In Chao Bandstand, one of the most brilliant SM64 mod demos I've played, this sign can be found next to a 10-ring box above the spawn point in the action stage. (I actually hate that my occasion to talk about a game I like so much is a low note like this, but this was my first impression of it too, as this happened to be the first place I went upon entering the level.)
Like, setting aside that the sign says "mister" - Cream is a girl, so clearly this is an un-earned fourth-wall break addressing specifically male players - this is a 3D platformer, the reason I'm playing this thing is to see a thing somewhere and challenge myself to go get myself over to it. It betrays such a lack of confidence in the premise where it really, really didn't need to. This sign didn't even have to be there! The 10-coin box behind it literally says, without words, everything this sign says, but without it pulling me right back out of the game I just started getting into.
Evidently I wasn't alone in this distaste: In versions 1.2.1 and after, the sign is changed to say this:
Much better!
Really, anyone who's spent time in the world of amateur games and ROM hacks and such has surely met their share of in-world characters that call the author lazy for reasons only known by the author's low self-esteem. I can be completely vibing with some game, meeting it at its expected level of un-polish, but if the game turns around and says "hahah wow I sure do suck for not being even better than this, right?" then I question why I'm taking a break from socializing by engaging in a single-player experience, if I'm suddenly thrust into the position of wanting to reassure a dang IPS patch on my hard drive. Be proud of your own work!
As Forspoken itself goes, I think ProZD outlined the issue nicely here:
This heavy-handed pointing at basic premises of the world you've already accepted and saying out loud "Look! Look at this weird thing! It's different from real life, and that's because this is a work in the fantasy genre, taking place a fictional world!" feels like the dialogue-writing version of moving the player from setpiece to setpiece and scripting the camera to look at each lovely expensive HD asset.
and i agree wit the other people ! this kind of writing Does suck Hard , to me nowadays at least ! it Used to be funny , to a young little rat me back in like, 2015/2016 ... where the whole self deprecating sort of thing was something not many people had really done before and my tiny brain thought it was So Cool and So Awesome how self aware things were and how critical and Parody things were like . and also i used to watch youtubers like I Hate Everything and that kind of humor was da big deal for me back in da day ..
anyways. liffy's post about that chao bandstand game resonates with me in particular cus that sort of self sabatoging thing was something I did with my old games ... and u could probably even see it a little bit in my game UNITRES Dreams a little bit .. but then sometime in its development i rewrote the Entire dialogue script like , multiple times . and i tried my best to add more Genuine , Sincere writing (my brain is acutally being dumb right now and am forgetting a word im meaning to say so i dont know if sincere is the best word im looking for but oh well LOL !!)
anywayz . making writing that takes its world at least a Little Bit seriously is nice . it makes the world feel like. A World . and i like that. and writing the kind of snarky stuff that treats ur world like a dumb joke is just. dumb. and kind of sad to me , ithink.
thats all. im hungry and i just wanted 2 say my thoughtz cus theze posts resonated with me as a person who was Not Confident in their work for so long and wrote that kind of dialogue in their games ... thats all im gonna eat a sandwich
