Recently in EL250 Category

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.]