   Using real mood and emotion for gameplay
  Have you ever been in a gameplay situation where you've accumulated intense emotion of one kind or another, and wished your character would act more toward that end?When you're extremely angry, you may want your character to display that anger in the game world. Crying out with rage as he slashes his sword through the onslaught. Or if you're feeling playful, you may want your character to taunt his enemies and "whoop" during special moves, not unlike Spiderman.I was wondering if there's any room for this type of system, and how worthy it would be. My two examples pertain to combat, but moods could effect any part of the game that's desired.There are a few shady areas that I'm still considering. Would the best system allow selecting any mood at any time without any restraint? Should moods effect only the attitude and style of the character's actions, or should they also have small effects on abilities and skills, such as extreme rage reducing defensive abilities while increasing strength and agility? Should moods effect dialog?The worst part about the feature would have to be the annoyance of having to select moods from a menu or interface command, which would make it feel very mechanical. If there were some way to indicate real player emotion by playing the game a certain way, that would definitely be ideal.Any thoughts?   
  With a story-based RPG it might be out of place as it may go against the character. Games that allow for free-roaming such as The Elder Scrolls could have such a system where you can select a general mood or press a key for a mood.I don't know if I would use it personally but it is a nice idea.   ;Quote:Original post by ShlaklavaWith a story-based RPG it might be out of place as it may go against the character.The player's mood should change the way the character interacts with the story, shouldn't it?   ;  Some games have the ability to "emote" certain things but it has no effect on the game.  It is really either a "gee, that's neat" feature or it could be (but rarely is) used in multiplayer.I believe what the OP is hoping for is AI generated based on the situation and/or an accumulation of emotion over time.   ;  One of the most fun elements of the system would be having AI that can react to what the player character is doing. For the examples, a playful character could anger the AI, causing them to be more aggressive but more error prone. The raging player character could drive some fear into them, restraining their attack.One possible downfall of this feature would be that the player ends up using emotion more as a tool for victory than to represent emotion. But I'm not even sure that's necessarily a bad thing.   ;  This happened to me in the game Phoenix Wright. Either I was so in tune or the dialog was so perceptive, but I was grilling a suspect on the stand, trying to find the contradiction in what they were saying.  I finally did it and the character on the stand visably crumbled, and I shouted "YES" and lifted my fist into the air.  I then clicked for the dialogue to continue, and Phoenix shouted "YES" as well, and something along the lines of "Man that felt good".  I kind of did a "what the f, that was cool".  It happened a few other times as well, that what I was thinking was pretty much exactly what Phoenix thought or said.Of course the game wasnt reading my mind (I hope), theyve just been really perceptive with the dialogue.  They've almost made Phoenix as the player and said what would they think about this, how would they feel about that, or even how do we want the player to feel and made Phoenix act accordingly.Another thing in the game is the characterisation, never in a game before have I really hated a character like I have in it.  Its the little ticks and gestures they have, and the condescending and arrogant ways they speak.  Its also the stonewalling, of them dismissing a gameplay method you recently relied on.Anyway to stop advertising what is really a great game by the way. I'm not certain having emotions effect the characters output and be changeable, would be a good idea, it may be another element you have to tweak to power the character.  Also it may be a bit weird, emotions are generally hard to manipulate, having characters that can change at will, may be jarring and off putting for players, not to mention how complex it could get with moods affecting everything.Dialogues you could have happy, sad or angry responses although if you have set up the situations well enough then a sad or other choice may seem strange.  One question would be is the player playing a character or are they playing themselves?   ;  This seems quite interesting but the option of the User having to manually select the kind of mood he/she is in will just lead to abuse. For eg - If a player recieves some strenth bonus during one mood which is really benefitial one would just continue to use that, something like a skill which is free.The other option I can think of is having a camera record the person's face continously and then accordingly set the mood of the player ( This may be possible in the future but currently I think only Nintendo can do it with their consoles. ) But then again human emotion is not always only expresed by only the face and this system could also lead to abuse. But I think it would be fun nevertheless. Affecting the dialogue according to the mood might be simple enough IF one can state all the possible moods a player can have which is again something that is not currently possible. One may be angry yet be calm, happy yet sad... But otherwise leaving the constraints aside it seems like quite a nice Idea. Something I would atleast enjoy (If and only If it could be implemented properly)   ;  I agree that selecting from a menu would be a terrible method to use. I'm open to ideas for better ways to indicate the moods.Quote:Original post by CalabiOne question would be is the player playing a character or are they playing themselves?For my game, I would say the player is role playing a reincarnation. Same mind in another world. It's ultimately up to the player to play the role however they want, but the player character is just a shell for the player to ghost - not one that comes pre-equipped with a personality.   ;  I once brainstormed on an idea for a game that took place inside the main characters dreams.  Managing your characters mood was part of the the gameplay: if they got angry the world would become darker and more difficult.  If they became happy the world would become colorful and safe.  Sad, and the world becomes a gloomy and lonely place.Not sure how much on topic that is, but just thought I throw it out there. [looksaround]   ;Quote:Original post by KestHave you ever been in a gameplay situation where you've accumulated intense emotion of one kind or another, and wished your character would act more toward that end?...Any thoughts?Yeah, ask Sony about their "Emotion Engine"./me snickersIn all seriousness, there is some merit to this.  However, there are some problems that I see with it.  If there is any benefit to your mood in the gameplay, then players will exploit it.  What I mean is, if you switch to angry while fighting, and it causes extra damage or unlocks better moves, players will choose it all the time, regardless of whether or not their true mood reflects this.  So, the question then comes in to play: "What's the point?"  What's the point of programming this feature in if its not actually going to effect the gameplay somehow?  And, what's the point of having it effect gameplay if its just going to be exploited and used in a way that you did not intend.  My guess is that you plan on using this to increase immersion, but if they are exploiting it, it will do the opposite.It would probably make more sense to have a meter that they then have to watch and adjust their play accordingly.  If there was a specific way to make your player more angry, then instead of having them click a mood switch, they would adjust their play style to try and force the mood where it would be most beneficial to them.  In this regard, its been done before, but not with the label of "mood."  Other games let you unlock things with combos and multipliers.  This would essentially be the same thing, with a different name and mechanic.<edit>Just noticed Vish already pointed out the potential exploit.   