39,327
edits
Loading Screen: Difference between revisions
m
update links
m (update links) |
m (update links) |
||
Line 23:
Loading screens can also be found in [[Web Animation|Flash animations]]. If they go for ''too'' long, it results in [[Loads and Loads of Loading]].
{{examples|Examples of in-game justification of Loading Screens}}
* ''[[Command
** The Playstation version of ''Tiberian Dawn'' and ''Red Alert'' had messages such as "connecting to satellite" and "transfering funds", ending with "prepare for battle".
*** Possibly because the PC version of ''Red Alert'' '''did''' have a blank black "is it working?" loading screen...
Line 99:
* In addition to being disguised loading screens, the elevator sequences in ''[[Mass Effect]]'' often give world-building information either through on-board announcements or in conversations between your teammates.
** ''[[Mass Effect|Mass Effect 2]]'' replaces the elevator sequences with ''actual loading screens'', which also include gameplay tips. Most are pretty straightforward, like control reminders, but one stands out: "There are no decent galactic dating services. If you want to find romance, you must talk to people."
* ''[[My Sims]]'' has to load not only when you start or continue a file, but anytime you enter or exit a building, or go to a different section of town. The load screen features a tessellation of wooden blocks, one of which has a spinning green crystal on it. The bottom has the usual notices about how loading may take a few moments, and telling you not to push Reset or the Power button. What puts them in ''this'' category is that it displays tips, such as telling you that holding B lets you place multiple copies of the same block without having to go get another one, or telling you that "I wish I had a pickaxe..."
* When entering a town in the PS360 version of ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]'', the display shows a map of the current town, including the location of the Entrance Stage, the World Map gate, Pickle's lab, and even shops.
** When entering a stage, day or night, the game gives you a friendly reminder of the controls. It doesn't last long enough to remember everything though. Thankfully the game is easy to pick up.
* ''[[Hostile Waters]]'' again; some of the pre-cutscene loading screens displayed information about the plot (made to look like a news bulletin) or about the pilots under your command.
* ''[[Dawn of War]] 2'' displays hints when loading a multiplayer game. Some tongue-in-cheek, some really, really helpful. Single-player loading screens had informations about game concepts or characters.
** Indeed, ''Dark Crusade'' used loading screens for "special" missions (the ones that earned the commander unique assets and the enemy strongholds) to provide background information about the nature of the trophy he was about to fight for or to outline the enemy's disposition.
* The second two ''[[Xenosaga]]'' games as well as ''[[Rogue Galaxy]]'' feature a "story up till now" screen when loading from a saved game.
* ''[[Naruto]]: Ultimate Ninja'' shows a few things during loading screens, such as Lee doing push-ups, Gamakichi hopping, and Tayuya playing a flute.
Line 134:
* The earliest ''[[Call of Duty]]'' games showed something relevant to the mission being loaded at the start, typically a journal written by the player character hours before the mission.
** Multiplayer across the entire series would show the name of the map loading and the game-type being run. ''[[Modern Warfare]] 2'' and later also show hints on how to use the various tools given to you, variously switching between [[Captain Obvious|obvious to anyone]] and truly helpful.
* ''[[Command
** In ''Red Alert 2'', the loading screens showed occupied territories, the location of the next battle, the icons for any new and/or mission-critical units, and what kind of battle it would be through symbols and arrows. For instance, if you were defending a base as the Allies, it would show a blue shield with a red arrow pointing at it.
*** In skirmish and multiplayer for ''Red Alert 2'', a map of your selected country would be displayed, with information on that country's special unit or ability. (Like USA's Paradrop, Russia's Tesla Tank, Yuri's [[Department of Redundancy Department|Yuri Prime]])
Line 151:
* ''[[Okami]]'' has two mini-mini-games in its loading screen, which, if completed, grant you [[Global Currency Exception|Demon Fangs]]. One of them involves pressing the X button in sync to the pawn prints appearing, and the other is just button mashing until the Demon Fang appears (though you need longer loading times to be successful). The Wii version removed these minigames.
* Long before any of those was ''[[Invade A Load]]'', the tape loader for several games published by [[Mastertronic]] for [[Commodore 64]] home computers. It was a clone of [[Taito]]'s ''[[Space Invaders]]'' that could be played for five to ten minutes while the main game was loading from the C64's very slow cassette interface. ''Ghostbusters'' on C64 featured this. [http://www.lemon64.com/games/list.php?type=publisher&name=Players+Software Players Software], too, used this kind of loader at least in some of its games (such as [http://www.lemon64.com/games/details.php?ID=1377 Joe Blade]. C64 loader games have even been trotted out on forums as prior art to potentially invalidate Namco's patent.
* In ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]. Brawl'', when playing online, you get to a training screen after you choose character and stage where you can practice with your character on a simple stage against a sandbag. Not as much loading as waiting for the other players to choose, but still...
** [[Game Mod|Game Mods]] for Brawl replace one of the tournament-banned stages with that training room so as to have more neutral stages in [[Tournament Play]]: Brawl+ replaces New Pork City, while Balanced Brawl cuts Hanenbow. Why anyone would want '''two''' Final Destinations is beyond us.
* ''[[Phantasy Star]] Online'' has 2. When you first start the game (after picking your character) you get to control a little ball of light until the game loads. When you are going through a warp you can control the "Warp Rings."
Line 174:
** Also mocked by ''[[Homestuck]]'', as shown below.
** ''[[Garry's Mod]]'' normally tells what it's actually doing during a load screen, but if it takes more than a few seconds to load something it'll start showing nonsense like [[Valve/Memes|"Breaking update" or "Delaying Episode 3"]].
*** Many games using the Source engine has the ability to display a loading screen, and a loading bar with the actual loading messages for debugging purposes. Garry's Mod's load screen can get a little confusing because sometimes it echoes the actual loading message, and other times it shows nonsense. However, the real loading message is also helpful in showing why it's taking so long (it may be downloading a multi-megabyte custom map with several custom models and sounds from a congested server if you're playing online, for example).
** The [[Lucas Arts]] game ''[[Afterlife]]'' does it as well ("Love is: never having to say XX% loaded...").
** Certain Facebook games do this as well, two examples being Zoo World 2 ([[Incredibly Lame Pun|making the cheetahs honest, tocking the ticks]]) and Cat Rescue (stalking a mouse).
| |||