I think inconsistent frame rates (drops below target) are almost never authored or intentional but the consequence of the software running over the hardware capacity.
Target frame rates below 30 FPS are typically early 3D console games or PSP/3DS games that were limited by the hardware. I think e.g. Majora’s Mask and Peace Walker are improved by tripling the frame rate to sixty in their remasters.
Either are typically a limitation of the target hardware or consequence of running hot without headroom. I don’t think they’re used optionally often at all.
this is mostly true but also irrelevant to my argument. this is how i came to learn about the effect that these lower framerates can have - how i came to value it as a tool. the intent is seperate from the effect, though. it need never have been intentional to represent an effective tool. moreoever, the consequences of those limitations were manifested in differences in game design - marrying mechanics to the limited refresh rates.
regardless of how we came to have some specific low framerates, those had extremely interesting effects which are poorly explored and it appears for good reason based on this thread
it IS something a designer and programmer can use. it IS a tool!
just because, historically, in most cases it is effectively a limitation the creators would rather not have had, it does not actually matter when assessing it as a tool. it is a decision that can be made that has an impact on the player. i argue those impacts are interesting and should be explored. others argue those impacts represent mere technical defects and should be erased without nuance.
Ah y’know, now that you are talking about Majora’s Mask, I realize that I might have liked the original better because the 20fps gives it a sort of dreamlike quality. It’s obviously not a purposeful choice, but specifically the cutscenes look way better in 20fps than 60fps to me. Here’s a specific cutscene early on that I think looks amazing (timestamped):
vs. the same cutscene on 3DS:
The blur effect is so much more interesting when you’re getting 1/3 the frames. Rather than being a weird smear, it’s these sharp cuts between frames in the animations, very geometrical and odd.
So yeah, I tend to agree that the higher the framerate the better during gameplay. More accurately, I feel that consistency is way more important than the actual number, and I will make many sacrifices graphically to get a consistent 30 or 60fps. Framerate drops are like sandpaper on my brain, extremely viscerally unpleasant for me. I will lock a game to 30fps if I can’t get 60fps consistently.
But I think the above comparison is a really good specific example of how a lower framerate can provide a better effect visually. IMO there is some value in having different frame rates than “as quickly as possible” even if it’s really rare.
Also yeah these are definitely running in emulators so who knows how accurate it is to the real source, but I think it’s about right.
also inconsistent is not the same as lower. ocarina and majora and wave race 64 are capped at ~20 FPS in gameplay, king’s field 3j is capped at ~15. meanwhile 2j is uncapped and varies wildly and stuff like sega rally 2 for dreamcast is all over the place. i don’t really care for inconsistent framerates, myself, but even that can have a chaotic, volatile quality that i think is interesting.
this is some of the stuff i find literally the most interesting about video games these days, and i guess it depresses me that i am alone in seeing any value in this kind of framerate play
yeah sorta, i don’t really get that as much. i think i just want it to be consistent. 20fps is a little low but even then i sorta prefer the original MM vs. the remake even during gameplay. i think the visual oddness of it is worth it for the control crunchiness.
The worst, the absolute worst, is getting 60FPS with freezes. like, it’s working really great and then for 1/4 of a second it’s not, then it’s back to 60FPS, repeat. the new Wolfenstein did this on my computer and I haaaated it. makes me want to kick a rock through my own skull
my favorite part of the new doom games is how all the sound effects for cacodemons are completely blown out, like the waveform has got to be a gigantic rectangle, no subtlety whatsoever. it’s vaguely unpleasant and gives a feeling like this thing is making sounds i should not be hearing, or that i can’t fully comprehend. good shit.
Another example was watching Color out of Space. The titular color was, to paraphrase the duckfeed boys, “the kind of color that photoshop gives you warnings about”. It had all sorts of weird artifacting and shit, and it was really really good, and also deeply unpleasant on the eyes.
so i feel like, used sparingly, brain sandpaper can be a really effective tool to portray something that can’t be portrayed using traditional tools. another game example is Baten Kaitos, some of the really powerful attacks seem to purposefully drop the framerate to achieve an effect of “this is too much information for any eyeball or brain to process.” but i don’t want to play a game that is constantly doing this kind of thing.
on the other hand, some people really seem to like things i find deeply unpleasant. so i guess i’m acknowledging that this can actually be a matter of taste rather than a pure upgrade. like, i don’t want to watch hyper-violent movies anymore, they make me nauseous. but i wouldn’t say that every movie would be upgraded by removing the things that make me nauseous.
I started playing bloodborne again and idk is that game 30 fps or, like, 4? it doesn’t matter because 4 and 30 are the same, they’re both shit, I was shocked at how bad it felt. 100% of my gaming is on PC these days so I just don’t remember 30 fps. I suppose I will in a year when games start taxing PC hardware again and I’m not upgrading. not looking forward to that. still enjoying bloodborne though, it’s probably not even having any real effect, but when I load the fucker up and my guy spawns into the world I just feel terrible. help what happened to me.
i think i’m more in the camp of thinking AAA stuff should hit a consistent framerate. if we’re talking about, say, CAVE shooters, then, no…please don’t make every part of those games run at 60fps
edit: although i’m realizing maybe frame drops and slowdown are not the same thing. idk, i’m not well versed enough to know
obviously it’s one specific use case for one specific subset of a tool that is also associated with bad experiences on games where the design and framerate did not mesh, etc. this is silly. intentionally showing fewer frames, controlling the rates of frames shown - that’s the tool i’m talking about. it does not reduce to sandpaper on your brain, but the experienced effect of sandpaper on your brain DOES prove to me this is impactful. there are more impacts that intentionally showing fewer frames can have than “sandpaper on your brain” - this is one of the worst, and it isn’t used in an intentional way in nearly any instance you’ve ever experienced, so of course you have a negative connection to it. i’m just saying to think about the very fabric of the medium of videogames and imagine the possibilities? and not exclude them outright?
but i don’t really have anything else to add and now i feel like shit
Thinking of slowdown during shmup boss death explosions and the (intended or not) catharsis, like a collapsing star/supernova. I’m replaying Deadly Premonition on Switch and it has terrible framedrops when driving through busy parts of Greenvale but most interiors and cutscenes play at 60fps which was jarring to me. After Dead Prem 1/2, probably going back to Disaster Report 4 on the Switch, which might be my favorite version as everything slows to a crawl during aftershocks and building collapses.
