Showing posts with label respect. Show all posts
Showing posts with label respect. Show all posts

29 March 2013

Halo. Landfall by Neill Blomkamp

Neill Blomkamp.
Director.

This is compilation of 3 videos released by Bungie prior Halo 3. All those shorts were directed by Neill Blompkamp as preparation for Halo movie. The movie was cancelled, but Neill kept his pace and created District 9, almost a documentary about alien landing in Johannesburg. 
Those shorts were meant to be a promotional videos. But instead the offered different, gritty approach to usually shiny Halo universe.

I love it. I hope you to.  


28 March 2013

Games Workshop vs. the World

Every now and then I hear  from fellow gamers in private conversation and online rants how bad and greedy GW is. I must admit, these cries of pain have their point, and I do share some of the less-than positive opinions about how GW handles its clients, their policy towards certain games, competitors and retailers. However, in this post I will try to remind why we, as gamers and human beings must be grateful to Games Workshop.

First of all, Games Workshop  as company a  should have ceased to exist at after 5 years of operations.
Reason? GW  as a business became trapped in high licensing fees for games like Dungeons and Dragons and multiple computer games, while sale figures were declining. By trying to grab every bit of gaming market company almost went bust. GW at that point (1976-79, I believe) was saved by Citadel, paints and accessories company which bought large packet of shares thus providing vital money influx. That save the company from bankruptcy.  

GW's management, was replenished by "suits", and "geeks" were forced to step down. They might have had  misty-eyed understanding of games and rolling dice, but lost the battle to those who knew rules of the money-making game. Ironically they were helped by company who was selling support products. If that would not happen, we would not have a hobby in the first place. (I re-tell this story from one of my well-informed source inside of the company. The official history is much more shiny.)   


Next strategic move of GW made our beloved hobby into what we know today: shops as hobby centers. It is best seen in UK, and probably less around the world. GW shops are first of all game hubs, where people gather to have a game, socialize and thanks to friendly and professional staff buy more toy soldiers. Three main products, three distinct universes and lot of room to play and most important friends to share the hobby.


Games Workshop opening day at 1 Dalling Road, Hammersmith, London, in April 1978.
Source: Wikipedia
I strongly believe that social aspect was the main driver behind GW success. Sales were coming after, as a need to compete, share games and have fun demanded more toy soldiers. Secondly, those who grew up and left the hobby in search of job, marriage and  other game non-relevant stuff, brought their kids into GW hobby. I can bet my hat, that those kids will do the same when they reach the age of their parents.

On a grand scale, GW products are known all over the world, thanks to hobby centres/shops and the vibe which they have and still do spread. Thanks to this, after 25 years of such practise, table top games are well established time passing and multi-billion business. You can walk in any shop from Nottingham to Los-Angeles or Tokyo and you will find someone who would like to play with you.

Third thing we, as human beings, should be grateful for: quality of GW products.


To make matter simple look at those two pictures. One on the left is a simple toy soldier, on the right Space Marine. Notice the difference? Before the arrival of GW and their Space Marines, Elves, Orkz and Hobbits our ancestor were playing with that on the left.

Guess what? There were no rules. At all. But now we can discuss the higher math and probabilities as well as curse the dice for not giving us desired victory.

So thank you for that Games Workshop. Thank you for giving us 25 years of gaming and excitement. 


    

20 March 2013

The right dice for the job

I roll my d6 and d10 and d20 with very uneven luck. It either critical hit or critical fail. Very few results are in between. My mates have noticed that, and on some occasions asked if my dice were loaded. Nice, friendly question indeed.

The other thing is range of possibilities and understating of this. Until some point in gaming addiction life you hope for the best roll, and don't really care whether your dice is capable of delivering it. You may even have some lucky dice which would roll more 6 or 20 than any other dice.

Why? Because they are "lucky"? Really? May be they are made with flaw, which makes certain rolls more probable than other? Well, i have to say thanks to Anatoli's blog for link on those two videos. Louis  Zochii (i've probably spelled that wrong :)), one of the pioneers of dice production speaks and compares quality dice and cheap dice of his competitors. Even if that is just an advert, his marketing skills and competence is astonishing. He also compares casino dice, and their standard with mass marketed gaming dice, and explains why dice should be quality made and give equal chance of rolling any number on the side. In the end Mr. Zochii shows a quirky dice trick.  





   

Sarah.


It is hidden somewhere in man's genetics. Protect the women at all cost. We may die, but they will carry our bloodline into future. No matter what culture, race or language we speak, man will share this feeling passed to us from countless generations before us. Instinct if you wish, an animal one.

So artist (game designers included) have played on this simple thing for ages. Bypass the brain, put the lady into a kill zone and strong emotions are guaranteed. Make woman a predator, or a prey, or combination of both and it will work thanks to mother nature's imprinting.



       I remember re-playing mission in Starcraft, where Sarah is being swarmed by the Zerg, over and over again. Somehow, I could not believe that there was no other option than leaving her to the Swarm. I was 14, I think. No doubt the trick Blizzard used have worked. And you know what? It still does.
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2 March 2013

Cortana.

Cortana. 
Naked beauty of AI.

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7 February 2013

Designing the game is not an 8 hour job

I have stumbled on this article while googleing. It struck me with something both 
honest and gruesome so I took it for my blog as a note to self. Original is here
http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/13867/designing-the-game-is-not-8-hours-job  
 
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I don't know how other designers work. I don't know if I am a freak among designers or I am a clasical example. But I want to tell you how it looks. How it looked with Robinson. I spent last year on the Island. Really...

*


For me 2012 was year of Robinson Crusoe because for the last 12 months I only read adventure books. I really mean it. I read a lot of Julius Verne novels. I read all novels I could find about castaways. I read all books about survival I could find. I read also comic books and I – certainly – watched all movies I could find that were about deserted Island or castaways.

I read about tens of ways of making fire. I read about building shelter from almost nothing. I read how to find water, I read how to find north without compas, I read everything I could. I am – with no doubt – one of the most educated persons on this planet... in terms of castaways...

If, by any chance, you are on the deserted Island, just call me. I will teach you how to survive. You don't need to worry.


*


For me 2012 was year of Robinson Crusoe because every single weekend of this year I had prototype of the game set up in our living room. Our home was literally paralyzed by Robinson. The game is big, it covered nearly whole table in our living room (I have to say – we have a big table). Because of Robinson we had mess on that table for every single weekend of 2012. I played it all the time, every single weekend, I drove my wife crazy with this tokens, cards, notes, dice with all that stuff that was living with us this year.

It was like part of our furniture. We had sofa, we had table, we had chairs and we had Robinson. It was part of our everyday life.


*


2012 was year of Robinson Crusoe for my whole family. Kids have grown – it is a year of time! - and they saw and hear all the time about Robinson. They discovered this story. They played prototype with me. They played live Robinson all the time. They built real shelter in our garden (ok, I helped them a little), they spent countless hours in our garden hunting imaginary beasts, strengthening the roof or searching for treasures. With no doubt, if in 20 years I ask my kids about summer 2012, they will tell 'It was time of Robinson'.


*


2012 was year of Robinson Crusoe because it really touched our every day life. We spent holidays this year by the sea and of course I had Robinson with me. Game was with us all the time. Sometimes it touched our life in a funny way. I remember one Sunday few weeks ago. I was a little bit late for a dinner, I entered the room, all kids were already eating and there was no plate for me on the table. I asked: 'Hey, what about me? I don't eat?!'

And I heared answer from 10 years old Nina: 'You know, it is like in Robinson. There is never enought food... Today you get 2 wounds'

Woow. That was accurate...


*

Next week I am in Essen. My adventure with Robinson ends. I finally leave the Island. I am finally free. I spent here whole year of my life. It was great but that's enough. It is time for you to visit the Island. I strongly recommend it. This is a great adventure.

7 January 2013

Game designer: Ville "Burger" Vuorella

I am not even going to pretend to impartial: thanks to Ville Vuorella I've realized that i can create and design games and that no matter how weird idea there is, it might have a chance. 

To my readers of coarse it's probably irrelevant, but wait. Ville "Burger" Vourella is the man who wrote STALKER role play game based on original novel by Strugatski brothers. The amount and quality of work put in that book is astonishing. 

Ville "Burger" VuorellaVille Vuorella has been designing games for more than 8 years (full-time). He holds a English Philology degree with Games Research & Design and Academic Entrepreneurship as second specialization achieved in University of Helsinki. In addition he posses variety of skills and studies outside of ordinary curriculum, but very useful for the designers flow of art and craft, like Archeology, Medieval Irish and British studies. He also has EU Specialist Certificate in Game Scriptwriting. Vuorella has been not only game designer, but also an IT consultant and game design lecturer.

Though during his career (up to current moment) he has not worked (yet, i hope) on multimillion projects but he retains individuality and thoughtful approach to his work. One of the cornerstones of his work is a well structured design documents and concepts, which allows player to immerse into the game-world without the fear of being disrupted by the glitch or inconsistency.     
 
I'll just point out some of the 25+ games he was working on:

Stalker RPG, - a single serious RPG on stalker universe, complete with 5 Zones and unique game system. (https://www.facebook.com/StalkerRPG) 

 Burnout, Mobile phone game, for the company called Electronic Arts 


Need for Speed: Carbon, mobile phones version.

Crown of Byzantium: a MMO games based around combat achievements not pig farming. Unfortunately by the time of writing this words game ceased to be. 

HAX: MMO-cyberpunk game of freelance hackers (coming soon).
http://www.haxgame.com/en/


Vuorella's full CV in blog format could be found here: 
http://www.burgergames.com/notes/summer11.htm#220611
What's more important for me as an aspiring game designer is his blog, and honesty Ville is writing about creative process, his ups and downs and life as freelancer. I have never met him or visited his lessons, despite living in Helsinki for some time, but I cant stress enough how important and influential his working notes were for me while I was trying to understand how and why RPG systems work, and how to reach a certain understanding of what you creating. Again, I'm being personal and affectionate, but it's my blog, after all. 

Most creators and designers rightfully hide the workflow or kitchen of creation, Vuorella is not an exception, but the detailzation, thoughtfulness and openness of stuff he puts on his game-related part of the blog http://www.burgergames.com/notes/content.htm is really under appreciated.  

Last but not least, there is a healthy portion humor, rudeness and self-depreciation which only truly strong characters may allow themselves without the fear of being mocked. So that is my first entry of important game designers: Ville Vuorella. 

Thank you for reading.

  


            

Game designer.

Human perception is a strange thing, we love stories and things which resonate with our emotions, but rarely we care about who created this story we just consumed. Unless this person have created numerous stories or something which became a main stream of our culture. Cinematography is perhaps one of the biggest examples of that, James Cameron received a PhD degree in oceanology for his work on Titanic, but what most of us care is poor chap played by Leonardo di Caprio and tragic love story between him and redhead.
   
Most people who like games are no exception. Who created Doom? Quake? Starcraft? Total War? Dungeons and Dragons? Warhammer? Axis and Allies? Settlers? Panzer General? Need For Speed? Tetris? Minesweeper? (I am going a bit over the top with some games). 

Civilization series are probably the lucky ones: they proudly carry name of Sid Meier who actually wrote and designed only first game. But thanks to his marketing department his name became well-known, and In a way a mark of quality. 

In posts labeled Game Designer I will try to look at some inspirational figures in game desing, their careers and lifepaths, probably to justify my own dreams and avoid anonymity of Wikipedia, and acknowledge people who's games made an impact on my perception and flow of ideas.

Sincerely, yours
Mark. 

17 December 2012

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is dead. Why?

By the time you read this it's an old news: Stalker 2 as computer game was cancelled, though "we find it necessary to inform that GSC Game World and Sergey Grigorovich remain to be the sole owners of all the intellectual property rights to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series and the brand overall, including all the trademarks, the game universe, the technology etc. This can be easily verified with the trademark services online.", states company's official website http://www.gsc-game.com/. 

As a rule of our cynical world when king dies, his pants become a major point of profit. On one hand those who did not know about existence of this product will be curious, and hardcore veterans will spent some coin on final "golden" edition or side-line products like table-top game, hats and t-shirts. 

However, I'd like to elaborate why this game came to this sad conclusion, did not fared well on western market in comparison with other FPS games and lost big part of it Russian supporters. 

Starting with most obvious problem of any major game trying to become AAA (world wide) product: development time. Stalker was developed for almost 8 years before it reached people who waited for it. 8 years is enough to see a child walk and talk, and in computer game industry an entire generation of technology as well as clients taste has changed. During development this difficult baby had to refresh its graphics at least twice to be in line with modern shooters and other high-tech games. 

Post-soviet game developers have not yet been among creators of high-end games like Halo or Crysis. (Perhaps with exception Il-2 Shturmovik by Maddox Games, but this lies outside the subject of this post). Both these games have clearly stuck to tested path of FPS-bestseller: simplicity and power with lots of graphical candies and marketing support. Ever since Doom, FPS games have always been about player getting adrenaline high as result of shooting some bad guys (aliens, Nazis, commies, invaders, frags, demons, other players, underline one you prefer), all other things are quite optional, like storyline or surroundings. The trick of any good FPS game is how to justify appearance of another portion of enemies in order to keep player busy and high on adrenaline.

This is where we come to one of the biggest problems of Stalker - unclear concept.
Game was sold and positioned as SURVIVAL/HORROR FPS. However, as a survival it made player eat and take a lot of pills when screen was flashing with danger sings. My first reaction on seeing radiation sing appear was a bit of surprise. How can a human detect radiation without Geiger counter? Do i have a skill for that? Do i have that equipment? If that would be an RPG those question would be answered, but in this case i had to adjust to a flashing screen. It may seen minor but this is where survival in STALKER ends, leaving us with pressing buttons for another med-kit. It may be very FPS style, but its not horror. Later on in the game and its add-ons RPG elements were introduced into the game, but remained minor adjustments, rather than serious rethinking of how game works. 

On the FPS side STALKER does a fairly descent job. It provides you with gun, enemies who ignore head-shots, re-spawning frags and monsters, and impenetrable cover. In close quarters its still a good shooter, and will provide you with adrenaline and entertainment for some time.  

Now if you look at what as player has to do in the Zone apart from shooting at random monsters and walking around anomalies. You are suppose to do quests; find stuff, kill stuff, and get somewhere where your hero supposedly wants to go. This is a clear RPG territory, and luckily by third installment Call of Pripyat they made quest viable and important, not just a notes in the diary you never read or even notice. 

The roots of this idea lies in the free-to-explore-world concept on which STALKER is build. During early stages game developers mentioned that they looked for inspiration to Fallout and Fallout 2. These iconic games are not only RPG, they have a solid narrative base behind every location, quest and personalities. Unfortunately, this where is the weakest spot of Stalker: they gave us freedom, gun and shooting range but forgot why that world exists and what is out place in that world. Despite the great work on humor, endless fan-fictions its still a mystery what does our stalker feels towards Zone, factions and reasoning behind their conflicts.Whats more upsetting on occasion when we get a chance to recruit NPC they fit into profile of unnamed-guy-about-to-die-for-the-cause. 

One of the reasons that group of original Stalker developers formed 4A Games and started to work on Metro 2033 was, as they stated " that Stalker was trying to be everything a game could be". As a result it lacked something important, we may add.

To double the trouble of open world programming, scripting and creating Stalker does not have a major hero. Yes, you read that right. 3 installment and our main protagonist is deaf, mute and unlovable. He is clearly designed to be a focus for our own exploration of Zone, but what is he like? Mystery. There much worse games out there, for example some versions of Splinter Cell and its add-on games by Ubisoft Shanghai, but unlike Stalker, they carry on the day using power of Sam Fisher (or any other hero) charisma. By making hero a living, breathing and relating to world around him even a bad game can survive long enough to make a profit. 

This is one curious situation, to be fare. Despite all aforementioned problems Stalker lived for more than a decade, spawned a book series and recently a board game and some curious cultural activities like films and fan-fictions. Now it should continue its spirit as Survarium, another breakaway project. 

So, the King is dead. Long live the Stalker?