I dunno about the scarring thing - remember how well that worked in Fable 2? Absolutely nobody gave a shit, and half the time they were covered up by clothing or armour anyway. Maybe it could be massive head trauma instead, since being so bad at fighting means you'll probably take more blows to the head than a disobedient hooker. The character could get progressively dumber the more injuries were sustained, until it eventually reaches the point where your only dialogue option is to stare blankly at the quest-giver with mute pleading in your eyes.

It always comes back to cocks with you, doesn't it Yahtzee?

It wouldn't have to be just scars on the face. It could also be dents in your armor or tares in the clothing.
But hey, facial disfigurement can still look good.

it works with vehicles well too. world of tanks has a system that shows penetrating shots and bounces. small details but it works suprisingly well and is useful for telling where specific shots are comming from if you are distracted.

plus the bragging rights from comming out of a match with most of the paint gone is awesome fun

I thought the Left 4 Dead series did a decent job with this. It's fairly subtle, with the gritty art style the games opted for anyway, but you do get blood stains over time. No ripping though, as far as I can recall.

What makes it work is that it is subtle. Unlike Spider-Man, even by the end you still might not notice if you're not paying attention; when it comes right down to it, it's still the same clothing.

P.S. Thanks

P.P.S. Again with the captchas? Seriously, I'm not a bot or a spammer, I wasn't one ten posts ago, I wasn't one a hundred posts ago. Is there some sort of post-count threshold where it'll believe me?

Teoes:

SonicWaffle:
..Maybe it could be massive head trauma instead, since being so bad at fighting means you'll probably take more blows to the head than a disobedient hooker. The character could get progressively dumber the more injuries were sustained, until it eventually reaches the point where your only dialogue option is to stare blankly at the quest-giver with mute pleading in your eyes.

That could work in quite well with Yahtzee's idea of reverse levelling (starting off at "max level" and gradually choosing skills to lose as you progress to increase challenge in the game) from an Extra Punctuation waaaay back.

You've got a point there, it's a pretty good in-universe justification for regressing skill levels. Maybe getting punched in the head too many times causes a character to forget their top-tier fireball spell, and so on and so forth.

That might actually might for a pretty interesting mechanic, if the degrading skill weren't automatic and time-based; the more damage a character takes over the course of the game, the more skill points/levels/stats or whatever they lose. Play well, protect your character, and retain your best abilities. Play badly, charge into fights without planning or just get knocked down too many times and your abilities will diminish. Imagine that sort of game on a Ninja Gaiden style difficulty level :-/

I think scarring on your face and torso for doing well sounds a bit off. Rather I'd think hands and arms. Like if your knuckles are all fucked up, but you got hardly a scratch otherwise, then that would clearly show that you're giving more than you're recieving.

Also at first fresh from the wrapper swords with mirror sheens getting gradually covered in nicks, scrapes and dried blood would be a nice touch.

Didn't the "Prince of Persia" trilogy have the same mechanic? In the first you kept losing pieces of your shirt in transition from one area to the next, and in the third the glowing scars on your back kept spreading until you finally suppressed the Dark Prince...

another thing specopstheline did well was that melee combat changed over time, at the beginning Walker would hit a guy in the head with his gun and shot him once and in the last few levels he would reduce their enemies heads to jam and slowly insert his gun into their mouth before pulling the trigger.

Shadow of the colossus did this really well, by the way.

SonicWaffle:
I dunno about the scarring thing - remember how well that worked in Fable 2? Absolutely nobody gave a shit, and half the time they were covered up by clothing or armour anyway.

Not to mention, half the players were like "Holy shit! That looks awesome!" Which defeated Molyneux's supposed point.

arcstone:
I think scarring on your face and torso for doing well sounds a bit off. Rather I'd think hands and arms. Like if your knuckles are all fucked up, but you got hardly a scratch otherwise, then that would clearly show that you're giving more than you're recieving.

I like that idea, really. Show the scarring on the hands if you're dishing it out and on the torso/face if you're taking it.

Zachary Amaranth:

SonicWaffle:
I dunno about the scarring thing - remember how well that worked in Fable 2? Absolutely nobody gave a shit, and half the time they were covered up by clothing or armour anyway.

Not to mention, half the players were like "Holy shit! That looks awesome!" Which defeated Molyneux's supposed point.

Molyneux had a point beyond "check out what I can do, bitches!"?

DVS BSTrD:
It always comes back to cocks with you, doesn't it Yahtzee?

It wouldn't have to be just scars on the face. It could also be dents in your armor or tares in the clothing.
But hey, facial disfigurement can still look good.

Spoiler: Click to ViewPHA+PGltZyBzcmM9Imh0dHA6Ly9hcGkubmluZy5jb20vZmlsZXMvRjJuLUtNYTFqamVXSDdaSWhyaE1PcjZjMTY4TjNLN3hHSXJ4eTlPNTI5amt1KktvTWZWRkJ4MXh5WWVkY1JtOFQ2NVlmNFBvRGpwMFA4ZzkzSFhZMmdfXy8xMjY0Njc3bWFzc19lZmZlY3RfMl9nYXJydXNfYnlfYXhlcF9oMl9sYXJnZS5qcGciIGFsdD0iaW1hZ2UiLz48L3A+

Well, Garrus is space-Batman after all...

I am VERY surprised you didn't bring up the Prince of Persia, in Sands of Time the guy slowly strips off his shirt as the thing gets torn up from the endless zombie fighting, until in the last stage he is shirtless with a badass chest cut. Thank god they didn't do anything with his pants...

SonicWaffle:

Molyneux had a point beyond "check out what I can do, bitches!"?

Well, maybe not, but his claims were that the scarring system was a way of adding permanent repercussions to death and in-game consequences and all that horsecrap.

Mr.Tea:

Well, Garrus is space-Batman after all...

Boring, overrated, and the subject of more memes than actual thought?

Captcha: Stop asking me which dish soap is eco-friendly! I still don't know!

Diana Kingston-Gabai:
Didn't the "Prince of Persia" trilogy have the same mechanic? In the first you kept losing pieces of your shirt in transition from one area to the next, and in the third the glowing scars on your back kept spreading until you finally suppressed the Dark Prince...

I've been beaten to it! GAH!
But yeah, it was pretty neat how the prince slowly lost bits and pieces of his clothing until at the end of the game he was basically just running about in his knickers. It shows the transition from the pampered prince into the hero he became. When he first tore the sleeves off his shirt I almost applauded. He threw away his persona as the crowned prince to become the hero that was needed to save the nation/world/whatever, much as he threw away his sleeves.

I'm a little surprised Yahtzee didn't mention that, but it is an older, more obscure game. Everyone knows about Batman, but not everyone knows about the Prince of Persia. Oh god, I sound like a drooling fanboy now, don't I?

SonicWaffle:
...probably take more blows to the head than a disobedient hooker.

Seriously? You're going to be that guy?

About that tihs with the pijamas - its okay if it shows something .
In Arkham city , batman went more tired and beaten by the minute , and his costume showed his emotional state . In Spec ops the line , walker looked cool at the start - vest,equipment , gear . But when he gets crazier and crazier , his outlook starts to fall apart too .
And what happens to spidey ? He dropped his pizza on the costume and now has to dry clean it .

Okay, before I get ninja'd, Red Orchestra 2 did this.

EDIT: Now to elaborate. In Red Orchestra 2, you start the multiplayer portion of the game as a recruit. You have all your gear strapped to your back, you have your helmet securely fastened, and you have the basic rifle.
As you level up, your gear gradually strips away from your character. By the end, your character probably just has their gun, a helmet, and a shovel. Your guns may or may not be battle-scarred, but you definitely will have attachments for them and you will also have picked up some enemy weapons.
From the enemy team's perspective, there isn't much difference between enemies, but if you stop to look, or you're playing with both a high level and low level teammate, there is a difference between the skins each player has.

Also, once you "finish" leveling up, you receive a "hero" skin. You basically turn into the dirtiest, patchiest, most battle-scarred and lightly equipped officer on the battlefield.

Zachary Amaranth:

Mr.Tea:

Well, Garrus is space-Batman after all...

Boring, overrated, and the subject of more memes than actual thought?

Captcha: Stop asking me which dish soap is eco-friendly! I still don't know!

Batman never had hot, intimate, inter-species alien sex with me. Garrus did.

Point for Garrus.

Azuaron:

SonicWaffle:
...probably take more blows to the head than a disobedient hooker.

Seriously? You're going to be that guy?

I've always been that guy. Pleased to meet you! Hope you guess my name...

Trishbot:

Zachary Amaranth:

Mr.Tea:

Well, Garrus is space-Batman after all...

Boring, overrated, and the subject of more memes than actual thought?

Captcha: Stop asking me which dish soap is eco-friendly! I still don't know!

Batman never had hot, intimate, inter-species alien sex with me. Garrus did.

Point for Garrus.

To be fair, have you ever given Batman the chance? He might be up for it, you never know. He could even turn out to have tentacles under those wings somewhere.

My favourite "story behind the wounds" character comes from No One Lives Forever 2, in which the devious super villain spends the entire game in a wheelchair, cacooned in bandages. About half way through, you eventually find out why. Skip to 5:27 in the video:

Regarding the last paragraph as to where Spiderman gets thread, I dunno...maybe if he had a thread-making animal do it for him. Like a spider. Have to be a big spider, though. Big as a person.

I'll just note that the whole concept of gradually looking more like you've ran out of fucks to give is something Red Orchestra 2 is doing. You start out as a fresh-faced recruit in a neat uniform, but the higher your level, the more dirtied and worn you look like. Very high level characters for example go into warm-weather battles with rolled-up sleeves.

It's very subtle though, especially as you don't spend much time looking at your character model, it being a first-person shooter and all.

SonicWaffle:

That might actually might for a pretty interesting mechanic, if the degrading skill weren't automatic and time-based; the more damage a character takes over the course of the game, the more skill points/levels/stats or whatever they lose. Play well, protect your character, and retain your best abilities. Play badly, charge into fights without planning or just get knocked down too many times and your abilities will diminish. Imagine that sort of game on a Ninja Gaiden style difficulty level :-/

Actually, that mostly reminds me of Shogun II: Total War. Your units gain veterancy in battles, but replenishing their numbers causes the entire unit to lose veterancy, as it is diluting its battle-hardened veterans with fresh recruits. It functions as an incitement to try and not only win, but win with as few casualties as possible.

That was one of the things I liked about the X-Men Origins tie in Wolverine game. Wolverine got damaged and regenerated, but his clothes didn't take part in that second part. Although his jeans staying pristine the entire time was always a bit weird. And it happened in-game.

SonicWaffle:

That might actually might for a pretty interesting mechanic, if the degrading skill weren't automatic and time-based; the more damage a character takes over the course of the game, the more skill points/levels/stats or whatever they lose. Play well, protect your character, and retain your best abilities. Play badly, charge into fights without planning or just get knocked down too many times and your abilities will diminish. Imagine that sort of game on a Ninja Gaiden style difficulty level :-/

Well, that doesn't really work; it means that the most skilled people end up playing a less challanging game, which isn't what they will enjoy, and the least skilled people end up playing a more challanging game, which REALLY isn't what they will enjoy. It would kind of make the game worst for everyone.

Mahoshonen:
Regarding the last paragraph as to where Spiderman gets thread, I dunno...maybe if he had a thread-making animal do it for him. Like a spider. Have to be a big spider, though. Big as a person.

How could such a thing even exist?

OT: I don't know if I'd enjoy receiving scars as achievements. But having wounds after tough fights that scar later on in games like Skyrim could add something. It sometimes strikes me as bizarre that you can get mauled by a freaking bear and still your face doesn't even show any wrinkles.
Maybe this could even become a mechanic: if you don't visit a doctor or patch yourself up your wounds start infecting and you suffer stat decrease and fatigue.

Yeah, I remember The Prince doing that with his shirt and chest armor in The Sands of Time. Is this going to be a trend in single-player games, story-induced clothing damage? SOmetimes it's clever, and sometimes it sounds like a cheap gimmick.

captcha: puppy dog

arcstone:
Shadow of the colossus did this really well, by the way.

I was going to say that. You look at yourself at one point and go, "Oh my god, I'm a monster!" Adds the the story in a fantastically subtle way.

Well if I ever make a game I'll put in a scar for every achievement.

Yosarian2:

SonicWaffle:

That might actually might for a pretty interesting mechanic, if the degrading skill weren't automatic and time-based; the more damage a character takes over the course of the game, the more skill points/levels/stats or whatever they lose. Play well, protect your character, and retain your best abilities. Play badly, charge into fights without planning or just get knocked down too many times and your abilities will diminish. Imagine that sort of game on a Ninja Gaiden style difficulty level :-/

Well, that doesn't really work; it means that the most skilled people end up playing a less challanging game, which isn't what they will enjoy, and the least skilled people end up playing a more challanging game, which REALLY isn't what they will enjoy. It would kind of make the game worst for everyone.

Not really - this is why we have difficulty levels. For the skilled player surviving at high difficulties would be a challenge, and for the less skilled playing at low difficulty would still be a challenge.

It makes sense for Spidey, though- he's literally always messing his costume up, because he IS a total spaz- especially in Ultimate (On which Amazing was totally based no matter what the mean kids say).

Thematically, it may not really do a whole lot, but I felt the costume damage did plenty to add some weight to each individual encounter- I mean, fuck, the dude is a kid, of course he's out of his depth in every single battle. He sure keeps winning, though. He drags his ass back to that apartment every time.