Is it OK to disable blood hoping to reach a more extensive public ?

[Ultim]

Hello all,I'm back again.

I just want to decide either disable or enable blood in my game.Blood is important to the atmosphere and I really want to reach a maximum level of people playing my game.So is disabling blood okay ?

PS  : Not a horror game.

 

[EternalShadow]

I totally misread the title and was shocked and confused for a few seconds.


You could, if you want. There isn't really much need though, unless it's a copious amount that breaks something in the PEGI rating system.

 

[cabfe]

I guess it really depends on the game, about both genre and setting.

Do you need to show blood in cutscenes?

On maps?

After a fight?

 

[Silent Darkness]

The absence of blood will not sell your game to a larger audience, at least, not in any serious manner. Now, GORE, I.E, rivers of blood, body parts, organs, brutal, gratuitous death, that may have an impact.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

It really depends on the context. Who are you hoping to reach by disabling the blood? A lot of the time it's OK acknowledging your game is not for everyone. If you hope more squeamish people would play it then, it's one thing. (Or maybe if the blood graphic might be distracting for some.) But, if the game is violent and you're hoping the reach younger gamers, well the game probably wasn't meant for younger audiences. You said blood is important to the atmosphere and I think that's the key. If you think it's important, probably wouldn't want to disable it.

 

[Ultim]

@Hotfirelegend : No no no nothing to break the PEGI or the ESRB rating system.

@cabfe : Blood is shown in maps where there are puzzles or such things to indicate those who failed.BTW the game is Adventure RPG.It is set in a series of caves and abandoned houses and stuff like that.

 

[cabfe]

Skeletons can work too (if it's a deadly trap).

Or dead animals.

But it's probably good having a little red splash as well. That's not very much and won't hurt your game.

 

[Silent Darkness]

Keep the blood. Your fans will thank you.

 

[Sketch XII]

Why not just make it optional from within a game menu to show blood or not?

By default though, so long as it's not super-gory stuff, I'd say it should be kept on.

 

[Tsukihime]

Maybe you can consider reducing the amount of blood on the screen (as an option)?


For example, having large splats of blood gushing out of the walls and everything vs having a little puddle.


If the blood has purpose, and taking the blood out changes how the scene is presented, that may not be desirable.

 

[TheRiotInside]

I can't imagine too many people being that disturbed or disgusted by a bit of pixel blood on an already violent object (spike pit) that they would turn away from your game. Like others have said, if it would detract from the experience or from what you are trying to convey as an artist, then I'd say taking it out would be doing yourself a disservice.

It's good to keep your audience in mind and to try to make something that people will enjoy, but you can never please anyone. I wouldn't slight the majority of your audience for the sake of a vocal few.

 

[Matseb2611]

Keep the blood if the game needs it. I wouldn't recommend sacrificing the artistic flare and integrity of your original vision. And besides, if a game is mature enough to be rated high, it might in fact attract more attention from the mature audience. You never know. I doubt it will kill the sales/attention of your game. My recent commercial game got a PEGI rating of 16+ and I am fine with that. I know it fits in fine with my target audience anyway.

On another note, as TheRiotInside said, I highly doubt the blood graphics in RM games are really that gory that would cause a stir. You won't have your game rated 18+ unless you have stuff like drug use or something really horrible and controversial (like graphically killing of innocents, etc). It's not always about the amount of blood and violence something has, but the context. If it's just blood on the dungeon traps, I think it should be more than fine.

 

[Heretic86]

I think the only people that would be bothered by blood would not be mature enough enjoy the context of your game to begin with, so just leave it in. 

 

[Diretooth]

The usage of blood and occasional gore in a game is as subjective as the people who don't like it.

You can have bloodless carnage or have nothing but bloody carnage, and the effect will be fairly similar. People will play it.

Now, you can offer the choice of blood or no blood, though that requires a little more work.

Anyway, the usage of blood should typically only be an aesthetic choice. Will it improve the atmosphere of the area, will it improve the feel of battle? Is there really any reason to put it in there, and most importantly, do you, the designer, want it in there?

 

[Wavelength]

I personally tend to find visible blood (especially from corpses, scenes, etc., as opposed to blood on a living character) to be unappealing rather than evocative.  It won't ruin a game for me, but it will make me like it less, and seeing a lot of it in a game's screens/videos will probably stop me from buying it.

So in general I think "bloodless" will probably get you a bigger potential audience, but if it's an important element of your game than you shouldn't get rid of it, because that will turn off the people that would have bought the game.

I do like the suggestion of making this an option, though - that the player can turn on or off.  Options are always good, unless the player is going to feel like they're cheating themselves out of something.

 

[Ctrl_Alt_Defeat]

It all depends on you actually and the main audience you're trying to get to.

Honestly blood could make for a more appealing deal depending on how extensive we're talking here. I myself like a little blood but don't like ripping heads off with the spine following, ripping hearts or guts out, or showing internal organs.

It's nice to make a good median between the two for example you could show blood but as a little "hit" indication. Like if I had my character hit an enemy, the enemy would glow red for a split second and have an animation showing a little blood splatter just to indicate you're dealing damage.

How ever, some people more than most, depending on your game's atmosphere, could be a huge hit with them if you have a game that should include some gore. The most famous example is Mortal Combat: http://youtu.be/PosEXd39r5g?t=7m16s

The tittle with gore sold more than the tittle without just because mortal combat is a gore filled game and people love that! Honestly if you're looking for a balance ask yourself these questions:

Does your game atmosphere call for gore or blood?

How much gore or blood is acceptable for you?

Who is your target audience? Young, teen, or mature?

In my case if I wanted to make a sci fi horror (which I'm doing now), I'd go along the lines of this: Yes the game atmosphere calls for blood, a basic or decent amount of blood or gore is acceptable but not excessive. My target audience will be for late teens - mature.

Deducting from those questions I would add gore as a way to portray the horror in the game but not too much so to cause the game to be too gore filled (Blood stained items, blood from enemies, damaged [but not mutilated] bodies, and blood along the walls and what not).