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[Discussion] Easter Eggs

Planetes.

Planetes.

@n_diiv
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    • Age 28
    • Seen Jun 6, 2017
    Had an idea for this thread a few days ago and finally posted it.

    I'm wondering what everyone's opinions on easter eggs are, they seem to have their fair amount of pros and cons, in my eyes. I think it's cute/funny to see a sign that says '[Developer's Name] is the best' or a trainer make a reference to a meme, but at the same time the argument can be made that it breaks your immersion and gives the game a less 'official and serious' feel, to an extent. The argument can be made that game freak themselves puts in easter eggs, although they're usually few and far between and the game already has a feel of extreme credibility to it. So, easter eggs y/n?
     
    Well, you make it seem as if the easter egg is obvious, which I think breaks the point. It has to be as least obvious as possible, but obvious enough that if someone thinks hard they can get it. If you know what I mean.
     
    It's fine when used very sparingly. I don't think you should use memes, as many people (including myself) won't find them as funny as you think.
     
    I for one am a big fan of Easter Eggs and also someone who uses them abundantly; the question, however, is exactly how much the Easter Egg(s) detract you from your regular gameplay. Your fangame'll never be official - so not much point sticking to that reason for the non-inclusion of Easter Eggs. So long as it's not something that completely throws you off the flow of the game, then they can be something rather useful, as well as a way to reflect your knowledge through references and stuff.
     
    There's a difference between an Easter egg and a shout-out. Easter eggs are hidden features within a game, which usually do nothing to affect the game (except maybe unlocking an achievement), are usually fourth wall-breaking (e.g. a photo of the dev team), and typically require some skill and uncommon thinking to access. Shout-outs, on the other hand, can be stuck anywhere, and are certainly in danger of becoming off-putting if overused.

    An Easter egg is also different to a secret, in that a secret usually rewards the player for finding it (e.g. with a rare item/weapon/health boost), and that reward is the secret itself. A secret is part of the game universe, and should behave as such. An example is the gift Eevee on top of Celadon Mansion. As I mentioned, Easter eggs can be fourth wall-breaking, and don't need context within the game - they can just exist. Of course, they shouldn't be in a place where they can be noticed by any player not actively searching for it; they could even be in a place no right mind would think of (e.g. use Rock Smash then Strength on an unremarkable wall, or talk to a particular NPC 50 times).

    With that said, I'm going to leave Easter eggs and talk about making references within the game (shout-outs). There are many kinds of these, such as a trainer who likes shorts, a trainer named after/created by one of the dev's friends, and yes, including author avatars in the GameFreak building.

    Use references sparingly, particularly if more than a handful of players will get it. It's okay to have numerous friend-created trainers, because most players will have no idea that they're based on real people rather than purely invented (just don't advertise that fact and you'll be fine). On the other hand, if you're throwing around memes like nobody's business, people will just not see past them and they'll lose interest. Consider the audience of each reference (i.e. who will recognise it?), and try leaving it out if it's a large audience.

    You should take your game seriously, and make it without shout-outs. Afterwards, you can throw a couple in if you like. They shouldn't be a part of the game, they should be extras. Don't add in too many, though, and don't break the immersion just to make a cheap Mudkip "joke". Only Easter eggs are allowed to do that, but they're different things to what you might think they are (see above).
     
    It all just depends on what kind of feel youre going for. a totally serious game with references everywhere can be a little jarring.

    Oh the flip side, Metal Gear has been a major influence on my game, and they break the 4th wall, and have references unlike any other game, while still maintaing a solid storyline. so im using their mantra and having easter eggs and references everywhere.
     
    It all just depends with how they are elaborated and the difference about how people that understand and that doesn't understand the references react about them.

    References like naming a engineer as Cid would be nice for the ones that understand and is like a random name for the ones that don't understand.

    I personally like a lot references. I made several in my game, like about the Bill secret garden. My entire game is a huge reference that more of 90% of people don't notices.
     
    I like the idea of easter eggs in games, such as the truck by the SS. Anne in the kanto games. I think putting it in was a very clever idea. There is no actual purpose to it (as far as I know) and I didn't know about it for a long time. It was very well placed.
    So if an easter egg is well hidden, discreet and has the ability to start rumours (such as Mew) then it is worth putting in. That is what an easter egg to me is all about, discreet, purpose unknown and feels like you have achieved something by finding it.
     
    Jbsundown said:
    I like the idea of easter eggs in games, such as the truck by the SS. Anne in the kanto games. I think putting it in was a very clever idea. There is no actual purpose to it (as far as I know) and I didn't know about it for a long time. It was very well placed.
    So if an easter egg is well hidden, discreet and has the ability to start rumours (such as Mew) then it is worth putting in. That is what an easter egg to me is all about, discreet, purpose unknown and feels like you have achieved something by finding it.
    Click to expand...

    I don't think that was an easter egg. It didn't reference anything, or (as far as i know) it didn't have any reason for existing.
    I don't think gamefreak knew that it would cause rumours of mew.

    An easter egg would be another pokemon game, putting a truck next to the harbor, as it would be a reference to the R/B truck.
     
    DarkDoom3000 said:
    I don't think that was an easter egg. It didn't reference anything, or (as far as i know) it didn't have any reason for existing.
    I don't think gamefreak knew that it would cause rumours of mew.

    An easter egg would be another pokemon game, putting a truck next to the harbor, as it would be a reference to the R/B truck.
    Click to expand...

    I suppose that is correct, but it was supposed to be a 'test' to see if people could actually find it which is kind of what an Easter egg is in my opinion. :)
     
    Jbsundown said:
    I suppose that is correct, but it was supposed to be a 'test' to see if people could actually find it which is kind of what an Easter egg is in my opinion. :)
    Click to expand...

    I don't think it was meant to be a test either. the fact that interacting with it does absolutely nothing indicate Gamefreak probably overlooked the fact players could even reach it. It wasn't anything more than decoration.

    You never see the truck anywhere else, because you don't see anything in the port anywhere else. IIRC all the port's tiles are unique. including the SS anne and the boxes.
     
    The truck was most likely just some leftover graphics left in a place they believed inaccessible to players.

    And I'm the sort of person who loves filling my projects with shout-outs to as much as I possibly can. If I can't find some justification for the particular shout-out in the context of the game, though, then I'll usually drop it. I don't want make "Internet Culture 2: Yuoaman Strikes Back", at least not yet.
     
    One of the advantages of having an acheievement system is you can go crazy with the acheievement names.

    Like defeating a Steelix gives you the trophy - "That's one Solid Snake" /MGS reference
    or defeating Morty, the Ghost gym leader gives you - "Who ya gonna call?"
     
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