cliché be damned

vents
crates
health packs

bosses whose mouths have to open before you can kill them

exploding barrels

(have we done this before?)

There's a thread somewhere that's like "Things You've Learned Playing Videogames", which might have some overlap. But there's no outright "cliches" thread.

And I think there's enough of a difference between the two to make this thread worthwhile.

all accents in all WWII shooters ever

a snow level, a sniper rifle, a long tedious trek getting killed by enemies you can't see because they're so far away

and here is that thread out of interest

haha like the last post.

bosses whose mouths have to open before you can kill them

also see, obvious fluffy pink sensitive extruding puss sticking out of their belly/back/bottom

helicopters flying low in 3d racing games

(some of these I don't mind tbh, depending on the context, but it's still funny to point them out obv)

indestructible wooden doors - you've just blown up a heavily armoured helicopter gunship in a boss battle, but the gun you used for that doesn't even scratch a wooden door.

xp

they can be useful, and also to a designers advantage to know this, for instance the exploding barrels. EVERYONE knows that the red barrels will explode if shot, therefore the game designer has little need to hand feed this information to the player.

(add further to that, if the designers fail to make the red barrels explode the gamer could end up feeling robbed)

kidnapped girlfriends/sisters/scientists/presidents/princesses

Just mentioned these recently: abandoned lab where evil genetic experimentation was taking place, gruesome creatures (part human!?) incubating in tubes, ARGH! THEY BE BREAKING OUT IN SCARY FASHION!

this*

lava being non-negotiable

^^^ also a cliche of children's playground time! "over there is lava!"

I met this guy named Count Mordoom and he seems like a pretty cool, religious dude! But I hope he doesn't betray me later...

"over there is lava!"

HA HA

To be fair, lava is pretty non-negotiable in real life.

mine carts
floating coins/rings/stars

ice level

To be fair, lava is pretty non-negotiable in real life.

But also non-negotiable in real life: bullets, the unending entropic march of time, taking a strike in the head from a well-swung sledgehammmer. Didn't stop games from saying "WHAT IF" about them, right?

That rmeinds me though, on the original topic:
Bullet time!

Lava is totally negotiable in video games. First you go "FUCK THIS IS HOT HOT HOT" and steam comes off your body as you leap through the air. And then if you land in it again, you are dead. Meanwhile if you landed in lava in real life, you are arguably much more fucked than in the video game scenario.

i want a game where i get a machine that lets me swim around in lava

like those spinny drill things in ninja turtles! mutant modules! http://www.ninjaturtles.com/toys/1990/module.jpg

three way lasers. Do those things exist anywhere but in video games?

Lava in real life - non negotiable even if you're a quarter of a mile away from it. Lava in Oblivion - surprisingly negotiable, as I found out when I really didn't want to navigate the networks of caves to get to the islands with the towers on them.

okay then, SPIKES being non negotiable

crap flamethrower effect

again, 'Steam' being non-negotiable

some area blocked off by a crazily arching electrical fault that you have to turn off

also, inaccessible item in a pool of acid

code cards/access cards/security cards
bosses who run away during cutscenes
vague "save the planet" backstories
imprisoned and all your weapons taken just as game becoming easy/fun

as you progress through the world, the towns you visit sell stronger and stronger weapons and armour

qcf

imprisoned and all your weapons taken just as game becoming easy/fun

oh god yes, or finding yourself with a suspiciously generous amount of weapons/money/useful-items only to suddenly have them all whipped away. (monkey island is one)

logs/diaries/records conveniently placed about that clue you in on what exactly transpired in this ill-fated area.

sub-category: logs/diaries/records that go a) this is what's up b) things are getting strange c) omg things are getting out of hand d) ARHGK!!!

haha circa otm on pt.2. the number of times that happens in FO3 is unholy

would be interesting in reverse

light relief provided by your character eavesdropping on a humorous conversation between two guards

oh man all of the ones in the past 24 hours are so OTM that the M is in pain due to the dogpile OTM.

some stupid fucking cranking/cog machine that you need a lever, or 8 separate cogs for
some stupid fucking plant from which you need 8 leaves
some stupid fucking family from which you need to rescue 8 children
locked door which is just a graphic which you spend 18 hours trying to open without realising you're stuck for some entirely different reason
bosses you think you are using the wrong tactic to kill, or missing some easy quick kill, who are actually just really fucking hard.

sub-category: logs/diaries/records that go a) this is what's up b) things are getting strange c) omg things are getting out of hand d) ARHGK!!!

I love these every time.

You've seemingly cleared the level of enemies, then you pick up that one object (key, whatever), and suddenly the place is swarming with ninjas/soldiers/monsters that couldn't have possibly got to those positions without you seeing

puzzle pieces

must get to the loading dock (wherever) but it's blocked by tons of unpassable crap. once you get there and get the key after going through about 300 rooms and killing endless foes there's a door you couldn't open that lets you go back to where you started from.

Money are only accepted by people selling weapons, armour and magic. The homeless people on the streets will not take money.

Which is incredibly barmy, when you think about it.

There are several ancient artifacts scattered throughout the land that when brought together, create the all-powerful X. This will save the world, or in the wrong hands, DESTROY IT.

Is this a fantasy fiction thing that transferred over or is it just something that fantasy RPG's (typically) invented for themselves?

And if homeless people do take your money, they'll turn out to be the only person who knows the location of the person you're searching for.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e386/Alsirat1234/birds0zu7gy.gif

haha otm, unless you can shoot them

switch activates door or bridge, but you only have 30 seconds to get there! otherwise you gotta do the whole thing over again

despite their land being overrun by evil manners and it being a time of darkness and despair in general, townspeople have nothing better to do than standing around and waiting for you to talk to them

boss triumphantly dies...only to transform into a even bigger and more badass boss!

to be fair that happens in real life when you kill your boss

dunno why I typed in manners instead of monsters self xxp

lol i thought that was some sort of british thing

rofl

in a scifi game with humans + two alien races, one alien race will be made up of super powerful units who are limited in number, the other will be some sort of hive/swarm like race who kill through numbers, and the humans will be the happy medium jack of all trades between the two