Monday, December 6, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Undead Nightmare
One hour in to Undead Nightmare, and I am already hugely impressed. When Rockstar announced that they were going to be putting out a zombie themed add-on for Red Dead Redemption, I was pretty uninterested. I, like many others, am suffering from zombie fatigue. They're everywhere, and many games are cashing in on their newly found main stream appeal.
When I heard about it I assumed it would be a rather dull multiplayer mod. It seams I should have had more faith in Rockstar. It is a full narrative single player experience, rivaling many full releases in length. It takes all the familiar characters form the main game and places them in the midst of a series of typical horror movie scenarios beginning with, but not limited to, a zombie outbreak.
One of the most fun things is meeting the old characters again. The writers did an amazing job the first time round and their creations are being put to good use here again. An early encounter with the mad grave digger Seth is particularly enjoyable. The blending of familiar characters with fimiliar scenarios in a unfamiliar way has been extremely successful.
When I heard about it I assumed it would be a rather dull multiplayer mod. It seams I should have had more faith in Rockstar. It is a full narrative single player experience, rivaling many full releases in length. It takes all the familiar characters form the main game and places them in the midst of a series of typical horror movie scenarios beginning with, but not limited to, a zombie outbreak.
One of the most fun things is meeting the old characters again. The writers did an amazing job the first time round and their creations are being put to good use here again. An early encounter with the mad grave digger Seth is particularly enjoyable. The blending of familiar characters with fimiliar scenarios in a unfamiliar way has been extremely successful.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Best Game Coverage 2010
I was watching the Big Live Live Show on Giant Bomb last night and was really blown away by the interview with Supergiant Games. Retrospectives are pretty common these days but Giant Bomb are doing something different here by giving a very intimate look at the development process as it happens.
The segment has two parts, the first is a video of their trip to PAX to show off their game, Bastion, for the first time. We get to see their reactions to peoples first impressions, both on the floor and online message boards.
The next segment is a live interview. They show a very early build of the game, discuss changes they made after PAX feedback and the merits of the lack of a design document. Also, they dish out some advice to aspiring game developers. Its really inspiring stuff.
The PAX video is first up and the interview starts at around 16 mins.
The first minute of the video is black, dont be dishartened.
This is going to be an ongoing segment. I am really looking forward to the next segment already.
The segment has two parts, the first is a video of their trip to PAX to show off their game, Bastion, for the first time. We get to see their reactions to peoples first impressions, both on the floor and online message boards.
The next segment is a live interview. They show a very early build of the game, discuss changes they made after PAX feedback and the merits of the lack of a design document. Also, they dish out some advice to aspiring game developers. Its really inspiring stuff.
The PAX video is first up and the interview starts at around 16 mins.
The first minute of the video is black, dont be dishartened.
This is going to be an ongoing segment. I am really looking forward to the next segment already.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Haunted by abandoned Board Game idea
I am haunted by the first board game idea I had that I abandoned due to time constraints.
Luckily I have started building it in Unity.
I think it could make a good iPhone game and it would be great to release something in to the app store this year and see how it goes.
As is becoming apparent I am finding it easy to generate Big Picture Macro ideas but I am struggling with the finer points.
Perhaps I will be able to collaborate with some people in class to bring this to completion.
I will upload my work so far later.
Luckily I have started building it in Unity.
I think it could make a good iPhone game and it would be great to release something in to the app store this year and see how it goes.
As is becoming apparent I am finding it easy to generate Big Picture Macro ideas but I am struggling with the finer points.
Perhaps I will be able to collaborate with some people in class to bring this to completion.
I will upload my work so far later.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Board Game Design Exercise
I have found this weeks board game design exercise to be extremely challenging.
For days I endeavoured to generate a great idea to build a game on, but was eluded. Finally today I thought that perhaps the key to creation was not to wait for a great idea but rather try to improve a good one.
With this in mind I sat down with a pen and paper and awaited inspiration.
Nothing.
I decided to leave the house, and had a nice little idea as I drove around. Excellent, this is something I could work with. Again I hit the couch, once again armed with pen and paper. Ready to polish and develop.
I soon became bogged down in a quagmire of details. There was definitely a good idea in there somewhere, but it so om became clear that it was going to take more than a day to develop.
It has become clear that sitting down with a pen and paper is not a very productive scenario for me. So I decided to try and recreate my earlier success, this time by cooking.
I ended up coming up with somthing simpler, and combining it with a few discarded idaes from earlier in the week, pairing it down again and adding a few more ideas.
In the end I have come up with somthing usable. Its not the amazing idea that I had hoped that I would have, but at least I feel that I am learning more about my own design process.
For days I endeavoured to generate a great idea to build a game on, but was eluded. Finally today I thought that perhaps the key to creation was not to wait for a great idea but rather try to improve a good one.
With this in mind I sat down with a pen and paper and awaited inspiration.
Nothing.
I decided to leave the house, and had a nice little idea as I drove around. Excellent, this is something I could work with. Again I hit the couch, once again armed with pen and paper. Ready to polish and develop.
I soon became bogged down in a quagmire of details. There was definitely a good idea in there somewhere, but it so om became clear that it was going to take more than a day to develop.
It has become clear that sitting down with a pen and paper is not a very productive scenario for me. So I decided to try and recreate my earlier success, this time by cooking.
I ended up coming up with somthing simpler, and combining it with a few discarded idaes from earlier in the week, pairing it down again and adding a few more ideas.
In the end I have come up with somthing usable. Its not the amazing idea that I had hoped that I would have, but at least I feel that I am learning more about my own design process.
Quick rundown of stuff I have been playing
Civilisation - Still broken, waiting for a patch.
Doom 2 RPG - Turnbased RPG are a great fit for moblie games, but the lack of iPhone optimisation is frustrating.
Plants Vs Zombies - Sooooo good. A lesser developer would have releases the extra content as 4 different games.
Comic Jumper - Apparently it is possible to polish a turd, and to a rather high luster at that.
Doom 2 RPG - Turnbased RPG are a great fit for moblie games, but the lack of iPhone optimisation is frustrating.
Plants Vs Zombies - Sooooo good. A lesser developer would have releases the extra content as 4 different games.
Comic Jumper - Apparently it is possible to polish a turd, and to a rather high luster at that.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Todays presentations
I was sooooo impressed my every ones presentation today.
I am full of excitement to be working with such dedicated, creative and hard working folk.
I am full of excitement to be working with such dedicated, creative and hard working folk.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Civ 5 first impresstions
Here is a list of things I have had to do to get Civ 5 to run.
This is a real problem for PC gaming. When I got Warhammer Online, I spent the whole first day just getting it up and running. It has been great to see the PC game market recover somewhat this year, thanks in large part to Steam and Blizzard, but this kind of thing has to end.
I don't need or even want it to be as straight forward as console gaming. But when I get home form the shop, or finish my download, I want to be able to jump in.
Anyway, on to the game. I'm half way through my first campaign, and it has thoroughly sucked me in. One of the major changes is that you can only have one unit per tile. In the previous Civs, my military strategy usually consisted of building up one huge army, grouped on a single tile, and steam roll the map. If I decide to go down that path in the later game, I will have to think very differently about it. Its become alot more like Advance Wars, strategy wise, and it means that even with a much smaller army, you will be able to succeed with good choices. I think that this has been a very successful addition.
The other great success of the game is the UI. I've played civ since the first one, and there were core concepts in the game that I didn't get till now. Huge amounts of information are layed out in meaningful easy to absorb ways. But the best part is, that the game lets you know why you should care about this information, and how it will impact your game. The designers have put the credit for this with their last game, Civilisation Revolution, which was their first venture in to the console and handheld market. The limitation of buttons and screen space forced them, for the first time, to really think about UI. On the PC they had been free to keep adding features and screens but never sat back to think of the bewildering jungle of stats and options that they were creating. They have very much taken the lessons of the console game to hart.
There are a few other changes that I wont get in to here. Suffice to say, its still civ, its still great, its still addictive and I still love it.
Just one more turn.
- Install, and re-install the game
- Reinstall DirectX
- Reinstall Video Drivers
- Edit a .ini file - everything else was fine but this is a step too far
This is a real problem for PC gaming. When I got Warhammer Online, I spent the whole first day just getting it up and running. It has been great to see the PC game market recover somewhat this year, thanks in large part to Steam and Blizzard, but this kind of thing has to end.
I don't need or even want it to be as straight forward as console gaming. But when I get home form the shop, or finish my download, I want to be able to jump in.
Anyway, on to the game. I'm half way through my first campaign, and it has thoroughly sucked me in. One of the major changes is that you can only have one unit per tile. In the previous Civs, my military strategy usually consisted of building up one huge army, grouped on a single tile, and steam roll the map. If I decide to go down that path in the later game, I will have to think very differently about it. Its become alot more like Advance Wars, strategy wise, and it means that even with a much smaller army, you will be able to succeed with good choices. I think that this has been a very successful addition.
The other great success of the game is the UI. I've played civ since the first one, and there were core concepts in the game that I didn't get till now. Huge amounts of information are layed out in meaningful easy to absorb ways. But the best part is, that the game lets you know why you should care about this information, and how it will impact your game. The designers have put the credit for this with their last game, Civilisation Revolution, which was their first venture in to the console and handheld market. The limitation of buttons and screen space forced them, for the first time, to really think about UI. On the PC they had been free to keep adding features and screens but never sat back to think of the bewildering jungle of stats and options that they were creating. They have very much taken the lessons of the console game to hart.
There are a few other changes that I wont get in to here. Suffice to say, its still civ, its still great, its still addictive and I still love it.
Just one more turn.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Amazing article about game design
I thought I would share this.Its a fantastic article about game design, and design in general.
http://boingboing.net/features/morerock.html
Enjoy
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Civ 5
I am deeply looking forward to playing Civilisation 5 tomorrow. First impressions to forthcoming.
First Ludology Class
Ludlogy Class started with the rapid prototyping of a board game using limited resources.
I am a big fan of board games so I was pretty excited about this. Sadly I was not too pleased with my effort. I don't think first thing in the morning is my most creative time.
The one thing I was happy with was combining the items together to form something new. I used two straws and a piece of Lego to create a device to flick a ball around a board. I also experimented with using it a a set of chopsticks, for lifting objects, and a slide to direct a rolling cylinder.
Well, we'll be working on it again next week, so I will come up with something I am a bit more happy with. Perhaps something more cerebral, rather that the dexterity focused initial creation
I am a big fan of board games so I was pretty excited about this. Sadly I was not too pleased with my effort. I don't think first thing in the morning is my most creative time.
The one thing I was happy with was combining the items together to form something new. I used two straws and a piece of Lego to create a device to flick a ball around a board. I also experimented with using it a a set of chopsticks, for lifting objects, and a slide to direct a rolling cylinder.
Well, we'll be working on it again next week, so I will come up with something I am a bit more happy with. Perhaps something more cerebral, rather that the dexterity focused initial creation
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