Source

Alt text:

I don’t mind yellow paint as much as it is a sign of the broader issue of big games trying to be idiot-proof. If a game has yellow paint I expect it to be as easy as it can be outside of giving me literal god mode.

    • brsrklf@jlai.lu
      8·
      4 hours ago

      Mirror’s Edge’s environment itself was mostly white but used bright red highlights to guide the player if I remember correctly. So not yellow but kind of the same.

      Horizon Zero Dawn is the one that I know that does the yellow paint thing completely straight and in the most obvious way. If it’s not yellow, don’t bother going that way.

      Really it’s something any 3D game design has to face, you don’t want players to be too lost and disoriented. It’s just not fun. Lots of (well-designed) games do that by clever use of lighting and environmental clues. When it’s done right you mostly don’t realize it unless you’re looking for it, but it’s enough that you know the right way.

      But if it’s too obvious, it can be a bit jarring.

      • Grail@multiverse.soulism.netEnglish
        2·
        3 hours ago

        In Horizon it makes sense because the Nora designed all the yellow stuff to be climbable. It’s diagetic. They put yellow paint there on purpose to help you.

        • brsrklf@jlai.lu
          2·
          3 hours ago

          It works for Nora territory that’s like a quarter of the map. The paint is everywhere including places that are completely forbidden to them, and only a couple of isolated bannished people have left their land.

          And the real problem I have with it is not that it’s not explained, it’s that exploration is frankly discouraged in this game. If and only if you know you’re supposed to go somewhere, follow the trail. If there’s no trail, OR if you don’t have a quest here yet, don’t go, you’re losing your time.

    • WesternInfidels@feddit.onlineEnglish
      7·
      4 hours ago

      I don’t know about paint exactly, but

      • Control uses yellow markings, like tarps, in some places to offer some hints about which ledges the player can reach
      • Wolfenstein II uses yellow markings to indicate surfaces that can be destroyed
      • Doom (2016) uses distinctive lights (green in this case) to give the player a hint about which jumps are safe

      On one hand, I would guess the current talk is about newer games, but on the other hand, it’s not a brand-new innovation, either.