Game Maker's Garage Forum
Game Maker's Garage => Trash Talk => Topic started by: WarHampster on June 24, 2011, 11:33:01 AM
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I'm working as a writer for Nightmare Mode, a newish game criticism, news, and analysis site: http://nightmaremode.net/
I published my first article last night! It's relates absurdist philosophy to games, check it out: http://nightmaremode.net/2011/06/arcade-of-the-absurd-6343/
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Do you get paid?
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Nope, but I get review copies of games :)
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Warhampster that is really cool! I like the idea behind it. I always thought that making something just to be better than the rest doesn't work anyways, it's best to make it your own best and something you enjoy. Chances are if you think your game is fun someone else will.
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You do? That's pretty sweet. Do you get them before or after the game comes out?
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Thanks Connors! The article was basically a philosophic justification for exactly that ;)
Depends, I just got a reviewer account for Wanderlust: Rebirth (pretty fun co-op action RPG), which I'm going to play with some other writers and then review!
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Wow that is awesome.
Intense stuff, incredible wordage. I like.
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My latest article: http://nightmaremode.net/2011/07/immersive-insignificance-8569/
a response to this month's "omnitopic," weakness.
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I read that last link, and it was really good. It makes me think about how much time I put into my recent game world. hmm... what is your opinion on how to get immersed in linear gameplay reminiscent of super Metroid?
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Well, the problem with that is: "Metroidvania" games are immersive precisely because they are non-linear! The world is continuous; player exploration is limited by obstacles that require certain abilities to overcome, rather than by arbitrary "levels." Therefore the game is structured around "item-based progression," wherein the player searches the world for the items/ abilities he needs to explore more of the world. This formula creates one of the immersive illusions that I discussed in the article: that the game world exists independently of the player.
So, if you're designing a Metroidvania, the major things to keep in mind are
1) the world should be laid out consistently, obstacles should never feel arbitrary
2) place items logically, and encourage the player to explore to find them
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That reminds me, here's my article from last month: http://nightmaremode.net/2011/08/elementary-game-development-9892/
It's a post-mortem of sorts of my game design class.
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Wow those are some fantastic tips. Never thought of it like that. To make a world seem independent of the player instead of centered on the player...
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Warhampster I think you just saved my game. I never thought of it like that. My current approach was too narrow and linear. You're just full of amazing tips and ideas.
Ps I read the article you just linked too. And I agree that "simplification breeds creativity" I hope that'll happen with the nD. ::)
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Thanks :) so what exactly are you working on?
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Its called "Simple Game" and at first thats all it says on the main screen. It starts during a storm where everything is black and outlined in white, for a macabre feel. The player is a nine year old boy (modeled after my own sibling) and sits there staring at a TV screen holding his GameCube remote and a loud noise shakes everything including the iPhone (yes its possible) he gets scared and progresses through the house, a tutorial level. to his parents room out of fright. He discovers some strange spherical portal has formed right in his parents room Stealing his mom away. He'll walk into the portal to save her, and the title changes to "Simple game Save your mother"
The plot quickly ensues around the little boy who gets warped by the portal, and finds himself enrolled in the communist space police (Doctor Fabulous reference) and get powers from the rift. The plot goes from saving his mom, to the fate of the universe, to saving the multiverse. There is also strong character development themes involved That I'm trying to display through his idle animations, and short bursts of dialog.
In short It's an adventure/platformer That I hope to stear away from the platformer style game, and have an in-depth plot that doesn't "take the player out of the game" with cut-senes
I don't know if you wanted it that in-depth, but there you have it 8)
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Whoa! It's cool, but seems to be a bit disjointed... I mean, there should be some overarching theme to the game that holds it together. It seems like the kid is just going from setpiece to setpiece (scary storm! alien portal! communist space police!)... what ties all that together thematically? In other words, all that exciting stuff needs to be molded around some structure. For example, let's say you're telling a coming-of-age story - in that case, getting thrust into an alien world from the safety of his parent's house could represent the challenges of maturation, enrolling in the space police the temptation to conform, etc. You can keep crazy and awesome events and still tell a coherent story! That way the excitement is less "ok here's another random cool thing" and more "interesting, I see how this cool thing fits into the story!"
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The disjointedness is just my writing style. But I do see what you mean. That wasn't the whole story that was just how it started. The rest of the game plot is governed by your superiors distrust of you, the blood of your allies, and the portals which your sent out to investigate.
The game employs short segment with two to three puzzles that should make you think, with out the monotony of modern puzzlers, followed by a very short cut scene with minimal dialogue that links it to your next objective. Most levels will end with a cliff hanger So that I can pull them into the next level, and then the next! Overall there's less than 10 levels, but you can replay the game from different characters viewpoint. You'll find out backstories, and what led each character to the life changing events it all leads up to.
That way the excitement is less "ok here's another random cool thing" and more "interesting, I see how this cool thing fits into the story!"
I see. Although I think the beginning of the game will inevitably be the former since its setting up the plot.
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so warhampster how do you think I would capture fear? What is the best way to dramatically build up a creature so fearsome you'll want to wet your pants and run, just by hearing its steps. I remember that feeling the first time i played minecraft with the feet scuffling all around me. (zombies) any ideas on exactly how i could pull that off?
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Minecraft relies on random events and the world is so open that you can never tell what will come up. The game doesn't always play fair. Perhaps it's that uncertainty that makes it so creepy.
And creepers.
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I wanted to find that article you wrote because I remembered it being deeply interesting (and also talking about a game that sounded really fun) and nightmaremode.net seems to be gone. Just... gone. No more article. No more homepage. Nothin'. What happened to it?
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The editors moved on to other things and shut it down around 2 years ago. There's an archive though, you can read my stuff here: http://nightmaremode.thegamerstrust.com/author/sam-posner/
I think I've gotten much better at writing since then, it's weird that it was only ~4 years ago.
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You know I actually found an archive of the articles on my own, while this forum was down, but I didn't know I could search by author and I had to scroll down all the way to 2011 by hand. xD
I finally tried Space Funeral, too. It's pretty great (I haven't finished it yet, though). Oddly enough, I wouldn't have gotten some of the allusions and references in Space Funeral if I had played it back in 2011 because I took Philosophy 101 in college in 2012. That one little detail made the plot way more interesting.
Specifically, they tell you early in the game that there is a perfect place, the City of Forms, and all things are derived from that one place, and that this City is corrupted. This might even explain all the weird blood creatures and bizarre, disturbing locations in the first few areas, and even the weird main menu which presents you with a choice of BLOOD, BLOOD, or BLOOD. They aren't afraid to break the fourth wall; EVERYTHING in the game got messed up (also the glitch floating down the river was a nice touch).
Maybe I'll make a longer review once I've completed the thing.