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SeptimusHeap MOD (Edited uphill both ways)
9th Dec, 2018 01:41:07 AM

I'd try to write up an independent example text for each.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
crazysamaritan MOD Since: Apr, 2010
9th Dec, 2018 06:50:35 AM

Big problem: as written, it doesn't explain what "attract mode" or "automatic new game" mean. As-is, I can guess that Attract Mode is a flying camera perspective and Automatic New Game is when the game provides a cinematic cutscene during gameplay loads. Examples should clearly explain what the trope is and how the work uses it.

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
9th Dec, 2018 07:01:37 AM

If the example doesn't apply to either trope, I'd say that simplifies the issue: it's Not an Example.

Edited by sgamer82
Gofastmike Since: Mar, 2017
9th Dec, 2018 08:56:32 AM

I'm trying to make it both: What makes it Attract Mode is that the main menu's background is a scenic view of the current area a la Minecraft, while Automatic New Game occurs due to there being no obvious loading screen when starting a new game.

Edited by Gofastmike
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
9th Dec, 2018 08:59:21 AM

Does Minecraft do the Automatic New Game thing every time you start a new game, or only the very first time you start up the game, period? Because Automatic New Game is the second scenario, but not the first.

If it does happen every time, does it automatically load the last game you played? That is a stated exception.

Edited by sgamer82
Gofastmike Since: Mar, 2017
9th Dec, 2018 01:09:13 PM

Minecraft doesn't have an ANG. As for my game, everything you might need to know should be in the OP.

Of course, I doubt any of this really matters, I just wanted someone to rewrite the trope entry so that it's in line with the rules. What I don't need is a bunch of critiquing that doesn't actually solve the original request.

crazysamaritan MOD Since: Apr, 2010
9th Dec, 2018 03:24:18 PM

I just wanted someone to rewrite the trope entry so that it's in line with the rules.
You came here for help. The critiquing comes from the fact that you're NOT including everything we need. Telling people what to do often ends in those people leaving.
  • Attract Mode: When the game loads up, the menu appears above a background that depends on the saved game data (if there is no save data, the Hub is used). The camera [delete whatever doesn't apply] Dollys towards a center point, rotates around a center point, and dollys out, cuts between different Zoom shots of the area, a variety of Camera Tricks to catch the eye of the potential player.
  • Automatic New Game: When the game is loaded without save data, it goes to a main menu. Loading with save data, however, means that the game briefly plays a series of camera tricks based around the main character's location, then fades to black (which also functions as a concealed loading screen), before cutting to a short scene showing the main character waking up in the current area.

At least one of these examples is wrong, because they presume contradictory information.

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
Gofastmike Since: Mar, 2017
9th Dec, 2018 10:08:19 PM

Ok, well, Crazy certainly gave me a good place to start from, and the links in the examples led me to a few tropes that let me reformat my original version in a manner that separates them:


  • Attract Mode: When the game is first started, the main menu treats you to a view of the Hub (sans portals) in the background, with camera circling around the upper catwalk, while keeping it's view centered on the central building. If the game is left alone long enough, the menu itself will disappear, giving players an unobstructed view of the background cinematic.
  • Automatic New Game: When a new game is started, the menu goes straight into it’s Attract Mode as if it’d been left alone, but the music starts to fade out instead of remaining on, as the camera slows to a stop. A few seconds after both have stopped, the player is treated to a loud *THUD* coming from somewhere offscreen, followed by an equally loud “...Ow!” from Mike after another second, immediately going into the intro mission’s starting cutscene from there with no intervening loading screen.
    • On subsequent loads, the game does the same thing as Attract Mode above, but for the world the player was last in. But instead of going into attract mode when the game is loaded, it instead fades to black (which also functions as a concealed loading screen), before cutting to a short scene showing Sam/Mike waking up, at which point it seamlessly switches to gameplay.
    • When starting a new game (or New Game Plus) when not in the Hub, it will start differently, with the game fading out as if the old save had been loaded, before the loud thud is heard while the screen is still faded out. If a NG/NG+ is started in the hub, the scene starts as explained above.

Granted, it's mostly similar to the original, but what matters is that I managed to push Attract Mode to a seperate entry, which was the original goal. The new additions are just an inevitable side effect of how my brain works.

Edited by Gofastmike
crazysamaritan MOD Since: Apr, 2010
10th Dec, 2018 04:56:13 AM

That's looking more and more like it is Not An Example of Automatic New Game.

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
10th Dec, 2018 08:24:48 AM

Gofastmike themselves saying "Minecraft doesn't have an ANG." kind of settles the question by itself, doesn't it? At least for that trope.

Edited by sgamer82
Gofastmike Since: Mar, 2017
10th Dec, 2018 12:50:52 PM

The reason why I added ANG is because hitting the "New Game" button jumps straight into the intro mission with no intervening loading screen. Which means that some of the intro mission would've had to have been loaded in addition to the main menu. For Minecraft, you'd have to go through at least two other menusWhich are: , then a loading screen, before making it to gameplay.

Pardon me if my reasoning is flawed, but I'm not exactly a grandmaster troper, the most complex thing I've done solo is either Awesome.Pan, or the "Main Theme" portion of AwesomeMusic.A Hat In Time.

Edited by Gofastmike
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
10th Dec, 2018 02:37:56 PM

The thing is Automatic New Game is so automatic that you don't even need to press New Game the very first time you start the game. The game throws you right into it, as described in an earlier post of mine.

Gofastmike Since: Mar, 2017
10th Dec, 2018 06:22:46 PM

Well, I don't know how you think, but how I see it is similar to how Just Cause 3 handles existing saves, where the image seen is of Rico leaning up against a vehicle, and hitting "continue" just removes the menu and has him stand up. Similarly, when a new game is started in my game, it goes straight into the intro cutscene with no pre-loading.

crazysamaritan MOD Since: Apr, 2010
10th Dec, 2018 06:35:14 PM

ANG is a trope meaning there is no menu screen between turning the game on and playing the game. It has nothing to do with loading screens.

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
Gofastmike Since: Mar, 2017
10th Dec, 2018 07:26:18 PM

So just nix ANG? Then what do I put in it's place?note 

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
10th Dec, 2018 08:31:56 PM

By the sound of it, yes, nix ANG. Though I'm not sure what trope, if there even is one, would be applicable to your entry.

Gofastmike Since: Mar, 2017
10th Dec, 2018 11:16:57 PM

Well, my makeshift trope page is set up in google docs, so perhaps I could set up a section for tropeless entries? Another thing I could do is putting something like this at the start:

ANG: Subverted, in that there's still a main menu to go through, but when a new game is started, the menu initially goes straight into it’s Attract Mode as if it’d been left alone, with the music starting to fade out instead of remaining on, as the camera slows to a stop... [continued above]

Alternatively, I could just put the orphaned example into the trope finder itself and let them deal with it instead of the general ATT section. Frankly, I could end this one at any time, as the initial request (separating a dual-trope example into two separate examples) has been fulfilled.

WarJay77 (Troper Knight)
10th Dec, 2018 11:36:55 PM

Excuse my conversation-crashing, but that's not a subversion. A subversion is when a trope is being set up, and then revealed to not be in play. Would it still count even if the reason for the subversion happens before the trope set up? I don't think so.

Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Gofastmike Since: Mar, 2017
13th Dec, 2018 01:12:40 PM

Alright, I set up a proper TF thread so I can find a replacement trope.

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