Posted in Games on Nov 27th, 2008 No Comments »
I read this post on Steve Gaynor’s Fullbright blog and was compelled to respond:
Good storytelling is underrated. “Player-generated stories” aren’t usually all that good. They offer good moments, but not good narrative. I agree that games should give the player an interesting place to visit, but that’s not enough. If it doesn’t go anywhere it [...]
Posted in Games on Nov 12th, 2008 No Comments »
So now that I’m not working on a short film anymore, whatever will I write about? I could talk about what I’m up to next, but it’s early days…
How about some games instead?
Little Big Planet (PS3) needs to be played with friends to be fully and properly enjoyed. You can marvel at its beautifully real [...]
Posted in Games, History on Aug 23rd, 2008 No Comments »
A new gaming website was launched recently by the former members of my old favourite podcast, The Hotspot. Along with a new podcast they’ve done something really interesting with the site. Beyond simple reviews and features they’ve created a sort of wiki where all things gaming are connected in uncountable ways. If you want to [...]
Posted in Games on Jul 14th, 2008 No Comments »
Enough with the space marines! I am so done with sci-fi and fantasy. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of Lord of the Rings too… but for the love of Pac-man find somewhere else to set your games.
Write what you know, they say. Pratchett, Tolkien and Adams seems to about cover it… maybe [...]
Posted in Design, Games on Jun 28th, 2008 1 Comment »
I came across this interesting game design challenge the other day, proposed by Steve Gaynor of 2k Marin. Some of the entries seem like they could really be something. I thought I’d elaborate on an idea I’d been kicking around and enter myself:
Call to Arms 2008 - “Peace”
A game of interactive vignettes set in and [...]
I finally had a chance to play Assassin’s Creed (on PC) which was a largely compelling experience. It’s a pity about the semi-futuristic framework… ‘genetic memory’ and all that, but if you ever wanted to know what it would be like to stroll through the streets of ancient Jerusalem during the time of the Third [...]
Some various links of interest:
CarlosBaena.com - great stuff on acting, composition and storytelling.
The Art of Braid - an interesting look into the process behind getting art and gameplay to work together.
Sounds of the Snow - an interesting article on capturing the sound of winter.
Nice crunchy-sounding snow has always been a pet peeve of mine… very [...]
I have a sort of distant love/hate-relationship with Interactive Fiction (once known as text adventures) in that I can appreciate what they’re trying to do with character interaction and dynamic storytelling, but I *hate* reading on computer screens - especially in high-contrast - because it literally hurts my eyes*. So I can’t stand actually playing [...]
Posted in Art, Games, Travel on Apr 4th, 2008 No Comments »
Some pictures from my recent trip to Paris: ate the food, saw the museums… the touristy thing.
Finally finished watching all the Warren Spector lectures and interviews mentioned earlier. For me the highlights were the intro with Spector himself, Harvey Smith, Marc LeBlanc, Seamus Blackley and Richard Hilleman, but really every single one made fascinating viewing. [...]
A bunch of great stuff on the web lately. I found this fascinating site about game AI with some really interesting insight into the workings of NPC behaviour in games like The Sims, Thief, Façade and many others. Recently there was a great discussion about how to communicate NPC intelligence to the player. Needless to [...]