Thoughts on 'yellow paint' in games?

[tht009]

Nothing wrong with that, but you might as well not even bother with nearly AAA game at this point to get exactly what you want. You choose whatever, no different me, but it's not worth the frustration nor having a heart attack over. Got better things to think about and play.

Can't argue with that. I avoid most modern games for that reason and others. I don't get as worked up over it as I might have implied, but it does really irritate me.

 

[Kovlak]

I generally don't care. I only mind it when its use is jarring, like in that FF VII image in the opening post.

 

[RageBurner]

It depends, I guess. Certainly, more environmentally subtle cues would be preferable, but when you're dealing with detail extremes (too high or too low), it creates too much visual noise and warrants some level of guidance.

 

[BrawlMan]

I avoid most modern games for that reason and others.

I avoid most modern AAA games. Though I am never afraid to try something new, and just here for the fun like anyone else. I have my own standards like most people, and my own bias, but that doesn't stop me when there are fun surprises around the corner, or something unexpected in the best way possible.

it does really irritate me.

Don't even let it do that, since you don't care for these style of games any way. Focus on something else or more positive to spend your time own. I don't care what it is, so long as it's healthy/in proper moderation and does not harm you nor others. I learned a long time ago, and thankfully the easy way, if it's a leisure activity I don't find fun, or I can't get through something without kicking and screaming, then it is not worth my time, and it's better spent somewhere and anywhere else.

 

[Turbo Kid]

I don't care. Reducing frustration for players is more important to me than realistic environments. I grow so weary of gamers who think anti-frustration measures in video games are a bad thing.

 

[Alkider]

I kinda get the reason for it but honestly I think it's more of a design issue since If the level design was clearer there wouldn't be a need for yellow paint. Then again there's times where it wouldn't be immediately obvious anyway but that's usually not the case. maybe have it as a toggle or just removed in harder difficulties.
Color coding stuff is cool and making things stick out is a great way to orient things in a map but yeah the lack of any flare to those things is what makes it stick out like a sore thumb XD

 

[HazardRider]

I really just don't care, there's usually either other stuff I don't like or I like the game and yellow paint changes absolutely nothing for me

 

[Bakuma1997]

Pick it over having to use a command repeteadly to reveal the stuff i can interact with or an obnoxious NPC repeat lines constantly, in fact of all the "Hand Holding" stuff new gaming does, this one is the less annoying of the lot

 

[DayBreak_Illusion]

Should be an option on easy difficulty or journalist mode.

 

[Burzuru Burzuru]

there's better ways to guide the player, even new players, that isn't painstakingly obvious. or better yet just let them explore. even if the game is linear, just allowing them or even telling them to explore, they should be able to find their way.

unless people really are that dumb nowdays and can't do anything unless directly told and shown.

 

[Onicat]

Do you want to sell your game to as many people as possible? You have to make your game as accessible as possible to as many people as possible. And that doesn’t just mean your 300-year old voodoo grandma from Louisiana. Your game has to be user-friendly even for the average modern Twitter user!

And it has to be mandatory. It should be enabled by default (the average modern gamer might not find this option in the game's settings and get offended) and, preferably, shouldn’t be able to be turned off in the settings (the average modern gamer might accidentally turn it off, forget about it, and get offended).

I like how it was implemented in Zelda’s Twilight Princess (the scents feature). But in other games… Is this some clumsy painter who spilled a ton of paint everywhere?

But on the other hand, remember the pre-rendered backgrounds like in Final Fantasy 7+? How many times did we run back and forth through a some big location simply because we didn’t know there was an “interactive object” (like a door) there since it looked almost identical to the background? And, what's worse, how many times have we been unable to walk through a door because it was just part of the background and wasn't meant to be used by player? And that affects the gaming experience - if you've failed to walk through a door 10 times (because it's just a non interactive drawing) you won't even try anymore.

In early 3D games, especially shooters, this was sometimes a problem because the interactive button/lever you had to push/pull to open a door (the most common puzzle of that era) often looked exactly like the rest of the textures in the level and could resemble a tree root or a crack in the wall.

Do you remember the old point-and-click adventures? They often became pixel-hunting games, just to randomly find an interactive pixel on the screen. So, your game resolution is 320x240, the play area is about 320x180, and your interactive object is 2x2… Good luck finding it.

But with modern game design knowledge and super graphics (like from the last 15 years or so), if you’re splattering paint everywhere, it means you’re lazy (or your business analysts have provided you with evidence that your target audience is retarded). The stones on a frequently used path will be worn down. And it’s noticeable. If the graphics engine isn’t capable of rendering this (or not in all quality settings), the character might comment on it (via text or voice). “I think the princess’s kidnappers passed right through here - they never wash, and you can really tell”. And so on.

 

[null_exe]

It depends on how it's done for me. I didn't really mind it in Resident Evil 7, maybe because that was one of the first games I remember using it. I definitely think RE4R and FF7R went overboard but I've seen some decent uses that felt like they made sense for the environment and were subtle enough to not feel annoying.

Most recent example I can think of is 007 First Light. The tutorial starts with a plane wreck and there are some yellow belts/straps from the wreckage swaying in the direction you need to go and that didn't feel too in your face and as far as I can remember I don't recall any other moment in that game that had any yellow paint moments.

Honestly though I'd much rather just go back to the shimmering on interactable objects that used to be standard. I honestly find that less immersion breaking than trying to figure out who's putting yellow tape and paint everywhere.

I feel more of the issue lies in the fact graphic fidelity has been pushed to the point that there's hardly any visual clarity at a glance in most games. Nothing stands out from the environment so the only solution is to make everything as painfully obvious as possible to the point of coming off as condescending because the only real solution the industry has come up with for this problem is to slather everything in yellow paint.

 

[Sonicao]

I liked how Far Cry 3 handled it. Places you could climb or jump usually had ropes tied around them, and the ledges were a bit straighter. It blended well with the environment without standing out too much.

 

[iamthemilkman]

Unless the game has some really obtuse level design and is used sparingly, I hate it. It shouldn't be used in linear games, IMO. Good level design shouldn't need it.

 

[VidiyaGaemer]

Ideally, it would be something you can toggle on and off in like an Accessibility setting. I feel like well designed games can more subtly guide the player in the right directions without making it as obvious as the yellow paint method.