Das Live-Action-Film-Game, das sich im Kreislauf von Ruhm und Blase befindet, und die sich auflösenden Branchengrenzen

Already in the 1960s, moviegoers in cinemas were given the "power of choice." In 1967, the experimental film "Automated Film: A Man and His House" allowed viewers to determine the fate of the main characters on the screen by pressing a red or green button.

In a way, it initiated later attempts with "interactive images." Interactive images seem to be a combination of film and game, two media that stand for "dream worlds." In the 1990s, with the advent of CD - ROM technology, it reached a peak, only to quickly fall into obscurity due to the lack of interactive experiences and high costs. Today, it seems to be attracting the attention of the industry and players again: Recently, a work like "Damn! I'm Surrounded by Beauties!" has triggered a wave of "participation"; Yesterday (June 26th), the team of "The Invisible Protector," New One Studio, presented its new work "Glorious Era."

On this occasion, this article will review the history of "film - games," i.e., "interactive image games," and try to predict their possible future developments.

Early FMV and the Temporary Hype

The 1967 - released "Automated Film: A Man and His House" was the world's first interactive film. However, it was the exploration in the field of video games that really brought this type of films to the public. In 1983, "Dragon's Lair" first introduced Full - Motion Video (FMV) into a game, which allowed players to influence the fate of the main character by reacting quickly. This was groundbreaking at that time and led to commercial success.

The image part of "Dragon's Lair" was produced by Disney animation masters.

The actual breakthrough of this type of games would not have been possible without the support of hardware technology. In the 1990s, new media such as CD - ROM became popular. The capacity of a CD was a hundred times larger than that of a floppy disk. Manufacturers were eager to fill this space, and FMV games experienced their first boom: There were interactive films like "Phantasmagoria," which consisted almost entirely of real images and offered multiple endings, as well as games like the "Command & Conquer" and "Wing Commander" series, which inserted real images as intermediate sequences in their traditional game mechanics. For players who were new to CD - ROMs, it was a big shock to see real actors in games. Some in the industry even imagined that the boundary between film and game would disappear as a result - players would no longer be satisfied with "pixel figures" since real actors had entered the game world.

But as the current popularity of "film - games" shows, manufacturers rushed into this area at that time without really understanding the storytelling rules of this medium. And so it was. From the players' perspective, "many FMV games looked like films but didn't play like games" - there was a lack of interactive elements, the game mechanics were superficial, and there were no really interesting interactive experiences. Many works simply let players choose between image sequences or perform QTEs (Quick Time Events), and the playability was far behind the "ordinary" games of that time.

Even worse, due to the different qualities of scripts and acting, FMV games were gradually labeled as "bad plot, bad acting." After all, most game development teams were not good at storytelling, let alone directing actors - as an insider said, "the bad reputation of FMV games in the 1990s was due to the lack of good actors and directors," and the game industry had not yet found effective ways to cooperate with film professionals.

In addition, the cost of producing real films was high and there was a lack of flexibility: Once the shooting was completed, it was difficult to adjust the plot or missing scenes as easily as changing code. For game development, which aims at rapid iterations, real images were more of an obstacle. With the rapid progress of 3D graphics technology in the late 1990s, the attention of the game industry returned to 3D modeling and real - time calculation.

Thus, the first attempt at "film - like games" ended in failure and was even partly criticized by the public. In 1993, the arcade fighting game "Mortal Kombat" and the FMV film "Midnight Trap" caused a scandal in the United States, which directly led to the establishment of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). In 2015, when the trailer of the interactive game "Her Story" with real actors was released, many streamers laughed at it for looking "like a Sega - CD game."

But the form of FMV was not completely forgotten. Games like "Quantum Break" by Remedy and "The Bunker" by Splendy Interactive have, to some extent, adopted the form of real TV series, with different responses.

"The Bunker" is a horror game filmed entirely with real actors.

"The Invisible Protector" and Various Attempts of Chinese Film - Games

For a long time, 3D technology was the new favorite technology in games, while real images were less popular. However, in 2019, a Chinese game named "The Invisible Protector" entered the market and triggered considerable resonance in the player community and the industry. Similar to the earlier FMV games, this work, developed by New One Studio, is a film - game with real footage, which was defined by the industry as an "interactive image work."

The story of the game takes place during the Republic of China era at the peak of the espionage war. The player takes on the role of Xiao Tu, a covert agent who undergoes the test of faith and betrayal in the great wave of the Anti - Japanese War. The development team did not simply incorporate film materials into the game but designed the presentation form according to the interactive requirements. During the game, the player occasionally sees UI elements such as "Play/Pause," "Progress Bar," and "Number of Viewers" on the screen, as if they were on a video platform; after a few seconds to minutes in the course of the plot, options appear for the player to choose from, and each choice can change the further development of the story. In addition, there are also some simple interactive actions, such as clicking the mouse to "shoot," pressing and holding to "write," or swiping to "pour water" and other QTE actions. These designs significantly increase the immersion of players - players are no longer passive viewers but actually participate as the "main character" in this espionage drama.

Before "The Invisible Protector," the field of interactive works with real footage in China was almost empty. Many people had never even heard of this form, and New One Studio was not an experienced game developer. The shooting process was like "exploring on the way."

Since the plot has many parallel branches and multiple endings, it was impossible to plan the budget with the traditional concept of "episodes" in TV series; for each scene, it had to be clearly recorded in which branches it would be used later, and the director had to think about the different connections and the rhythm on - site to ensure that the plot would run logically and smoothly even with different decisions of players. Editing and post - processing were an enormous challenge - the common video editing software was not designed for this non - linear project, and the team had to spend almost two to three times the usual learning time to get into the matter.

"The Invisible Protector" has many branches and is like an AVG (Adventure Game) with real actors.

Finally, the development of "The Invisible Protector" took over two years, and the total investment amount was several million yuan. The team did not expect to cover the costs through sales - it attached more importance to the spread of this form, "to let more people experience this form." Naturally, the good reputation and popularity also contributed to the economic risk. After the release of "The Invisible Protector," the response was good, and there were intense discussions on social media and in player forums. Many players were impressed that this work was both "cinematically entertaining" and playfully interesting and was a new breakthrough for Chinese AVGs. Suddenly, the concept of "interactive film - game" came into the public eye.

The Chinese and international film industries have also tested this new mode during this period. At the end of 2018, the interactive film "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch" by Netflix was released worldwide. In the summer of 2019, Bilibili introduced a function for interactive videos, Tencent Video released standards for interactive videos, and Youku, iQiyi, Mango TV, and others also announced plans for interactive content. In iQiyi's "His Smile," viewers can determine the love between the main character and male figures in a youth romance through their choices; the interactive short - game of Mango TV's "Detective Chinatown 4" combines online viewing with offline clue - hunting to enable double - interaction. These attempts show that the traditional film industry takes the potential of interactive storytelling seriously and that film professionals are trying to turn to the interactive elements of games across the boundaries.

Maybe it's because the bad situation of the film industry and the high profitability of games have made many filmmakers and screenwriters look for new ways. However, they have no intention of completely changing. The cooperation between film companies and game developers to utilize the strengths of both sides is a practical option. Film companies provide the resources for shooting and the actors, while the game development team takes care of the interactive design and programming. "The Invisible Protector" is exactly such a product. The joint work of the original author, the shooting team, and the game developer has brought the quality of this work beyond the earlier attempts.

"Damn! I'm Surrounded by Beauties!" and the "Participants"

If we say that "The Invisible Protector" was a milestone for Chinese film - games, then the phenomenon - game "Damn! I'm Surrounded by Beauties!" (abbreviated as "Damn") in 2023 brought the popularity of this category to a peak. According to the data of the Steam platform, after its release in October 2023, the game quickly gained popularity: It once reached the first place in the Steam sales list in China and was among the top 10 in the global sales list. The maximum number of simultaneous players exceeded 65,000, and the sales volume exceeded the 800,000 mark in a short time. To this day, the positive rating rate is 93%. This is an independent game without a big brand and elaborate production, but it has achieved a "phenomenal" result thanks to its creativity and theme.

In contrast to the humorous impression given by the open title, the success of "Damn" is not only due to the "eye - catcher." The natural performances of the actors and the skillful interactive design are the two keys to success. The development team seems to be very familiar with the rhythm of interactive short - films, and the performances of the actors do not seem awkward but have a perfectly dosed sense of comedy.

What's even more important is that the design of the plot options in "Damn" is very careful and not simply done. The content manager summarized two design principles: First, "never ask players if they want to take risks, but ask them with which foot they want to take risks"; second, "chance brings fun." Under the seemingly crazy atmosphere, the game allows players to experience the reality of "pretending to be oneself": One does not try to conquer a heroine and get a high score but makes decisions out of conviction and has to bear the resulting consequences. At the same time, short videos and livestreams have also contributed to the popularity of the game - many people who have not played the game have got to know it by watching funny clips, which has further expanded the user base.

The success of "Damn" is highly unlikely to be repeated.

Naturally, a phenomenon means that it is difficult to repeat. Many insiders analyze that the success of "Damn" is more due to creativity and luck, and it is difficult for similar works to simply repeat this success. And so it is. From the end of 2023 to 2024, a series of works have emerged that advertise themselves as "interactive film - games with real actors," most of which...