The fully interactive Rhode Island experience can be achieved in Microsoft Flight Simulator today, though.
it's the size of nuketown and as diverse as a greta gerwig film
I believe Lord of the Rings Online last I checked but maybe something bigger is around
That doesn't stop Europeans from playing narrative games that take place in the Ass U.S. Pacific Northwest though.
My aunt & uncle used to have a cottage in Rhode Island and she would tell me about her favorite thing about RI was she could drive around the state easily and never have the same experience twice...
I wasn't expecting to learn a handful of fun facts about Rhode Island on my visit to Era today but here we are.
A lot of people are dunking on Rhode Island, but has any open world game really used their setting well. A lot of exciting and interesting cities have been made bland and uninteresting by open world games. Watch Dogs did nothing with Chicago, Assassins Creed wasted Paris during the revolution. Even Spider-Man didn't use the NYC setting for more then just window dressing.
The truth is that settings in open world games are almost always cookie cutter. Little of the excitement and fun of the real world settings translate. At best you can see some of the iconic landmarks, but that's kind of it. So why not Rhode Island?
With the right genre a open world Rhode Island could be as fun as any other setting. A horror game set around the ports could be cool. Or an eerie The Mist like game set in small towns or even Providence. Would Rhode Island add much as a setting? Probably not, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be an effective setting for the right game.
The truth is that settings in open world games are almost always cookie cutter. Little of the excitement and fun of the real world settings translate. At best you can see some of the iconic landmarks, but that's kind of it. So why not Rhode Island?
With the right genre a open world Rhode Island could be as fun as any other setting. A horror game set around the ports could be cool. Or an eerie The Mist like game set in small towns or even Providence. Would Rhode Island add much as a setting? Probably not, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be an effective setting for the right game.
Have you been to North Dakota? 😉
Not sure about Open World , but some Lovecraft type horror game could happen... Right in that Mall 🤣.
Make it fantasy/sci-fi and all Twin Peaksy and weird (ala Control) and it could totally work.
I feel like something that started in Providence/the main land and then slowly funneled you towards an endgame on the actual island, all the while engaging in some horror with American history or something, could actually be pretty cool...
RI got some interesting themes going on. H.P. Lovecraft. Corruption. Failed industries. Long history. Etc
RI got some interesting themes going on. H.P. Lovecraft. Corruption. Failed industries. Long history. Etc
Yeah, this would be the perfect use of a setting like Rhode Island. Slightly eerie, and mysterious. There is a lot of history in the state that could provide a backdrop to weird town politics, and grudges if you're doing a mystery.
No it isn't. Rhode Island sucks. There's nothing about rhode island that wouldn't be done better in nearly any other location east coast location.
Any aspect that could be unique to RI would be better just about anywhere.
Any aspect that could be unique to RI would be better just about anywhere.
It has no landmarks anyone would recognize so what's the point? Might as well use a fictional setting
Can I ask what you mean? What would any other NE coastal setting provide? Most open world games don't do much with their specific settings outside of landmarks. The OP mentioned that Rhode Island's small size would allow developers to theoretically incorporate the entire state, which could be useful for certain genres. A sort of Deadly Premonition game with an emphasis on driving through dismal weather solving a mystery could work really well.
Limiting game settings to just big cities that provide nothing more then some identifiable landmarks feels tedious. A spooky New England murder mystery might be a lot of fun. Sure you could just make a fictional town, but the point is to incorporate the whole state. There also is a lot of history that can be incorporated in the writing. As other posters have said, Rhode Island could work really well with a cosmic horror story, or a mystery, or even just a classic horror story. Think of something like Alan Wake or Deadly Premonition.
Make it a romantic visual novel set at a cafe near Brown where the characters all go for coffee milk. I'd play that.
I hate so much that the real ststue was more like the statue of liberty at one of the sides instead of this lolSure
I've been to Rhode Island often. Rhode Island fucking sucks.
There's some pretty places to visit along the coast, that's about it.
There's some pretty places to visit along the coast, that's about it.
There was a campaign is 2015 to build a modern version that actually did straddle the harbor:
Not for an open world where exploration is meant to be interesting. Sure, a horror story would be just fine in RI but the state is too big for that genre.
...is the argument here that because most open world games don't use their setting in interesting ways that devs should just cut the knot and start from an uninteresting setting, aka Rhode Island?
This was my first thought lol.
It worked for Arma, might work for RI but you'd probably need to give it the Fallout treatment and irradiate everything and fill it with mutants to make it appealing :P
Does RI even have any notable landmarks outside of your standard US state capitol building?
"Oh look honey. We are going 70mph instead of 69mp." Is the different types of experiences one could say about RI.
Driving through Providence, Rhode Island.
Highway splits into two separate roads.
Exit on left is 13
Exit on right is 1B
The Rhode Island Experience.
Highway splits into two separate roads.
Exit on left is 13
Exit on right is 1B
The Rhode Island Experience.
While I know the OP is mostly a gag for shits and giggles I thought it may be interesting as a setting if you do some sort of The Lighthouse or Moby Dick era type mythic yarn, replete with all manner of sea beasts and creatures. I'm not sure if RI has a lot small islets or whatever strewn near its coast but some sort of beast hunting game like Witcher with the sea as the focus where you get your missions on the mainland and set out to sea to track down and complete bounties on these various creatures. I apologize for taking the OP seriously :P
We already have enough open world games in the US and if it is not there, it is mainly London elsewise.
Why take a place even Americans seemingly don't care about?
Where is my late 80s GTA in cold war era Berlin?
Or a game in a city like Hamburg that offers lots of waterways for additional traversal by boat, has a big red light district and harbor for shady storylines and is just a beautiful place overall?
I am sure other posters from all over the world can think of some other nice locations and settings as well.
Why take a place even Americans seemingly don't care about?
Where is my late 80s GTA in cold war era Berlin?
Or a game in a city like Hamburg that offers lots of waterways for additional traversal by boat, has a big red light district and harbor for shady storylines and is just a beautiful place overall?
I am sure other posters from all over the world can think of some other nice locations and settings as well.
There are very few places I hate to drive in more than Providence. I've driven into Boston from out of state, and somehow that was a more pleasant experience than driving through Providence from a town right next door.
I forgot Rhode Island was a real place and thought this was going to be an Arknights thread.
Could make a great mafia game there (Providence is rich with mob history)...some neat areas around federal hill and around the waterfront and college area. Cool mansions in a couple cities...mixed with towns or poverty and crime. Honestly, would be a pretty cool setting for a grand theft auto style game. (I am a graduate of Risd, so lived there for basically four years).
Godddamn lmaaaaaaao!
And yea. Only thing I know about RI is Brown.
For its open-world environment? I douby. It would be surprised if it was (handcrafted).
Mostly I'm just arguing that what makes a setting interesting is more than just a collection of landmarks. Content, art direction, and atmosphere have a much bigger role in making a game and setting interesting. Genre is also important. I don't think anyone is suggesting setting the next GTA game in Rhode Island. A horror game though? That could work. A cosmic horror one would be right at home with a seaside setting.