...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Event Flag
- 100 statements
- 0 feature instances
- 105 referencing feature instances
| Event Flag | type |
FeatureClass | |
| Event Flag | label |
Event Flag | |
| Event Flag | page |
EventFlag | |
| Event Flag | comment |
When you boil it down, games are ultimately a series of numbers. All the gameplay and fancy graphics are when it comes to it, a bunch of computer code doing a lot of calculations. So how does the game actually know where you are in the story, what choices you've taken, what characters you've spoken to, and when to make evil monsters appear? Introducing the Event Flag: a condition in game programming that causes a variable to change. Event Flags are set off when certain events take place — Boss Battles, Cutscenes, leveling up, One Ups — anything that's important to the plot or to your stats. Flags can also trigger anything, from changing a character's status to activating subquests or side-plots to adjusting what sort of Random Encounters show up. How and when they are implemented, and what they do are purely up to the game developers. It's important to note that there need not be any logical connection between the action and the results. Sometimes there is a relationship, as when the completion of one quest makes you eligible for others, but very often the game programmers just decided to enforce the order of events. If the door to the Black Tower is impenetrably sealed, but spontaneously unlocks itself after you give 10 flowers to a completely unrelated NPC on the other side of the world, an Event Flag is the little chunk of computer code that made it happen. Setting off certain Event Flags is necessary for the computer to know when you've won most games. (In the case of a game with Multiple Endings, which Event Flags are set off will usually decide what ending you getnote the main other possible criteria being your Karma Meter, what faction you're in, what final level you're playing (some games have more than one), which Final Boss you're facing (again, quite a few games have more than one), or which option you picked from the drop-down menu in the penultimate cutscene — and all of these can, depending on the game, boil down to a set of Event Flags anyways.) Sequence Breaking in the wrong places can make the game Unwinnable if a flag that was supposed to be triggered gets stuck in the wrong state, or if it results in a combination of event flags that normally would not happen, causing the game to crash or behave strangely. There are different ways games can implement this. The variables might be stored independently, which would usually be done for side quests, or even simple bits of information such as permanently opening a door or having a conversation with an NPC, though this is not always the case. RPGs and some other game types also commonly use a story event flag, represented by a number, to store your progress throughout the game. For instance, if you enter the game's second area for the first time with a value of say "7", the game plays a cutscene and you engage in a Hopeless Boss Fight. Do well, and maybe the game sets the flag to "8" which results in some unique dialogue. Do badly, and maybe it gets set to "12" with some different outcome. When you enter this area again, the game checks the story flag, knows you've already encountered the boss because the value is greater than "7", and won't repeat events. Naturally, these are arbitrary values set by the game designers, though normally these would be expected to increase as you progress since it simplifies things. Let's also say the Noob Cave is normally permanently inaccessible after completing it due to a locked door, but it somehow is still possible to enter anyway. Enter the area again and the game sets the story state back to "7". As far as the game is concerned, you never encountered the Hopeless Boss Fight and it will play out again. Where this might be a real problem is if you have to cross a bridge that collapses or go through a door that locks, and the game still remembers these obstacles are now impassable, trapping the player. Generally, a Broken Bridge is "repaired" by an event flag, and an unsolvable puzzle gets its solution from it as well. Event flags are also how a game knows when You Shouldn't Know This Already. The term is often used for gags in anime and Japanese games, where Genre Savvy characters talk about needing to set off flags for the plot or relationships to move in a favored direction. More commonly, it is a joke about Tempting Fate, where once a certain event has been set off, something inevitable will follow.note In this situation, when going through said playthroughs, it is a Memetic Mutation in the Japanese community. Anybody who talks about what they're going to do after a war, for example, has set a death flag. |
|
| Event Flag | fetched |
2024-02-04T16:30:38Z | |
| Event Flag | parsed |
2024-02-04T16:30:38Z | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Albion: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to ArmedAndDelirious: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to BatmanArkhamCity: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to CaveStory: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to DragonAgeInquisition: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to EarthBound1994: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Fallout3: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Fallout4: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to FinalFantasyIV: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to FinalFantasyX: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to FiveNightsAtFreddysSecurityBreach: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to FridayThe13thTheGame: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to HatofulBoyfriend: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Hexen: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to HikoninSentaiAkibaranger: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Hitman: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to HollowKnight: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to IfHerFlagBreaks: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to KamenRiderFourze: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Left4Dead: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to MedalOfHonorFrontline: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Melody: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Metroid1: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Metroid: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to MetroidFusion: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to MetroidIIReturnOfSamus: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to MetroidOtherM: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to MetroidPrime2Echoes: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to MetroidPrimeTrilogy: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to MonsterMusume: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Myst: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Nightcry: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to NoMatterWhatHappensIStillWontBecomeAnAnimeCharacter: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to NocturneRebirth: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to OmertaCityOfGangsters: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to PeasantsQuest: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Persona3: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to PhantasyStar: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Pokemon: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to PrinceOfPersia1: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Rayman1: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to RefleX: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Riven: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to RuneFactory4: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to RuneFactory: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to SAOTheEroge: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to SeitokaiYakuindomo: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to SepterraCore: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to SkiesOfArcadia: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to SonicBoom: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Soulcaster: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to SpyroYearOfTheDragon: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to SuperMarioBros: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to SuperMetroid: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to SuperPaperMario: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to SuperSentai: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to TIEFighter: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Terraria: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheElderScrollsIVOblivion: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheLegendOfZeldaI: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheWorldGodOnlyKnows: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to TotalWar: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to UltimaVIIPartII: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to Undertale: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingComment |
Dropped link to YuGiOhMonsterCapsuleGB: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Event Flag | processingUnknown |
NocturneRebirth | |
| Event Flag | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Beach Episode | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| Boss Battle | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| Closet Geek | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| Crutch Character | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| DiskOneNuke | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| Executive Meddling | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| Fan Remake | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| Game Maker | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| Goddamned Boss | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| Hand Wave | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| Lampshaded | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| Multiple Endings | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| Opening the Sandbox | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| Pacifist Run | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| Prolonged Prologue | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| Sequence Breaking | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| SpeedRun | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| That One Sidequest | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| The Very Definitely Final Dungeon | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag | |
| Urban Legend of Zelda | processingCategory2 |
Event Flag |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.