Shakey-Lo on 16/11/2010 at 05:22

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I think Dangerous High School Girls In Trouble might be worth checking out.

Yakoob on 18/11/2010 at 01:58

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wow you registered just to post that? It appears you are the author. I was going to reply with a snarky remark, but I figured being a dick will serve little purpose. Let me offer more constructive discussion.

So my beef with your game is that it is basically one little gimmick (that has been done before), which you then pad with really mediocre and derivative platform jumping. That is actually my beef with 99% of indie games - they take one tiny idea and try to make a whole game out of it; but then the idea is spread way too thin (or too little of part of the overall gameplay) to really make it in any way distinctive (or in many cases, even enjoyable) from other games.

Though what's even worse in your case is that the gimmick actually has little to do with the game itself - its not in any way related to gameplay. You only appreciate it for a quick second after you "lose" the game. And it's not even some truly moving or really novel idea - its exactly what I mentioned, a cheap "a-ha!" moment that's further spoiled by the overly revealing title. And to get there, you have to get through a whole bunch of, frankly, quite mediocre and boring platform jumping. So the only thing that is even remotely interesting about this game is something that actually has nothing to do with the game itself.

What do you think?

Aerothorn on 9/12/2010 at 22:19

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Okay, so of my eight classes, the first is mostly an introductory discussion, going over syllabus, blah blah blah. The final one I'm not defining yet so I can change it to meet the developing needs of the course. Of the six left, here's what I have as I start defining things:

The Game Storyteller's Toolbox

Games: Deus Ex

Many games have favored storytelling tools or "narrative delivery mechanisms" that they use to tell the story to the player; common examples of this include the cutscene and the dialog tree guided conversation. In this assignment, students will play the opening portion of Deus Ex that takes place on Liberty Island and identity as many distinct narrative delivery mechanisms as possible. For each device, do a short write-up (a paragraph or two) describing the device and answering these questions:

1. What other media, if any, use this narrative mechanism?
2. How does the active player participation affect the narrative mechanism? Is it something passive to be observed, or something the player can interact with?
3. What is the outcome of this mechanism on both the story and its reception by the player?

These are broad questions, and you do not need to answer them all for each mechanism (this becomes repetitive and you'll often have the same answer for similar mechanisms), but keep them in mind during your write-up.

Keep in mind that there is a tutorial accessible from the menu; if you have never played Deus Ex before, it's recommended you play through this. You can also list mechanisms used in this tutorial.

Emergent Narrative

Games: Deus Ex, ???

Readings: Sunglasses at Night, some other stuff

Basically, we'll explore emergent narrative, players subverting writing expectations, the way players carve out their own place in the world.

Cutscenes and the Film-Game

Talk about the cutscene and the rise of the film-game. Looking at the intros of FF VII, Metal Gear Solid, and Half-Life, we'll see three games from a pretty similar period tackle the issue in different ways.

I have a number of readings prepared for this topic, but if there are any better illustrative games, feel free to list them!

NPC Interaction

Games: Façade, Galatea, System Shock 2 (demo)


What are different systems of modeling player interaction with other characters? What are the limitations of current technology, particularly in making non-linear or emergent experiences?

Player Death in Gaming

Games: You Only Live Once [Roguelike], Gravity Bone, possibly Heavy Rain

The constant threat - and reality - of player death is a narrative issue unique to gaming. In the vast majority of games, the pre-designed story does not take into account the death of the player; any mistakes results in a "resetting" to before the death, and there is no acknowledgement that it happened. In this chapter, we'll look at two short games that challenge our assumptions about how a game will handle the death of the protagonist, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their respective approaches.

Parody and Persuation

Games: Harpooned!, September 12th, possibly Barkley: Shut Up and Jam Gaiden or other comedic game

A section dedicated to the rising sector of "persuasive games" and possibly game parodies.



As you can see, still very rough, and I'm in the process of getting readings and a few more games for these subjects - if you have any recommendations, I'd love them!

Aerothorn on 10/12/2010 at 20:16

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I'm more thinking overt parody of gaming, hence Barkley, but even that's a stretch - that's more of a genre and less of a gaming issue, and frankly will only be inserted as a real "fun bit" if I feel the class needs it.

Sulphur on 11/12/2010 at 06:23

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I have to confess, I'm not too sure what emergent narrative means. I understand it to be defined as an extension of emergent gameplay - game systems colliding and opening/modifying/closing pathways through the narrative. For example, in Stalker, a quest giving NPC meets his end because he wandered into a random pseudodog encounter, thus closing off the possibility of doing the quest.

Fitting player interaction into that makes it more planned or procedural than emergent, which is what Deus Ex does with its narrative. Another example is Alpha Protocol, which has an impressively flexible approach to the extent you can choose most of your friends and enemies and consequently the sort of backup you get on missions. And one more example is VTMB: Bloodlines. Both are long, but have a non-linear chapter-based structure through hub areas so they wouldn't have to play the games through completely.

Not too sure if you want to include gameplay subversion in there, but if you do, one pretty apt example is The Path.