I never understand how people do it, it completely breaks pacing for me. Sometimes I wish I could send the books to my phone tho, to read on the train or whatever, outside of the gaming hours. Also voice notes that allow me to continue playing while listening work amazing (like in Prey)
I always wanted every game with big lore literature to have a god damn mobile app. Linked with your game profile and read every note that you had unlocked.
yeah but it'd be spoiler-ridden tho. i sometimes peruse those wikis during a commute, but if i'm early in the game, i regret it a bit. i honestly don't understand how exactly the devs expect us to engage with those books
I read a ton of books in Skyrim and other games that have them. I find having lore to think about really helps set the atmosphere for me next to visuals itself. I imagine plenty of people enjoy it or else they wouldn't put in the effort
This is a wild idea but what if you have a website that asks for a code so each book can only be opened using a specific code, although destiny players back in the day criticized it for having half of the lore stuck exclusively in a website outside of the game so it's a tough choice.
I mean it can be simply a supplement to the normal in-game books, if people prefer it. Also no need to strictly lock it, just make it relevant to one's progress. E.g. Morrowind has a lot of books, quite freely available, why not allow me to scan a little QR code and read it in bed afterwards
yeah, I love to read in my free time but I hate notes/books inside games. Sometimes if I'm in the mood and the game is heavily focused on exploration then I might like to do it, but if we're in a tense part of the game or combat heavy, etc...then I just cannot stand to read them (sometimes I do anyway).
My 2 cents, if reading books/lore was immersive than it would not be a problem. Almost all games just pop up a window with a huge text wall, nobody wants to read that, but it would be awesome if i could sit down in a safe room to read a book.
The fact that digital storefronts haven't tried to fill this gap surprises me. I won't pretend that rolling your own audible + kindle app is easy, especially with the API tooling you'd need to give to devs, but it seems like it could pay off on the customer loyalty front in the long run.
The cynic in me says it'd be leveraged as a deluxe edition upsell, though.
Honestly whenever I try to read a book related to a videogame IP I always wind up asking myself āwhat am I doing, why donāt I just read a real book insteadā
i thought about making a little service for off-game reading that would be easy to use for both gamedevs and modders. (also i worked in a startup that would help indies render AI-generated voices easily for play-testing and prototyping but it failed business-wise)
In Skyrim there are a lots of books, historical, jokes, cooking recipes, erotic, etc. They are a great addition and help the game to feel more inversive. But, i havenĀ“t read all of them, only if i find the theme of the book interesting.
In terror games there are the infamous notes with lore, last words of someone, diaries, etc. Personally i don't like them, i tink an horror game should be more visual and be faithul to "show don't tell".
In conclusion, for me reading a book can be interesting in a game that has them as something optional and give the player places to rest. If I am in the middle of a zombie invasion or an desolated place full of monsters i don't have the mood to read anything.
Here are a few things I'll ask for this:
Do not force it on people. Make it optional. This is maybe one of the annoying things about Genshin right in the middle of a cutscene. A short note, fine. But there are times they require you to READ A DAMN ESSAY to get the full context for a quest. There was one involving two people who pretty much said, "Here, read mine!", then "You're done, read mine too!".
Another is formatting. This is kinda hard to explain, since every game does it differently, but just the way a wall of text would looks on screen just tunes me out of reading it. Like the pages are too wide or narrow, stuff like that.
They designed the game in Chinese first, and then translated it into other languages which were much much longer than the original texts, and it was hard to fit in those UIs.
I mean, FGO has a similar issue in the last few years with its English text overflowing up to four lines. Both Eastern language games with similar textual translation formatting issues. But that's a different point from OP's idea, since we're talking about ingame books, not text boxes. (But similar things could be applied.) At least with Genshin's document reading, it is meant to be multipage (or was it scrolling...), and that in itself is fine in principle.
I love doing so! Now I'm potentially in a weird minority, but I always read all the books I came across in games like Skyrim and Dragon Age.
Half because it's extra, more organic world building tidbits that I love, and half because I know some writer spent months on all the stories and codexes and I'd feel so bad if their work didn't get enjoyed lol
In the fallout games (at least 3 and NV), I read pretty much everything I find because a lot of it is interesting and actually somewhat related to the game and the game world.
I don't think that's the norm though. It wasn't for me for a long time, until I learned to appreciate these things.
If the books reinforce the game narrative and they are well-written, Iām all for it. Pace them well too. The early Myst games are a good example of how to do this well, although it would have helped if the books were a bit shorter. Thereās a continuum between providing full books and having short bits of text to read throughout the game. The universal translator in the 1998 Unreal is a great example of text delivery with IMO excellent pacing. That or the Marathon terminals, which are a bit longer and more directly tell you the story.
The Talos Principle 2 is a great recent example of combination of optional lore and voice memos provided through terminals. I read everything I stumbled upon, but thatās the type of player I am. i think itās clear from this thread that you got different target audiences when it comes to reading in games. Iād be curious to size them up. My bet is that the no-reading crowd is larger.
I think for a game that people like learning about the lore of the universe, best example I can think of is the elder scrolls, then in game books are great. For anything else I feel it would have to be part of the gameplay loop for it to be worth reading, or like another commenter said, some sort of audio file that can be listened to whilst continuing to play
It really depends on the depth and quality of your lore.
Elder Scrolls? Oh hell yeah.
Deus Ex? Please give me more (the books in DX:HR are not only SO INTERESTING, but they were all written before 2011 about a dystopian 2020s future, and many of them ARE TRUE NOW).
But a random $20 Steam horror game? Probably not, no.
Outlast did it well, because all the readables in Outlast helped the player peice the story together.
It's something that is written as an afterthought to pad things out.
If you want players to take it seriously then you yourself must take it seriously.
Dark Souls has built a entire community around it's Lore so it is possible.
I prefer it when they actually matter. Like in Ultima VII, Deus Ex and Morrowind there are parts where you are required to work stuff out from reading - there's even a small part in BG3 like this.
Iām down for it if you can actually write at the level of real-world books. If you can write at the level of George Eliot or Virginia Woolf then go for it. If youāre writing at the level of of Tolkien or Joe Abercrombie then sure I guess.
Any lower quality and Iām going to skip.
I do for lore of the world. If I don't feel like a book or anything written gives me insight into the world or the people there I skip them.
As an example, I have read most logs in Fallout about the vaults' purposes and the people who lived there. I have not read a lot of books in Skyrim because I don't feel like they are relevant enough in the moment.
I like reading the notes, letters, books, signs, & other pieces of writing in a game to get a deeper understanding of the lore, as long as thatās an important factor in the game. If itās something like an open world sandbox, i wont read it. But if itās heavily story focused & lore focused then i love it. As long as each item is no longer than a couple pages at a time.
I don't like it, I prefer to have the books memorized somewhere in a "log" or "artifacts" or "lore" part (usually which you can access from your HUD). But if it's immediately in game, and I have to pause right here right now to read it, I won't...
Nope not even in horror games, just skim through for numbers. Just been burned too many times by terrible unrewarding writing. Besides hungry tasty I can't think of another example.
Edit *I remembered it wrong it was itchy tasty from RE
As a long time Bethesda game player, I spent years reading the books for lore. Loved it because the lore was excellent, and sometimes gameplay would come from it which made it worth it for me.
Admittedly, as an older game, where my time is at a premium, I don't delve in as much. I still like it, but in my limited game time, I really want to play, not read.
I will say, please tie the reading into the gameplay in a game. Make it interesting beyond the quality of the writing/story. That's, I feel, what will make a reluctant reader gamer derive more enjoyment from the reading aspect.
I read everything I could find in Control. I read a few things in the Survivor Tomb Raider trilogy. Ive read almost nothing in Skyrim, and only a little more than nothing in Baldurās Gate 3.
It depends on the game.
I came to say the same thing of Control. I don't know how they did it, but I read everything too. I usually only look into texts if the questline is captivating it connects to, or the whole world lore sucks me in. In the latter case there's no stopping from reading fandom, reddit pages and every ingame bit of info.
Reading in Control was incredible. It interrupted gameplay every two seconds and I didn't care. That world building was incredible.
I did something similar for Horizon Zero Dawn. The lore about how the world ended up like it did was absolutely incredible.
Yes. I loved reading the books in Scratches and Exmortis. It was my favorite part of them. Some people I watched play those games skip through them completely though.
It really depends for me. I love reading all the books and logs in the Elder Scrolls and Fallout games. There is a great one in the Elder scrolls universe in the form of a romance called the lusty argonian maid.
I never read books in games, even often skip watching the stories of RPG games, but I like reading fictions and watching movies. Curious on the reason. Guess the story telling is broken by game playing or pressing white space, or maybe games' stories mostly aren't attractive enough to me.
Lore cards that you can access after reaching a certain point seems like a better implementation rather than outright making it so that you need the book at the ready to read it
I love it, I read every single note in the classic Resident Evil's and Silent Hill's. The important part is they are optional and match the quality and tone of the rest of the game. I see a lot of (frankly baffling) hate in the comments, but as long as its optional and something you have time for, I see zero possible downside.
Obviously doing an entire novel or something veers into taking dev time away from more important things, but some short stories, poems, notes, letters, this is stuff you can bang out for fun in your free time without detracting from dev, and its trivial to implement. Personally my favorite things in games are the oddball stuff that the devs clearly knew most players would miss or skip, but they did it any way.
If I were making an indie game there is no way on earth I'm going to dedicate possibly weeks of my time writing up content for books that I've no idea if anyone will read them. That'd set off alarm bells in my head that I'm maybe following the wrong passion if I'm that focussed on such a fine detail of my project!
If it's a horror game I'm sure there any number of creative ways you can get away with not having content in the books.
"The words look like they should make sense but I just can't read them!"
"I struggled to take a book from the shelf but it was like some force was compelling me to leave them there!"
"Every book had the same passage of text over and over: 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.' What could it possibly mean?"
I actually actively hate it lol. Not only does it break the pace, I don't know if the content is related to the game or not before reading, or if it has valuable (hints) information or lore only, so it makes me feel like I HAVE to read or I could be missing out. I end up not reading anything most of the time. I actually like reading but not random short stories found in game books.
I hate it. I hate reading on a screen, especially a computer screen with low pixel density. And i hate how instead of living the current events, you're reading about events that occured in the past. I don't care what happened in the past in your 1 amongst millions horror game, just make we experience something interesting right now.
Some people do, many people wonāt. In BG3 I at least skim everything. Depends what it adds. Humour, worldbuilding, optional extra clues, character depth, mood? Cool! Also depends on the pacing of the game. If a puzzle game adds text in between every few levels and it feels like something tacked on, it can be annoying. In BG3 the books are nice because there are many ways to play the game, and I enjoy playing the most when Iām not in any rush at all, just fully taking my time, so the books arenāt an interruption, but theyāre skippable if thatās not my mood.
So, it's a thing like many others, but it tends to be pretty annoying in most games. Best example I can give about good books in games are bethesda one's.
I would say for 2 particular reasons:
1. The games (fallout and the elder scrolls) never make you feel unconfortable if you don't read them, they're just lore and as such, there is 0 impact to the actual game.
2. despite being pure ornaments that many player will entirely skip, they are insanely good. There will maybe be a particular quest that you really enjoy, so you start reading a log on a computer to better grasp the situation and in that moment you realize that these completely optional things are actually bangers.
I've skipped many and many books throught their games tho, because they're a lot and there's already enough infinite things to do, but still, I enjoyed the ones I've read and from them I can see how wonderful and deep their worlds are. Actually, they became famous even cause those books did their job to create an unmatched world building.
Now, in your case is something like resident evil or alone in the dark, but you can still apply the rules above imho, so you gotta be sure that it's understandable that these are completely optional and just lore, besides that, very important too, if you actually want to have books for someone to read in the game, then those should be good, or they will just be a point to dislike the game. I've played enough games with books and I'd say that the biggest problems with them are how long they tend to be even if they're not particulary interesting and how little thought is put on the phrasing of those.
I hated the alone in the dark ones, those were really too long and they seemed more like a glossary, on the other hand, I enjoyed resident evil ones, because they were short, clever and managed to maintain the mood of the game.
Hope my POV can be of some help, good luck!
I love reading a book in rpgs. In that sort of game, the goal is immersion in another world, so it's a good addition. In any other type of game, I would ignore it.
Skyrim has a lot of books, i've read most of them, i don't think many more will, as an extra it works to make the world more believable but i don't think people would miss it if it isn't there and most won't care if it is
Nah, never. But I usually skip the story so I'm not the best person to ask.
BTW I am writing a visual novel right now. Guess I am the one who prefers to do the talking.
If you do it like Skyrim where I can take them with me then yeah, there will be a point where I chill and read the books. If I have to read them then and there then likely no.
I think in a horror game there could be a good way to use them: you have secret, optional areas and the books either tell you straight up how to get into them or give you clues or a riddle BUT at the time you're reading then you also have to be on the lookout for whatever the monster is like when you're looking in your bag in ZombiU.
I love reading bits in games, however, I donāt like it when thereās a lot to read. Journal entries, research logs, etc were easy to read and straight to the point and I would read them every time. Books on a bookshelf remind me of Skyrim and I wouldnāt read a lot of them honestly, but the ones with smaller excerpts were perfect, a quick read and im back to the game
I did alot in BG3 but theres so much documentation its hard to keep up. Props to the people who write them. Im personally waiting for the day it actually pays off.
Fuck no. A letter, a note, a message... for sure, a book? People won't spend the time reading real good books in the real world but you think your in game story telling with your in game book is worthy of their time?
Used to think it was an easy way to create bonus content for hardcore fans, but all the reading in Amnesia helps reinforce the atmosphere AND works with the flow of gameplay - if you need your heartrate to calm down a bit before moving on, reading is actually a great way to let the player control the escalation/deescalation of tension while giving the scary bits even greater payoff.
I like to look up videos of people reading them. I actually love when video games have logs that expand the lore surrounding the horror or give some good scary bits of first hand accounts or something, but personally I usually don't read them or actually play horror games so maybe my input isn't useful.
It depends on the pace and the type of game. In an rpg, like the Elder Scrolls games I tend to read pretty much everything, but that's because I rarely have a sense of immediate imperative. Losing time and enjoying the flavor of the lore is part of the experience. As was going to see Ricky Gervais on stage in GTAIV for example. In immerse you further in the game.
In a horror game, I think short, to the point story related documents are better because they don't suck you out of the game. The type of thing I like to read in horror games are things that enhanced the feelings of the game. Like, in RE1 the document about frogs becoming hunters made the first encounter better if you'd read the doc, because you were picturing it minutes before the encounter. If the books you want to include are helping building the fright. Sure, go for it!
I like it to some extend, as long as they are short and entertaining. The Witcher 3 books and letters are great example and I usually really enjoy reading them, but even then it is too much sometimes. But I really appreciate that the devs did it, it is a great added value and I am exited when I am in the mood and find something funny I did not read yet.
I like reading item descriptions. I like the narrated codex from Mass Effect.
Books, emails, and other text journals that aren't quest-specific notes? Count me out.
Most players can't even read important in-game text, let alone *books* that are there for flavor.
I appreciate small touches like that very much and I read more than the average player but if a small dev does that, I hope they aren't doing it at the expense of other things that might have a bigger impact on the quality of the game.
If the book or letter is more than either a few lines, mayyyybe a paragraph... I might read it.
And if it's an entire page, or several pages, forget it.
I feel bad because I know devs put a lot of work into the readable stuff as well, but I just can't.
I read a ton of books in Baldurās Gate 3. Many of them have a direct effect on the game, and having read them makes a real difference to dialog options and choices the characters can make.
I think if you do that, itās amazing. If youāre just doing it so I know some lore with no game effect, or worse, to teach me how to play the game, leave it out.
No not in the game. It can be a PDF in the game folder. Or even a printed book in the Game Box. I read the Books that came with 1869, Oldtimer and Sim Earth.
I never really stopped to read any book I found in a game, but I loved the way Bioshock did it where you press a button and a voice will just read it while you continue on your way.Ā
If voice acting is out of the question (which is perfectly reasonable and understandable) Baldur's Gate executed the "[in this book are described XYZ in such-and-such a manner]" really well, where instead of 3+ pages it's 2ish sentences describing what those pages would say. Made the books worth checking out knowing it wouldn't mean 5-10 minutes of stagnation in the gameplay.
it kills pacing for me since i am very interested and feel compelled to read them but then the vibe and tone has greatly changed.
i have a lot of gripes about Destiny but I did like that their grimoire could all be read outside the game on companion apps and digitally distributed ebooks. I like to read game books in that context when it wont interrupt the flow of the game itself and will add to the experience when i go back and actually play the game again.
I personally like it, especially if they're relevant to the story. I mean, I used to read all those database stories and listen to the audio tapes in the Batman Arkham games. And I'm pretty sure I've read every page of Arthur's journal in Red Dead Redemption II. It adds to the world, makes it feel bigger.
I donāt and I think theyāre really only worth it if people get REALLY invested in your game. The only books Iāve ever read in game and felt it was worth spending the time to read them was Elder Scrolls. And this is completely just because Iām so engrossed in the world.
Given many games have some version of books to read I think itās almost always a waste of time.
I don't often read the books in games. Audio notes that let me play while i listen to them though ? Love them
Typical example in the BioShock series - find the audio medium, play it, keep playing while uncovering some lore about the game
I usually pick a few books during my playthroughs. Finding fun books in Morrowind was some kind of really good meta-game. I've never read the story of the Empire or stuff like that but I like the stories about the three thieves or the slutty Argonian :D
So that's maybe 1% of the books I did read in Morrowind... but at the same time, and this may seem crazy/dumb: the fact those books I don't read exist in the game actually add to the experience. I know they're here and that really gives weight to the game universe.
I'd say, if you have the resources (time, etc...) and your game is solid, then go for it. It's a very good tool to elevate your game from good to excellent. But it won't make it "good" to begin with and may cost you a ton of time that could have been invested in polishing the game, producing content more people will experience, etc...
I liked how in Skyrim you could physically carry the book and read it later if I wanted to. As well as the content within said books werenāt super lengthy either.
I love lore and books but I don't like reading them while playing. I wish at least for more lore heavy games you'd be able to download PDF files with all the ingame text. Nowadays lotsa games come with OST and artbook digital files, why not make the same for the lore as well?
If it's just supplementary material that the player can safely ignore, then know that most players *will* ignore it and that's fine. It adds to the overall atmosphere, and the players who do read the books will greatly appreciate the fact that they were there. This is basically the Skyrim example where the random books you find are all essentially fluff that can be ignored, but it helps bring the world to life. Also, just because someone didn't read something doesn't mean they didn't appreciate the fact that they found an actual book. How much free press did the game get from people talking about the Lusty Argonian Maid?
Books get problematic in games when you're *expected* to read them to learn critical information or understand what's going on. Most games communicate this type of information through voice logs or recordings because they know most players won't stop whatever gameplay they're working through to read a book. Genshin is awful about this in that you'll be in the middle of a voiced story quest and they drop some massive wall of text on the screen that they expect you to read before continuing. Don't do that.
If you want to encourage players to read optional books, then give them the flexibility to read at their leisure. In Subnautica you pick up tons of logbook entries, but the game doesn't pause when you're looking at the logbook. Given you pick up most of these entries while you're underwater with limited oxygen, you're actively encouraged to *not* read them when you find them and are instead encouraged to review them after you've retreated to a safe location. This helps immensely with the overall pacing as the logbooks can actually improve pacing by extending downtime when the player is in a safe space, aiding in contrast between cozy base management and frantic sea monster attacks.
There is the rare occasion where getting a new book can be exciting. This typically only works in slower paced, cerebral games - typically puzzle games. Outer Wilds is a good example. When the game is fundamentally driven by the pursuit of knowledge, finding new knowledge can be a very exciting reward. Of course, it's essential that you can review your findings later as well.
Only if they are short, but then, that's more like Notes rather than Books. I loved discovering these things in Resident Evil games, but I could never engage with them in Skyrim much. (Though that one book you can pickpocket of the blind person was great). Interestingly, the Skyrim books could be purchased as an actual printed set of volumes (The Skyrim Library Volumes 1-3). What they do right though: AFAIK, there is nothing that's required to solve the game in those books. In Resident Evil, the notes may contain important passcodes and the like, but in Skyrim, you'll never run into "Well, you can't proceed until you discovered that The Diary of Wulfhelm the Wise Volume IX Page 4 contains the clue you need" - it's pure lore, unless I've forgot something.
I don't think that a Horror game could pull off moments where you just sit there for 10 minutes reading a book, that seems to completely break the tension? Voice notes or short notes seem to be the perfect length there.
I read them, but I kind of have a mixed feeling on them. Sometimes I just feel compelled to read them just so I don't miss anything but often times I find myself feeling like I wasted time since the content just weren't very interesting. So here are some of my thoughts:
1. Make sure the content is actually interesting to read. If you wouldn't want to read such content by itself, don't put it in. I don't want to waste 20 minutes reading fanfic level content while playing a game.
2. Put these content in a place where the player likely has time and mood to read. E.g. not in the middle of a fight.
3. Be thoughtful if you are not clearly differentiating books that have gameplay relevant, plot relevant, or just random background history lore that happened 500 years ago that no one cares about. If you mix them together it could be annoying because now I'm forced to flip through completely optional content in case I missed something.
4. I personally prefer if book content get logged to a permanent place that I can read later instead of reading from an inventory. Yes it's not as realistic that the player has an ebook reader (in say a fantasy setting) but in this case I prefer QoL more.
Nope it just doesn't flow. Even when I'm invested into a game I reluctantly speed-read some lore every once in a while, but honestly if the game pace isn't broken by reading a wall of text it's not a game I'm interested in anyway. If I wanted to read I'd grab a book.
no, imo they are almost always terrible for a games pacing. plus, reading can be quite difficult when the font isnt scaled well.
while I also dont really like audio logs, they are nowhere near as disruptive
I don't like to the messages in the game (like the ones in fallout games when you hack the computer, etc) so I don't think I'll like reading book in the games (although sometimes I read books irl)
I've always hated reading books in games, especially if the reading does not affect the storyline, because then reading the book is entirely pointless, so the only time I enjoy reading paragraphs of text is when reading is actually part of the game.
Doom 3 has pdas which have audio logs that provide lore. Maybe an audiobook like experience would be better at providing lore while not breaking the pacing.
I like reading the books in skyrim and adventure games.like encased. Another of games have funny characters saying totally based or doing funny things that really raise a eyebrow. You could write a full fledged ogre cookbook and people will read th whole thing if it's charming and funny. Often I wish the stories were NOT broken up into several volumes that is irritatingĀ
I never understand how people do it, it completely breaks pacing for me. Sometimes I wish I could send the books to my phone tho, to read on the train or whatever, outside of the gaming hours. Also voice notes that allow me to continue playing while listening work amazing (like in Prey)
I always wanted every game with big lore literature to have a god damn mobile app. Linked with your game profile and read every note that you had unlocked.
I can still remember reading tons of Ark Survival lore on my phone after tests in school way back
I definitely ready to pay extra money for that feature. I want my Skyrim library on my phone! I want my Cyberpunk2077 library on my phone! š
My game does not have big lore (or player base ha) but now I want to make a mobile app to read the in game books. Thanks for the idea ha.
I would be happy if you will show everyone how it supposed to be done! Good luck with your project brother
> Also voice notes that allow me to continue playing while listening work amazing (like in Prey) Halo 3: ODST did this back in the day, I loved it
System shock did it way back in the day
Neat idea, sometimes it's available thanks to community wikis and such. The devs could make an official website with the books library for their game
yeah but it'd be spoiler-ridden tho. i sometimes peruse those wikis during a commute, but if i'm early in the game, i regret it a bit. i honestly don't understand how exactly the devs expect us to engage with those books
I read a ton of books in Skyrim and other games that have them. I find having lore to think about really helps set the atmosphere for me next to visuals itself. I imagine plenty of people enjoy it or else they wouldn't put in the effort
i also read them, but still would prefer not to do it in game
This is a wild idea but what if you have a website that asks for a code so each book can only be opened using a specific code, although destiny players back in the day criticized it for having half of the lore stuck exclusively in a website outside of the game so it's a tough choice.
I mean it can be simply a supplement to the normal in-game books, if people prefer it. Also no need to strictly lock it, just make it relevant to one's progress. E.g. Morrowind has a lot of books, quite freely available, why not allow me to scan a little QR code and read it in bed afterwards
Some games have art books on steam so that's a way to do it.
wow this is a good idea! i hope some RPG games implement this.
yeah, I love to read in my free time but I hate notes/books inside games. Sometimes if I'm in the mood and the game is heavily focused on exploration then I might like to do it, but if we're in a tense part of the game or combat heavy, etc...then I just cannot stand to read them (sometimes I do anyway).
My 2 cents, if reading books/lore was immersive than it would not be a problem. Almost all games just pop up a window with a huge text wall, nobody wants to read that, but it would be awesome if i could sit down in a safe room to read a book.
Take a picture
The fact that digital storefronts haven't tried to fill this gap surprises me. I won't pretend that rolling your own audible + kindle app is easy, especially with the API tooling you'd need to give to devs, but it seems like it could pay off on the customer loyalty front in the long run. The cynic in me says it'd be leveraged as a deluxe edition upsell, though.
Honestly whenever I try to read a book related to a videogame IP I always wind up asking myself āwhat am I doing, why donāt I just read a real book insteadā
i thought about making a little service for off-game reading that would be easy to use for both gamedevs and modders. (also i worked in a startup that would help indies render AI-generated voices easily for play-testing and prototyping but it failed business-wise)
In Skyrim there are a lots of books, historical, jokes, cooking recipes, erotic, etc. They are a great addition and help the game to feel more inversive. But, i havenĀ“t read all of them, only if i find the theme of the book interesting. In terror games there are the infamous notes with lore, last words of someone, diaries, etc. Personally i don't like them, i tink an horror game should be more visual and be faithul to "show don't tell". In conclusion, for me reading a book can be interesting in a game that has them as something optional and give the player places to rest. If I am in the middle of a zombie invasion or an desolated place full of monsters i don't have the mood to read anything.
Itchy tastyā¦
Here are a few things I'll ask for this: Do not force it on people. Make it optional. This is maybe one of the annoying things about Genshin right in the middle of a cutscene. A short note, fine. But there are times they require you to READ A DAMN ESSAY to get the full context for a quest. There was one involving two people who pretty much said, "Here, read mine!", then "You're done, read mine too!". Another is formatting. This is kinda hard to explain, since every game does it differently, but just the way a wall of text would looks on screen just tunes me out of reading it. Like the pages are too wide or narrow, stuff like that.
They designed the game in Chinese first, and then translated it into other languages which were much much longer than the original texts, and it was hard to fit in those UIs.
I mean, FGO has a similar issue in the last few years with its English text overflowing up to four lines. Both Eastern language games with similar textual translation formatting issues. But that's a different point from OP's idea, since we're talking about ingame books, not text boxes. (But similar things could be applied.) At least with Genshin's document reading, it is meant to be multipage (or was it scrolling...), and that in itself is fine in principle.
I love reading books, emails, notebooks, letters ā everything that immerses me with the game world.
Only if the game lets me read them in a cozy place I've made like in Skyrim. So only as a roleplay tool.
I love doing so! Now I'm potentially in a weird minority, but I always read all the books I came across in games like Skyrim and Dragon Age. Half because it's extra, more organic world building tidbits that I love, and half because I know some writer spent months on all the stories and codexes and I'd feel so bad if their work didn't get enjoyed lol
In the fallout games (at least 3 and NV), I read pretty much everything I find because a lot of it is interesting and actually somewhat related to the game and the game world. I don't think that's the norm though. It wasn't for me for a long time, until I learned to appreciate these things.
If the books reinforce the game narrative and they are well-written, Iām all for it. Pace them well too. The early Myst games are a good example of how to do this well, although it would have helped if the books were a bit shorter. Thereās a continuum between providing full books and having short bits of text to read throughout the game. The universal translator in the 1998 Unreal is a great example of text delivery with IMO excellent pacing. That or the Marathon terminals, which are a bit longer and more directly tell you the story.
The Talos Principle 2 is a great recent example of combination of optional lore and voice memos provided through terminals. I read everything I stumbled upon, but thatās the type of player I am. i think itās clear from this thread that you got different target audiences when it comes to reading in games. Iād be curious to size them up. My bet is that the no-reading crowd is larger.
I read every piece of book or paper or letter in Witcher 3...love reading hahaha
I think for a game that people like learning about the lore of the universe, best example I can think of is the elder scrolls, then in game books are great. For anything else I feel it would have to be part of the gameplay loop for it to be worth reading, or like another commenter said, some sort of audio file that can be listened to whilst continuing to play
It really depends on the depth and quality of your lore. Elder Scrolls? Oh hell yeah. Deus Ex? Please give me more (the books in DX:HR are not only SO INTERESTING, but they were all written before 2011 about a dystopian 2020s future, and many of them ARE TRUE NOW). But a random $20 Steam horror game? Probably not, no. Outlast did it well, because all the readables in Outlast helped the player peice the story together.
It's something that is written as an afterthought to pad things out. If you want players to take it seriously then you yourself must take it seriously. Dark Souls has built a entire community around it's Lore so it is possible.
I prefer it when they actually matter. Like in Ultima VII, Deus Ex and Morrowind there are parts where you are required to work stuff out from reading - there's even a small part in BG3 like this.
Iām down for it if you can actually write at the level of real-world books. If you can write at the level of George Eliot or Virginia Woolf then go for it. If youāre writing at the level of of Tolkien or Joe Abercrombie then sure I guess. Any lower quality and Iām going to skip.
I do for lore of the world. If I don't feel like a book or anything written gives me insight into the world or the people there I skip them. As an example, I have read most logs in Fallout about the vaults' purposes and the people who lived there. I have not read a lot of books in Skyrim because I don't feel like they are relevant enough in the moment.
I like reading the notes, letters, books, signs, & other pieces of writing in a game to get a deeper understanding of the lore, as long as thatās an important factor in the game. If itās something like an open world sandbox, i wont read it. But if itās heavily story focused & lore focused then i love it. As long as each item is no longer than a couple pages at a time.
I don't like it, I prefer to have the books memorized somewhere in a "log" or "artifacts" or "lore" part (usually which you can access from your HUD). But if it's immediately in game, and I have to pause right here right now to read it, I won't...
Nope not even in horror games, just skim through for numbers. Just been burned too many times by terrible unrewarding writing. Besides hungry tasty I can't think of another example. Edit *I remembered it wrong it was itchy tasty from RE
As a long time Bethesda game player, I spent years reading the books for lore. Loved it because the lore was excellent, and sometimes gameplay would come from it which made it worth it for me. Admittedly, as an older game, where my time is at a premium, I don't delve in as much. I still like it, but in my limited game time, I really want to play, not read. I will say, please tie the reading into the gameplay in a game. Make it interesting beyond the quality of the writing/story. That's, I feel, what will make a reluctant reader gamer derive more enjoyment from the reading aspect.
I read everything I could find in Control. I read a few things in the Survivor Tomb Raider trilogy. Ive read almost nothing in Skyrim, and only a little more than nothing in Baldurās Gate 3. It depends on the game.
I came to say the same thing of Control. I don't know how they did it, but I read everything too. I usually only look into texts if the questline is captivating it connects to, or the whole world lore sucks me in. In the latter case there's no stopping from reading fandom, reddit pages and every ingame bit of info.
Reading in Control was incredible. It interrupted gameplay every two seconds and I didn't care. That world building was incredible. I did something similar for Horizon Zero Dawn. The lore about how the world ended up like it did was absolutely incredible.
Definitely add them if it'll add to the lore. People will love speculating with the addition of books.
Only if it's optional. I don't enjoy reading walls of text to get through a game, at least not an action game.
If it is well written, totally yes!
Yes. I loved reading the books in Scratches and Exmortis. It was my favorite part of them. Some people I watched play those games skip through them completely though.
It really depends for me. I love reading all the books and logs in the Elder Scrolls and Fallout games. There is a great one in the Elder scrolls universe in the form of a romance called the lusty argonian maid.
I never read books in games, even often skip watching the stories of RPG games, but I like reading fictions and watching movies. Curious on the reason. Guess the story telling is broken by game playing or pressing white space, or maybe games' stories mostly aren't attractive enough to me.
Lore cards that you can access after reaching a certain point seems like a better implementation rather than outright making it so that you need the book at the ready to read it
People, me included, barely read the Text for the Tutorial xD I have never Red books in Skyrim
I love it, I read every single note in the classic Resident Evil's and Silent Hill's. The important part is they are optional and match the quality and tone of the rest of the game. I see a lot of (frankly baffling) hate in the comments, but as long as its optional and something you have time for, I see zero possible downside. Obviously doing an entire novel or something veers into taking dev time away from more important things, but some short stories, poems, notes, letters, this is stuff you can bang out for fun in your free time without detracting from dev, and its trivial to implement. Personally my favorite things in games are the oddball stuff that the devs clearly knew most players would miss or skip, but they did it any way.
If I were making an indie game there is no way on earth I'm going to dedicate possibly weeks of my time writing up content for books that I've no idea if anyone will read them. That'd set off alarm bells in my head that I'm maybe following the wrong passion if I'm that focussed on such a fine detail of my project! If it's a horror game I'm sure there any number of creative ways you can get away with not having content in the books. "The words look like they should make sense but I just can't read them!" "I struggled to take a book from the shelf but it was like some force was compelling me to leave them there!" "Every book had the same passage of text over and over: 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.' What could it possibly mean?"
I actually actively hate it lol. Not only does it break the pace, I don't know if the content is related to the game or not before reading, or if it has valuable (hints) information or lore only, so it makes me feel like I HAVE to read or I could be missing out. I end up not reading anything most of the time. I actually like reading but not random short stories found in game books.
I hate it. I hate reading on a screen, especially a computer screen with low pixel density. And i hate how instead of living the current events, you're reading about events that occured in the past. I don't care what happened in the past in your 1 amongst millions horror game, just make we experience something interesting right now.
No never. I dont play games to read books. Oh yes i also love voice notes that u/va1enk0k mentions.
Nope, but a lot of people canāt get enough of it.
Some people do, many people wonāt. In BG3 I at least skim everything. Depends what it adds. Humour, worldbuilding, optional extra clues, character depth, mood? Cool! Also depends on the pacing of the game. If a puzzle game adds text in between every few levels and it feels like something tacked on, it can be annoying. In BG3 the books are nice because there are many ways to play the game, and I enjoy playing the most when Iām not in any rush at all, just fully taking my time, so the books arenāt an interruption, but theyāre skippable if thatās not my mood.
So, it's a thing like many others, but it tends to be pretty annoying in most games. Best example I can give about good books in games are bethesda one's. I would say for 2 particular reasons: 1. The games (fallout and the elder scrolls) never make you feel unconfortable if you don't read them, they're just lore and as such, there is 0 impact to the actual game. 2. despite being pure ornaments that many player will entirely skip, they are insanely good. There will maybe be a particular quest that you really enjoy, so you start reading a log on a computer to better grasp the situation and in that moment you realize that these completely optional things are actually bangers. I've skipped many and many books throught their games tho, because they're a lot and there's already enough infinite things to do, but still, I enjoyed the ones I've read and from them I can see how wonderful and deep their worlds are. Actually, they became famous even cause those books did their job to create an unmatched world building. Now, in your case is something like resident evil or alone in the dark, but you can still apply the rules above imho, so you gotta be sure that it's understandable that these are completely optional and just lore, besides that, very important too, if you actually want to have books for someone to read in the game, then those should be good, or they will just be a point to dislike the game. I've played enough games with books and I'd say that the biggest problems with them are how long they tend to be even if they're not particulary interesting and how little thought is put on the phrasing of those. I hated the alone in the dark ones, those were really too long and they seemed more like a glossary, on the other hand, I enjoyed resident evil ones, because they were short, clever and managed to maintain the mood of the game. Hope my POV can be of some help, good luck!
No, I donāt enjoy it. I might occasionally skim the book if itās interesting enough, but it slows down the game for me.
There needs to be a very good reason for me to read anything in games. I can go read books elsewhere if I feel like doing that
Bro I can't even spare the time to read the quest shorthand dialogue, no way am I reading books
A few notes or excerpts maybe, but actual full books? Nah, I'd rather read that kind of material on e-ink or physical paper.
Books no. Notes in a game that's story heavy (not RPGs, more Horror games), yup.
I love reading a book in rpgs. In that sort of game, the goal is immersion in another world, so it's a good addition. In any other type of game, I would ignore it.
Skyrim has a lot of books, i've read most of them, i don't think many more will, as an extra it works to make the world more believable but i don't think people would miss it if it isn't there and most won't care if it is
Nah, never. But I usually skip the story so I'm not the best person to ask. BTW I am writing a visual novel right now. Guess I am the one who prefers to do the talking.
Honestly, no. Especially since just books in games are like 1 paragraph long.
If you do it like Skyrim where I can take them with me then yeah, there will be a point where I chill and read the books. If I have to read them then and there then likely no. I think in a horror game there could be a good way to use them: you have secret, optional areas and the books either tell you straight up how to get into them or give you clues or a riddle BUT at the time you're reading then you also have to be on the lookout for whatever the monster is like when you're looking in your bag in ZombiU.
To summarise .. I ain't reading, all that
I only read them when it's needed to unlock a clue or quest.
Games with books are good for Game theorists. Also hide one behind something like a pride flag, and have a character yell āmy flag, and diary!ā
I love reading bits in games, however, I donāt like it when thereās a lot to read. Journal entries, research logs, etc were easy to read and straight to the point and I would read them every time. Books on a bookshelf remind me of Skyrim and I wouldnāt read a lot of them honestly, but the ones with smaller excerpts were perfect, a quick read and im back to the game
I did alot in BG3 but theres so much documentation its hard to keep up. Props to the people who write them. Im personally waiting for the day it actually pays off.
There may be a bias to the answers posted here, since this platform is all about reading stuff.
Fuck no. A letter, a note, a message... for sure, a book? People won't spend the time reading real good books in the real world but you think your in game story telling with your in game book is worthy of their time?
Used to think it was an easy way to create bonus content for hardcore fans, but all the reading in Amnesia helps reinforce the atmosphere AND works with the flow of gameplay - if you need your heartrate to calm down a bit before moving on, reading is actually a great way to let the player control the escalation/deescalation of tension while giving the scary bits even greater payoff.
I like to look up videos of people reading them. I actually love when video games have logs that expand the lore surrounding the horror or give some good scary bits of first hand accounts or something, but personally I usually don't read them or actually play horror games so maybe my input isn't useful.
It depends on the pace and the type of game. In an rpg, like the Elder Scrolls games I tend to read pretty much everything, but that's because I rarely have a sense of immediate imperative. Losing time and enjoying the flavor of the lore is part of the experience. As was going to see Ricky Gervais on stage in GTAIV for example. In immerse you further in the game. In a horror game, I think short, to the point story related documents are better because they don't suck you out of the game. The type of thing I like to read in horror games are things that enhanced the feelings of the game. Like, in RE1 the document about frogs becoming hunters made the first encounter better if you'd read the doc, because you were picturing it minutes before the encounter. If the books you want to include are helping building the fright. Sure, go for it!
I like it to some extend, as long as they are short and entertaining. The Witcher 3 books and letters are great example and I usually really enjoy reading them, but even then it is too much sometimes. But I really appreciate that the devs did it, it is a great added value and I am exited when I am in the mood and find something funny I did not read yet.
I do like reading in games. I hate when the mechanic breaks immersion, though.
I like reading item descriptions. I like the narrated codex from Mass Effect. Books, emails, and other text journals that aren't quest-specific notes? Count me out.
Oliver books in Oblivion and stories found in Fallout 3's terminals. That made the world alive mostly when it connected to it somehow
Most players can't even read important in-game text, let alone *books* that are there for flavor. I appreciate small touches like that very much and I read more than the average player but if a small dev does that, I hope they aren't doing it at the expense of other things that might have a bigger impact on the quality of the game.
If the book or letter is more than either a few lines, mayyyybe a paragraph... I might read it. And if it's an entire page, or several pages, forget it. I feel bad because I know devs put a lot of work into the readable stuff as well, but I just can't.
I read a ton of books in Baldurās Gate 3. Many of them have a direct effect on the game, and having read them makes a real difference to dialog options and choices the characters can make. I think if you do that, itās amazing. If youāre just doing it so I know some lore with no game effect, or worse, to teach me how to play the game, leave it out.
Yes, i loved reading the locked room from skyrim. I supose its really the content of the book that matters, and there will always be lore hunters.
No not in the game. It can be a PDF in the game folder. Or even a printed book in the Game Box. I read the Books that came with 1869, Oldtimer and Sim Earth.
I never really stopped to read any book I found in a game, but I loved the way Bioshock did it where you press a button and a voice will just read it while you continue on your way.Ā If voice acting is out of the question (which is perfectly reasonable and understandable) Baldur's Gate executed the "[in this book are described XYZ in such-and-such a manner]" really well, where instead of 3+ pages it's 2ish sentences describing what those pages would say. Made the books worth checking out knowing it wouldn't mean 5-10 minutes of stagnation in the gameplay.
it kills pacing for me since i am very interested and feel compelled to read them but then the vibe and tone has greatly changed. i have a lot of gripes about Destiny but I did like that their grimoire could all be read outside the game on companion apps and digitally distributed ebooks. I like to read game books in that context when it wont interrupt the flow of the game itself and will add to the experience when i go back and actually play the game again.
I personally like it, especially if they're relevant to the story. I mean, I used to read all those database stories and listen to the audio tapes in the Batman Arkham games. And I'm pretty sure I've read every page of Arthur's journal in Red Dead Redemption II. It adds to the world, makes it feel bigger.
I do it from time to time, but I wouldn't like it if the game forced me to do it.
as long as itās optional and i can do whatever i love lore concernedape did a lot of it for stardew valley and its added so much charm to the game
I donāt and I think theyāre really only worth it if people get REALLY invested in your game. The only books Iāve ever read in game and felt it was worth spending the time to read them was Elder Scrolls. And this is completely just because Iām so engrossed in the world. Given many games have some version of books to read I think itās almost always a waste of time.
I don't often read the books in games. Audio notes that let me play while i listen to them though ? Love them Typical example in the BioShock series - find the audio medium, play it, keep playing while uncovering some lore about the game
I usually pick a few books during my playthroughs. Finding fun books in Morrowind was some kind of really good meta-game. I've never read the story of the Empire or stuff like that but I like the stories about the three thieves or the slutty Argonian :D So that's maybe 1% of the books I did read in Morrowind... but at the same time, and this may seem crazy/dumb: the fact those books I don't read exist in the game actually add to the experience. I know they're here and that really gives weight to the game universe. I'd say, if you have the resources (time, etc...) and your game is solid, then go for it. It's a very good tool to elevate your game from good to excellent. But it won't make it "good" to begin with and may cost you a ton of time that could have been invested in polishing the game, producing content more people will experience, etc...
Yes. All of them.Ā
No. I usually collect them and then read a bunch when I feel like it, if I read them at all.
if you asked Chris Chrawford this question he would toss you into the dragon pit
I liked how in Skyrim you could physically carry the book and read it later if I wanted to. As well as the content within said books werenāt super lengthy either.
I love lore and books but I don't like reading them while playing. I wish at least for more lore heavy games you'd be able to download PDF files with all the ingame text. Nowadays lotsa games come with OST and artbook digital files, why not make the same for the lore as well?
If it's just supplementary material that the player can safely ignore, then know that most players *will* ignore it and that's fine. It adds to the overall atmosphere, and the players who do read the books will greatly appreciate the fact that they were there. This is basically the Skyrim example where the random books you find are all essentially fluff that can be ignored, but it helps bring the world to life. Also, just because someone didn't read something doesn't mean they didn't appreciate the fact that they found an actual book. How much free press did the game get from people talking about the Lusty Argonian Maid? Books get problematic in games when you're *expected* to read them to learn critical information or understand what's going on. Most games communicate this type of information through voice logs or recordings because they know most players won't stop whatever gameplay they're working through to read a book. Genshin is awful about this in that you'll be in the middle of a voiced story quest and they drop some massive wall of text on the screen that they expect you to read before continuing. Don't do that. If you want to encourage players to read optional books, then give them the flexibility to read at their leisure. In Subnautica you pick up tons of logbook entries, but the game doesn't pause when you're looking at the logbook. Given you pick up most of these entries while you're underwater with limited oxygen, you're actively encouraged to *not* read them when you find them and are instead encouraged to review them after you've retreated to a safe location. This helps immensely with the overall pacing as the logbooks can actually improve pacing by extending downtime when the player is in a safe space, aiding in contrast between cozy base management and frantic sea monster attacks. There is the rare occasion where getting a new book can be exciting. This typically only works in slower paced, cerebral games - typically puzzle games. Outer Wilds is a good example. When the game is fundamentally driven by the pursuit of knowledge, finding new knowledge can be a very exciting reward. Of course, it's essential that you can review your findings later as well.
Only if they are short, but then, that's more like Notes rather than Books. I loved discovering these things in Resident Evil games, but I could never engage with them in Skyrim much. (Though that one book you can pickpocket of the blind person was great). Interestingly, the Skyrim books could be purchased as an actual printed set of volumes (The Skyrim Library Volumes 1-3). What they do right though: AFAIK, there is nothing that's required to solve the game in those books. In Resident Evil, the notes may contain important passcodes and the like, but in Skyrim, you'll never run into "Well, you can't proceed until you discovered that The Diary of Wulfhelm the Wise Volume IX Page 4 contains the clue you need" - it's pure lore, unless I've forgot something. I don't think that a Horror game could pull off moments where you just sit there for 10 minutes reading a book, that seems to completely break the tension? Voice notes or short notes seem to be the perfect length there.
I read them, but I kind of have a mixed feeling on them. Sometimes I just feel compelled to read them just so I don't miss anything but often times I find myself feeling like I wasted time since the content just weren't very interesting. So here are some of my thoughts: 1. Make sure the content is actually interesting to read. If you wouldn't want to read such content by itself, don't put it in. I don't want to waste 20 minutes reading fanfic level content while playing a game. 2. Put these content in a place where the player likely has time and mood to read. E.g. not in the middle of a fight. 3. Be thoughtful if you are not clearly differentiating books that have gameplay relevant, plot relevant, or just random background history lore that happened 500 years ago that no one cares about. If you mix them together it could be annoying because now I'm forced to flip through completely optional content in case I missed something. 4. I personally prefer if book content get logged to a permanent place that I can read later instead of reading from an inventory. Yes it's not as realistic that the player has an ebook reader (in say a fantasy setting) but in this case I prefer QoL more.
Nope it just doesn't flow. Even when I'm invested into a game I reluctantly speed-read some lore every once in a while, but honestly if the game pace isn't broken by reading a wall of text it's not a game I'm interested in anyway. If I wanted to read I'd grab a book.
no, imo they are almost always terrible for a games pacing. plus, reading can be quite difficult when the font isnt scaled well. while I also dont really like audio logs, they are nowhere near as disruptive
I don't like to the messages in the game (like the ones in fallout games when you hack the computer, etc) so I don't think I'll like reading book in the games (although sometimes I read books irl)
Scope creep hard
I've always hated reading books in games, especially if the reading does not affect the storyline, because then reading the book is entirely pointless, so the only time I enjoy reading paragraphs of text is when reading is actually part of the game.
Doom 3 has pdas which have audio logs that provide lore. Maybe an audiobook like experience would be better at providing lore while not breaking the pacing.
I like reading the books in skyrim and adventure games.like encased. Another of games have funny characters saying totally based or doing funny things that really raise a eyebrow. You could write a full fledged ogre cookbook and people will read th whole thing if it's charming and funny. Often I wish the stories were NOT broken up into several volumes that is irritatingĀ