Tag: game development

Radical Game Ideas & Development

Due to the various issues impacting the contemporary world, it has been difficult to decide what topic to use when creating a radical/persuasive game. Initially, I was drawn to critique the tendency of video games to be marketed toward men, and the consequential effect this has had on the video game industry. This would have been explored via an alternative history, where video game companies in the 1980s decided to target girls over boys. The player character would be male, and the game would follow his experience as a male who is drawn towards video games in a world where that interest is dominated by females. It would start in the 1980s with the player character as a young boy who enjoys video games even though they are designed for girls (eg this universe’s version of Duck Hunt is Duck Farm where players are tasked with raising ducks, reflecting the feminine-associated trait of nurturing). The later parts of the game would follow the player character as he tries to pursue a career in the video game industry, which in this world is dominated by women. However, as I thought more about how the mechanics would work, I realized this concept might work better as a piece of interactive fiction or a short story. Apart from exploring the world and talking to other characters, there wasn’t much potential to develop game mechanics with the time frame available.

The second idea I had was a game where players must get past a group of protesters. Originally I had envisioned this taking place in front of a Planned Parenthood, due to the recent laws that have restricted abortion rights. The gameplay would involve the player character trying to get through the anti-abortion protestors to go in for a pelvic examination, or another non-abortion service Planned Parenthood provides. In terms of mechanics, there were several ideas I had in mind. One was platforming or traveling through a maze that was the parking lot, avoiding the protestors who would force you to lose health or start over. This would demonstrate how anti-abortion protesters make life difficult for people and can make people who go to Planned Parenthood feel in danger. 

Since the protester-game mechanic seemed like a better mechanic than the one for the alternative history idea, it seemed like the one I would pursue. However, after mentioning these two ideas in class and on Discord I was approached by other people interested in forming a team. While getting to know each other it came up that all of us have a dislike of Karens, which led to the idea of having one of the protesters be a Karen. This led to the idea that it would be fun to be able to play as or against a Karen. After discussing it in a group meeting, this idea evolved into the game we are currently in the process of making: a fighting game between a Karen and a barista. While on the surface humorous, the subject matter is reflective of how service industry workers are often treated poorly. To emphasize this, one of our mechanics is for every hit Karen serves she gains 5 to 10 times more points than if the barista hits her. The key inputs for the barista are also more spaced out than the ones for Karen, making it easier for Karen to hit more often. In addition to this, Karen has double the number of attacks that the barista does. This leads to a game that while technically possible to win as the barista is, like so many things for the Boomer generation, heavily tilted in Karen’s favor. Hopefully after players experience Ultimate Karen Smackdown (working title) they will treat service workers with more respect and empathy.

Let’s Talk Alex Dev Log

Last month I explored in a blog post the impact that visuals can have on interactive fiction. I compared and analyzed the visual pros and cons of a number of pieces of interactive fiction in an attempt to identify what makes each effective or ineffective. Last week I considered the lessons learned while writing that post. This led me to determine the direction I want to take for my own piece, Let’s Talk Alex, which deals with confronting a romantic partner about abusive behaviors. In this follow up to March’s interactive fiction blog post, I’ll discuss how I’m implementing the takeaways from that post and my rationale for doing so.

My exploration of interactive fiction revealed that often the best pieces of interactive fiction rely more on their writing than their style. This is why I have decided to go in a similarly minimalist style for my piece. There will be no visual imagery, allowing the words to paint the scene. I am also leaning towards shying away from extensive animations and dramatic fonts. My hope is that if the narrative is well written the feeling of the scene will be conveyed effectively enough. That said, I have not completely closed the door on implementing such effects. I’ve seen them be effectively used before in pieces like Miss No Name, so I am aware that they can have a positive effect. Yet I’m hesitant to employ them as I’m concerned that combined with the visual changes I have already implemented, it will come off to the reader as too flashy and distracting from the story.

I was very impressed with the thought put into the visual effects of Queenlash and States of Awareness. Though minimal, it was clear that their authors gave thought into their choices. The regal purple font of Queenlash’s text constantly reminds readers of the characters’ royal status, along with all the responsibility, danger, and historical significance it entails. In States of Awareness, the light sickly green text color acts as a subtle reminder of the zombie apocalypse that is the story’s backdrop. While I will be changing the font color in Lets Talk Alex it will not be determined by the setting, as a regular apartment is not as exotic Ptolemaic Egypt or a zombie apocalypse. Instead, I looked to color theory to find what color would make players feel tense, uneasy, and anxious. While red can evoke these feelings, I was concerned about its connotation as a “bad color.” It is supposed to be unclear to readers if their perception of the romantic partner as abusive is valid or not, and having the font be too much of a give away. While it might change after getting playtester feedback, I’m currently planning on having the font be a pale yellow, with links being a brighter yellow. Since yellow is associated with frustration and illness it may have the effect of making readers feel uneasy, but will not overtly imply that something is wrong. By having the links to new passages be bright yellow, my hope is that this anxious feeling will be heightened when players are deciding how to respond, thereby making the confrontation feel more real. While the effectiveness of this and other style choices I have made will need to be investigated further through playtesting, I am hopeful that the insight I’ve gained from other interactive fiction will make for a strong starting point.

Let’s Talk Alex is planned to release in Summer 2022 on itch.io.

Queenlash and Miss No-Name are available on the Spring Thing Festival of Interactive Fiction 2021 Website.

States of Awareness is available on the Spring Thing Festival of Interactive Fiction 2020 Website.

Sources

Miss No-Name. Bellamy Briks, 2021. https://www.springthing.net/2021/play_online/MissNoName/index.html

Queenlash. Kaemi Velatet, 2021. https://www.springthing.net/2021/play_online/Queenlash/Queenlash.html

States of Awareness. Kerry Taylor, 2020. https://www.springthing.net/2020/play_online/TheGolden/index.html

The Visual Impact of Interactive Fiction

Due to it’s literary foundations, visual flair is arguably something that can take a back seat when it comes to interactive fiction. While researching interactive fiction these past few weeks, I noticed that some of the most lauded pieces were lacking in extensive visual style. For example The Golden, States of Awareness, and Queenlash had the same default black background that comes when making a Twine game. Apart from the font color of each of these  being changed to something relevant to their topic (purple for the royalty of Queenlash, green for the zombies of States, and gold for Golden for obvious reasons) there was not much to differentiate each visually. 

In contrast to this, some of the more lackluster pieces of interactive fiction I’ve read were noticeably stylized. Some Space is memorable for its sci-fi background and futuristic font just as much it’s preference for puzzles over narrative. While it does add a futuristic aesthetic that fits with the narrative of a human immigrating to an alien world, there are also drawbacks to Some Space’s embellishment. The impressive quality of Some Space visuals juxtaposed against its lackluster parts do not result in a positive impression. It makes readers wonder if the writer didn’t spend as much time incorporating the puzzles into the piece as they did finding the right font. Granted this view might be unfair. Everyone has different strengths, and it is natural to want to show off what you’re good at. That said, it’s not entertaining to play or read something that was made just to show off. A piece of interactive fiction can look amazing, but it’s primarily the story being told that makes readers want to interact with it.

Although it doesn’t have as much of a sway on readers as narrative, writers of interactive fiction should still give some thought to the appearance of their work. It is possible for interactive fiction to have a memorable style and story. A good example of this is Bogeyman. The eerie black and white style of Bogeyman’s passages appropriately matches the dark subject of child abuse that is one of its themes. It sets the stage for the dark and intimidating world the protagonist finds themselves in, effectively setting the mood. In addition to color, a different font is used to indicate when the Bogeyman is talking. The heavy slightly jagged font paired with the lack of quotations makes the Bogeyman more intimidating. He comes across as speaking directly to the reader instead of the characters, making for a chillingly memorable experience. Bogeyman, along with Some Space, shows the impact style can make for better or worse when writing interactive fiction. It is worth it for authors to consider how to make their work visually unique, because when done right it can elevate an already good work.

Queenlash and Some Space are available on the Spring Thing Festival of Interactive Fiction 2021 Website.

States of Awareness and The Golden are available on the Spring Thing Festival of Interactive Fiction 2020 Website.

Bogeyman is available on the Interactive Fiction Database.

Sources

Bogeyman. Elizabeth Smyth, 2018. https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=ltwvgb2lubkx82yi

The Golden. Kerry Taylor, 2020. https://www.springthing.net/2020/play_online/StatesOfAwareness/index.html

Queenlash. Kaemi Velatet, 2021. https://www.springthing.net/2021/play_online/Queenlash/Queenlash.html

Some Space. Rittermi, 2021. https://www.springthing.net/2021/play_online/SomeSpace/index.html

States of Awareness. Kerry Taylor, 2020. https://www.springthing.net/2020/play_online/TheGolden/index.html

Interactive Fiction: Simple Yet Diverse

Compared to the visual and technical complexity of modern video games, digital interactive fiction can at first glance seem simple and mundane. Their core gameplay is easy and intuitive to learn: read a passage, select an option to continue, rinse and repeat until you reach an ending to the tale. Anyone who has ever read a choose your own adventure book, or arguably even had a conversation, can do it. Whether in spite of or due to this simplicity, interactive fiction has blossomed to include a large body of unique works. 

Some works of interactive fiction don’t stray too far from the medium’s core gameplay, adding interest through narrative and writing style. Two examples of this are Miss No-Name and Queenlash, two award winning titles from the 2021 Spring Thing Festival of Interactive Fiction. At first Miss No-Name comes across as a fun innocent story about a popular kid in school trying to learn more about a loner in their class. Players can approach this objective a few ways, most of which are hinted at being more or less effective by situational context. As the story unfolds it becomes clear that what seems like the “right” way to approach getting to know this shy classmate is not always the most effective. This adds to the mystery of who Miss No-Name is. Not only is her identity unclear, but her preferences are abnormal. The length of Miss No-Name also works in its favor, as players can go through all the options and endings in a relatively short period of time. This provides a satisfying conclusion to the piece’s mysteries, which increases player satisfaction.

While it does not have the benefit of brevity that Miss No-Name does, Queenlash is a highly effective piece of interactive fiction in its own way. Instead of the narrative being its main draw, the writing style of Queenlash is where it shines. With long poetic passages, Queenlash is more of an immersive experience. Readers are surrounded by long walls of text using words that seem archaic and foreign, appropriately for a narrative set 2000 years ago. The story is one many people are familiar with, the rise and fall of Cleopatra VII. Unlike Miss No-Name, where the hyperlinks take players is not always clear cut, though there are still clues. For example, in a conversation where several people are being discussed the words that serve as hyperlinks have some connection to one of the subjects. This conveys to the player that these links will take them to a passage from that subject’s point of view, or go into more depth on their past or motives. It is a more effective way of getting to know the characters that feels more natural due to the hyperlinks being part of the conversation.  This makes the story feel more personal than if choices were simply reactionary.a

Authors of interactive fiction have done an impressive job of embellishing and adding to the core gameplay of their medium, further inspiring other authors to evolve their own works. The pieces examined in this post are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to creative ways interactive fiction authors embellish their work. Pieces like Depression Quest combine their written components with impactful visual effects and sounds, while others like Some Space incorporate complex puzzles and code. For anyone who considers interactive fiction to be a lackluster part of the digital landscape, I hope this post will make you reconsider that stance and give interactive fiction a try.

Queenlash, Miss No-Name, and Some Space are available on the Spring Thing Festival of Interactive Fiction 2021 Website.

Depression Quest is available on the official Depression Quest website.

Sources

Depression Quest. Zoe Quinn, Patrick Lindsey, and Isaac Schakler, 2013. http://www.depressionquest.com/dqfinal.html

Miss No-Name. Bellamy Briks, 2021. https://www.springthing.net/2021/play_online/MissNoName/index.html

Queenlash. Kaemi Velatet, 2021. https://www.springthing.net/2021/play_online/Queenlash/Queenlash.html

Some Space. Rittermi, 2021. https://www.springthing.net/2021/play_online/SomeSpace/index.html

This Week’s Work – Texturing

Unfortunately due to an increase in school work I was unable to write a blog post for this week. So in lieu of my regular musings, enjoy this look at some of what I’ve been working on.

Thank you to Austin Martin and Ashley Leandres for the wonderful models, and for being all around awesome teammates!

The Device
Model in Maya by Austin Martin. Textured by author in Substance Painter.
Textures used on The Device. Made by author in Photoshop.
The Runes
Models made in Maya by Ashley Leandres. Textured by author in Substance Painter.
Texture used on Runes. Made by author in Photoshop.
The Speakers
Model made in Maya by Austin Martin. Textured by author in Substance Painter.
Texture used on Speakers. Made by author in Photoshop.
Check out some of Austin & Ashley’s other work:

Austin Martin – LinkedIn

Ashley Leandres – ArtStation

Unique Game Mechanics: Humor

Welcome to the second edition of Unique Game Mechanics! If you haven’t read my post on psychographic profiles or need a refresher from the Part 1, allow me to give a quick summary.

Psychographic profiles are a more precise way of looking at groups then demographics. In terms of games and game development, psychographic profiles can be used to help game designers determine who they should design their game for and who will buy their game. This may seem like common sense, but when creating games that involve unusual or lesser used mechanics it is important to consider “Who will actually buy this thing?” One such mechanic that we don’t see much of in games (at least compared to others) is humor.

Humor Mechanic

                With this mechanic, the player must create something that is funny or amusing to do well at the game. Sometimes there will be restrictions on what they can do to be amusing, like in Cards Against Humanity where you can only use the cards you’ve been dealt or in charades where the player is limited by what they are supposed to depict. Other games like the VR game Comedy Night give players more freedom, with the only restraint being keeping to the relevant topic of the chat room (and the player has can choose what room they join). Someone who would enjoy this type of mechanic could be an adult individual who aspires to be a comedian or entertainer, but so far has only watched other performers online. They want to try performing for an audience of their own, but there are no comedy clubs or similar venues in their area. By playing Comedy Night, this person can hop on anytime and find people who want to watch standup and will give them feedback. In addition to performing, the person in question can also use Comedy Night to watch other amateur comedians and learn from them.

Image Source

Joshua Hoehne, Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/6M9jjeZjscE.

Memories as Inspiration for Game Art

I’ve recently been working on developing assets for a 2D side scroller game as part of a game art class. In this game, the player takes control of a ball as they roll through a museum collecting pieces of art. While the art style of this game is not very elaborate due to my knowledge of Adobe Illustrator being a work in progress, I’ve been able to make the game more unique by drawing upon something I am familiar with: the National Gallery of Art (NGA).

One of my earliest memories of growing up in Washington DC is roaming the halls and courtyards of NGA, staring up starry-eyed at the gorgeous paintings and sculptures. Over the years I’ve grown attached to certain pieces in their collection and have become well acquainted with the architectural elements of the building, such as the wood paneled rooms of the Dutch collection and the black columns of the West Building Rotunda.

West Building Rotunda, the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

Originally, I had not intended the game to be set in a specific real world location. However, the further down the design pipeline I went, the more I noticed how my familiarity with NGA was influencing my designs. For example, most of the pieces of art the player collects are part NGA’s permanent collection. Initially this was not a conscious choice on my part, but rather a consequence of brainstorming “famous pieces of art” combined with many memories of viewing NGA’s offerings. Though the more I thought about it, having the game take place in NGA made sense. My knowledge of the museum would be a readily available resource that could help me create a distinct game world.

Artwork collectible items. Artwork images from NGA Collection Search.

With the internet and other modern technologies, it can be very easy to look up new and different things as inspiration. That said, firsthand knowledge and experience remains highly useful. I hope my experience with this project will encourage others to look inwards and see how their memories can improve their creations.

Sources

“Collection Search.” National Gallery of Art, http://www.nga.gov/collection/collection-search.html.

West Building Rotunda. National Gallery of Art, http://www.nga.gov/press/2019/holiday.html.

Unique Game Mechanics: Vocabulary

Recently one of my courses tasked the class with coming up with three unique game mechanics, identify what skills they have the player use, and conjuring up a psychographic profile of someone who would enjoy it. As I explained in last weeks blog post, a psychographic profiles provide a more detailed view of the target audience for a game. By using them in the context of this post, we can see how they are useful to game designers, as they give insight into who will enjoy the game when unusual mechanics are used.

Vocabulary Mechanic

Vocabulary mechanics are used when a player must use their knowledge of words (spelling, meaning, origin, context, etc.) to gain an advantage in or progress through a game. The player must determine which word is appropriate for the situation. An example of this would be Scrabble, because players have to account for the correct spelling of a word, how long a word is (longer words can mean more points), and if the word they are thinking of is a real word at all (e.g. players can’t make up words). All these factors must be carried out with the random assortment of letters provided to the player. This type of gameplay mechanic would be appealing to a well-read person, since they would have a wide vocabulary to use. This would imply they are on the older side, as most young children do not have an adequate vocabulary to excel at this game mechanic. Someone who is highly educated and enjoys mental challenges such as crossword puzzles and trivia could also find vocabulary mechanics enjoyable.

Image Source

Patrick Tomasso,UnSplash.com. https://unsplash.com/photos/Oaqk7qqNh_c.

EA Games: How to Succeed in Being the Worst Business Without Really Trying

The company culture of EA Games has changed noticeably since its inception. In the early years of the company, Electronic Arts Games, now commonly known as EA Games, did live up to their name. The founder of the company, Trip Hawkins, took a pro-designer approach in running the company (Underberg-Goode). For example, he would go to trade shows to recruit designers (Ibid). In addition to this, the way EA marketed their games at this time was unique. Unlike companies like Atari, EA put an emphasis on the artistry of game design, which is seen in how they packaged their games (Ibid). The boxes, or “album covers”, that games came in were custom made and prominently featured the game designers’ names (Ibid). By 2004 though, EA’s culture had become something far from this.

In 2004 a spouse of an EA employee started an online journal which detailed the harsh working conditions their significant other faced. Some of these conditions included 12-hour work days that lasted for several months, unpaid overtime, and 6 day work weeks (Williams). On top of that, these conditions would only get worse once the deadline for a game approached (Ibid). Granted, at the time such conditions were not novel for those working in the game industry and EA Games was not the only studio utilizing such practices (Ibid). However, this did not stop backlash and controversy from occurring. Due in part to the information shared by this EA spouse, there began to be a push for better working conditions for game designers and others in the game industry (Ibid). Unfortunately, 10 years after the EA spouse controversy things were only slightly better. A study found that while crunch and other harsh working conditions had slightly decreased (19% of respondents in 2014 had not crunched in two years, compared to 2.4% in 2004), they were still widely present and even considered by some in the industry to be a necessary evil (Ibid).

Contemporary EA games are generally not as well regarded as their previous titles. This is because more recent EA games have heavily utilized paid DLC, sometimes to the point where most of a game’s features are unavailable unless the player purchases DLC. An example of this is the Sims 4. Unlike previous titles in the Sims series, upon its release the Sims 4 was a noticeable step backward from its predecessors. Multiple gameplay features that were staples of the series were absent.  This understandably upset many fans. Things got slightly better when eventually some of these features were added to the game. However, the way EA went about adding them created more controversy. For example, the life stage of toddlers, which was present in the base game for the Sims 2 and 3, was part of a DLC that came out several months after the Sims 4 release (though technically they were part of a free patch). In addition to this, some of the features that are packaged as DLC for the Sims 4 are noticeably less dynamic compared to earlier versions (The Red Plumbob). Not to mention EA releasing a Sims 4 DLC that was explicitly not asked for by the community, such as the Star Wars themed Journey to Batuu (Lee).

The disdain for EA’s reliance on DLC is evident in the plethora of memes about the company.

While EA continues to be panned by many gamers, this has not gone unnoticed. After being voted the worst company in America for two years, in 2013 EA CEO Larry Probst vowed “This will not happen again” (Sherr). While it is nice to see a company show some semblance of self-awareness, I cannot say that they have been successful. In addition to the controversy with the Sims 4’s (which came out a year after Probst’s made his statement), other games like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order did not go over well with some fans, who while happy with the combat viewed it’s story as shallow and too short (Personal communication). While EA might eventually redeem its reputation as a major game studio, it seems they are uninterested in returning to a company culture focused on artistry and respect for game designers.

Sources

Bush, Benjamin. Personal communication. 6 Mar. 2020.

Lee, Jess. “The Sims 4 poll: What packs would you like to see in 2020?.” Digital Spy, 1 Feb. 2020, https://www.digitalspy.com/tech/a30380958/sims-4-2020-packs-poll/.

Sherr, Ian. “How Electronic Arts stopped being the worst company in America.” CNET, 2 Jun. 2015, cnet.com/news/how-electronic-arts-stopped-being-the-worst-company-in-america/.

 “Sims 2 vs Sims 3 vs Sims 4: Aliens.” YouTube, uploaded by The Red Plumbob, 12 April 2017, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhzY-P2OVR4.

“Sims 1 – Sims 2 – Sims 3 – Sims 4: Magic Spells.” YouTube, uploaded by The Red Plumbob, 28 October 2019, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVFbw8UDsAU.

“Sims 2 vs Sims 3 vs Sims 4: PlantSims.” YouTube, uploaded by The Red Plumbob, 24 May 2017, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-sE16g7Nhw.

This is worthless EA DLC meme. MEME, me.me/i/ea-game-without-the-paid-dlc-woah-u-sneon-thi-s-48986dd6a5c2475dbe1d295e84579c98

Underberg-Goode, Natalie. “Chapter 3: Early Arcade Games and Consoles.” The Evolution of Video Games. Great River Learning, 2018. ucf.grtep.com/index.cfm/videogameevolution/page/chapter3videogameconsoles.

Williams, Ian G. “Crunched: has the games industry really stopped exploiting its workforce?” The Guardian, 18 Feb. 2015, theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/18/crunched-games-industry-exploiting-workforce-ea-spouse-software.

%d bloggers like this: