IF of Kafka’s Metamorphosis

For my final project I am making an IF game through Inform 7 where I am translating Franz Kakfa’s Metamorphosis into an Interactive Fiction game. It differs from the book in that the player is actually going to be playing the sister of the protagonist rather than the protagonist. The premise of the story is that the protagonist is turned into a roach, and the story shows the decay and decline of the the family as they have to deal with this change. Finally, the roach dies and the family is transformed. I am going to convey the metaphor of this to the event of a terminal illness affecting someone in a family to create a more controversial game where you watch yourself reject someone you love, only to have them humanized in the end of the game. At this point I don’t really have any questions as I am pretty far into the process, so any changes would mean alot of other sequential changes in the game.

For the pecha kucha, I found a GREAT site with example presentations.

http://igniteshow.com/

My favorite is the one about the psychology of incompetency. 🙂

http://igniteshow.com/videos/psychology-incompetence

Making a game?

So…I’ll be honest. I haven’t done a whole lot of work towards my final project outside of the brainstorming phase. I’ve decided I want to try my hand at creating a game, perhaps something involving a science-fiction setting. I want to drive the player to make a choice they don’t want to make, almost a lesser of two evils scenario. I have the concept pretty much down, but the practical side is coming up short. I have essentially no experience with creating games and my one experiment ended rather poorly…so if anyone has experience with choosing a good program/method for game creation, I’d sure appreciate your expertise in this matter.
I’m also searching for some clarity about the format of our presentations. I know its 20 by 20, but is there supposed to be some overarching flow here? Or do we have creative license?

Thanks — Will

Final Project

I honestly haven’t given a great amount of thought to my final project yet. However, I found the section on socially concious games to be the most interesting and am hoping to do a game concerning this area of research. I think it would be interesting to find scholarly articles on positive and negative effects these games can have on the actual situation in real life. The only problem I can foresee running into would be finding a game, but I hope that this won’t be an issue. Does the game have to be an N64 type game that must be fully played through or can I do something similar to the computer games like the Haiti game we played?

Final Project…

I have talked with a lot of my male videogamer friends in order to find a game that they believed would be good for the presentation and final project.  I’ve decided to go ahead with the recommendation of playing Portal.  Although I haven’t started working on the game yet, I predict that I may have difficulty playing the game or getting through the game at an acceptable rate.  I plan on remedying that problem by watching some clips of gameplay on youtube and also by watching some friends play the game in my dorm.

There and Back Again…A Hobbit’s Tale

For my final project, I’ve decided to look at Bethesda Game Studio’s The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. I chose this game because it contains a number of the aspects of gaming we’ve discussed over the course of this semester (as well as some of the elements of counter-gaming that we have discussed more recently), as well as for the strong societal messaging that has been incorporated into the world of Tamriel. For example, for my purposes, I’ve decided to concentrate on how Morrowind deals with the issues of xenophobia and racism, through their depictions of xenophobes, racists and even slaves and those who own them. The only real questions I have for the world at large is where should I look for scholarly readings that I can incorporate into my works, as well as who should start in goal on Wednesday.

Ayiti: the cost for life. . . most interesting game thus far

SO the game I chose is called, as the title says, Ayiti: the cost for life. It was funded by microsoft and made by kids from a highschool. Essentially its a strategy simulation game where you play as the parents of a family and you have to make economic desicisons for your family catch is you are very poor. So there are pros and cons to every decision you make such as if you choose medicines you miss out on education and thus your kids cant further their lives. The designers really stress the value of education, but show how difficult it can be to keep your family happy, educated and alive. People do die in this game if you do not spend the moeny wisely.
I just thought it was an intruiging idea im not really sure where Im going to roll with it yet but I can tell its full of potential.

My final project

I have not fully chosen my final project topic yet, but I have thought about trying to do one on the game “The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.” Some of the topics that I would like to discuss include what direction the game has taken the series in from a violence/dark theme standpoint ( the game recieved a T rating, a first for the LOZ series), and how the game was released on two systems, most notably the Nintendo Wii so that the developers could utilize the motion control interface of the system. One of the reasons I have not fully decided on whether or not the game will be my topic is because when I tried to search for relevant scholarly articles on the game, very few references came up. A question that I have is that if I cannot find many outside articles written on a specific game, is it ok if I just go through an analyzation of the game while referencing concepts raised by Koster, Galloway, and the other writers whose pieces we have read throughout the semester, or do I need to find new references entirely for my paper? I know the game itself very well (I have beaten it multiple times), but am just not sure if I should put the time into trying to write a paper about it if necessary resources are not available to make it possible.

Final Project idea?

I was thinking about exploring the game Heavy Rain for my final project. I would like to discuss the nature of narrative in games, and the ability of games to be effective story tellers. Can games convey emotion? Can they do it effectively? Can they do it in a way that does justice to important/deep/heavy/sad/real topics? What about a game makes it effective as a story? Does Heavy Rain exemplify the narritive ability/emotional capacity of “videogames”? My biggest problem at this point is that I haven’t finished the game yet (only started it) and i hope i can finish it, or at least know wnough about it to answer these questions in time.

Do we really have nothing better to do with our time?

I found that I agreed with almost everything that was talked about in the Casual Revolution article.  As the stereotypical casual game player, most of what was talked about hit home.  I thought the discussion about the Wii was really interesting. When it first came out, the people I was around at the time told me that the graphics weren’t great, but that’s because they were focused on the game play and new technology, and the graphics would come in time. Now I realize that the “ok” graphics were done purposely, and it completely makes sense. This game is meant for everyone, and I think the article get it completely right when it says that fancy graphics can be intimidating. My aunts and uncles love the Wii, and I think it is mostly because it is so casual, and not intimidating in any way or time consuming.

On the note of time consuming, I thought it was bizarre when the article talked about how much time people actually spent playing casual games. It sounds like casual game players spend as much time chunking away at their casual games as “hardcore gamers” spend playing their more involved games. So why don’t the casual gamers just play the more involved games since they are going to put that time committment into it anyways? I realized this is similar to watching tv and watching a movie. Often, I’ll get online, and want to watch something light and easy thats not going to force me to commit more than 20-4o min. So I decided to watch Frasier, and before I know it, I’ve watched two hours of tv, so in theory I could have watched a movie with the same time committment and involvement. But I feel like this sort of relationship completely captures the difference between casual gaming and hardcore gaming. TV and Casual games are like the lite version of Hardcore games and Movies.

Finally, I disagreed with one thing.

“The stereotype of the casual player implies that casual game design
should always be easy. This has, in fact, been described as a good rule for
casual game design: “No casual game has ever failed for being too easy.”

This does not seem fair at all to the casual gamer. What fun is a game if there is no challenge? But thinking about it, and then the picture of Bejewled made me realize that this statement is more or less true. There is almost no challenge in clicking boxes that are the same colors. That seems like games that are usually reserved for pre-schoolers, but here is a huge time waster for school-age kids to adults. So I guess I was left with the question, why do people play casual games, what is the purpose? Do we really have nothing better to do with our time?

Casual gaming

I, along with Brandi, felt rather uncomfortable dividing games into solely hardcore games and casual games, and dividing players into categories that could otherwise be labeled “elitist gamer versus noob.” While playing through Upgrade Complete! for the second time, I realized that there could be varying levels of casual games. Upgrade Complete!, for example, is much more complex than, say, Flow, The Crossing, or even Bejeweled. Even with my inexperience in “hardcore gaming” (or at least, the sterotypical idea of hardcore gaming), I felt like Upgrade Complete! could be the shorter, casual game version of a hardcore game where you could continue upgrading your ship, weapons, enemies and other aspects of the game. For that reason, I found it difficult to completely agree with the rather black and white idea of hardcore and casual gamers. Juul’s article left me with the impression that hardcore gamers enjoy only hardcore games, and casual gamers enjoy only casual games, but I don’t think that is true. I think hardcore and casual gamers alike can enjoy a game such as Upgrade Complete!.

Chasm Spasming

I found this great little counter-game a while ago called Chasm Spasm. Before you read anything I have to say about it, go play it. It only takes a couple minutes.

Chasm Spasm begins looking like any platformer-adventure game, and looks like it will be one for the ages. Then as soon as you try doing anything when the game starts, you fall into a chasm. How do you get out?! Press buttons frantically to try to figure it out. All you do is… spasm. Hence the name of the game. But you get such things as extra points, “ocelot bonuses,” and “SQUIDSTORM!” Really, you’re playing the game by failing to play the game.

I’m not going to pretend this game has any super deep meaning. It’s mainly just a humorous look into what people expect from games based on prior experience, and how to deal with games that seem “broken.” We realize that our expectations for Chasm Spasm are based on tons of other games that look like it, and when it’s not what we expected, we freak out.

I wonder if someone who’s never played a 2D platformer game would find Chasm Spasm not nearly as bewildering.

You silly elitist.

In the second chapter of Casual Revolution, the characteristics of a causal versus a hardcore game are discussed. Eric Zimmerman offers this explanation of the difference: “As a producer of culture, I like to think that my audience can have a deep and dedicated and meaningful relationship with the works that I produce. And the notion of a casual game implies a light and less meaningful relationship to the work.” I think this is a perfect way to describe causal versus hardcore games. Hardcore games require more investment (in time and emotional involvement), so players develop a deeper relationship with the game. Casual games are not as demanding of the player, so the relationship is not nearly as developed.

Later in the chapter, however, hardcore games are defined as being difficult, time-consuming, and emotionally negative. Casual games are defined as positive and easy. Wait, what? Now there’s not just a division between games, it’s turned into.. elitist gamer versus noob. Noobs play happy, easy, casual games– and elitist play the good games. I have a hard time accepting Zimmerman’s way of dividing games. I can see what he describes as hardcore games being a category, and causal games being another category, but amongst other categories. Not just hardcore and casual.

Games that aren’t dark and heavy aren’t always easy. What about rhythm games? What about puzzle games? What about RPGs? What about adventure games? Yes, these categories tend to be easy– but it’s unfair to say that just because they’re not shoot-em-up games, they’re easy. Overall, I see Zimmerman as dividing games this way: what he personally finds to be a “good” game, and then everything else. This chapter is elitist. He needs to expand his horizons and keep an open mind to different types of games.

Casual Games for Casual Gamers

Disputed in Roger Ebert’s “Video Games Can Never Be Art”, Kellee Santiago has declared that videogames are in fact an art form. In light of recent readings, the following link illustrates Santiago’s philosophy as well as provides a super easy to understand diagram of core gaming:

http://www.kelleesantiago.com/thatgamecompany.html

Also, below is the website for “Casual Gameplay Design Competition 5”. Not all of the games featured match Jesper Juul’s basic elements of a casual game. See “Numbers Reaction 2”, for example. Comments and personal playing experience of this game has shown that the game is not necessarily “easy to play” in regards to usability, one of Juul’s elements. Do these games appeal to “stereotypical casual gamers”, as defined by Juul? Do they “sell to a casual audience”? Answers are, of course, subjective.

The really interesting part of the following link, however, is reading what changes the designer made to their game after reading given comments (“dRive” in particular). You can see how the game is becoming “more casual” or at least how it is changing in attempts to increasingly appeal to the casual gaming community.

http://jayisgames.com/cgdc5/

“It’s a legitimate strategy!” ~Rocket Camper (Red vs. Blue)

“Exploiting loopholes” and “cheating” in games have come up more than once in our class discussions, and merit revisiting.   Koster separates the two by whether or not the action is contained within the game’s “magic circle.”  Unlike cheating, which I shall define as rigging a game in a way that disturbs a level (or otherwise agreed upon) playing field, exploiting a loophole can be understood as abusing mistakes left by the developer, and thus playing in a way which the designers did not intend.  Whiny cries are often heard from both courts, but I believe that it in picking sides we are falling prey to an irrelevant dichotomy.

We all agree that cheating is bad.  It is bad because it destroys the competitive nature of any game.  But exploiting loopholes is not so simply characterized.   One may claim that it is bad because the designer did not intend for you to be able to glitch your way onto a particular ledge or rooftop, but at risk of oversimplifying the matter, the answer is “so what?”  What the designer intended is irrelevant from the standpoint of whether or not a competitive game is well-constructed.  What is truly important is contained in two questions:

(1) Does the loophole hurt a game’s competitiveness in anyway?  Does it tilt the playing field?  Does it remove skill?  Does it make it boring?

(2) Is the loophole accessible by everyone?

If the answer to (1) is no, then the loophole is irrelevant.  If the glitch allows you to carry an otherwise non-interactive flowerpot on your head in Call of Duty, for example, then no one should worry.  If the answer is yes, then (2) becomes important.  If the answer to (2) is no, then it is a problem.  But loopholes are almost always accessible by everyone by the nature of game code.  If only player can do it, it is likely because they cheated, which is clearly a problem.  (It should also be noted that cheating does not necessarily require “hacking” or changing a game’s fundamentals.  Players can easily subvert a game’s fun/competiveness entirely within the game.)

There have been plenty of “unintended” aspects of games which have vastly improved gameplay rather than ruined it, surely to the delight of the developers.  Starcraft, for example, is full of these.  Many of the staple techniques used by competent players, such as peon-stacking, muta-stacking, spell-splitting, etc., arose from the game’s physics in ways completely unforeseen by Blizzard.  They have not only added flavor to the game and expanded the role of dexterity, but have actually allowed the game to be balanced and therefore competitive.

(Oops!  In going back to add more thoughts, I allowed midnight to slip right by…)