Of all the periodic video game debates on social media, nothing excites me more than whether or not developers should paint objects yellow. While painting interactable objects a prominent color is nothing new for games, the particular trend of choosing bright yellow streaks to mark everything from doors, breakable boxes, levers, shelves, rocks, etc., deprives players of the opportunity to discover things for themselves, and this level of generous support provoked a backlash from some who believed it would work against the game.

In response to these comments, developers often remind players that the yellow paint is the result of testers getting lost in early playtesting, but Ubisoft Massive has come up with an interesting workaround for the upcoming "Star Wars Outlaws" that may satisfy both camps Ubisoft Massive has come up with an interesting workaround for the upcoming Star Wars Outlaws that may satisfy both camps. In other words, a yellow paint toggle.

I tried this mode during a preview session of "Outlaws" in July and didn't notice any difference with it turned on; the Ubi rep eventually informed me that it was not enabled in the early builds I was playing. Disappointing.

I think I will definitely turn on Explorer mode in the final version. Because by default, Star Wars Outlaws has more paint than a yellow brick road. This "guide color" was most prevalent in the Uncharted-like climbing scenes and puzzles. Yellow paint was applied to climbable steel walls, to ledges on critical paths that were obvious even before the paint was applied, and streaks were drawn over ventilation shafts so as not to be missed. Of course, part of the fun of non-linear stealth games is finding things that you might really miss, such as sewer grates, trapdoors, and revolving bookcases, so this would have halved the fun of the stealth bits in "Outlaw."

Stopping the yellow paint may have annoying consequences. If you turn off the wayfinding, you can fully expect to jump toward a wall you can't actually climb and fall to your death (in fact, I did it once in the demo without the Explorer mode). But is that bad game design?" After falling once, I had a better understanding of what I could and could not climb in "Outlaw" and never made a jumping mistake again. Playing a new game means learning the language of that game. I'm oversimplifying, but I think the yellow paint story has to do with the fact that most video games no longer consider "searching" to be a skill. Time spent scanning a room for ladders, pipes, or movable boxes is treated not as interesting gameplay, but as wasted friction that gets in the way of the next shootout or puzzle.

The signposts are not all that helpful, either. Yellow paint is rightly accused of being plain and ugly, but good art direction can accomplish the same thing in a way that no one complains about: Half-Life and Portal had a knack for guiding our gaze to important landmarks with lights, props, and sounds, while making us feel smart when we found them. The trick was to make us feel like we were in the right place. Ubisoft didn't even have to look outside the Star Wars franchise for inspiration. Last year's "Star Wars Jedi: Survivor" established a simple visual language to indicate where Kal Kestis can and cannot go. A steel grate with a round hole means that Kal can climb it, while a wall with a horizontal scratch, crack, or dent indicates a wall run.

However, if "Outlaw" chooses to roll with yellow paint as a guidance tool, it would be nice if Ubi would at least allow us to turn it off. I hope other games do the same. Star Wars Outlaws will be released on August 30. I played most of it and aside from the paint hassle, it was a lot of fun.