Why haven't they gotten this right? Part II: The Crowd - RaychelSnr's Blog

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RaychelSnr's Blog

Why haven't they gotten this right? Part II: The Crowd Stuck

Posted on June 23, 2009 at 12:32 AM.

(19)

It's inexcusable at best, and just flat out poor game development at worst. But sports games aren't getting crowds right.

There are two aspects of the crowd which I have to rant about: graphically and audibly.

First off, dynamic attendance in this day and age should be standard. Secondly, there should never be more than one single fan model in close-ups at any one time. This is 2009, where are the advancements graphically? We're getting better, but we are far from perfect.

The second aspect, and the one I find to be most important is the sound. General crowd noise. Chants. Cheers. Jeers. Hecklers. Venders. Pandemonium. The wave. Camera flashes timed appropriately. Realistic noises based on crowd size. Realistic decibel levels based upon stadiums. People walking around. Where is all of this?

Why are we still stuck with the same monotonous crowds? I went back and played a few sports games from the turn of the millennium and I swear the crowds are now only marginally better in the sound department. In some cases, the old games were better. We are much more unforgiving nowadays with our games. To have one of the biggest pieces of the game being far from right is a downright shame in this writers opinion.

Why haven't developers gotten crowds right on a consistent basis? What is so hard about hearing what crowds sound like and getting the audio right? What games have particularly strong performances in this category?