Matt Takacs: January 2010 Archives

Listening to Metallica as im coding away,
interactive fiction is on my display.
Headbanging along to a heavy beat,
Someone on my Friends list is not asleep.
A message pops up, and they start to say,
"Have you played any Left 4 Dead 2 today?"
"No" I say, "I've been busy all day."
This is what the rest of the conversation did say:

7:18 man, so you still need that expert realism achievement?
7:18 yeh, i would've gotten it yesterday but my wireless card stoppd wrknf
7:19 *stopped working
7:19 But i've been reading some cool stuff on the EL250 page
7:19 oh yeh? Like what?
7:20 theres this really cool article comparing RE to silent hill
7:20 which RE?
7:21 the whole series it looked like, basically how its changed from game to game
7:21 kinda like all the different mario karts right?
7:21 yeah, mostly the camera, controls, and gun play have changed.
7:21 in RE i mean, not mario kart
7:21 they probly changed it all cause ppl were complaining bout the *****y controls
7:22 dude watch the language or im not gonna be able to use this for the portfolio
7:22 is it that hard to delete the words?
7:22 i dont want to have to do this twice...anyway i was also reading through an article
7:23 on gaming as reenactment. i think its a pretty awesome idea.
7:23 so were like reenacting the zombie apocalypse in Left 4 Dead 2?????
7:23 i meant in historical games like CoD or Medal of Honor as ive mentioned in
7:24 the comments.
7:24 most of the missions and maps are based on real locations anyway so yeh i
7:25 guess that true.
7:25 yep
7:28 did you see my blog post about indie game?
7:28 no i missed that one, got the link?
7:28 just click here to see the list of indie games i put together
7:29 AOOFAD looks pretty messed up in the head.
7:29 ive played through that and yeah, your right. its really good though, try it out
7:29 ill do that later tonight, after the Halo 3:ODST clan match
7:29 haha
7:30 what?
7:30 its just i wrote about PC's versus Consoles in a blog entry
7:30 so?
7:31 well everyone playing in that halo match probably wouldnt last that long in a
7:31 round on pc
7:31 i bet you wouldn't last that long in a console match
7:31 you're right, because the controls are horrible
7:32 whatever, at least were both against wordy TOS contracts
7:32 speaking of which, this entry has some comments about that
7:33 is it wordy?
7:33 not as much as the contracts
7:33 i probly still wont read it
7:34 w/e heres something you could show your little cousin though
7:34 what?
7:34 its an entry about Scratch, a game creation tool directed at kids
7:35 looks pretty simple
7:35 from the video, yeah it looks that way.
7:35 and everythings sprites????
7:35 its supposed to teach kids who are just starting out
7:36 its not the Unreal Editor
7:36 haha i can see that
7:36 is your family still playing guitar hero?
7:37 yep, pretty much every night
7:37 theres a video about that, the fact that GH is bringing families together
7:37 sort of like playing monopoly with the family
7:38 yep, everyone is competive
7:52 have you finished Oblivion yet?
7:54 not yet, still on the massive main quest to close all the glowy portals from hell
7:54 how are you playing the game?
7:54 my character is pretty much good at everything
7:55 i mean, like are you playing it as you yourself would play it or are you roleplaying
7:55 your character?
7:56 im deciding stuff based on my own ideas not the characters
7:56 yeah thats how i am too. one of those "players who who play themselves."
7:56 i just want to play the game,
7:56 not take the time to come up with a story to follow
7:57 that sorta ties into mods. the fact that people are creating their own stories
7:59 yeh good point
7:59 whats this about you hating farmville?
7:59 exactly what you said. I hate farmville. they even tried to scam people to get them
7:59 to play.
7:59 i bet a lot of the social games do that, probly spam you with email
7:59 but i guess scamming isnt far behind, listen i gotta run
8:00 alright man, thanks for the help
8:00 no prob, did you have to do any big project things for that class?
8:00 Portfolio One and Portfolio Two were pretty big but they werent projects.
8:00 theres a presentation thing i put together though. A short interactive fiction.
8:00 you made an IF game? cool, ill check it later, gotta go
8:00 kk thanks again
8:00 later

For my presentation, I wanted to show how "Silent Protagonists" are a good way of immersing the player into the game. Because the player character can not speak, creating strong environments and memorable characters are vital to a games success. I put together a short interactive fiction to illustrate my point. First it focuses on setting, followed by characters, then a combination of both towards the end. You can play the game at the link below:

Silent Horror - An Interactive Fiction by Matt Takacs

Q and A:

What software did you use to make it? Inform 7

How long did it take to make? 2 days

How long is the source text? 2,299 words

How many Metallica CD's did you listen to while writing it? the first 4 (some more than once)

Did you use any other software? Paint, for mapping out the locations and Parchment to put the game online.

Anything other tools? 1 large bowl of coffee ice cream.

If you play through it, leave some feedback below, but keep it spoiler free.

Dr. Jerz asked us what we thought about Farmville. I am not interested in Farmville at all. With the news that they even resorted to scamming to get people to play, I'm definitely never playing it. If I need to play a small game for a short amount of time, I'd rather play an indie game like Canabalt or Realm of the Mad God.

Cody Naylor's blog post asked if we had played any indie games. Here is a list of some of those I've played.

• Night of the Cephalopods
• "Survival horror game with old school pixel art graphics and an innovative fully voiced dynamic narrative system."
• World of Goo
• "Physics based puzzle / construction game."
  
• Alien Assault
• "A turn based top down strategy game taking place on abandoned ships infested with deadly aliens."
•  Star Guard
• "Guide the spaceman through the castle and defeat the wizard."
• All of Our Friends Are Dead
• "Atmospheric run and gun platformer, immersing the player into a strange alien world."
• Machinarium
• "Amanita Design's first full-length project, hand drawn and meticulously animated, about a city populated by robots."
• In Another Brothel
• "Noir-style platformer set in the 1940's. Equipped with a gun which can fire crates, our hero must rescue his girl by creating platforms and stairways with said crates."

Cody also asked if the industry is better off because everyone can start making games. I think it is. The more people contributing the better chance of something great being created.

Mods are one of the greatest things about PC gaming. Just taking a quick look at ModDB will reveal numerous maps, models, and total conversions for just about any game released. As I have mentioned in a past blog entry and Dr. Jerz has mentioned in this article, some mods even go on to a commercial release. They are an interactive form of fan fiction or art or a short film. Many games now include an SDK (software development kit) allowing just about anyone to try their hand at creating something. This strengthens the games community and the life of the title.

In response to Keith Campbell's question on his blog, I consider myself a "player who plays themselves," meaning, I am likely to play with the attitudes and ideas that I personally have. Allmost the entire class considers them themselves the same way as well. We probably are more inclined to think like this because of the many choices games now present to us. We can get more involved with our character in Oblivion, than in Pac-Man.

Questions are from Susan Carmichael's blog entry on Grimes article about Terms of Service agreements.

1. Grimes states that only a few adults actually pay attention to contents of TOS contracts.  Do you always read and fully understand TOS contracts for adult online gaming sites, and what is your reasoning for either way?

I don't I've read a complete TOS contract in my life. As long as I'm playing the game as intended, I see no problems. However, I have never had to deal with the issue of "who owns player created content" in a game.

2. Do you think that a child would understand the following example from MyUville?

I seriously doubt a child would understand the 2530 word TOU example. Who wants to take the time reading when you could be playing something instead?

3. What is your position in the ownership of players' virtual property debate? (E.g. do you think that players should have partial or co-ownership over player-generated creations, or is the industry entitled to sole ownership based on the fact that they own the game code?)  Does your view change or stay the same regarding children?

If the property is in-game, then the company who developed the code owns it. If someone makes fan art or fan fiction, the the fan would have ownership over that but still cannot sell it for a profit.

4. Do you think that if challenged TOS contracts hold up in court?

Yes, only because the player had to agree to it before playing the game.

5. What are some of the ethical implications of conducting marketing research without first establishing informed consent, particularly when the participants are children?

Players information are gathered without their knowledge of what the developers will do with it.

Scratch is a game creation tool directed at kids just starting out in programming. The short introductory video is a great place to start learning how the program works. With the ability to change things while the program is running, understanding the cause and effect of many options is easy. Scratch is a great way to introduce programming to a younger audience who will hopefully move on to more complex languages in the future.

I can not count the times I've spent during lunch, in the hallways, or online in a forum debating with someone which platform is better. To everyone involved, it was a worthy discussion. The main points I used to, and still do, think are the major selling points of PCs are: controls and mods. I don't care how good you are with a controller, someone out there is exceedingly better than you with a mouse and keyboard. Mods are what drive the community to make new exciting things. Things like Counter-Strike, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress and Team Fortress 2. Even Left 4 Dead has it's root as a Counter-Strike mod. Consoles will always simplify what last gen PC's have already done. Meanwhile, people who game on PC's will continue to develop and create.

Questions:
What platform(s) do you prefer?

Are you more comfortable with one control scheme over another?

EL250

"Just in time! You've made it!
Come on, join the crowd!
Hope you like excessive noise!
It could get extremely loud!

Hear the tale of a merchant,
who's lost some goods to a thief,
(There's a lack of security in that place,
so I'm not in disbelief.)

Quiet now! We're about to start!
Lock those doors up tight,
There better be no interference,
I'd hate to see a fight.

[The aging story teller climbs a few chairs then stops, clears his throat, and begins....]

Cross the broken pyramids,
the sands are sweeping in.
Traveling bands of caravans,
speak of ancient sin.

Fleeing from the city,
Thief, now must run.
Carrying lots of entries,
and comments, about fun.

Now he sees another town,
a place where he must rob.
The unsuspecting visitor,
makes children cry and sob.

How shall they find,
the bad, and the worst,
if Mr. Thief has taken,
all the gaming news read first?

But what is this? He's dropping,
what looks to be some paper,
Now he's doing, some sort of dance,
a ghastly little caper.

Let's take a look at this one,
just what could it be?
Ah, it's some comments,
about a documentary.

I see the crowd goes anxious,
there's a deafening of silence.
Look, I've found an entry,
on some video gaming violence.

A cry of approval?
Yes that's what I hear,
While playing some interactive fiction,
Getting to work was Peter's fear.

See this drink I'm drinking?
It's made from maple sap.
Getting very far in life,
requires a detailed map.

I have a bird at home,
it's sort of like a vulture,
this one particular game,
had some influence on our culture.

Is this a peaceful town?
Or an angry little village?
Makes me think of lots of people,
complaining over this girl's image.

The sun is rising in the...

[At this point, someone in the crowd loudly and rudely insists the storyteller continue on about things of Depth.]

Alright, Mr. In-the-crowd,
You're rude and look like a panda,
fine I'll tell you about a game,
that's all propaganda.

Also something interesting,
just how much are you buying?
Can't you spare some change,
because Darfur is Dying?

Learning from each other,
like the Thief that I once fought,
gives you lots of experience,
so practice what is taught.

[The crowd is stunned to learn the old storyteller once fought the Thief that is tearing across the lands. Another from the crowd asks him to tell about the interaction of that experience. Someone else says he should 'Discuss it in a timely manner.' The storyteller continues...]

You've never heard the story?
Where have you all been?
First I'd like to tell you that,
in September 12th you can not win.

Story plays a bigger part,
than realism, at least I think,
But then again how should I know,
by mind is on the brink.

I found another comment here,
this time about Gee,
before I can let you see it,
you'll have to pay a small fee.

[A young boy produces a large gold coin and tosses it to the storyteller. He fails to catch it. Instead, it hits him squarely in the face.]

My thoughts are getting fuzzy,
the air is getting thin,
I've been standing up here quite a while,
Just how long have I been?"

[With that, the storyteller falls from the chair, asleep. The Thief, who was standing in the back all along, rushes forward, collects all the blog posts and comments, then dashes though an open window to the sandy desert below. The crowd looks from the open window, to the storyteller, to the open window, speechless.]

"These technologies allow younger and younger people to become experts... to do stuff they could not have done at that level before they got these technologies." - James Gee

James Gee has an incredibly positive outlook on what the future holds for those just entering or discovering the industry. If I could pick one quote to really show what gaming, and the technologies powering it, have accomplished so far, it would definitely be this one. He also mentions that games must be learning systems and learning communities both in schools and out.

"A good game can function as a gateway through which student's can explore a much broader range of knowledge." - Squire and Jenkins

As I have said in the beginning of this course, playing Age of Empires allowed me be to better visualize the civilizations I was learning about in Social Studies. It brought the limited pictorial representations off the page, showing me how they looked and what specialized military structure they had. This by far was more interesting than simply staring at a bunch of little paragraphs that were written to be understood by fourth or fifth grade students. Gaming built on what I learned, in school and in the game.

"In a hunting society you play with bows and arrows, in an information society you play with information. Games are being pulled in more serious directions." - Henry Jenkins

Moral choices in a video game are relatively new, although you might have felt bad about beating your friend in a shutout game of Pong, yet they are becoming the front and center issues to deal with and talk about. Gamers are being tasked with completing objectives which may conflict with what they believe is right. Video games up to now, never had to think about personal morals. The No Russian level in Modern Warfare 2, for example, got a lot of press coverage and debate even in our own class. While playing Deus Ex, I had to decide whether or not to kill an unarmed leader of an 'evil' organization. In Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, I decided to join the Thieves Guild, eventually becoming their leader. Some games do a much better job than others at laying out the consequences of your actions, but nevertheless they are teaching us new things.

How many times have you had to practice a fire drill? With this Half-Life 2 mod created by researchers at the University of Durham in England, now you can practice escaping a burning building any time you want. In the mod, players must navigate "smoke filled corridors, fires in unexpected places or blocked fire exits that require on the spot decisions from evacuees," which is something difficult to reenact in traditional fire drills. In addition to playing the game, videos of successful escapes were used in further educating adults on what to do in case of a fire. This is only one of the very practical uses for modding games.

EL250

"The practice of playing is not something asocial, detached from the lives of the gamers. It is very much a part of their cultural practice, and they learn from each other, develop skills necessary to participate in the activities of their subcultures, and are able to describe and analyze these processes in their own words." - Mortensen 195

This is absolutely true. Of the small amount of people on my friends list for Left 4 Dead 2, each one has taught me something. Some of what they taught me was what not to do in a particular situation but nevertheless we were learning from each other. We've developed and internalized the many in-game terms, crafted our own abbreviations, and enhanced our coordination. In Left 4 Dead 1, I didn't dare try and complete a campaign on Expert difficulty. Now, in Left 4 Dead 2, my small band of zombie apocalypse survivors battle hard through hordes of infected, get each other up when struggling, and make use of every last item and weapon on our way to beating it. Simply listening in on what I'm saying over voice chat in the next room over may seem like I'm speaking total nonsense, but I'm really engaged in intelligent conversation with fellow peers.

What makes you think I am the one who said it ?

>> I can scroll up and find the exact sentence

Can you elaborate on that ?

>> I click on the up arrow and stop when I find the phrase

Do you say you click on the up arrow and stop when you find the phrase for some special reason ?

>> to answer your damn question

Why are you concerned over my damn question ?

>> I'm not

Tell me more about that.

>> I don't think so. Goodbye.

Because of the limited nature of the program, Eliza can only understand so much. It usually spits back phrases which you typed and asks why you are concerned over them. Basically you are fighting with yourself if you get frustrated with it. In this review, they echo the same complaints and have the source code available. For a program written in 1966 though, I am impressed. While the illusion last, it is very convincing. Artificial Intelligence has come a long way since then.

Are you talking about me in particular?

>> Go away Eliza

From the small list of interactive fiction Dr. Jerz put together for the class, I chose to play Zork, Eliza, and Fine Tuned. I had played Zork when we covered it last week and still enjoyed playing it now. Although I didn't get that much farther, I found a useful rule to live by: if there is a book on an altar surrounded by candles, don't use the candles to burn the book; you get killed by whatever god that altar belonged to. Playing Eliza was interesting the first couple of times but soon I could see the limited patterns of the program. The final game I sampled was Fine Tuned. The puzzles, if you can even call them that, were not overly complex; and that's a good thing. Everything I did in that game made sense and the humor that went along with describing things and dialogue was great.

I've tried Americas Army before, fully knowing that it was propaganda. Did it make me want to drop everything and run to the nearest recruitment station? Nope. I viewed it as a free game that could run on an aging laptop (before the game was updated to a new engine). Delwiche's article also addresses the genre of serious games, covering one which the class has played; September 12. This type of game is more about the message it is getting across, not necessarily about the four I's -- immersion, intense engagement, identification, and interactivity-- of gaming. I agree with Keith Campbell when he says, "The four characteristics that are central to the gaming experience is the reason we buy video games." Without them, we become bored, but at least serious games are interesting enough to understanding the reasoning behind them before shutting it down.

"In other words, who we are is the product of both the stories we hear and the stories of our lives." Laurel 59

I've always agreed with that. Someone who grows up watching Rambo is going to be different than someone who watches Tom and Jerry.

"Stories function like cultural DNA, passing values down through the generations." - Laurel 62

This is true for all forms that stories can take. Older games are just as meaningful today as they were back then.

"Active participation keeps a world alive. People want to know how they can interact with a world and what sorts of things they can do."

Exactly. If everyone playing WoW suddenly stopped playing, the Warcraft lore might still be intact, but the game world would be a lifeless barren desert.

At the start of this class, we were asked to answer the question "What kind of video game is not fun for you?" Let's take a look at what I answered.

"The games that are not fun for me are those that do not allow the player to play fairly. Any game that has sloppy controls, poor hit detection, overly complex rules, and no hint of where to go next are unfavorable." - Matt Takacs

It would seem like Fatworld falls into that category. Dr.Jerz expresses frustration (multiple times) over the use of 'spacebar' over 'enter' when trying to 'enter' a building. Moving the chracter requires you to press two buttons at once to go in one direction due to the isometric view and the restuarant mini-game was all sorts of confusing; the customer timers were buggy and it was difficult to interpret when the food was ready. I also found it ironic that in Fatworld, the character was a 'healthy' sixty nine pound adult.

Really?

"The answer for our kids and our culture is not "no" as a default response. Socially responsible people must take up the challenge of creating games and movies and stories that both engage and nurture young people." - Laurel 9

This closely resembles Koster's words as well:

"The designer who wants to use game design as an expressive medium must be like the painter and the musician and the writer, in that they must learn what the strengths of the medium are, and what messages are best conveyed by it." - Koster

So we have two very similar views asking that game developers take a closer look at their intended audience and address there specific needs and wants in a challenging way. This can only be viewed as a good thing. The more engaged the players are, the more they are likely to get something out of it. When developers fit messages, morals, and social issues in the game, the gaming medium slowly but surely gains maturity.



"The belief that humanity's power to shape its own destiny through the application of knowledge and reason is a good thing." - Laurel 14

This statement is also similar to Koster's idea of games as teaching tools. The teach us to recognize patterns and see past fiction to the core gameplay.



"I think one of the reasons why the videogame business has been so horribly stunted in its growth is that it has been unwilling to look beyond itself to its audience." - Laurel 36

Although many developer's do fall into this category, Valve has managed to teach a player all the basic skills of the game in the opening cinematic, most notably Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2, greatly increasing the games player base.

The major difference between SCMRPG and a game set during World War II or any other act of violence, is that it was an attack on innocent people, not soldiers fighting for their country. In the same way that Darfur is Dying got people to talk about what transpired, so too does this game. I have heard of the game before but had no desire to play it then, nor do I feel inclined to play it now. I understand the game's importance in better understanding what gaming media can do, yet I hope no one has to make another one to analyze another tragedy.

One quick playthrough of Darfur is Dying will educate you on what exactly is going on there. Playing the game is much like other flash games yet there is one key difference; it is actually happening somewhere. There is a camp you must keep stocked with supplies, somewhat like a RTS though I was unsure of what to do, and a water fetching game where you have to use stealth to get to the water pump, avoiding the militia.

In this article on "Ethical" computer games, it talks about how some colleagues of Susana Ruiz, one of the designers, thought the content was "too serious to be tackled in a game." Having played it, I think the game gets it's message across without trying to hard. It's getting people to talk, and play about a crisis in need of help. Raising peoples awareness was the point of making it, and it's done just that.

Yes, you can hunt down the terrorists, but at what cost to civilian life? Iraq Body Count has the number as high as 103,648. How many more lives will be affected by violence? These are just a few of the questions brought up by the simulation game September 12. Susan Carmichael found something out that I didn't realize during my playthrough: "... every time an "innocent" was killed, other "innocents" around the dead prayed and became those with guns." Disturbing yet true.

In Simon Ferrari's essay titled Gears of War and Gender/Race he explains the role women play throughout the game: "Lietenant Anya Stroud is the only female COG member seen in the game, and through most of the Gears experience she acts as a glorified telephone operator - directing laser strikes and providing tactical terrain information by radio." But I am not entirely convinced this particular case is about sexism. Artificial Intelligence is frequently female, such as Cortana from the Halo games, and who first relays information to Neo in The Matrix? None other than Trinity, also female. These might be false conclusions, yet Koster's thoery "Teamwork is a far deadlier tool than sharpshooting." explains that what Anya Stroud is doing, is actually far more important than simply playing as a soldier. In conclusion, she also has the rank of Lieutenant, something she definitely had to work at to achieve.

..is Lara Croft. In 2006 she was was awarded a Guinness World Record. Of course that does not magically erase the controversy around her image from the early games to today, though. As Elizabeth Swartzwelder said in her blog post, "sex sells" and will continue to sell as long as there's a market; and there will probably always be a market. Tomb Raider games also had decent gameplay, however; they didn't solely rely on the sex angle. Exploration and item collection was also a big part of the experience. I can't say the level design was particularly great though. Whichever one I played became confusing at one point.

EL250

"Ghosts use a pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) to pick a way to turn at each intersection when frightened. The PRNG generates an pseudo-random memory address to read the last few bits from. These bits are translated into the direction a frightened ghost must first try. If a wall blocks the chosen direction, the ghost then attempts the remaining directions in this order: up, left, down, and right, until a passable direction is found. The PRNG gets reset with an identical seed value every new level and every new life, causing predictable results." - Jamey Pittman

When I first played the NES port of Pac-Man many years ago, I thought the ghosts, Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde, were pretty smart. Now, many years later, I think the code behind the ghosts is pretty smart. The careful analyzing that Jamey Pittman presents on the Pac-Man Dossier is well worth a look. Interesting facts that caught my eye:

•   Puck-Man's creation was a year and five months in the making--the longest ever for a video game to that point.
• The game starts with Pac-Man at 80% of his maximum speed.
• Billy Mitchell offered a $100,000 cash prize to the first player to prove they could legitimately get past level 256.
  

Will Crowther took something he liked and made something new out of it when he created Colossal Cave Adventure in the 1970's. The detailed maps that went into developing the game are somewhat confusing, yet Crowther made sense of it all when coding. Also interesting to think about is the exact time Adventure was released, as found in this quote:

"When one considers that this pioneering work on text adventure games was happening during a time span which includes the May 25 release of Star Wars and the June 5 sale of the first Apple computers, it is not likely that any other similar time span has encompassed so many seminal events in geek culture."

The first thing that popped into my mind as I read Nick Montfort's Continuous Paper article was that early gamers probably used a huge amount of paper. Either that or they were very careful with what commands they typed. It would be absolutely horrible to make it very far in a game only to run out of paper. I have always taken for granted the use of computer monitors, probably without the realization that non screen computing was the norm for many years. Having turned in most of my assignments online this past semester, the progress technology has made is astonishing.

In Daniel Keller's Reading and Playing: What Makes Interactive Fiction Unique, I found it interesting that "Interactive fiction has it's origin in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons." This switch from groups of players to player/computer interaction meant the computer would take a role like that of the Dungeon Master, relaying the story and being the mediator. The player would be the character taking part in the adventure the DM put together. The only difference is that the "computer" DM had a limited amount of descriptions per object, unlike a person running a D&D adventure. They were free to communicate to the players as little or as much as they wanted.

The article also goes on to examine why interactive fiction is still prevalent today, even after the "death" of text games. One reason, which echoes what I wrote in a previous entry here, is the involvement of the player in determining the exact unfolding of the narrative.

All italic quotes are by Raph Koster from his book, A Theory of Fun for Game Design.

Chapter 10

"To those who say the art of the game is purely that of the mechanics, I say that film is not solely the art of cinematography or scriptwriting or directing or acting. The art of the game is the whole."

Absolutely. Even if one aspect is not particularly powerful, for instance the music is hard to listen to, the overall appreciation of the game as art is degraded. The same could be said for when everything is working together.

Chapter 11

"When we look at the great works of art, however, they are shaped in special ways. They are trellises that form the plant in particular directions. They have intent behind them, and they have the purpose of achieving something in particular with the growth of the plant."

Games should not strive to be jack-of-all-trades. The theme and reasoning behind them must be carefully thought of in order to stand out from all the other titles on the market.

Chapter 12

"Games do need to present us with problems and patterns that do not have one solution, because those are the problems that deepen our understanding of ourselves."

Having played more of Deus Ex over the weekend, I will use that as my example. When faced with infiltrating a building and a 747 hangar, there were many ways of going about it. I used stealth, carefully bringing down enemies in as few shots as possible, and the environment to gain access to an open window. I could have just walked through the main door and blasted the place, but by carefully analyzing what objects I had at my disposal, a quick backtrack to acquire a crate allowed me to progress with minimal interference.

Epilogue

"The mere titling of a piece of music lends it narrative context and enriches it tremendously."

The same could be said for game titles. Final Fantasy evokes more emotion than Prison Tycoon.

EL250

Colossal Cave Adventure was the very first text-based adventure game. Although limited by a small vocabulary and understanding a maximum of two words at a time, the game had many locations to explore, allowing players to see past those minor inconveniences. The use of a map was very important to a player. The only difference compared to today's games is that you had to draw it yourself. Being able to understand the text on screen and work through all possibilities must have been a challenge, but playing with other people made it easier.

While playing 9:05, Peter assumed that his character was late for work when he answered the telephone and the person on the other end demanded him to hurry to get to work. In fact, his character was not who he thought he was the entire way through the game. It is a nice twist to the normal assumption that we are who we think we are while playing. Because the game was short, it was also not frustrating to "lose" the game and go back and try again. Short, well crafted stories are great ways to experience interactive fiction.

All italic quotes are by Raph Koster from his book, A Theory of Fun for Game Design.

Chapter 7

"When someone cheats at a game, they may be acting unethical, but they're also exercising a skill that makes them more likely to survive."

While playing Left 4 Dead I've encountered this. It falls into the "exploits" category, however; all four players would crouch in a corner of the room during crescendo events. This not only allowed everyone to survive the event uninjured, but conserve ammo as well. Oh, and it got rid of all the fun out of trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. Luckily, Valve addressed this issue in Left 4 Dead 2 with a new enemy and I haven't seen that tactic used since.

Chapter 8

"But once you get past the point of doing something perfectly, do yourself a favor and quit the game."

Although that may be true for singleplayer games, in cooperative multiplayer games, again ill reference Left 4 Dead, you have to take into account the skills of your teammates. You might have mastered it, but there are a great many variables thrown into the equation when playing online.

Chapter 9

"The designer who wants to use game design as an expressive medium must be like the painter and the musician and the writer, in that they must learn what the strengths of the medium are, and what messages are best conveyed by it."

Exactly. Games should try and achieve what other mediums can not.

When Adams talked about violence in games becoming a problem in the future, he probably didn't realize just how right he was. Deciding "how much is acceptable" is something developers go through all the time. Although there is much more violent content in games today, gamers are (mostly) handling it responsibly. With cooperation becoming an increasingly important part of play, the violence is really just fancy wrapping paper to the core experience.

Text adventures do not appeal to everyone, yet those that do find enjoyment in typing away their commands, enjoy them a lot. The reason that I like text adventures is because it is like reading a novel, but you have the ability to move around. How many times have you wanted to tell the main character of your favorite book to not go down that dark, mysterious passageway to the east? Tell the computer you want to go west instead. Your avatar will thank you, unless of course it's pitch black. Then the Grue would thank you.

"What's that traveler? No, you haven't reached the pyramids, you're standing in the market district of the sparkling city of El Two-Fif-Tea. Do browse my wares I have on display, for I know what the swirling sands of the vast desert can do. Come, stay awhile, and read a blog entry or two!

If you would be so kind as to follow me this way you shall see the Coverage posts I have put together. They contain a multitude of topics. For instance, my comments on What is Fun? deal with ethics determining what is fun for someone, how the skills learned in early life (my example involves Lego's) carry over many years later, and the importance of being rewarded (by earning an achievement) for something actually challenging.

On this next table, still in the Coverage area mind you, I comment on Johnson's Everything Bad Is Good For You lecture. I debate whether or not games are "more sophisticated delivery of stupidity" according to George Will and raise a few questions on how algebra might be why people can understand new interfaces.

Underneath this same table, my comments on the use of videogames, specifically Civilization, in schools can be found. Oh and that box to your left, wait, no, my left, contains additional coverage of games in schools, especially math oriented ones.

Continuing on...just a moment. Let me place this large vase down. I'm not even sure how I was able to talk all this while with that blocking my view! Anyway, inside it you will find another article about fun. This time, however, it is explaining how someone might feel as "socially connected" while playing a singleplayer game, as they would be by playing a multiplayer game.

On the floor here is an article examining the importance of story in games, another one about sequels and originality, and that last paper is about the humanity of Pac-Man, whoever that is.

It looks like we've reached the end of the coverage section, follow me this way, no this way, to take a look at some things in the Depth area.

The bustling streets of this city are never empty! Make way simple peasants, I have a customer! Right, so you were more interested in depth articles, correct? How about this piece on the parts of a good review, or maybe this article on how classics are sometimes not playable for hours on end. Or perhaps a few responses to the book titled A Theory of Fun for Game Design? Still not satisfied, eh? Comparing a traditional review to a new games journalism article should do the trick.

Your need for information is unsatisfiable it seems! A stirring Discussion and Interaction with my peers is perhaps what you seek.

On Susan Carmichael's blog, I raised the question of how nightmares fit into the theory of "When our brain is really into practicing something, we'll dream about it." As of now, there are no responses yet, but I feel it is a discussion that could grow. Alas! The sun is getting low, we must hurry if you are to see the rest! On Jessica Krehlik's blog, I also point out that Mystery House and Maniac Mansion for the NES are similar. On that same blog I link to a new version of the classic Rogue, this time in the theme of Doom. While browsing Cody Naylor's blog, I agree with him that some people enjoy both text games and new modern types, or just one or the other. The second shelf above the table there, also contains an entry which has sparked conversation. It explains how people can see the world through their own lens, but because of that, the ones they reject are also influential. Finally, under that broken chair to the left, is a debate over whether or not Peggle is the "universal game." Raph Koster doesn't think so, but I say it is trying very hard to be.

Wait, where are you going? It is not completely dark, surely you would like to take a look at those entries which could be classified as Timely?

This scroll, I think, contains not only a timely article, but a step-by-step guide as well! Learn how to run the famous Zork on present day software! Also in the classic realm, this entry on Atari Adventure and its use of Easter eggs, brought a continuing discussion on what is, and what isn't considered one.

Ah! Here is Mr. Xeno! Yes, put those articles on the table here. Lets see: here is one about the first game you remember playing, the amazement of Zork being completed in only six months, and whether or not we think about how the game was made while we play it. Thank you Mr.Xeno, those were just the things I was looking for.

That brings us to my last article. Take a look between the cage labeled "Wild" and that pack of cards. You'll find a detailed review of the indie-styled game Lucidity by LucasArts. So, now that you've picked out all that you wish to purchase, how shall you be paying?

HEY, THIEF! YOU GET BACK HERE! HEY! PEASANTS! STOP HIM! MAY THE SANDS OF THE DESERT FOLLOW YOU FOR ETERNITY!" - The Eccentric Merchant

The fact that I just spent a good half hour playing Zork really shows there is still something about it that can capture an audience. Do you want to play Zork on your shiny newly-installed copy of Windows 7, Mac OS X, or Linux? Follow these steps:

*Note* This was done in Windows, though it should be the same steps for the others.

1. Download DOSBox, a DOS emulator, making sure to select your OS from the list.

2. Head to this page and download the compressed archive of Zork, making sure to select your correct OS.

3. Install DOSBox then extract Zork to your C: drive.

4. Run DOSBox and type "mount c c:/" without the quotes.

5. Next, type "c:" without the quotes.

6. Then, type "cd dungeon" without the quotes.

7. Finally, type "dungeon" without the quotes.

8. Try and beat my score.


 

All italic quotes are by Raph Koster from his book, A Theory of Fun for Game Design.

Chapter 4
"Think about it; teamwork is a far deadlier tool than sharpshooting."

That is absolutely true. You could have the best Counter-Strike players in the world, but if they are not playing as a team, communicating, they might as well be the worst.

Chapter 5
"The stories in most video games serve the same purpose as calling the uber-checker a "king." It adds interesting shading to the game but the game at its core is unchanged."

I have mixed feelings on this particular quote. On one hand, Half-Life 2 contributes it greatness to its story. By taking that away, or changing it completely, the game might resemble any other first person shooter, or it might not. Yes, you are still shooting at enemies, but this game might be an exception to the rule.

Chapter 6
"The difficulty ramp is almost certain to be wrong for many people, and the basic premises are likely to be uninteresting or to difficult for large segments of the population."

Another exception to the rule would be Peggle. A simple game, yet it has managed to capture the attention of those who were not usually interested in "casual" games. It has even been introduced into World of Warcraft as a mini-game.

EL250

All italic quotes are by Raph Koster from his book, A Theory of Fun for Game Design.

Chapter 1
"More and more novel experiences are going to come along, until sometime in 2038 when I'll need the assistance of my smart-ass grandkid to flibber-jibber the frammistan because I won't be able to cope with the newfangled contraptions."

But if we can learn by playing games, wouldn't we understand how new technology works? Haven't we, since the Doom and Myst era, gradually learned and mastered entirely new control schemes and ideas?

Chapter 2
"Noise is any pattern we don't understand."

I have never thought of a game as noise before, yet the concept is of great use in describing why one particular kind would not appeal to someone. Thankfully, by sampling and experimenting, the "noise" goes away and we are left with fun, like the quote below explains.

Chapter 3
"Fun from games arises out of mastery. It arises out of comprehension. It is the act of solving puzzles that makes games fun. In other words, with games, learning is the drug."

Learning is the drug.

"The design and production of games involves aspects of cognitive psychology, computer science, environmental design, and storytelling just to name a few. To really understand what games are, you need to see them from all these points of view."
- Will Wright

There are very few people who have the expertise in all those fields mentioned by Wright. For now, those without that experience must be content with some of the things they can understand; that the gameplay feels solid, the graphics are adequate, or the story is confusing or complex. Until more is studied, we will not be sure just how many ways there are to look at a video game. To some, games may seem unimportant now, but in the future, perhaps they will look back at them as very significant objects. Only time will tell.

After watching Dr.Jerz lecture on theory, I remembered a quote that one of my high school teachers used to say:

"No choice is a choice."

That got me thinking. I compared that statement to one found in the lecture:

"The rejection of theory is a kind of lens."

By not accepting a lens, you disagree with how the world looks through it, or because you are indifferent to everything in general. Regardless, in determining whether or not it is agreeable, you are influenced by what you see through it.

The sheer amount of facts contained in Williams and Smith's The Players' Realm first fifteen pages is quite astonishing. The careful analysis and critical view on many of gaming's challenges against the media at large are all addressed. This particular quote, though:

"Unlike fantasy gaming, however, moral panics about computer-mediated culture have continued to develop alongside successive improvements in technology."

seems like the biggest hurdle that has yet to be crossed. On the other hand, Koster's book, A Theory of Fun for Game Design is more of a personal exploration and account of gaming. It is a much easier read and appeal's to a larger audience than The Player's Realm.

Mystery House, Atari Adventure, and Rogue were just a few games we touched upon in EL250 for our 1980 case study. Stepping that far back in time, we realize the sense of new found technological awareness that these games helped develop and are continuing to develop today. Modern games owe it to these few for the success they now enjoy.

Rogue, and the many Rogue-likes that came after it, rely on two things: the randomness of level generation and the use of a players imagination to see past the simple graphics; kind of like interpreting the 1's and 0's in the movie The Matrix. In a way, we are still playing Rogue today with advanced graphics in games such as Diablo, Torchlight, and pretty much any RPG. You can't argue with success.

Cool box art?
Check.
Manageable controls?
Check.
Great graphics?
Well...

Although Adventure for the Atari 2600 looks pretty primitive by today's standards, it was a game of firsts in 1979. For one, it had an ending, an actual goal where you could say you "beat the game." It also contained an Easter Egg, the name of the creator, which is an interesting story by itself. Basically Atari did not allow anyone's name to appear on the game, so the programmer went against those rules and hid it in the game. This was the first time I heard of this story and thought it quite daring.

Once thought groundbreaking long ago, Mystery House is and was a confusing and frustrating game. The limited first-of-its-kind graphics did have a major impact in 1980 however. Bizarre vocabulary required you to figure out exactly what the confusing graphics were trying to represent which caused even more problems. I have never been one to play text adventure games, but the walkthrough Dr.Jerz linked to was a very fun read.

Upon finishing both Amer Ajami's GameSpot review of Jedi Outcast, and Ian Shanahan's "Bow, N*gger." I clearly see the difference in how they approach writing about a game. Shanahan focuses more on the specific experience he goes through while playing, whereas Ajami gives a detailed breakdown of how the game works. Having read many gaming magazines in the past, I have realized most of the reviews fell into the style of Ajami's writing. Possible reasons? It is much easier to describe the concepts and skills required to play the game then a notable experience which you may or may not have had. In addition, Keith Stuart says in his article State of Play it is also due to the fact that "Most readers seem to see magazines as buying guides and little else." Only recently, on gaming sites such as Rock, Paper, Shotgun have I seen writings in the style of  Shanahans.

The most valuable quality that a new games journalism article can have is to connect with the audience in some way. By telling a story, a more personal connection is established.

A review of the game Lucidity

The crackle of fire and a soft, melodic lullaby greets your ears. The scene changes to an outside view of a house, slowly zooming in towards an upper window where a light can be seen shining through. Now inside, you see an elderly woman sitting in a rocking chair and a young girl reading from an unknown book. As you watch the scene unfold, the young girl turns a few pages and a thought bubble pops into view above her head. She is thinking about medieval knights and envisions herself in a suit of armor. The image last only for a second before it is replaced by another thought. She imagines herself exploring a jungle and the deep ocean before eventually falling asleep. The light's dim, the sound fades to silence, and we are left with the fireplace as the only source of light. Time passes, then she awakes.

With that short cut-scene, we are introduced to the young girl called Sofi, her dream world, and her grandmother. Lucidity takes place entirely in Sofi's dreams, which are divided into numerous levels filled with an assortment of creatures, treacherous landscapes, and fireflies scattered throughout. The creatures are related to the levels in which they inhabit; you will find fish in the underwater worlds, insects in the forests, and birds in the sky. Landscapes range from forests and fields, to colorful underwater reefs, cloud filled skies, or snow covered woods. I am not entirely sure of the significance of the fireflies; the developers might have just needed an object for the player to collect and picked them.

Throughout the game, the level progression stays the same. Starting at the left hand side of the screen, Sofi continues to move to the right and you are tasked with placing stairs, wooden planks, springs, and slingshots as a sort of bridge between sections she would not be normally able to cross; allowing her safe passage. Placing these pieces however, and this is my biggest issue with the game, requires you to try and figure out how the screen is broken up into grid-like sections. Using a mouse is no better than using the arrow keys or even an Xbox 360 controller. Trying to place a piece even remotely accurate is slightly frustrating; PC and Xbox co-development is to blame. When you finally do make it to the end of a level, though, you are greeted by a mailbox containing a message from your grandmother. This is very interesting because Sofi is in her dream world when she discovers these, so either she is remembering stories and sayings that her grandmother used to say and they are taking the form of a letter, or that her grandmother can somehow talk to her in her dreams. A cut scene about the middle of the way through the game supports one of those claims.

Although there is the issue of controls, Lucidity does get a lot of other things right. The music found in-game and even on the main menu is quite excellent, fitting perfectly with the dream-like realm of Sofi's imagination. The children's book art style and fluid animations also add to the atmosphere. For a first attempt at an indie-styled game, LucasArts managed to make a puzzle platformer enjoyable by a wide audience.

The struggle to survive, or escape from danger, is inherent in all human beings. Although I doubt Pac-Man is human, the same theory can be applied as shown in this video lecture by Dr. Jerz. The "simple" and "meaningless" tags we labeled on Pac-Man now need to be rethought.

Watching this Myst walkthrough made me realize just how thankful I am for all the advances in technology, both graphically, and in control schemes. I do not think I could have sat playing Myst for any extended amount of time.

I never had a chance to play Doom when it was first released, I would've been only two years old at the time, so my first experience with the game was about a year ago. I admire it for the use of limited graphics that got the point across, and that it is the forefather of all current FPS games. However, when I happened to run across a copy of the original Quake for $1 at some flea market, I felt like I had found an incredible history-filled treasure. Quake was the first truly three dimensional game, not just an illusion like Doom had presented. In addition, it had solid gameplay, a wide range of weapons that Doom didn't have, enemies and environments that were fantasy themed, and references to H.P. Lovecraft; everything that I liked in a game. Since acquiring the game, I have beaten it once, yet I have had Doom longer and not even made it half way through. Some classics are only fun for a short while.

Our razor-sharp analysis of defeating elephantmen and bludgeoning lunatics follows.

World Exclusive: Zeno Clash Review

A good review must allow the reader to easily determine what type of game is being reviewed.

We've been playing Zeno Clash. Developers Ace Team were kind enough to suggest that we should furnish you with the world's first review of their insane beat 'em up.

A good review should explain the most basic concepts of the game without giving away plot points or any type of spoilers, just like no one should ruin the ending of a good book or movie.

I think it's actually a lot like a trad linear fighting game ala Double Dragon, as in, you move from fight to fight and it makes no pretense of being a "world". It's an FPS fisticuffs game that looks and feels incredible.

A good review must be easy to understand.

Boss battles in an FPS are usually achingly rubbish, but with perhaps the exception of the very end, the "character battles" in Zeno Clash are really something, especially the parachuting squirrel-bomb sequences.

And finally, a good review must be enjoyable to read.

Our subject today is the esoteric fist 'em up, Zeno Clash, by Chilean types, Ace Team.
I liked the bit where I repeatedly punched a bird-man in the face.

When your review has all of these things, in addition to a few screenshots when appropriate, people will take notice. The words should have meaning, ultimately determining where a potential customer's money will go.

EL250

My love of Lego predates my discovery of video games...

Lego Indy 2 Review

First off, whereas Myst was a brand new franchise, the Lego name was already established, both in video games and the actual physical pieces. When someone mentions Lego's, usually you have a clear mental picture of what they are talking about. Myst on the other hand, is unknown, foreign to those who have not played it. However there is one similarity between the two, as stated in this quote:

"Myst" seems to define a new genre in which the film does not exist without the player who brings it to life.

Just as "the film does not exist without the player who brings it to life," Lego's cannot be enjoyed unless you are actively building something. Rothstein's review of Myst covers more about the history and advancement of games, whereas Richards' review focuses more on the game itself.

All games aspire to tell a story. If challenges are posed, they have to be posed in a context, as part of a journey from one point to another.

"A New Art Form May Rise From The 'Myst'"

There are multiple ways to tell a story. You can describe it in a book, sing it in a song, show it in a movie, or... combine all of those things into a video game. With it's small amount of text, adequate graphics, and iconic music, the original Legend of Zelda for the NES managed to capture an immense story, essentially good verses evil, and shoved you in the boots of the lone hero named Link. You proceed to go on a journey and "challenges are posed" just like Rothstein states. There is a very good context for going on that adventure as well; saving Hyrule and rescuing Princess Zelda. Though the medium may change, we will always be story tellers.

In Keith Campbell's case study, he chose an article on how to manage video game playing in the home. The most important steps parent's can take are: getting involved with what their children are playing, buying age appropriate games, and controlling the amount of time spent playing. I have to agree with these steps for dealing with younger kid's, but as they get older there has to be a point when they can decide for themselves.

In Cody Naylor's case study, he found a video defending violence in videogames. The main point of the video was that people who play violent games are playing it to get a sense of accomplishment when the succeed, not to simply cause death and destruction. I agree with this claim. Blood and gore does not make a game fun. It's the teamwork and skill required by the player that ultimately makes it fun.

I have never blogged before, so getting one set up was new to me. However, I have been reading gaming blogs for a long time, so finally getting a chance to have my own is very cool.