Immersion is a bit overused and misunderstood.
It maybe works better as "suspension of disbelief", like in other fiction. You sustain it and you can go very abstract. You break it and things get weird.
Comment on Good gaming experiences with no HUD?
ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Gotta be honest here.
Immersion has no meaning to me and I don’t understand the obsession.
MudMan@kbin.social 6 months ago
CarlsIII@kbin.social 6 months ago
This makes more sense to me than the “I believe I’m actually in the game world” definition I’ve been given before
CarlsIII@kbin.social 6 months ago
I don’t think it’d be possible to trick me into thinking I’m not playing a video game. You can have 0 UI, and I’ll still know I’m looking at a screen and pushing buttons.
bridge_too_close@kbin.social 6 months ago
I think it's less about being "tricked" into believing you aren't actually playing a game, and more along the lines of having the mindset that you are actually playing as your character. It's more like the difference between performing tasks, going from A to B, and checking boxes on a list, versus actually feeling like you're going on an adventure.
CarlsIII@kbin.social 6 months ago
That sounds like the same thing. If I actually believe I am actually the character, I have been tricked.
bridge_too_close@kbin.social 6 months ago
I didn't say anything about actually believing you are the character. Immersion doesn't have anything to do with deception and is more about being engrossed or deeply involved with something. You can be immersed in other things too, like a tv show, book, or tabletop game.
pgetsos@kbin.social 6 months ago
VR is decent enough that you can get lost in the game as is. Even if momentarily, like trying to kick the ball while playing ping pong and it falls near you
kratoz29@lemm.ee 6 months ago
I’m on your side a bit, I mean, I hate getting lost, for me that ain’t immersion, having a HUD or being able to look beyond your usual sight scope is awesome and one of the best features of the videogames which are an escape of our mostly boring life.
With that being said, the other day I was playing BOTW (with HUD) in handheld mode in pitch dark (late night) with my headphones put on and I felt totally immersed more than when I play on my 50 inch TV, IDK, it just helps you to isolate in Hyrule that way I think.
smeg@feddit.uk 6 months ago
People get immersed in different ways. Some people get involved in the story, putting themselves in the character’s shoes and imagining it’s a real world. Some people get lost in the gameplay, enjoying the mechanics and focusing entirely on completing the challenge. For some people it’s TV, film, books, or just chatting at the pub and losing track of time. I’m sure you get immersed in something!
CarlsIII@kbin.social 6 months ago
I feel like what you’re talking about is something more like “deep involvement”
leave_it_blank@lemmy.world 6 months ago
That’s a good definition of being immersed.
PolishAndrew@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Immersion is one aspect, but I also find that artists put so much work into creating great visuals, it almost feels like I’m ignoring the great things to look at by chasing dots on a map. I really just want experiences that help me focus more on the world in front of me.
leave_it_blank@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I never forgot the woman who asked me to look for her husband, I found him, dead, killed by bandits. She was in tears, saying life would never be the same.
Five minutes later I sold her stuff, and she was like “Nice weather today, isn’t it?”.
That killed every immersion at that moment.
It was Skyrim. It has fantastic moments, but there are lots of moments that kill every immersion it built up on a grand scale.
ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 6 months ago
See stuff like that just makes me laugh though.
Like I kinda get what you mean but stuff like physics glitches and weird moments like your described just make me laugh.
Even in a serious situation like a grand epic battle the sight of a deceased character model slowly vibrating before launching into the cosmos is hilarious to me.
Or in your case a widow who’s heartbroken and sobbing then the cutscene ends and she’s just “hi how can I help you today?” in a cheerful tone and I just burst out laughing