Pick a gaming genre and then tell about a relatively recent mechanic or convention that has improved the genre.

[ZedClampet]

I can think of a few, but since I've been playing a lot of racing games lately, I'll go with the driving line. I don't know exactly when this was first created (I tried to look it up, but Google is only really good for things they can serve you targeted ads for), and it may have been created longer ago than think it was, but it wasn't on any of the games I played in the first decade of the century.

For people who don't play racing games, the driving line is a clearly visible line that appears on or just above the track to tell you where your car should be and when to brake or let off the gas. The main thing it does for me is save me time. Back before the driving line, I used to run a track over and over again to learn it because my vision is poor, and I would often have difficulty seeing turns when there was still time to brake.

 

[Zloth]

Automapping, fast travel, easy updates via Steam... oh! Relatively recent! Hhhhmmmm....

Including a photo mode in games is sure nice, at least when it's done reasonably well.

 

[Brian Boru]

Shooters—the coma/death of QuickTime Events!

Shooters—auto-drive or companion drive. I dislike driving, so almost always use this.

Open Worlds—much more populated with NPCs and wildlife.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I think turn-based games got a lot better when they started making them real-time instead. Lol

 

[ZedClampet]

I think turn-based games got a lot better when they started making them real-time instead. Lol

You know that old saying, "There are no wrong opinions"? We have to retire that now,

 

[PCG Ted]

I think turn-based games got a lot better when they started making them real-time instead. Lol

Dog I gotta disagree, I'm all in on turn based. I actually hopped on to shout out Pathfinder: WotR and Pillars of Eternity 2 for making both work in one game.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Dog I gotta disagree, I'm all in on turn based. I actually hopped on to shout out Pathfinder: WotR and Pillars of Eternity 2 for making both work in one game.

I'm passionately biased against turn-based combat. Honestly, I don't mind it so much when you're only controlling one character. But I especially hate it when you're controlling a team or party, and you go through choosing each person's move, then watch it play out. I really hate stuff like that.

 

[Krud]

Relatively recent? That's a toughie... none of the more recent games even jump out at me as "improvements" to the genre, let alone any new game mechanics/conventions. I suspect that might be why there aren't a lot of answers posted about this. [ponders]

Yeah, everything I can think of are elements that have either been around for quite a while, or were brought back from older games. I was going to say "wiki" guides for survival games, but that's been a thing for well over a decade at least. I was also going to say "line of sight" cones in stealth games, but they've had that as far back as the NES era. Even some of the more narrative-focused RPG's like Disco Elysium harken back to the age of text adventures or RPG's where you had to literally read a book that came with it.

So, yeah. I'm gonna say that there are not a lot of new or recent game innovations that have approved the genre(s). Or IF there are, I'm simply unaware of them or haven't played the games in question. (The latter seems more likely.)

 

[Zloth]

How about save systems? Games have gotten a lot better about letting us make manual saves, quick saves, AND still put in checkpoint saves. You would never see a game with all three back in the day. Some still don't, but at least I'm not surprised when I see all three now.

 

[SWard]

Buddy of mine on twitter suggested Crafting in RPGs? I don't really remember when this was introduced but i'd imaging it would have really changed things up as I can't really imagine a modern RPG without some form of it now

 

[Zloth]

Buddy of mine on twitter suggested Crafting in RPGs? I don't really remember when this was introduced but i'd imaging it would have really changed things up as I can't really imagine a modern RPG without some form of it now

They certainly are far more common! There are plenty without, though.

The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos on Steam

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Tower of Time on Steam

A new kind of RPG awaits you. A story-rich dungeon crawler with innovative real-time combat that lets you pause or slow time. Tactical thinking is essential to succeed. Now with RPGlite and Permadeath for fast-paced game.

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[Krud]

Buddy of mine on twitter suggested Crafting in RPGs? I don't really remember when this was introduced but i'd imaging it would have really changed things up as I can't really imagine a modern RPG without some form of it now

That's a good one, though I want to say there was crafting in early 00's RPGs, like Neverwinter Nights and Arcanum? It wasn't the norm, admittedly. I think Fallout 3 also had crafting circa 2008. So I guess it depends on how one defines "recent."

 

[Zloth]

Recent: after Vista was let loose on the world.

 

[Brian Boru]

I want to say there was crafting in early 00's RPGs

There must've been, since it was in Far Cry 3, which released 2012. Fairly sure I recall reading at the time that they wanted to try adding some RPG elements like crafting & skill tree.

I wonder how long have traversal aids like grappling hook, parachute and wingsuit been around? FC4 in 2014 for sure, altho I vaguely remember 2006's Just Cause having all those too—so I guess quite a while.

 

[JarlBSoD]

Tough one. The new Xcom games made a new twist on turnbased and that twist was realy good, even the original creator of Xcom Ufo Defense, made a similar system in Phoenix point and many others seem to allso have done their versions of the "improved" Turnbased. Divinity original sin 2 allso did a sort of new twist on turnbased, making the combat faster but still keeping allot of tatcis in. I havn't tried BG3 yet becaus i want to wait till full release, but it is said that their improved turnbased system is taking this to new heights.

 

[JarlBSoD]

That's a good one, though I want to say there was crafting in early 00's RPGs, like Neverwinter Nights and Arcanum? It wasn't the norm, admittedly. I think Fallout 3 also had crafting circa 2008. So I guess it depends on how one defines "recent."

Crafting has been a part of RPGs since the 80s, I don't think Ultima 3 was the first but it is the first one i can remember

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Tough one. The new Xcom games made a new twist on turnbased and that twist was realy good, even the original creator of Xcom Ufo Defense, made a similar system in Phoenix point and many others seem to allso have done their versions of the "improved" Turnbased. Divinity original sin 2 allso did a sort of new twist on turnbased, making the combat faster but still keeping allot of tatcis in. I havn't tried BG3 yet becaus i want to wait till full release, but it is said that their improved turnbased system is taking this to new heights.

I hate turn-based games. How does their new system work? I'm interested to know if it would be enough to entice me to play a turn-based game.

 

[Zloth]

I just checked old Xcom and it has a more complex system. In the old game, you've got a lot more action points and use them up however you want. Moving takes some points, switching weapons takes some points, crouching takes some points, shooting takes some points... you keep going until you run out of points. The modern XCOM just has two phases: first the soldier moves, then the soldier shoots or moves even more. There are other options, like hunkering down, and certain characters can shoot first then move, but that's the general gist of it.

 

[McStabStab]

In the F1 games (and other racing games I'm sure) there's voice commands, so instead of having to go through too many menus, you hit your comms button and say "box this lap, soft tyres", and your race engineer will confirm. Say "who am I racing?" and they'll tell you the gap between the cars in front of you and behind.

It's a neat addition that makes your feel like you're in the thick of it. I usually do full length races and it's incredibly immersive.

 

[JarlBSoD]

I just checked old Xcom and it has a more complex system. In the old game, you've got a lot more action points and use them up however you want. Moving takes some points, switching weapons takes some points, crouching takes some points, shooting takes some points... you keep going until you run out of points. The modern XCOM just has two phases: first the soldier moves, then the soldier shoots or moves even more. There are other options, like hunkering down, and certain characters can shoot first then move, but that's the general gist of it.

More or less so. The old system is realy realy tedious and slow though, especially when you controll allot of troopers. The newer system speed things upp, removes some of the unnesisery elements and introduces some new ones. There are pros and cons to both these systems but these days i prefer the newer of the two, even though i consider X-Com UFO Defens to be one of the best games ever, something i don't considet the new xcoms to be, even if they may be in my top 50 of all times or so.