Quick Time Event
Encyclopedia
In video games, a Quick Time Event (QTE) is a method of context-sensitive gameplay
in which the player performs actions on the control device shortly after the appearance of an on-screen prompt. It allows for limited control of the game character during cut scenes or cinematic sequences in the game. Failing these segments—either by failing to take the correct action in time, or performing a different action—takes the scene in a different course.
The term "Quick Time Event" is attributed to Yu Suzuki
, director of the game Shenmue
which used the QTE feature to a great degree. QTEs generally involve the player following onscreen prompts to press buttons or manipulate joysticks within a limited amount of time. More recent games on consoles with motion-sensitive controls feature QTEs requiring specific movements from the player. The prompts are often displayed as a graphical image of the physical controller button; for example, games on the PlayStation consoles may show any of the four colored face buttons (X, square, circle, or triangle) as input for the event. Such actions are either atypical of the normal controls during the game, or in a different context from their assigned functions. They allow for the game designer to create sequences of actions that either cannot be performed, or would be too difficult to be performed, within the game's standard control scheme. While some uses of QTE have been considered as favorable additions to gameplay, the general use of QTE has been panned by journalists and players alike, as these events can break the flow of the game and force the player to repeat sections until they master the event.
-racing video game released by Kasco (Kansai Seiki Seisakusho Co.), consisted of pre-filmed situations (recorded on 16 mm film
) that required the player to match their steering wheel
, gas pedal and brakes with the movements shown on screen, much like those seen in laserdisc video games that appeared the following decade.
In the 1980s, Dragon's Lair
(Cinematronics
, 1983), Cliff Hanger (Stern, 1983) and Road Blaster (Data East
, 1985) were interactive movie
laserdisc video game
s that showed video clips stored on a laserdisc. This gave them graphics on par with an animated cartoon
at a time when video games were composed of simple, pixelated characters, but left little room for more advanced gameplay elements. Gameplay consisted of watching an animated video and pressing the correct button every few seconds to avoid seeing a (circumstance-specific) loss scene and losing a life. Compared to modern titles, games like Dragon's Lair would require the player to memorize the proper sequence and timing of their input, effectively making the entire game one continuous QTE. Such uses were also seen as giving the player only the illusion of control, as outside of responding to QTE, there were no other commands the player could enter; effectively, these games were considered the equivalent of watching a movie and responding every few minutes to allow it to continue.
Die Hard Arcade
(Sega
, 1996) and most notably Shenmue
(Sega, 1999) for the Dreamcast introduced QTEs in the modern form of cut scene interludes in an otherwise more interactive game. Shenmues director Yu Suzuki
is credited with coining the phase "Quick Time Event". Since this period, several other games on modern console and game systems have included QTEs or similar mechanics. Another early use of QTEs was in the action
game Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage
(Yuke's, 1999), where different non-linear paths were revealed depending on whether the player succeeds or fails in pressing the displayed button quickly enough during a QTE, allowing different ways to complete the game.
QTE are often used during dramatic cutscenes. A well-known example of this type of QTE is a knife battle in the game Resident Evil 4
. The fight occurs during a late-game cutscene where the protagonist meets a major villain, and the villain, amid their knife fight, explains missing links in the game's story. As the action takes place during the major revelation of the game, the QTE serves to prevent the player from skipping over the cutscene. While this example is considered to use QTEs effectively, punctuating the heating discussion between the characters with rapid player reactions, it also demonstrates a common failing with the mechanism, in that if the player should miss a QTE, the protagonist will be killed, and the player must restart the cutscene and the fight from the start. Because of the likelihood of player death, the phrase "Press X to not die" has become synomous with the use of QTEs in game. Furthermore, when a QTE is used during such a scene, the player's attention is drawn away from the animation and instead to the area of the screen where the button control indicator would appear, rendering the effort put into animating the scene meaningless.
QTEs may be used to provide a limited control scheme for a scene within the game that would be otherwise difficult or impossible to perform with the game's standard controls. A second example from Shenmue II
requires the player to navigate several narrow planks across a void in a disused building, every so often responding to a QTE to regain the character's balance, with each successive plank requiring more and quicker responses to QTEs. Failing to respond to the QTE leads to the character's death and requiring the player to restart the sequence. This sequence is critically panned as when the player finishes the plank sequence, the characters rejoins his partner who had used the elevator to bypass the floors, an option not given to the player.
More recent games have used QTEs that occur more directly in gameplay and, when failed, do not end the game for the player. The God of War
series uses QTEs as finishing moves: by completing the maneuver successfully, the player can defeat larger beasts or bosses, but failure to complete only leads to being tossed away, upon which the player can move back into battle to continue to fight. Often these are progressive QTE systems where the player is only partially penalized for missing the necessary commands; these often take place in boss battles. An example of this usage is from the game Ninja Blade
; during a special attack by the boss, the player can attempt a series of QTEs to minimize the distance that the protagonist is pushed back down a long hallway from the boss, reducing the amount of time and damage that the character would then take in rushing the boss at the conclusion of the attack. Other positive means of incorporating the QTE is for manipulating the environment to gain a tactical edge; Gears of War 2
, for example, includes one area where the player character and his non-player character squad are on a circular elevator, fending off hordes of monsters engaging them on all sides. By temporarily abandoning the battle, the player can engage the elevator through a QTE at its control panel to gain the high ground, though this gain can be nullified if the monsters engage a second control panel.
A more recent use of QTEs have been within cutscenes themselves where failing to perform the QTE may alter or provide more details about the game's story and affect the character later in the game. In Mass Effect 2
, certain cutscenes contain dramatic moments where a QTE will appear for a short moment, indicating an action that will drive the character towards either extreme of a morality scale. In one case, the player is given the opportunity to stop ruffians from firing upon a weaker character, with the QTE provided helping to boost the player towards higher moral standing.
More recently, the games Fahrenheit
(Indigo Prophecy in North America) and Heavy Rain
from Quantic Dream
are primarily presented as sequences of QTEs, integrating the mechanic as part of the core gameplay, and present controller actions that correlate directly with the character actions on the screen; this was emphasized further in Heavy Rain by a game patch to support the use of the PlayStation Move motion controls where the player could actually physically perform the moves that corresponded with character actions. In both games, players may miss certain QTEs, or may be given a choice of multiple QTEs they could perform; opting of which QTEs to perform would alter the story, with the possibility of character death at some later point. In Heavy Rain, for example, the player controls the fates of the game's four playable characters, leading to numerous different endings if the characters remained alive and if they had discovered critical information. Even prior to Heavy Rains release, the game's director David Cage
had to defend his vision of the game from critics that were skeptical of the reliance of QTEs within Heavy Rain and created an early stigma on the game's reception. Despite the integration, Heavy Rain was often criticized for use of QTEs in otherwise non-dramatic situations. In an early sequence in the game, the player has to control the lead character to find his son Jason in the mall, with the only available action of pressing the "X" button to shout "Jason" with no apparent effect.
With the onset of newer technology to improve graphics, controls, in-game physics, and artificial intelligences, gameplay elements previously simulated through QTEs can potentially be re-implemented as core game mechanics. Road Blaster used QTEs to steer the car and ram other vehicles off the road in pre-rendered animated scenes, while modern games like Burnout Paradise
give the player full control of the vehicle and uses its game engine to create real-time crashes with other vehicles. Similarly, Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair
recreates the experience of the pre-animated scenes from Dragon's Lair as a platform game, allowing the player to react freely to the environmental traps and monsters.
, muscular dystrophy, or cerebral palsy, for example) commonly use speech recognition software to issue commands that normally would be given by key presses.
QTEs are not only problematic for people with physical handicaps. The elderly have slower reactions which can render QTEs impossible for them.
A QTE that requires precise timing may be difficult to beat on a slow computer, not because of intended difficulty, but because lag inhibits screen notification at the proper moment.
QTEs mostly require very quick reaction times that are very hard to achieve by use of speech recognition because of the delay between recognizing what key has to be pressed and giving the voice command plus the delay of the used speech recognition software.
These problems can be avoided. If a game contains QTEs designers should integrate options to make these events significantly easier. This can be done by replacing the requirement of pushing several different keys with the requirement to only push one (at best freely to configure) key/mouse button whenever a keypress in a QTE is asked for.
Developers can add optional settings which allow to increase the time (up to some seconds) until keys have to be pressed within a QTE.
Gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...
in which the player performs actions on the control device shortly after the appearance of an on-screen prompt. It allows for limited control of the game character during cut scenes or cinematic sequences in the game. Failing these segments—either by failing to take the correct action in time, or performing a different action—takes the scene in a different course.
The term "Quick Time Event" is attributed to Yu Suzuki
Yu Suzuki
is a Japanese game designer and producer who has spent his entire career with Sega Enterprises. Often referred to as Sega's answer to Shigeru Miyamoto, he has been responsible for the creation of many of Sega's most important arcade games such as Hang-On, Out Run, After Burner II, Virtua Fighter,...
, director of the game Shenmue
Shenmue
is a 1999 open-world adventure video game developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki. Suzuki coined a genre title, "FREE" , for the game, based on the interactivity and freedom he wanted to give to the player...
which used the QTE feature to a great degree. QTEs generally involve the player following onscreen prompts to press buttons or manipulate joysticks within a limited amount of time. More recent games on consoles with motion-sensitive controls feature QTEs requiring specific movements from the player. The prompts are often displayed as a graphical image of the physical controller button; for example, games on the PlayStation consoles may show any of the four colored face buttons (X, square, circle, or triangle) as input for the event. Such actions are either atypical of the normal controls during the game, or in a different context from their assigned functions. They allow for the game designer to create sequences of actions that either cannot be performed, or would be too difficult to be performed, within the game's standard control scheme. While some uses of QTE have been considered as favorable additions to gameplay, the general use of QTE has been panned by journalists and players alike, as these events can break the flow of the game and force the player to repeat sections until they master the event.
History
Gameplay sequences with minimal actual gameplay are not a recent invention. In the 1970s, The Driver, an actionAction game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
-racing video game released by Kasco (Kansai Seiki Seisakusho Co.), consisted of pre-filmed situations (recorded on 16 mm film
16 mm film
16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
) that required the player to match their steering wheel
Racing wheel
A racing wheel is the preferred method of control for use in racing video games, racing simulators, and driving simulators. They are usually packaged with a large paddle styled as a steering wheel, along with a set of pedals for gas, brake, and sometimes clutch actuation, as well as various shifter...
, gas pedal and brakes with the movements shown on screen, much like those seen in laserdisc video games that appeared the following decade.
In the 1980s, Dragon's Lair
Dragon's Lair
Dragon's Lair is a laserdisc video game published by Cinematronics in 1983. It featured animation created by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth....
(Cinematronics
Cinematronics
Cinematronics Incorporated was a pioneering arcade game developer that had its heyday in the era of vector display games. While other companies released games based on raster displays, early in their history, Cinematronics and Atari released vector-display games, which offered a distinctive look...
, 1983), Cliff Hanger (Stern, 1983) and Road Blaster (Data East
Data East
also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, when it declared bankruptcy...
, 1985) were interactive movie
Interactive movie
An interactive movie is a video game that features highly cinematic presentation and heavy use of scripting, often through the use of full-motion video of either animated or live-action footage.-Philosophy:...
laserdisc video game
Laserdisc video game
A laserdisc video game is an arcade game that uses pre-recorded video played from a laserdisc, either as the entirety of the graphics, or as part of the graphics.-History:...
s that showed video clips stored on a laserdisc. This gave them graphics on par with an animated cartoon
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
at a time when video games were composed of simple, pixelated characters, but left little room for more advanced gameplay elements. Gameplay consisted of watching an animated video and pressing the correct button every few seconds to avoid seeing a (circumstance-specific) loss scene and losing a life. Compared to modern titles, games like Dragon's Lair would require the player to memorize the proper sequence and timing of their input, effectively making the entire game one continuous QTE. Such uses were also seen as giving the player only the illusion of control, as outside of responding to QTE, there were no other commands the player could enter; effectively, these games were considered the equivalent of watching a movie and responding every few minutes to allow it to continue.
Die Hard Arcade
Die Hard Arcade
Die Hard Arcade is the licensed North American, European and Australian version of the Japanese videogame . The game is a beat 'em up with loose ties to the Die Hard movie series of the same name....
(Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
, 1996) and most notably Shenmue
Shenmue
is a 1999 open-world adventure video game developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki. Suzuki coined a genre title, "FREE" , for the game, based on the interactivity and freedom he wanted to give to the player...
(Sega, 1999) for the Dreamcast introduced QTEs in the modern form of cut scene interludes in an otherwise more interactive game. Shenmues director Yu Suzuki
Yu Suzuki
is a Japanese game designer and producer who has spent his entire career with Sega Enterprises. Often referred to as Sega's answer to Shigeru Miyamoto, he has been responsible for the creation of many of Sega's most important arcade games such as Hang-On, Out Run, After Burner II, Virtua Fighter,...
is credited with coining the phase "Quick Time Event". Since this period, several other games on modern console and game systems have included QTEs or similar mechanics. Another early use of QTEs was in the action
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
game Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage
Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage
Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage, released in Japan as , is a hack & slash action video game for the Dreamcast based on the popular Berserk manga by Kentarō Miura. It takes place anywhere between volumes 22 and volume 23 of the Berserk manga; right after Guts and Puck depart for Elfhelm with Casca,...
(Yuke's, 1999), where different non-linear paths were revealed depending on whether the player succeeds or fails in pressing the displayed button quickly enough during a QTE, allowing different ways to complete the game.
Use and critical reaction
QTEs have mixed reaction from players and journalists. They can be used effectively to enhance cutscenes and other actions. The use of QTE within Shenmue is often praised, as "they seamlessly flow from cinema to the QTE sequence without any loading pauses at all", and sections which utilized the QTE were considered "some of the most thrilling in the whole game". At the same time, they also are considered to be a weak addition to gameplay, and often force the player to repeat such sections until they complete the QTE perfectly to move on. They are often considered a "bane of action games", as their presence breaks the standard flow of the game and reduce the control of the game for the player to a few buttons. Also, QTE may frustrate the player due to the fact that they might not have any sign that they are about to happen.QTE are often used during dramatic cutscenes. A well-known example of this type of QTE is a knife battle in the game Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4, known in Japan as , is a survival horror third-person shooter video game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by multiple publishers, including Capcom, Ubisoft, Nintendo Australia, Red Ant Enterprises and THQ Asia Pacific...
. The fight occurs during a late-game cutscene where the protagonist meets a major villain, and the villain, amid their knife fight, explains missing links in the game's story. As the action takes place during the major revelation of the game, the QTE serves to prevent the player from skipping over the cutscene. While this example is considered to use QTEs effectively, punctuating the heating discussion between the characters with rapid player reactions, it also demonstrates a common failing with the mechanism, in that if the player should miss a QTE, the protagonist will be killed, and the player must restart the cutscene and the fight from the start. Because of the likelihood of player death, the phrase "Press X to not die" has become synomous with the use of QTEs in game. Furthermore, when a QTE is used during such a scene, the player's attention is drawn away from the animation and instead to the area of the screen where the button control indicator would appear, rendering the effort put into animating the scene meaningless.
QTEs may be used to provide a limited control scheme for a scene within the game that would be otherwise difficult or impossible to perform with the game's standard controls. A second example from Shenmue II
Shenmue II
is a adventure game for the Dreamcast and Xbox. It is the sequel to Shenmue, and was produced and directed by Yu Suzuki of Sega AM2.Due to exclusivity rights obtained by Microsoft, the North American Dreamcast version was cancelled. Because of this, no English dub was recorded for the Dreamcast...
requires the player to navigate several narrow planks across a void in a disused building, every so often responding to a QTE to regain the character's balance, with each successive plank requiring more and quicker responses to QTEs. Failing to respond to the QTE leads to the character's death and requiring the player to restart the sequence. This sequence is critically panned as when the player finishes the plank sequence, the characters rejoins his partner who had used the elevator to bypass the floors, an option not given to the player.
More recent games have used QTEs that occur more directly in gameplay and, when failed, do not end the game for the player. The God of War
God of War (series)
God of War is a series of action-adventure video games based on Greek mythology.The main trilogy—God of War I, II, & III—in the series were developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica division , with Ready at Dawn Studios developing the PSP and Javaground the mobile phone installment...
series uses QTEs as finishing moves: by completing the maneuver successfully, the player can defeat larger beasts or bosses, but failure to complete only leads to being tossed away, upon which the player can move back into battle to continue to fight. Often these are progressive QTE systems where the player is only partially penalized for missing the necessary commands; these often take place in boss battles. An example of this usage is from the game Ninja Blade
Ninja Blade
is a video game developed and published by From Software for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360. The game has been categorized as a "cinematic action game," combining a mixture of hack and slash elements with context-sensitive commands....
; during a special attack by the boss, the player can attempt a series of QTEs to minimize the distance that the protagonist is pushed back down a long hallway from the boss, reducing the amount of time and damage that the character would then take in rushing the boss at the conclusion of the attack. Other positive means of incorporating the QTE is for manipulating the environment to gain a tactical edge; Gears of War 2
Gears of War 2
Gears of War 2 is a third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games with lead design by Cliff Bleszinski, and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. It is the second installment of the Gears of War series. The game was officially released in North America, Europe and...
, for example, includes one area where the player character and his non-player character squad are on a circular elevator, fending off hordes of monsters engaging them on all sides. By temporarily abandoning the battle, the player can engage the elevator through a QTE at its control panel to gain the high ground, though this gain can be nullified if the monsters engage a second control panel.
A more recent use of QTEs have been within cutscenes themselves where failing to perform the QTE may alter or provide more details about the game's story and affect the character later in the game. In Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2 is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on January 26, 2010 and for PlayStation 3 on January 18, 2011...
, certain cutscenes contain dramatic moments where a QTE will appear for a short moment, indicating an action that will drive the character towards either extreme of a morality scale. In one case, the player is given the opportunity to stop ruffians from firing upon a weaker character, with the QTE provided helping to boost the player towards higher moral standing.
More recently, the games Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit (video game)
Fahrenheit, also known as Indigo Prophecy in North America, is a cinematic adventure video game developed by Quantic Dream and manufactured and marketed by Atari Europe SAS...
(Indigo Prophecy in North America) and Heavy Rain
Heavy Rain
Heavy Rain is an interactive drama psychological thriller video game created by Quantic Dream exclusively for the PlayStation 3. The game is written and directed by Quantic Dream's founder and CEO David Cage....
from Quantic Dream
Quantic Dream
Quantic Dream is a French video game developer based in Paris, France, founded in 1997. The company also supplies motion capture services to the film and video game industries.-History:...
are primarily presented as sequences of QTEs, integrating the mechanic as part of the core gameplay, and present controller actions that correlate directly with the character actions on the screen; this was emphasized further in Heavy Rain by a game patch to support the use of the PlayStation Move motion controls where the player could actually physically perform the moves that corresponded with character actions. In both games, players may miss certain QTEs, or may be given a choice of multiple QTEs they could perform; opting of which QTEs to perform would alter the story, with the possibility of character death at some later point. In Heavy Rain, for example, the player controls the fates of the game's four playable characters, leading to numerous different endings if the characters remained alive and if they had discovered critical information. Even prior to Heavy Rains release, the game's director David Cage
David Cage
David De Gruttola , better known by his pseudonym David Cage, is a French musician and video game designer.-Biography:He is the head of game developer studio Quantic Dream...
had to defend his vision of the game from critics that were skeptical of the reliance of QTEs within Heavy Rain and created an early stigma on the game's reception. Despite the integration, Heavy Rain was often criticized for use of QTEs in otherwise non-dramatic situations. In an early sequence in the game, the player has to control the lead character to find his son Jason in the mall, with the only available action of pressing the "X" button to shout "Jason" with no apparent effect.
With the onset of newer technology to improve graphics, controls, in-game physics, and artificial intelligences, gameplay elements previously simulated through QTEs can potentially be re-implemented as core game mechanics. Road Blaster used QTEs to steer the car and ram other vehicles off the road in pre-rendered animated scenes, while modern games like Burnout Paradise
Burnout Paradise
Burnout Paradise is the seventh game in the Burnout racing video game series. It was developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts. It was released in January 2008 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and on February 5, 2009 for Microsoft Windows...
give the player full control of the vehicle and uses its game engine to create real-time crashes with other vehicles. Similarly, Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair
Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair
Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair is an action-adventure video game released in 2002 by Dragonstone Software. The game is based on Cinematronics' 1983 laserdisc arcade game Dragon's Lair, and follows a similar story; the hero, Dirk the Daring, must enter the evil wizard Mordroc's castle to...
recreates the experience of the pre-animated scenes from Dragon's Lair as a platform game, allowing the player to react freely to the environmental traps and monsters.
Concerns regarding accessibility
Gamers with physical disabilities may dislike Quick Time Events. People who cannot use standard hardware keyboards (because of ALSAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a form of motor neuron disease caused by the degeneration of upper and lower neurons, located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord and the cortical neurons that provide their efferent input...
, muscular dystrophy, or cerebral palsy, for example) commonly use speech recognition software to issue commands that normally would be given by key presses.
QTEs are not only problematic for people with physical handicaps. The elderly have slower reactions which can render QTEs impossible for them.
A QTE that requires precise timing may be difficult to beat on a slow computer, not because of intended difficulty, but because lag inhibits screen notification at the proper moment.
QTEs mostly require very quick reaction times that are very hard to achieve by use of speech recognition because of the delay between recognizing what key has to be pressed and giving the voice command plus the delay of the used speech recognition software.
These problems can be avoided. If a game contains QTEs designers should integrate options to make these events significantly easier. This can be done by replacing the requirement of pushing several different keys with the requirement to only push one (at best freely to configure) key/mouse button whenever a keypress in a QTE is asked for.
Developers can add optional settings which allow to increase the time (up to some seconds) until keys have to be pressed within a QTE.