Sentimental Gamer

There were lots of design issues that came in later, and the game had serious problems right up until the end, but that’s the way it is with any game: it’s never fun until just before the end. Expecting a game to be fun 80% of the way through is like tasting a cake before it’s fully baked. You just have to wait until the end; the thing is never fun until the end.

Huh… that’s funny. That’s the first time in just about forever that I’ve heard somebody with the point of view that games will suck until they’re done… they’ll run, but they won’t be any good. Usually, all I ever hear is “if the prototype isn’t fun, the game isn’t fun… the game should be fun from day one!”. Of course, as with all things I guess, the correct point of view is an intelligent mixture of these two extremes, but it was funny to finally see somebody with the opposite perspective again.

And who might that be, you ask? Well, none other than Chris Crawford in this interview on Play This Thing!. Oh, you….

I’ve kinda got into the mode of being where I’m so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I’m too lame to put them up here. So… yeah… not many posts have happened/are going to happen soon, I don’t think. Sorry. Will try to fix this later.

Wow… over a month since last posting? Depressing…

So, unexpectedly, I’m working on a game this semester. My original class schedule included just about all of the “soft” subject requirements for the Game Design Minor (like HCI, cultural views of media, etc) and left no time for a game project. But… well, then I realized that the Game Design Minor honestly will mean close to diddly-squat to me given my internship with EA this past summer. No sense in taking classes I don’t want for an academic distinction that won’t give me any added value. So, instead, and of course ironically, I’m now making a game this semester again (not trying for Game Design minor == more time to make actual games). I’m working for Chelsea Howe again (last worked on Music Monsters), but this time on a much less ambitious project. Still very cool though, because Don Holden is the “graphics guy” for it, and he’s just about 3 inches shy of God when it comes to making games. Already learning a lot working as the “other guy” underneath him.

I suppose I shouldn’t describe the game in detail as of yet, for two reasons: 1.) it’s still young and might change a bit in a month and 2.) I think there’s some rumblings of commercializing it or something if such-and-such business happens and we do such-and-such features and Venus is moving through Orion on Friday the 13th and… got me…. I’m just a coder. Basically, though, it’s a “straightforward” title in that it is quite obviously a game. We’ve even used that favorite term “arcadey” to describe it. So, pretty far from what Stage IV was all about. But that’s ok… I think I’ve gotten the whole art game flavor outta my mouth for the time being. Last spring with Stage IV took a lot of effort (in mental work, physical scheduling, and emotional exhaustion), yet the resulting “game” was, um… well,  lacking in praiseworthiness…

So I’m definitely ready to work on something with a higher awesomeness-to-effort ratio. Doesn’t mean I won’t get all moody again sometime in the future and start yearning for artsy garbage, but for the time being, I’ll take me some fine hand-eye coordination challenges extraordinaire.  More details on the game as it grows.

Just had to post this.

First post from my new laptop bought earlier today. Here it is.

Not yet played any games on it. Still think I need to update video drivers.

Also, I keep having to mop up my pools of saliva off the keyboard….

I’m a bit of a fan of the books. They’re hilarious. And fun. And smart. So, I finally made myself watch the movie. I actually started to watch it before, maybe a year or so ago, and it’s one of the few movies I literally could not watch, so I stopped 10 minutes in. It was just… not… funny…. you know? Like, whereas the book had me in stitches by the time the Earth is blown up, the movie… I really couldn’t bring myself to laugh much at all.

So eh… oh well. I told myself I’d try it again, and I did, and nope… it didnt’ get any better. Could have been a lot of fun, but nope.

So, as so often happens with this sort of thing… read the book, skip the movie.