In Darkness: Ruminations

To those unfamiliar with the happenings of my private life, I am currently working on making a game.  As of now, it is a solo effort until I have enough work to prove to someone (such as an artist) that I have the wherewithal to finish this project.  I’m shooting for this to be in a “done” state by the end of this year, though a fully polished state will probably take more time.

While this is not my first attempt at a project, I have to say this is probably my best attempt so far.  It has always been my position that making games requires an set of skills that is extreme in its breadth and depth.  One must also consider how all the different aspects of gameplay design, story, art, music, sound, etc. all intermesh and combine into one cohesive experience.  Working on games though has shown me just how much there is to consider when it comes to this medium.  It really is quite humbling.

That being said, I feel that this is the best way to learn.  Nothing beats self-experimentation in my book.

this is not the might and magic I once knew

What part of this deserves to be called Might and Magic?

My issue with this isn’t so much that the gameplay looks bad or anything like that.  It’s mainly the contrast between my childhood memories of this long standing series being juxtaposed with this. . . “reboot”.

It’s like a friend from middle school reappeared on my door step with a boob job, sex change, face lift, and decided to do that ulzzang thing.  Honestly, did they really have to use the IP like this?  How much of a marketing benefit do they think is going to come from “reinvisioning” the series like this?

Murder Simulators Need Love Too

Because apparently the future is filled with peace and wuv.

Normally I avoid reading Kotaku.  Mainly because when I do, my blood pressure rises and then I need to go lie down.  But things like this are nice to hear.

I might not like/agree with what Bioware does, but they do quality work.  It should be interesting to see what evolves from this.

Developing. . .

Once again, my rather longish hiatus is over.  Swinging back into the posting saddle again.

That being said, I am working on a new project.  Expect updates on that here.

A Message to Wafaa Bilal: Screw You

I can’t help but feel like I’m doing this douche a favor by talking about this topic. After all, publicity is how these oxygen-thief-excuses-for-artists work. Creating “dialog” and all that nasty jazz. But after seeing another article on this monumental pile of trash, I can’t stop myself from getting hot under the collar. This post will probably be the most political one that I will post. It was also most likely contain expletives and such. I have no other excuse except to say I’m pissed.

So for the uninitiated the article can be found here. In short, Bilal, a member of the faculty at the Art Institute of Chicago has put up a game at the FLATFILE gallery. The game essentially involves the player assisting in the assassination of everyone’s current favorite president, George W. Bush.

While the implications of such a game and the double-standards involved are irritating, that’s not what I find infuriating. What really pisses me off was that this douche chose one of my favorite past-times to take a shit with and display his turd for everyone to see. At most, I can see this as a backhanded compliment to the medium and its ability to convey a “message”. But you know what? You can take your “message” and shove it where the sun does not shine. Games are not about your message. They’re about making people have fun and, if you must, educating them on the side.

Have any doubts that its only about the message?

I talked to him and asked him if he planned to make the game available for play outside of his exhibit he said no. His response was that he didn’t want people playing the game alone, but would prefer that they play it in an area like the one set up in Troy, where there can be a dialogue about the game.

I wouldn’t mind this whole thing so much if the game in question actually had the craftsmanship behind to to call it art. I cannot stand this modern art mentality where the only that matters is the message. Technique, the expression of the soul, these things all fall by the wayside for the point that is trying to be conveyed. Originality, not authenticity has become an obsession. Games like Shadow of the Colossus, Okami, Panzer Dragoon Saga, etc. deserve to be called art. They might not have an implicit “message”. But you cannot deny that the way they unify the excellence in the elements graphics (at the time), art, music, gameplay, voice acting, story into one incredible experience. Those games deserve to be called art because of the level of craftsmanship, evolution of design, and heart placed into them. If there was a message in them (and I’m sure that some of them indeed do), it was placed behind the importance in creating a world for people to enjoy.

I will say that I sympathize with Bilal’s pain. But he’s still an ass for using the medium in this way. Here an idea: use this as an example of how create art with a message. And I’ll even include some commentary from men who have accomplished more then you or I.

Picasso said, “…this bull is a bull and this horse is a horse… If you give a meaning to certain things in my paintings it may be very true, but it is not my idea to give this meaning. What ideas and conclusions you have got I obtained too, but instinctively, unconsciously. I make the painting for the painting. I paint the objects for what they are.”

“The new kind of music seems to create not from the heart but from the head. Its composers think rather than feel. They have not the capacity to make their works exalt—they meditate, protest, analyze, reason, calculate and brood, but they do not exalt.” – Sergei Rachmaninoff

Levels in RPGs: An Anachronism?

As a design concept in RPGs they’re practically ubiquitous. But why the hell do we need them?

Sure they provide an easy measure of progress for the player, but is it really worth the cost of pigeon holing ourselves into this design concept? Are there really no disadvantages to such a system? Today I’m going to argue that there are good reasons why we should get rid of the entire concept of “levels”. This post will be mainly be referencing MMORPGs rather then single-player RPGs.

1. Levels create “video game adultery” or social ostracization

Let’s say I’m playing with a group of people. If we want to play together so that everyone gets something out of the content that we are doing, we need to stay within the same level of each other. In order to do that, we would have to play at around the same time or gain roughly the same amount of experience so that we can all experience the same content while also enjoying the fruits of doing so.

But once someone falls behind, or someone sneaks ahead of everyone else, the group is placed into a dilemma. Essentially the onus is placed on someone to spend more time or less time in the game so that they can once again play with the others. Should they fail to do so, it is inevitable that a sort of social ostracization takes place where the person who is not in sync with the rest of the group’s levels is forced to find another social circle or put-up with playing less or more. This becomes a real problem for those who cannot play as much as their real life friends and cannot “hang out” as it were with the rest of his or her crew.

2. Levels encourage linear design

Yes, shocking. I am arguing against linear design. Note that this is a condemnation of linear gameplay design, not against a linear narrative.

At first glance, an MMORPG might not appear to have linear design built into it. But that’s only at first glance. If one begins to look at mob levels, quest levels, etc, one quickly realizes that an MMO creates a linear sort of gameplay by using geographic regions to split players up. While games such as WoW provide multiple areas for a given level range, the end result is that one can chart player progression through areas as a straight line.

The problem with this approach is that content becomes obsolete. Once a player has leveled beyond the level range of the content, the area is effectively “useless” from a progression standpoint. There is no reason for him or her to continue to be in that area. They can only travel to a region that provides for their level range. Even if they have never explored that region before, if they are outside that region’s level range, it is still effectively useless. Furthermore, once a player gets to the current max level, there are only several areas where he or she can spend her time.

3. Levels place mechanical\time requirements on content

By this I mean to get through content, at a certain point, things like average group level become an issue before even player skill or group composition can really come into play. If one’s team has a high enough average group level, they can plow through the content in question without having to worry about anything else. Thus in a sense the ultimate requirement in the end is not thought, knowledge, or skill, it’s really time invested in the game. While this provides almost no barrier to content whatsoever (spend enough time at it and you’ll get through anything), I believe that it makes gameplay dull and boring after a certain points. Once the “mechanical” requirements of a character are taken care of, the player does not have to think at all while playing, and can just play like a robot.

Some Final Thoughts

There are obviously counter arguments to everything that I have written. While I could some of them now, I’m on my lunch break right now. So I’ll address the biggest, and most basic issue as to why it’s hard to replace the concept of “levels”.

Currently in RPGs in general, we interpret the concept of growth of having only one direction: straight up. The idea of causing a player’s character to retrograde is not an attractive one to say the least. So in the end the only a character can truly develop is making the numbers increase.

What I’m trying to say is that in a sense, RPG design suffers from a philosophical issue at its core. Progression is “fun”, but we only know how to interpret it in a single way because of the reliance on numbers to define characters and character progression. As it stands in most RPGs, according to the computer a character is merely an excel spreadsheet of attributes, equipment, and skills. We haven’t found a way to measure and dole out progression in any other way.

So is there another philosophy of progression? I have no idea. Honestly this could all just be hot air. I need to think on it some more.

More on these thoughts later, my mind doesn’t work that well on five hours of sleep.

Not Dead Quite Yet

It’s amazing how hectic life can get.  For an extended period of time to boot.

Anyways, much to talk about as far as topics on games and personal projects.  I know what few readers I have are absolutely breathless.

The Value in Playing Games

When I was a kid, if there was one thing I could always get away with buying, it was books. To my parents books were educational, something I could learn from no matter how trashy the material was. With that I was allowed to stagger out of libraries and bookstores laden down with enough tomes to last me maybe one or two weeks (I read fast in those days. These days too). And then I’d just get more books until my bookcases were overflowing and I was making stacks on the floor and in my closet.

On the other hand, if there was anything my parents refused to help me with, it was with purchasing video games. They just simply couldn’t understand how my brother and I could be obsessed with such stupid wastes of time. The only way I could ever get my hands on them was by buying them with my own money or by getting them through special occasions. I suppose to my parents they were seen as mental candy, sugar that was just rotting out the good stuff in my head and would prevent me from going to a good college. In fact, when I got accepted into Cal my parents expressed wonder that I actually managed to get in despite seeing me do nothing besides play computer/console games.

To be honest, there is some justification in their critique. It’s much easier to point out all the good things that came from my voracious reading habit then from my gaming addiction. It helped my writing, increased my vocabulary, aided my speed and retention rate, increased my knowledge base, strengthen my imagination, the list just goes on. So I think it was inarguable that my time spent reading for hours on end was not wasted.

It’s much harder to argue in defense of my gaming time.

Why play games at all except to kill time? Learning things like THACO, or the recoil of a MP5, or the proper build order in a game like SC seem to only benefit me when I exist in those worlds. Trying to apply them, hell, trying to talk about them in the “real world” is at best, futile.

But I have alot of fun playing games. After all, I wouldn’t have stuck with this obsession for 18 years if I didn’t think it was worth something. So what do games have to offer?

I think that if you focus on things you directly learn from games, you’ll just end up seeing nothing but meaningless arcana. Zooming out though, I can point out numerous amounts worthwhile life skills. Teamwork from playing with others online. Learning how to work with people I’ve never met before. Aspects of human nature. How to quickly analyze a situation and respond effectively. How to lead others effectively. That talent can’t make up for hard work. To ignore discouragement. How to persevere and overcome. And that’s ignoring the training to my hand-eye coordination, peripheral vision, reflexes, etc.

Like anything in life, I think you only get as much back as you put in properly. If you focus your efforts, talents, and time, you can find the worth in just about anything reasonable.

With that said though, I think that more can be done to make games much more beneficial in the real world.  Some people believe that should be done by teaching about real life issues by making games on the Holocaust or about the conflict in Israel-Palestine.  I think that’s the wrong approach, and I think it all feels a little hokey personally.  I want to talk about the timeless.

There is Always a Narrative

So the director of Pirates of the Caribbean wants to make a game.  Bully for him.

But he says something that is a real pet peeve of mine.  I quote:

“Verbinski said he was not only interested in creating new genres, but that he wanted to explore the different aspects that make the game medium unique as well. For example, he said he was interested in new approaches to narrative, and would like to see a game that evoked strong emotions instead of simple excitement. However, he also said he’d like to explore gaming with no narrative at all, since the interactive nature of games means the developer doesn’t necessarily have to impose a story on the audience.”

Okay, the part about a game that evokes strong emotions is good.  That part about a game that has “no narrative at all” is what really gets me going.

Yes, games are unique among varied mediums of entertainment where the narrative is not always on rails.  The consumer has choice.  Unprecedented control really.  Games such as The Sims it is often pointed has no direct narrative, instead, the narrative is created by the player.  Hail the great strength of the industry.

I don’t buy it.

Even a piece of art as vapid as orange banners draped in Central Park has a narrative.  No one is necessarily going to interpret that piece of “art” the same way, but by interacting with it, they enter the artist’s view of the world nonetheless.  My point is that when something is created in a game, while there may be no clear cut narrative, the creator still made a contract with the consumer.  And that contract is that the consumer is entering a world that the creator has made.

Look, there may be no “story” per se in a game as interactive as The Sims, but there still exists a narrative.  Will Wright gave people a world where they could create virtual towns, with virtual people, who have virtual dogs, and have virtual sex.  A virtual representation of our world.  But the point is that the world still has limits.  Space aliens don’t come crashing in.  Ninja armies don’t go careening around in T-Rex attack robots.  You get the idea.  The setting, the tools, the milieu was defined by the dev team.  They defined the world that players could play in.  Instead of creating a single path to explore, they created a bubble for players to explore.  There is a narrative, the shape just morphed.  Don’t get me wrong, The Sims is an impressive piece of work.  But it’s playing house, except instead of plastic doll houses and stick thin female dolls, its all on a computer.

This probably sounds fairly nitpicky, but it’s one of those things that rubs me wrong.   It probably has to do with my frustration with the current state of narratives in the industry.  Stories are so bad as it is, that whenever developers get excited about the next “Web 2.0″ esque game, I get really antsy.  I almost see it as if they’re deliberately trying to dodge the problem instead of facing it head on.   As if they’re trying to dodge the possibility that there can be a good narrative and interaction at the same time.

WTB Better Game Music

Ever since I’ve heard this song, I keep thinking it would be simply be badass in an RPG.

There is an intensity in that song that I find lacking in most RPG scores.  My main complaint about RPG music, especially in the PC section, is that it’s too pretty. It sounds nice, its technically fine and easy on the ears. But it doesn’t evoke anything in me.  It often sounds dainty rather then elegant, gliding rather then soaring.  Even the combat music is hardly thrilling. There is no emotion in the music, no sense of adrenaline or life. To be fair it isn’t easy to compose a good score but I feel that most studios seem to settle for less then mediocre.

I’m not interested in music that simply blends into the background. A good soundtrack should enhance the experience, not cover up holes.

An example of this done right can be seen here:

As usual Sound Team JDK delivers.  There are other good examples of course, such as MGS2 which was done by Harry Gregson-Williams.  It might be fair to argue that my standards are rather high, but I don’t see a point in lowering them except to ease the pain of disappointment.  And since doing so is rather pointless in my view of the world, I’ll stick to my standards.

In other news, I would love to get some custom music for a project I’m working on. If someone reads this and knows someone talented, I’d love to have their contact info passed on.