Cutscene
Encyclopedia
A cutscene is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no or only limited control, breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot, strengthen the main character's development, introduces enemy characters, and provide background information, atmosphere, dialogue, and clues. Cutscenes can either be animated or use live action
footage.
Cutscenes are sometimes also referred to by other terms such as cinematics or in-game movies. Cutscenes that are streamed from a video file are sometimes also referred to as full motion video
or FMV.
between gameplay was the 1979 shoot 'em up
title Space Invaders Part II (also called Space Invaders Deluxe), where at the end of each level, the last invader flies off on a spaceship that broadcasts an SOS
message. The first game to feature cut scenes in the form of animated interludes between certain game stages was the 1980 hit Pac-Man
, which featured brief comical interludes about Pac-Man and the ghosts chasing each other around during those interludes, resembling simple entertaining silent-film
type scenes. The following year, Donkey Kong
took it a step further by using simple cut scenes to advance a basic narrative that unfolds during the game. In 1983, the laserdisc video game
Bega's Battle introduced the use of animated full-motion video (FMV) cut scenes with voice acting to develop a story between the game's shooting
stages, which would become the standard approach to video game storytelling years later.
The 1984 game Karateka
helped introduce the use of cut scenes to home computers. Other early video games known to make use of cut scenes as an extensive and integral part of the game include Enix
's Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken
in 1983, Telenet Japan
's Valis in 1986, Lucasfilm Games' Maniac Mansion
and Opera Soft
's La Abadía del Crimen
both released in 1987, and Prince of Persia
in 1989. Since then, cutscenes have been part of many video games, especially in role-playing video game
s. The first role-playing game to feature animated FMV cutscenes with voice acting was Tengai Makyō
for the PC Engine CD in 1989. The word "cutscene" itself was possibly first coined by Ron Gilbert while making Maniac Mansion, wherein he defined cutscenes as short "scenes" that "cut" away from the action itself, to show what else was happening in the game world when the player wasn't around.
Live-action cutscenes have many similarities to film
s. For example, the cutscenes in Wing Commander IV utilised both fully constructed sets, and well known actor
s such as Mark Hamill
and Malcolm McDowell
for the portrayal of characters.
Recently, some movie tie-in games, such as Electronic Arts
' The Lord of the Rings
and Star Wars
games, have also extensively used film footage and other assets from the film production in their cutscenes. Another movie tie-in, Enter the Matrix
, used film footage shot concurrently with The Matrix Reloaded
that was also directed by the film's directors, the Wachowski brothers.
Some gamers prize live-action cutscenes for their kitsch
appeal, as they often feature poor production values and sub-standard acting. The cutscenes in the Command & Conquer series of real-time strategy
games are particularly noted for often hammy
acting performances.
Live action cutscenes were popular in the early to mid 1990s with the onset of the CD-ROM
and subsequent extra storage space available. This also led to the development of the so-called interactive movie
, which featured hours of live-action footage while sacrificing interactivity and complex gameplay.
Increasing graphics quality, cost, critical backlash, and artistic need to integrate cutscenes better with gameplay
graphics
soon led to the increased popularity in animated cutscenes in the late 1990s. However, for cinematic effect, some games still utilize live-action cutscenes—an example of this is Black
, which features interviews between main character Jack Kellar and his interrogator filmed with real actors.
Like live-action shoots, pre-rendered cutscenes are also part of full motion video
. Pre-rendered cutscenes are animated and rendered by the game's developers, and are able to take advantage of the full array of techniques of CGI
, cel animation or graphic novel
-style panel art. The Final Fantasy
series of video games, developed by Square, are noted for their prerendered cutscenes, which were first introduced in Final Fantasy VII
. Blizzard Entertainment
is also a notable player in the field, with the company having a department created especially for making cinema-quality pre-rendered cutscenes, for games such as Diablo II
and Warcraft III. In 1996 Dreamworks
created The Neverhood
, the only game to ever feature all-plasticine, stop-motion animated cutscene sequences. Pre-rendered cutscenes are generally of higher visual quality than in-game cutscenes, but have two disadvantages: the difference in quality can sometimes create difficulties of recognizing the high-quality images from the cutscene when the player has been used to the lower-quality images from the game; also, the pre-rendered cutscene cannot adapt to the state of the game: for example, by showing different items of clothing worn by a character. This is seen in the PlayStation 2
version of Resident Evil 4
, where in cutscenes, Leon is seen always in his default costume because of processor constraints that were not seen in the GameCube
version.
In-game cutscenes are rendered
on-the-fly using the same game engine
as the graphics in the game proper, this technique which is also known as Machinima
. These are frequently used in the RPG genre, as well as in the Metal Gear Solid
, Grand Theft Auto
(both games making use motion capture
), and The Legend of Zelda series of games, among many others. In newer games, which can take advantage of sophisticated programming techniques and more powerful processors, in-game cutscenes are rendered on the fly and can be closely integrated with the gameplay. Some games, for instance, give the player some control over camera movement during cutscenes, for example Dungeon Siege
, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
, Halo: Reach
, and Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
.
Games such as Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
have used both pre-rendered (for the beginning and end of a campaign) and the in-game engine (for level briefings and character dialogue during a mission).
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, when most 3D game engines had pre-calculated/fixed Lightmap
s and texture mapping, developers often turned to pre-rendered graphics which had a much higher level of realism. However this has lost favor in recent years, as advances in consumer PC and video game graphics have enabled the use of the game's own engine to render these cinematics. For instance, the id Tech 4 engine used in Doom 3
allowed bump mapping
and dynamic Per-pixel lighting
, previously only found in pre-rendered videos.
while prompts (such as a sequence of button presses) appear onscreen, requiring the player to follow them in order to continue or succeed at the action. This gameplay mechanic, commonly called quick time event
s, has its origins in interactive movie
laserdisc video game
s such as Dragon's Lair
, Road Blaster, and Space Ace
. Gameplay in these titles consisted of watching an animated video and pressing the correct button every few seconds to avoid losing a life; there were no cut scenes, but the entire game consisted of animated video, effectively making the entire game one continuous QTE.
Die Hard Arcade
in 1996 and most notably Shenmue
in 1999, both developed by Sega
, introduced QTEs in their modern form, which occur during cut scenes in an otherwise more interactive game. Shenmues director Yu Suzuki
is credited with coining the phase "Quick Time Event". Since this period, several other games on modern console and game systems have included QTEs or similar mechanics. These include Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage
, Resident Evil 4
, God of War
, Halo 3 ODST, Tomb Raider: Legend, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
, and Fahrenheit
, where the entire game involves real-time cutscenes which are played out depending on the player's actions, with decisions made integral to the game's story. Quick Time Events have been often criticized for limiting gameplay. The dubbed "cineractives" in Spider-Man 3
were sometimes criticized due to having no warning when they were about to happen, often leaving the player having to re-do the event.
1998 video game, Half-Life, and has since been used by a number of other games. The player retains control of the character at all times, including during non-interactive scripted sequences, and the player character's face is never seen. Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed
also allows the player to retain limited control over the character during the "cutscenes", though their movement is severely limited. This is meant to immerse the player more in the game, although it requires more effort on the part of the developer to make sure the player cannot interrupt the scripted actions that occur instead of cutscenes. Scripted sequence
s can also be used that provide the benefits of cutscenes without taking away the interactivity from the gameplay.
Director Steven Spielberg
, an avid video gamer, has criticized the use of cutscenes in games, calling them intrusive, and feels making story flow naturally into the gameplay is a challenge for future game developers.
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
footage.
Cutscenes are sometimes also referred to by other terms such as cinematics or in-game movies. Cutscenes that are streamed from a video file are sometimes also referred to as full motion video
Full motion video
Full motion video based games are video games that rely upon pre-recorded TV-quality movie or animation rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models to display action in the game. In the early 1990s a diverse set of games utilized this format...
or FMV.
History
The first game to feature an intermissionIntermission
An intermission or interval is a recess between parts of a performance or production, such as for a theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening....
between gameplay was the 1979 shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
title Space Invaders Part II (also called Space Invaders Deluxe), where at the end of each level, the last invader flies off on a spaceship that broadcasts an SOS
SOS
SOS is the commonly used description for the international Morse code distress signal...
message. The first game to feature cut scenes in the form of animated interludes between certain game stages was the 1980 hit Pac-Man
Pac-Man
is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...
, which featured brief comical interludes about Pac-Man and the ghosts chasing each other around during those interludes, resembling simple entertaining silent-film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
type scenes. The following year, Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong
is a fictional gorilla in the Donkey Kong and Mario series. He is roughly twice the size of a normal gorilla, weighing approximately 800 pounds. Donkey Kong first appeared in Nintendo's popular 1981 video game of the same name. Since then he has appeared in over 20 games in his own series, as well...
took it a step further by using simple cut scenes to advance a basic narrative that unfolds during the game. In 1983, the laserdisc video game
Laserdisc video game
A laserdisc video game is an arcade game that uses pre-recorded video played from a laserdisc, either as the entirety of the graphics, or as part of the graphics.-History:...
Bega's Battle introduced the use of animated full-motion video (FMV) cut scenes with voice acting to develop a story between the game's shooting
Shooter game
Shooter games are a sub-genre of action game, which often test the player's speed and reaction time. It includes many subgenres that have the commonality of focusing "on the actions of the avatar using some sort of weapon. Usually this weapon is a gun, or some other long-range weapon". A common...
stages, which would become the standard approach to video game storytelling years later.
The 1984 game Karateka
Karateka (video game)
Karateka is a 1984 computer game by Jordan Mechner, the creator of Prince of Persia. Karateka was Mechner's first hit game, and was designed while he was attending Yale University. The game was renowned at the time for its realistic animations. In the United States, Karateka was published by...
helped introduce the use of cut scenes to home computers. Other early video games known to make use of cut scenes as an extensive and integral part of the game include Enix
Enix
The was a Japanese company that produced video games, anime and manga. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975 as and renamed Enix in 1982...
's Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken
Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken
, is an adventure game designed by Yuji Horii and published by Enix . It was first released on the NEC PC-6001 in June 1983, and later ported to other personal computers...
in 1983, Telenet Japan
Telenet Japan
was a Japanese video game and software developer founded in October 1983 by Kazuyuki Fukushima. The company was also known as Nippon Telenet . The company was best known for the Valis series as well as its Wolfteam & RiOT divisions...
's Valis in 1986, Lucasfilm Games' Maniac Mansion
Maniac Mansion
Maniac Mansion is a 1987 graphic adventure game developed and published by Lucasfilm Games. It was Lucasfilm's first published video game, and it was initially released for the Commodore 64 and Apple II. A comedy horror parody of B movies, it follows teenager Dave Miller as he ventures...
and Opera Soft
Opera Soft
Opera Soft was one the most prolific Spanish computer game developers of the so-called Golden Era of Spanish Software of the 1980s. It released many games for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and similar computers in the mid-1980s, but its games were not as popular on the PC...
's La Abadía del Crimen
La Abadía del Crimen
La Abadía del Crimen is a computer video game programmed in 1987 by Paco Menéndez. The game was originally conceived as a version of Umberto Eco's book...
both released in 1987, and Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia is a platform game, originally developed by Jordan Mechner and released in 1989 for the Apple II, that represented a great leap forward in the quality of animation seen in video games....
in 1989. Since then, cutscenes have been part of many video games, especially in role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
s. The first role-playing game to feature animated FMV cutscenes with voice acting was Tengai Makyō
Tengai Makyō
is a widely popular series of traditional console RPGs that are available in Japan and Taiwan.Though originally intended to be only three games, it has grown to encompass a number of remakes, gaidens and genre spin-offs across a variety of platforms...
for the PC Engine CD in 1989. The word "cutscene" itself was possibly first coined by Ron Gilbert while making Maniac Mansion, wherein he defined cutscenes as short "scenes" that "cut" away from the action itself, to show what else was happening in the game world when the player wasn't around.
Live-action cutscenes
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s. For example, the cutscenes in Wing Commander IV utilised both fully constructed sets, and well known actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s such as Mark Hamill
Mark Hamill
Mark Richard Hamill is an American actor, voice artist, producer, director, and writer, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars. More recently, he has received acclaim for his voice work, in such roles as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Firelord...
and Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
for the portrayal of characters.
Recently, some movie tie-in games, such as Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
' The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
and Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
games, have also extensively used film footage and other assets from the film production in their cutscenes. Another movie tie-in, Enter the Matrix
Enter the Matrix
Enter the Matrix is the first video game based on The Matrix series of films. It was developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Atari and WB Interactive for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube game systems, and for the PC. It was published in Japan by Bandai...
, used film footage shot concurrently with The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 American science fiction film and the second installment in The Matrix trilogy, written and directed by the Wachowskis. It premiered on May 7, 2003, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, and went on general release by Warner Bros. in North American theaters on May 15,...
that was also directed by the film's directors, the Wachowski brothers.
Some gamers prize live-action cutscenes for their kitsch
Kitsch
Kitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
appeal, as they often feature poor production values and sub-standard acting. The cutscenes in the Command & Conquer series of real-time strategy
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
games are particularly noted for often hammy
Overacting
Overacting is the exaggeration of gestures and speech when acting. It may be unintentional, particularly in the case of a bad actor, or be required for the role. For the latter, it is commonly used in comical situations or to stress the evil characteristics of a villain...
acting performances.
Live action cutscenes were popular in the early to mid 1990s with the onset of the CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
and subsequent extra storage space available. This also led to the development of the so-called interactive movie
Interactive movie
An interactive movie is a video game that features highly cinematic presentation and heavy use of scripting, often through the use of full-motion video of either animated or live-action footage.-Philosophy:...
, which featured hours of live-action footage while sacrificing interactivity and complex gameplay.
Increasing graphics quality, cost, critical backlash, and artistic need to integrate cutscenes better with gameplay
Gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...
graphics
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
soon led to the increased popularity in animated cutscenes in the late 1990s. However, for cinematic effect, some games still utilize live-action cutscenes—an example of this is Black
Black (video game)
Black is a first-person shooter video game, developed by Criterion Games and published by EA. It was released on February 24, 2006 for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 video game consoles...
, which features interviews between main character Jack Kellar and his interrogator filmed with real actors.
Animated cutscenes
There are two primary techniques for animating cutscenes.Like live-action shoots, pre-rendered cutscenes are also part of full motion video
Full motion video
Full motion video based games are video games that rely upon pre-recorded TV-quality movie or animation rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models to display action in the game. In the early 1990s a diverse set of games utilized this format...
. Pre-rendered cutscenes are animated and rendered by the game's developers, and are able to take advantage of the full array of techniques of CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
, cel animation or graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
-style panel art. The Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
series of video games, developed by Square, are noted for their prerendered cutscenes, which were first introduced in Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII
is a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was originally released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and was re-released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and in 2009...
. Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
is also a notable player in the field, with the company having a department created especially for making cinema-quality pre-rendered cutscenes, for games such as Diablo II
Diablo II
Diablo II is a dark fantasy/horror-themed hack and slash, with elements of the role playing game and dungeon crawl genres. It was released for Windows and Mac OS in 2000 by Blizzard Entertainment, and was developed by Blizzard North. It is a direct sequel to the 1996 hit PC game, Diablo.Diablo II...
and Warcraft III. In 1996 Dreamworks
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
created The Neverhood
The Neverhood
The Neverhood is a 1996 PC CD-ROM adventure video game created by animator Doug TenNapel and released by DreamWorks Studios. It features claymation graphics and music by composer Terry Scott Taylor...
, the only game to ever feature all-plasticine, stop-motion animated cutscene sequences. Pre-rendered cutscenes are generally of higher visual quality than in-game cutscenes, but have two disadvantages: the difference in quality can sometimes create difficulties of recognizing the high-quality images from the cutscene when the player has been used to the lower-quality images from the game; also, the pre-rendered cutscene cannot adapt to the state of the game: for example, by showing different items of clothing worn by a character. This is seen in the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
version of Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4, known in Japan as , is a survival horror third-person shooter video game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by multiple publishers, including Capcom, Ubisoft, Nintendo Australia, Red Ant Enterprises and THQ Asia Pacific...
, where in cutscenes, Leon is seen always in his default costume because of processor constraints that were not seen in the GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
version.
In-game cutscenes are rendered
Scanline rendering
Scanline rendering is an algorithm for visible surface determination, in 3D computer graphics,that works on a row-by-row basis rather than a polygon-by-polygon or pixel-by-pixel basis...
on-the-fly using the same game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
as the graphics in the game proper, this technique which is also known as Machinima
Machinima
Machinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
. These are frequently used in the RPG genre, as well as in the Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid
is a videogame by Hideo Kojima. The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Kojimas early MSX2 computer games Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake...
, Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto (series)
Grand Theft Auto is a multi-award-winning British video game series created in the United Kingdom by Dave Jones, then later by brothers Dan Houser and Sam Houser, and game designer Zachary Clarke. It is primarily developed by Edinburgh based Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games...
(both games making use motion capture
Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
), and The Legend of Zelda series of games, among many others. In newer games, which can take advantage of sophisticated programming techniques and more powerful processors, in-game cutscenes are rendered on the fly and can be closely integrated with the gameplay. Some games, for instance, give the player some control over camera movement during cutscenes, for example Dungeon Siege
Dungeon Siege
Dungeon Siege is a computer role-playing game developed by Gas Powered Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Chris Taylor showed Dungeon Siege years in production for the first time at E3 2000...
, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
is a stealth action video game directed by Hideo Kojima, developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2 in 2001....
, Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 console. Reach was released in North America, Australia, and Europe on September 14, 2010. The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with the...
, and Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is a cooperative third-person shooter developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The mobile phone version was developed by Kiloo and published by Eidos Mobile...
.
Games such as Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is a real time strategy computer game released by Blizzard Entertainment on July 3, 2002 . It is the second sequel to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, and it is the third game set in the Warcraft Universe...
have used both pre-rendered (for the beginning and end of a campaign) and the in-game engine (for level briefings and character dialogue during a mission).
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, when most 3D game engines had pre-calculated/fixed Lightmap
Lightmap
A lightmap is a data structure which contains the brightness of surfaces in 3d graphics applications such as video games. Lightmaps are precomputed and used for static objects. Quake was the first computer game to use lightmaps to augment rendering. Before lightmaps were invented, realtime...
s and texture mapping, developers often turned to pre-rendered graphics which had a much higher level of realism. However this has lost favor in recent years, as advances in consumer PC and video game graphics have enabled the use of the game's own engine to render these cinematics. For instance, the id Tech 4 engine used in Doom 3
Doom 3
Doom 3 is a science fiction horror video game developed by id Software and published by Activision. An example of the first-person shooter genre, Doom 3 was first released for Microsoft Windows on August 3, 2004. The game was later adapted for Linux, as well as being ported by Aspyr Media for Mac...
allowed bump mapping
Bump mapping
Bump mapping is a technique in computer graphics for simulating bumps and wrinkles on the surface of an object. This is achieved by perturbing the surface normals of the object and using the perturbed normal during lighting calculations. The result is an apparently bumpy surface rather than a...
and dynamic Per-pixel lighting
Per-pixel lighting
In computer graphics, per-pixel lighting is commonly used to refer to a set of methods for computing illumination at each rendered pixel of an image...
, previously only found in pre-rendered videos.
Interactive cutscenes
Interactive cutscenes involve the computer taking control of the player characterPlayer character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
while prompts (such as a sequence of button presses) appear onscreen, requiring the player to follow them in order to continue or succeed at the action. This gameplay mechanic, commonly called quick time event
Quick Time Event
In video games, a Quick Time Event is a method of context-sensitive gameplay in which the player performs actions on the control device shortly after the appearance of an on-screen prompt. It allows for limited control of the game character during cut scenes or cinematic sequences in the game...
s, has its origins in interactive movie
Interactive movie
An interactive movie is a video game that features highly cinematic presentation and heavy use of scripting, often through the use of full-motion video of either animated or live-action footage.-Philosophy:...
laserdisc video game
Laserdisc video game
A laserdisc video game is an arcade game that uses pre-recorded video played from a laserdisc, either as the entirety of the graphics, or as part of the graphics.-History:...
s such as Dragon's Lair
Dragon's Lair
Dragon's Lair is a laserdisc video game published by Cinematronics in 1983. It featured animation created by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth....
, Road Blaster, and Space Ace
Space Ace
Space Ace is a laserdisc video game produced by Don Bluth Studios, Cinematronics, and Advanced Microcomputer Systems...
. Gameplay in these titles consisted of watching an animated video and pressing the correct button every few seconds to avoid losing a life; there were no cut scenes, but the entire game consisted of animated video, effectively making the entire game one continuous QTE.
Die Hard Arcade
Die Hard Arcade
Die Hard Arcade is the licensed North American, European and Australian version of the Japanese videogame . The game is a beat 'em up with loose ties to the Die Hard movie series of the same name....
in 1996 and most notably Shenmue
Shenmue
is a 1999 open-world adventure video game developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki. Suzuki coined a genre title, "FREE" , for the game, based on the interactivity and freedom he wanted to give to the player...
in 1999, both developed by Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
, introduced QTEs in their modern form, which occur during cut scenes in an otherwise more interactive game. Shenmues director Yu Suzuki
Yu Suzuki
is a Japanese game designer and producer who has spent his entire career with Sega Enterprises. Often referred to as Sega's answer to Shigeru Miyamoto, he has been responsible for the creation of many of Sega's most important arcade games such as Hang-On, Out Run, After Burner II, Virtua Fighter,...
is credited with coining the phase "Quick Time Event". Since this period, several other games on modern console and game systems have included QTEs or similar mechanics. These include Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage
Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage
Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage, released in Japan as , is a hack & slash action video game for the Dreamcast based on the popular Berserk manga by Kentarō Miura. It takes place anywhere between volumes 22 and volume 23 of the Berserk manga; right after Guts and Puck depart for Elfhelm with Casca,...
, Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4, known in Japan as , is a survival horror third-person shooter video game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by multiple publishers, including Capcom, Ubisoft, Nintendo Australia, Red Ant Enterprises and THQ Asia Pacific...
, God of War
God of War (series)
God of War is a series of action-adventure video games based on Greek mythology.The main trilogy—God of War I, II, & III—in the series were developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica division , with Ready at Dawn Studios developing the PSP and Javaground the mobile phone installment...
, Halo 3 ODST, Tomb Raider: Legend, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is an action role-playing game developed for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox and Xbox 360 by Raven Software and published by Activision. The game was simultaneously ported to the PlayStation Portable and Wii by Vicarious Visions, and to Microsoft Windows by Beenox...
, and Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit (video game)
Fahrenheit, also known as Indigo Prophecy in North America, is a cinematic adventure video game developed by Quantic Dream and manufactured and marketed by Atari Europe SAS...
, where the entire game involves real-time cutscenes which are played out depending on the player's actions, with decisions made integral to the game's story. Quick Time Events have been often criticized for limiting gameplay. The dubbed "cineractives" in Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man 3 (video game)
Spider-Man 3 is an action game loosely based on the Spider-Man 3 film and released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, Microsoft Windows and Game Boy Advance. The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions were developed by Treyarch, the PC version by Beenox while...
were sometimes criticized due to having no warning when they were about to happen, often leaving the player having to re-do the event.
No cutscenes
A recent trend in video games is to avoid cutscenes completely. It was popularized in Valve'sValve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
1998 video game, Half-Life, and has since been used by a number of other games. The player retains control of the character at all times, including during non-interactive scripted sequences, and the player character's face is never seen. Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed is an award-winning historical third person, stealth action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The bulk of the game takes place during the Third Crusade, with the plot revolving around a sect known as the Secret Order of...
also allows the player to retain limited control over the character during the "cutscenes", though their movement is severely limited. This is meant to immerse the player more in the game, although it requires more effort on the part of the developer to make sure the player cannot interrupt the scripted actions that occur instead of cutscenes. Scripted sequence
Scripted sequence
In video games, a scripted sequence is a pre-defined series of events that occurs when triggered by player location or actions.Some scripted sequences are merely used to play short cut scenes that the player has little control of...
s can also be used that provide the benefits of cutscenes without taking away the interactivity from the gameplay.
Director Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, an avid video gamer, has criticized the use of cutscenes in games, calling them intrusive, and feels making story flow naturally into the gameplay is a challenge for future game developers.
See also
- Interactive movieInteractive movieAn interactive movie is a video game that features highly cinematic presentation and heavy use of scripting, often through the use of full-motion video of either animated or live-action footage.-Philosophy:...
- Computer animationComputer animationComputer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
- MachinimaMachinimaMachinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
- IntroIntro sequenceAn intro sequence is a non-interactive introductory sequence for a computer or video game. Previously, intro sequences were very often prerendered, hand drawn, or otherwise outside the main game engine...
- OutroOutro (computer gaming)In computer and video gaming, the term "outro" refers to a sequence of graphics and music presented to the player as a reward for successful completion of the entire game. Outros are also commonly referred to as the game's ending...
- Scripted sequenceScripted sequenceIn video games, a scripted sequence is a pre-defined series of events that occurs when triggered by player location or actions.Some scripted sequences are merely used to play short cut scenes that the player has little control of...