Why are open world games buggier than linear games?

[StaceyPowers]

On average, it seems to me like open world games tend to have a lot more bugs and glitches than linear games.

Does anyone know why this is the case? Is it to do with the sheer amount of data in open world games and all the variables being juggled? Or is there just more quality control with linear games?

 

[Crazycrab]

I'd say it's because they are have much bigger areas to load and tend to have a lot more systems running in the background.

[Darth]

A lot of things happening at once I would guess especially in the massive ones like Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2. There are things going on in the background that we don't even know about. So obviously there are more things that can go wrong

[Shagger]

I think @Darth and @Crazycrab have more or less covered it. There's larger environments to render and more processes happening in the background such as NPC and enemy activity and more objects to interact with. These games also tend to use hardware differently and tend to be heavy on CPU dependant processes like AI, pathfinding, NPC activity and rendering objects off-screen. These are things one would usually associate more with open worlds and they will test hardware in ways liner games don't. Because of all these processes and the way they utilise hardware it makes them more complex to program, so inevitably they get more bugs and glitches. Bugs are also harder to find with larger area's and more objects to interact with. It's unfortunate, but inevitable that game developers can't spend the time and money to find every bug, especially with how big these games get these days.

Edited May 8, 2022 by Shagger

[Heatman]

With the massive environment or size associated with open world games, when it comes to bugs and glitches, it's always going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. When you find one, and think that it's done, another one pops up. It's really a mess that can't be fixed easily. 

[The Blackangel]

It's due to all the things that have to be programmed into an open world game to make it a decent game. In linear games, there's less to have to worry about. Just a background with a little bit of this and that. Some more elaborate than others. But if you were to compare SMB3 to RDR2, the reason should be obvious.

[Reality vs Adventure]

Need a damn fly swatter in them open world games. 

[Justin11]

The reason is that, open world games covers varieties of actions, paths in their game to make it so real.in order to make it looks so real, work is needed and they're just humans they can't get it perfectly well without some glitches. Not that linear games aren't real, they are, but based on an adventure, where the character is on set path, and most of it's plots are more of the same. 

[Heatman]

On 5/6/2022 at 1:29 AM, Reality vs Adventure said:

Need a damn fly swatter in them open world games. 

Someone hates being around files and insects 😂... It's a part and parcel of all open world games. 

[Justin11]

What do you mean by files and insects forming part of open world games @Heatman?

[Heatman]

On 5/8/2022 at 9:02 AM, Justin11 said:

What do you mean by files and insects forming part of open world games @Heatman?

What do you make use of fly swatter for? Killing them annoying flies in open world games 😂.. 

[Justin11]

On 5/9/2022 at 10:47 PM, Heatman said:

What do you make use of fly swatter for? Killing them annoying flies in open world games 😂.. 

I got the information you passed bro. I didn't know what you meant by those words when you first wrote them. 

[Empire]

This linear vs open argument is really just a dumb misunderstanding of game design. Open world games ARE linear. Grand Theft Auto games, despite their side activities ARE linear games where you have to complete events in order to advance the story.

[Heatman]

7 hours ago, Empire said:

This linear vs open argument is really just a dumb misunderstanding of game design. Open world games ARE linear. Grand Theft Auto games, despite their side activities ARE linear games where you have to complete events in order to advance the story.

Now that didn't register well for me 😂.. How can open world games be considered to be Linear? Please lecture me. 

[Boblee]

What open world games covers is too big and it's why there are lots of bugs in it and even the game size as well. It's even why some games undergo data restructuring to reduce the file size of the game and probably bugs too.