Serious or Humorous

[philteredkhaos 131]

I should have posted this as "Serious or Silly" to more accurately describe what I had in mind, which were silly, like Sis RPGs. Have you ever seen them? They are wacky. But the original question remains do you think it is better to focus solely on making one type of game or another? Like, if I want to make a bunch of silly games, and then produce one with a more serious tone, would the silliness have already tainted people's perceptions? Or would it be a better option to use a Nom Du Jeu (Game Name), and produce them under 2 different aliases? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYxDN2xPe_E <---Emily's Big Adventure (Sis RPG)

Edited October 4, 2014 by philteredkhaos

[SpookyMothman 361]

I was gonna give an awfully predictable answer, based only on your title. Then I read the topic, and... it's an interesting question. Can't say I've thought of it until now.

 

I think your games' topics should be able to speak for themselves. I think if you typically make funny games, people would probably expect more funny games from you. But I dunno. If you were to make a serious game, it would probably have a lot of impact, especially since it'd be a surprise to your audience.

 

Bottom line is, don't focus on either funny or serious; focus on what you're comfortable doing. If you want to try your hand at tones you don't usually touch, then go for it.

[magic2345 252]

There's something called "The Gap". For example, if you always dress poorly, doesn't take care of yourself, etc, but then suddenly, you look good, people are gonna be surprised. This can go both ways though, they can be pleasantly surprised or...the opposite. If an adult with a stern and intimidating face suddenly use baby talk to his cat, people who doesn't know him well would be surprised.

 

You know, things like that. So I say, go for whatever it is you want to do.

[Knighterius 502]

Seriously, I am a humorous man.

 

But honestly, if you're that worried then just go under an alias. In my adventure games I add comedy and seriousness, and in my horror games I add creepy, serious, and interesting. People know what to expect. 

Edited October 2, 2014 by Knighterius

[philteredkhaos 131]

"The Gap" I didn't have a term for it, but that's exactly it. I am learning RPG Maker right now, I have used this iteration for a few days over a month. My first few games I am making deliberately silly, because it's a learning process, but eventually, I want to use it for serious storytelling. I then began wondering what other's opinions are on the subject, like I know many writers use a nom de plume (pen name) and write works outside of their established territory, so I wondered how some of my fellow designers at this community hub felt about it. Thanks for your input. You've all given me food for thought!

 

@Knighterius: Ha! I see what you did there

[HumanNinja 144]

Alfred Hitchcock is most known for his horror/suspense movies but he also made comedies that were a hit then and have been remade in the last decade (i.e. Chuck and Larry, Mr. and Mrs. Smith) and he put his real name on them. So I believe it could work out.

[Darkanine 116]

If you go to humorous, then the jokes will get stale or predicable, if you go to serious, then the dialogue can get boring and tedious, you can have a really serious and tense scene...then end it with a character farting, normally this wouldn't be funny but sense it just comes out of nowhere..you might laugh at the utter weirdness of it, this might completely ruin the scene though and can only be funny once or MAYBE twice.

 

One of my favorite examples of one of these is in South Park: Bigger longer uncut, (spoiler) when the Mole dies, and his last words is "although I die, our freedom will be won, so I die, la resistance lives on" and then he dies and Kyle yells obscene language.

 

Viceversa, you can have a humorous or charming scene end with one of the characters getting murdered, I believe Final Fantasy VI does this thing pretty well.

 

TL:DR

Balance yourself out, add humor and serious and mix them together for powerful scenes.

[IrateResearcher 10]

I like a bit of humor with my horror, and a bit of seriousness with my humor.

[Kayzee 4,033]

Personally I like stories that are kinda silly and funny... and then punch you in the gut with drama just as you let your guard down, but never stop being kinda funny sometimes. I donno, I just tend to think you need lighter moments to really make the drama have punch to it you know? If things are too serious all the time it just becomes a boring soap opera where you have no emotional investment in anything, and if it's too humorous all the time it just becomes kind of a pointless series of events with no impact. You need both, ya know? 

[pencilcase27 66]

I am not sure if I understand the question. Is this about one game that has both humorus and serious parts, and you'r wondering if that fits together, or are you worrying that, if you make a few funny games, people will think of you as "that guy/girl that makes funny games", and then, when you make a serious game, they won't take you serious?

[Tsarmina 2,612]

I enjoy fairly serious stories, maybe with a little melodrama *guilty* but I like touches of humor. The thing is that it's important to put them where it's appropriate. If something totally dark and serious and heartbreaking is going on, it may not be the best time to stuff in a humorous moment. Of course, I'm sure you know that, but it's just an example.

 

Just in everyday conversation, a nice cutscene, or anything with a fairly light undertone will work as a suitable home for a humorous moment. ^-^

[Neok 6]

A good story has a balance of both elements. For example, popular tv series like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad are reputed as being quite dark and morbid, but they have their fair share of relatively comedic moments. On the other side of the spectrum, Fresh Prince of Bel-air, despite being a comedy, had a number of very serious and real plot points, and that's certainly part of the reason why it stands out compared to other sitcoms.

[Kayzee 4,033]

Also: I didn't notice the OP talking about them before but I have to say, the Sis RPG vids are awesome. I saw them before. Hehe... as much as I like a balance sometimes pure silliness like that is neato.

[philteredkhaos 131]

Yeah, KilloZappit, the Sis RPGs are exactly what I had in mind, I had edited the OP to reflect that. I understand the balance between comedy and drama, but my first couple games are just straight up silly.

[Mushinronja 3]

I wouldn't worry about preconceptions, and would focus more on the game itself and whether or not either of the two tones are suitable for it. It's the individual scene of the individual game that should determine the tone. So rather than think "Should I make my game serious or humorous," I'd think up the story then think of the characters, stick to the story and the character's quirks and behaviors, and the scenes will play out accordingly.

 

EDIT: Accidentally double-posted due to phone internet being annoying. Dunno if i can delete posts....

Edited October 5, 2014 by Mushinronja

[Mushinronja 3]

I wouldn't worry about preconceptions, and would focus more on the game itself and whether or not either of the two tones are suitable for it. It's the individual scene of the individual game that should determine the tone. So rather than think "Should I make my game serious or humorous," I'd think up the story then think of the characters, stick to the story and the character's quirks and behaviors, and the scenes will play out accordingly.

[philteredkhaos 131]

Here is a short demo from my second game. (the first is in limbo ) It's short, but silly like the Sis RPGs, though I intend to expand both of the scenarios to at least 30 minutes each for gameplay. http://www.rpgmakervxace.net/topic/27515-moral-of-the-story-demo/

[Cait 385]

I like to think that a good game has moments of both, humor, serious and heart touching.  My stories are about characters, which is why you have moments of both and more in it.  Even if you have a satire, where you're joking about a certain style of story that is meant to laugh at themselves, has serious moments and humorous times. 

[Hymaro121 1]

I think there should certainly be elements of seriousness and humour in all stories. Generally, audiences don't like to be held in one emotional state throughout an entire story (which for an RPG could be for over 60 hours), so adding comedic elements in your serious stories and vice versa is important. I find this very difficult, personally. I think I am rather good (if I do say so myself) at writing seriousness, emotional narratives, but I'm not particularly funny. 

 

I think you need to find a balance though. FFVI, as much as I love that game, got the balance wrong in a lot of places. The problem I think was they added in too many characters that were just their to be funny. Comic relief characters, which I think is quite contrived and cliched. 

 

No one really likes following the story of someone who is a constant goofball who is never serious and no one likes following the story of the strong, silent revenge seeker who never laughs nor smiles.

 

Balance.

[philteredkhaos 131]

Balance. That is a good advice. See, for the first couple games I am making, they are off-the-wall silly (A man "infected" with a moustache goes on a rampage, destroying the neighboring towns...) but I am concerned after I learn the engine, and want to produce more serious, mature, adult (not SEXUAL adult, just more grown up themes), that people will be like... "Your the moustache guy! and you want me to take THIS game serious?"

Half tempted to create an alias for the releasing of other games. Use 2 personalities to inject my material into the world...

[Maliki 33]

I don't think it's all that serious. 

I mean, I guess I understand if you plan to release all these games you pushed out in that 30-40 days of work, but chances are good, you won't give us all of them.

I'd say don't worry about that part of your image for now.

Instead, why not be "That guy who actually FINISHES his RPG Maker games; and they're GOOD!"?

You can worry about making them serious or silly later.

 

And if you want a lesson in mixing the two, check out the story and gameplay elements of pretty much every Disgaea game to date.

 

Good luck!

[Spectre 829]

Honestly, the distinction or false dilemma here is insignificant. The injection of humor is more of a spectrum of how much humor you want to use, and the lack of humor does not mean it's a boring game. If so, you're just bad at making things interesting to begin with.

 

Conversely, yes, there are attempts at saturating games with humor, but it tends to be a hit and miss thing: Disgaea 2 and Borderlands are a prime example of this. While it does give a lighthearted feel to the game and weigh out the melodrama, humor should exist to enhance the gameplay, and not:

1. Distract

2. Disfigure

3. Distance

 

What do I mean? Humor should blend seamlessly into the gameplay. If you want to base your game around humor, as I have with the elements of parody, it should make the player more engaged in the gameplay, not distracted from it. The Deadpool Game, for example, has excellent cut scenes, but it didn't mesh overly well with the hack and slash mechanics. I'd still give some kudos to the creators for breaking the fourth wall on some levels though, like the Barrel Machine.

 

This hinges, however, on how well you can:

1. Inject humor at appropriate times.

Comedic timing has significance in games, and this is something I can't really help you with.

 

2. Make a solid game sans humor.

Humor is the icing on the proverbial... uh... fruit pie that is the game itself. If you have a bad game (*koff koff* Duke Nukem *koff*) humor doesn't do the game much justice, but serves to further exacerbate the flaws in gameplay.

 

3. Be creative.

Running on a few, limited, overtold jokes, memes in particular, gets boring after awhile. It's your job to keep this fresh. I believe this applies to regular game mechanics and storylines as well - at no point should it feel overly stale or half-baked.

[Zen Blood 70]

Within one game, it's usually good to add a little bit of silly to balance out seriousness and vice versa. However, if you do a string of silly games and then start doing serious games, I don't see how there would be a problem. Recently, I found out that the people who produced Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (a serious anime with hints of silly) also produced Space Dandy (which is a complete acid trip), which shocked me, but it didn't bother me. The only balance you need to worry about is the balance of tones within 1 game.

 

Be sure that if you switch from a silly, all-ages game genre to a serious, mature genre, that you give people a warning or maturity rating. You don't want to catch younger/sensitive viewers too off-guard.