still work there.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] smokinliver@sopuli.xyz 193 points 1 day ago

I mean the tutorial can be seen as the most important part of the game cause if it socks nobody is gonna play the rest

[-] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 144 points 1 day ago

Hence, they brought in Patrick Stewart.

It's also ostensibly the root of the main plot, hence his character should leave an impression.

[-] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 92 points 1 day ago

Oblivion's start was so much more memorable than Skyrim's. Getting taught the basics by escaping prison and then immediately being served the full open world after that was magnificent.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 46 points 1 day ago

The best start is in Morrowind, where you're released from prison and fill out paperwork!

[-] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 16 points 23 hours ago

Followed by "Go to Balmora and visit someone. Balmora is north of us."

[-] grue@lemmy.world 14 points 23 hours ago

That's one of the best things about Morrowind vs. the later games (and I'm not even joking this time). It makes you explore the world, not just warp to quest objectives. It has fast travel, but it makes you earn it and think about how to use it effectively.

[-] Zagorath@aussie.zone 3 points 17 hours ago

This video about Morrowind fast travel and this one about mini-maps are both so good and I wish all open-world game designers would take heed.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago

Okay, now I've watched the second video. That's a good one, too!

My main takeaway is that I'm a big fan of "diegetic navigation" and have now learned the name for that concept, which is cool.

I also not only agree with the author that (non-diegetic) UI elements like minimaps and quest objective markers should be off by default, I would maybe even go further and say they should be considered "player assists" in the same way as things like auto-aim, and enabling them should count as turning down the difficulty. Hopefully, that would solve the problem of the game developer using them as a crutch/substitute for immersive quest navigation instructions.

I think a (UI, not diegetic) compass that just points north (i.e. without having quest markers on it) is a special case, though, because it could be given an in-game justification and turned into a gameplay element. For example, maybe if you choose to play as a bird-person you get a compass as a racial perk to represent your ability to sense magnetic fields. Or maybe the game's magic system has a spell to augment the character's sense of direction temporarily, or something like that.

[-] Zagorath@aussie.zone 1 points 5 hours ago

Or you could just have an actual compass. Either as an item in the game or as something the game sorta just assumed you have (like how it typically assumes you have underwear). People have been using compasses IRL for thousands of years. No reason a mediaeval fantasy game couldn't do the same.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

Or you could just have an actual compass.... as an item in the game

That's the "diegetic" option. I'm cool with having any sort of navigation (up to and including a GPS with objective markers and turn-by-turn navigation, for a game like Grand Theft Auto) if it's diegetic.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 3 points 11 hours ago

I've watched that first video (haven't had time for the second yet), and I agree, it's great!

I do kinda wish it had mentioned how you can

spoilerearn access to the propylon network
though, although I suppose

spoilerthe propylon network isn't as useful as the other forms of transit because it doesn't connect to any of them. If only Abelle Chriditte could've been convinced to be a Mages Guild Guide (only after you reached her by other means, so as not to be too easy)...

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Soup@lemmy.world 47 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

As opposed to Skyrim where you learn the basics by escaping a fucking dragon, guards(because you’re a prisoner), and a creature as well(I think it’s a bear?). And then immediately served the full open world.

Buddy, like what you like and all but Skyrim’s tutorial sequence is at least the same and arguably better.

[-] Ephera@lemmy.ml 39 points 1 day ago

I definitely see your point, and I had to think about why I found the Skyrim tutorial so much less memorable. And I think, to me, it's that it's the tutorial, so you just know that the dragon isn't going to kill you. Similarly, you know that the prison guards and assassins in Oblivion won't kill you, but you don't know that about the emperor. And unlike the dudes that ride with you on the carriage during the opening scene of Skyrim, I've got at least the faintest connection to Oblivion's emperor dude. Like, I really couldn't have cared less when it was said that Ulfrik, the rebel leader, was on the carriage, too. I don't know anything about the rebellion, so if the guy would've been executed right then and there, I just couldn't have cared.

[-] Zagorath@aussie.zone 5 points 17 hours ago

it’s the tutorial, so you just know that the dragon isn’t going to kill you

The first time I played it, I definitely didn't know this. I mean, I knew it wouldn't kill me, but I didn't know it couldn't. I assumed that if I didn't actually hurry, it would get me.

But I agree re Ulfric. The game sets you up to make this important-seeming early decision about Imperial vs Stormcloak, but it doesn't give you any of the tools needed to engage with that story that early. Heck, I'm sure I can't be the only one who, because I was hurrying away from the dragon, didn't even realise you can enter the building with a Stormcloak escapee or with an Imperial, and just went with whichever I happened to notice first.

[-] ComicalMayhem@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago

You put to words how I felt about it. I couldn't have given less a shit about these people, I don't know them nor their troubles and dilemmas about their country.

"Choose who you're gonna side with!" brother I know nothing about either of your organizations, me going with you isn't me siding with your whole organization, I just want to get the fuck out of here.

[-] CritFail@lemmy.world 9 points 22 hours ago

I remember my first playthrough similarly - I joined the Stormcloaks thinking the rebels are usually the good guy underdogs... that was before they started spouting their racist ayrean views, lost all sympathy for the cause at that point and made that storyline less enjoyable.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
load more comments (31 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Rusty@lemmy.ca 5 points 17 hours ago

I don't get it. Is 90 pages supposed to be a lot of text for a professional actor?

[-] Zagorath@aussie.zone 30 points 17 hours ago

90 pages of backstory? Entirely aside from the actual script containing the dialogue he has to read?

I don't know whether that's a lot—not having conversed with any professional actors—but I strongly suspect the answer is yes.

[-] madcaesar@lemmy.world 6 points 11 hours ago

This is the internet. Simply proclaim you are an actor and confidently answer yes!

[-] drolex@sopuli.xyz 6 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

Hello, I am Paul Newman, the famous actor.

stares into the camera

90 pages of backstop is significant, yes. When I got the role of Theodore in Alvin and the Chipmunks, I was bitterly disappointed by the lack of depth of the character. Almost no backstory was given to me.

more staring

On the other hand, my rendition of Dig'em the frog for Smacks was greatly improved by the 400 hundred pages lore of the character. I became the frog.

intense staring

[-] samus12345@lemm.ee 69 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

This brought to mind the Mr. Plinkett TNG mistakes video. Many times the mark on the floor indicating where the actors should stand is visible in the HD remasters, and at one point he said something along the lines of "Patrick Stewart's a consummate professional, always hits his mark."

load more comments (5 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2025
1315 points (99.6% liked)

Curated Tumblr

4086 readers
648 users here now

For preserving the least toxic and most culturally relevant Tumblr heritage posts.

Image descriptions and plain text captions of written content are expected of all screenshots. Here are some image text extractors (I looked these up quick and will gladly take FOSS recommendations):

-web

-iOS

-android

Please begin copied raw text posts (lacking a screenshot that makes it apparent it is from Tumblr) with:

# This has been reposted here to Lemmy as part of the "Curated Tumblr Project."

I made the icon using multiple creative commons svg resources, the banner is this.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS