Now obviously, loading screens can be pretty annoying. You came to play, not stare at the monitor and eat another handful of chips. Next comes my thesis on how loading screens make gamers fat.
Anyhow, they happen to be one of those necessary evils in many cases. For Legend of Kilflame, we'll be doing everything in our power (which by the way, is the Power of Grayskull, soooo not too shabby) to reduce the amount of load time players sit through. But we have to be expecting to face some load times, so we're not going to skimp on how we address it.
AAA games have come a long way on this front - well some have. We can definitely learn from them either way. Some actually throw enough resources at the problem as to heavily disguise loading screens with things like in-game elevator rides! Pretty cool, especially when they even build in some plot-relevant audio content and so forth. The shimmer fades a bit once you catch on to their little trick, but A+ for effort.
Usually though, you still just stare at a graphic (and maybe some text) and nibble on a Triscuit. If the graphic is interesting, cool. If it's relevant to the game in some way and offers information, extra cool. If you can actually benefit from paying attention to it, sexy cool.
I've personally always liked when games stuff some useful tidbits on their loading screens. Not crucial info, mind you, but useful. The problem is I think sometimes the intern is writing the text. For example, don't tell me that "A jumps over enemies." If I haven't figured that out yet, I probably should walk away from gaming. "Plant mines where your enemy is going to travel." Thanks jackass, I am trying to but this guy on the other team keeps sneaking up...oh forget it.
So the Legend of Kilflame loading screen will consist of the 7 "Core" that play a large role as key items in the game. Not only are they items in the game, but they are important to the plot and gameworld. They are iconic of Ophidian Wars saga, so what better images to convey? It'll help address the challenge of working outside the realm of the average RPG (no elves, magic, mana, trolls, strength/dexterity/intelligence - etc etc).
We'll also add tips and lore and take time to carefully craft them. Again, we went outside of the RPG standard universe "comfort zone" so I see this as another opportunity to share knowledge and educate player on interesting facts and gameplay elements.
Load me up some comments if you have any.
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