At some point in this millenium, it became ubiquitous in games to ask for a button press before switching to the main menu and it has become a pet peeve off mine.

Why is that there? It’s your main menu so ugly that you have to shield players from it? Why can I not double click the game Icon, go to the kitchen to get coffee and return to the PC/console to find myself in the main menu ready to continue my game? Seriously, cui bono? Sometimes, they even show a different screen before that press, which some artist got paid for creating, so the developer is also losing (a tiny amount of) money here.

I honestly just don’t get the point of these screens.

Bonus negative points for games that only check DLC after that button press instead of any other point of the losing process. Calling a server could easily be threaded while the game assets are loaded since it takes very little hardware load to do so. But no, I get to wait an additional 10 seconds because the game devs want me to for no apparent reason.

On a related note: just allow players to auto skip intros, please. Just put an checkbox in the settings, so that everyone can see it once.

  • 👁️👄👁️@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    So it knows what input device you’re using

    Bro if this is what bothers you, then I wish I had such an easy life as you

  • beefcat@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I honestly just don’t get the point of these screens.

    It lets the game see which controller or input method you are using. This screen was (and maybe still is? I’m not sure.) a requirement for certification on consoles going back to the Xbox 360, when wireless controllers became ubiquitous.

    Having to press a single button at the start of a game is a pretty minor complaint.

    • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.net
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      1 year ago

      Plenty of games are able to determine what you’re using without having such a screen. The “press any key to continue” screen has been a thing my entire life (born in 85), and it has never been necessary for anything other than simulating the “insert coin” screen for arcade games.

      BG3 can use both at the same time, and yet it still has two of these screens. If you’re playing with a controller, it will say press any key then you press a button and it changes to “press A to continue” before you actually get to the main menu.

      And it’s even dumber because you can see the game detects your controller before the first logo screen ends when the cursor is auto hidden.

      • Noved@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        What if I have an Xbox controller plugged in and want to use my keyboard? A simple spacebar hit sets the default controller for fit this play session.

        • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.net
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          1 year ago

          Personally, I think if I cant just use both at the same time it’s kind of shit. Only a handful of games actually work like that, and it’s insane. I shouldn’t have to go into the settings and switch control types. I should just be able to use them if they’re plugged in, like GTA or BG3.

        • Smoke@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          Wouldn’t that be just as applicable from the interaction with the main menu? When the player selects a menu entry (eg Start, Load, Options), that tells the game what you’re using.

      • ampersandrew@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        If you have a particularly slow PC, this screen would be good feedback that it hasn’t crashed while booting the game. It also keeps the game consistent across platforms.

        • all-knight-party@kbin.cafe
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          1 year ago

          Yeah, they’re not gonna do all that stuff for cert and then go “now let’s remake our whole intro sequence to be more convenient!”, I don’t think devs typically have that much free time

          • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            It wouldn’t be that hard. Devs already have to make all sorts of adjustments for different platforms

            • Pigeon@beehaw.org
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              1 year ago

              Getting rid of that screen would be a negligible improvement and also might mean getting rid of any unique art that some may indeed want to see.

    • Zalack@startrek.website
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      1 year ago

      IMO it’s a good feature and it’s a good thing it’s required. I remember the days when I would boot up a game and never be sure if my system crashed or not.

      This requires the game to start giving you feedback before you start wondering if you should do a power cycle.

      • towerful@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        I mean, better loading feedback would be better than an arbitrary “interactive within 1 second” blanket rule, leading to this whole “press button to continue” workaround.

        That’s like a generator needing an earth rod, and the engineer putting an earth rod into a plant pot. Sure, the earth rod is there, and sunk to regulated depth in dirt… but it’s a plant pot.
        Just make an accurate loading screen with accurate feedback.

    • DaSaw@midwest.social
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      1 year ago

      Neither of these things can be true, because they’ve been around since long before Microsoft got into the console game. I’m pretty sure Atari 2600 games had that prompt. I know NES games did.

    • Pigeon@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      Dude. It’s called a pet peeve. They’re allowed, and even people who have very stressful lives have them. It’s definitely better than shit-talking random people on the internet - just skip the thread if you don’t care about it.

      • SpiderShoeCult@sopuli.xyz
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        1 year ago

        I’d say that they’re more of an issue for people under a lot of stress. It just adds an extra stress point. In fact if OP was not stressed, they probably wouldn’t mind it enough to post a rant about it.

  • loops@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    The only thing I don’t like about Deep Rock Galactic is having to watch both the publishers, and the studios logo sequences every time I start the game.

  • Phoenix [she/they]@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I’m reminded of something that Binding of Isaac does that I wish more games would do: If you’re anywhere in the main menu (even drilled into it), if you just mash the B button/Esc key, it will keep backing out, up to and including exiting the game if you press it on the main menu. I hate games that make me click 3 times and say “are you sure??” when I just want to quit the dang program.

      • Toribor@corndog.social
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        1 year ago

        “REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE NEVER DO THAT” - FromSoft games

        At least Elden Ring added a “Quit to Desktop” option. Any games before that… no you have to exit back to the title screen and be subjected to several seconds of extremely loud gothic chanting before you’re allowed to exit the game. God help you if your network connection is down because it will try to connect to the network for an entire minute before it fails and lets you exit.

        • acastcandream@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE NEVER DO THAT”

          Hey just an FYI “reeee” is “autistic screeching” i.e. it’s pretty ablelist/shitty to say. Not sure if you are aware, I only learned that pretty recently.

          • RiikkaTheIcePrincess@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            Thank you for mentioning this. I try/want to but it’s so tiring dealing with the crap people throw at me just because they can’t stand to ever think about the crap they spew.

            Here’s a cupcake to help make up for you getting jumped on instead :3 🫴🧁

          • effingnerd@beehaw.org
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            1 year ago

            I’m sorry but what? I’m not OP but that is a record scratch. End of story. There is no ableism even in the vicinity of OPs statement without someone shoehorning it in there.

              • effingnerd@beehaw.org
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                1 year ago

                Sorry, wrong nomenclature. We are talking about the same subject (use of Reee) but I used the term OP in reference to the commenter you responded to. Sorry for the confusion.

                My point was that calling out using Reee as ableism is uncalled for, in my opinion, because it is used to signify a record scratch (if this is not general usage and confined to my bubble of experience , I do apologize). Pointing out the possibility for offense when there clearly is no offense implied, and no one stating that they are offended, smacks of white knighting.

                I feel like your comment came with good intentions, but to me it seems like unnecessary language policing. It’s a harmless onomatopoeia that could just as easily apply to the unrelenting tinnitus that rages inside of me.

                • acastcandream@beehaw.org
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                  1 year ago

                  I worked the 1’s and 2’s for years and I never, ever heard someone say “reeeee” to refer to scratching. And in what world is the above a record scratch? It doesn’t even make sense in context.

                  pointing out the possibility for offense when there clearly is no offense implied, and no one stating that they are offended, smacks of white knighting. but to me it seems like unnecessary language policing.

                  You came rushing to the defense of another user. The white knighting is not happening on my end. And what’s worse, you’re defending something that can easily be verified as a bad thing to say. But sure, go ahead and die on the hill of defending “REEEEEEE.”

                  I made it clear that I am assuming it was not their intention. But language is not all about intention. If you know something is offensive, just don’t say it. It’s not that difficult.

                  That use of the term was clear. It had no other interpretation. But please keep lecturing me, someone who is on the spectrum (which is not a requirement for speaking up by the way), about how I am White Knighting over a shitty 4chan meme making fun of autistic people.

                  Your ignorance of a term does not suddenly make it innocuous. Especially not when someone is standing here telling you exactly what it means and you could easily verify it with a cursory Google search because it’s that prominent and known now. But no, instead of trying to understand this you chose to lecture people on what they can and can’t be upset about. I’m sorry we didn’t meet your arbitrary bar.

    • jivemasta@reddthat.com
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      1 year ago

      That’s the thing. I think it is a carry over from that. Back then a lot of games didn’t have a menu or anything, after you hit the button, you were just playing the game.

      Like Mario 1 and 3 have just a simple 1 or 2 player select then you are in the game. Some single player games didn’t have anything, they just would go straight to the game after you hit start.

      Now there isn’t really a need since nearly every game has a menu for loading saves, starting a new game and such. So they could go, but are just a vestigial part of gaming history at this point.

  • Supersonic Stork@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I got curious myself and agreed, so I went looking.

    A lot of sources specified that it was part of a technical requirements checklist, and…

    Yeap. It doesn’t explicitly require a “press any key” screen, but it gives a more pleasant screen to look at while you select a user. People online also say it’s used to detect which controller is in use.

    If you add a feature like this to a game, it becomes harder to maintain if there are discrepancies between builds. So presumably it’s usually just left in rather than removed.

    • Durotar@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      People online also say it’s used to detect which controller is in use.

      I don’t get it. Any modern game can detect when you connect or disconnect a controller on the fly, in the actual game.

      • Oka@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Yet they are not built in features to game engines such as Unity and Unreal

          • Thassodar@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Keyword: new. From now on people can do it, but prior to now it wasn’t possible from what they’re saying.

            • Dangdoggo@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              The New Input Package is actually just what Unity users call it because it isn’t the original and requires a package manager install from the stock LTR releases but it’s been out for a few years now. Still, you’re right, although I see no reason not to adopt it, most games that are using it will probably be releasing this year.

  • Rocketpoweredgorilla@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    It annoys me when you close down a game, and it only has the option to send you to the title menu instead of closing out. It’s not the worst thing ever, but it’s kind of annoying when you need to go, and you have to “quit” the game just to wait for it to go back to the title screen and make you hit “quit” again a second time.

    • delitomatoes@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      It’s for console ports. They have a power button…so on PC you’ll need to go to that button created specifically to quit to desktop

      • XTL@sopuli.xyz
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        1 year ago

        Or, they have a hypervisor, so instead of needing to quit from inside, you just hit the magic button and go back to the console UI. Game is suspended and might resume after power off or switch, or not, depending on the system and user.

        You could just ctrl-alt-del or window switch or whatever to get the same experience on a computer.

        • Phoenix [she/they]@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          I honestly will just slap cmd-q on most games. If they don’t handle it properly… well, sucks for me I guess, but most do. (on a mac)

          I wonder how most games treat alt-f4 on windows?

          • N1cknamed@feddit.nl
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            1 year ago

            It differs, on some games it doesn’t work or still takes a long time. For those programs I like to use SuperF4, which kills the process when you press ctrl+alt+f4.