Further Thoughts on Players and Narrative

It’s time to trust the player. Tell the narrative you want. The player will either be carried along or they won’t. It’s not a player problem, it’s a writing/presentation problem. If you’re not confident in your narrative, how can you expect the player to be?

That is the problem with the mainstream game developers and even indie games. They treat the players like idiots. Of course, there will always be those who don’t “get it”. So what; you can’t please everyone.

It’s all stylization of one sort or another. We rarely think about the structure of prose, 1st person, 3rd person, etc. As readers, we are exposed to it from a very early age. But like any art, it’s an artificial structure that evolved to help make it easier to follow writing. The (not)games form needs developed more when it comes to narrative and character. Prose isn’t obvious. Neither is WASD or d-pad and buttons A, B. Or unusual amnesia. These are conventions to make things easier, not just on the author but the player/reader as well.These “problems” are the same faced in any artform. Especially in scifi and fantasy. Because the settings and situations are unusual, you have two options as a writer: amnesia or extensive exposition early on. There is a third option but it is much more difficult but is much more elegant; ease the reader into the world as you tell the story.

Don’t be afraid to lean on cliched conventions if necessary, they are useful tools. Trust yourself and the player.

Player Freedom

It is tempting to force a player to follow a strict, linear path. I know. It’s something I’ve caught myself doing on the game I’m curently working on. Even with more or less freedom movement, I’ve found myself attempting to direct the player. This is not the way to do things in an open environment. How can one expect players to be intelligent if one treats them like an idiot? Developers have to trust the player. Otherwise, we are simply pandering to the lowest common denominator.

ShatterStar - Bloom

Shatterstarbloomcoverartpreview

Cover art for ShatterStar, a new music project I’m working on. The music tells the story of humankind’s development of faster than light travel; expansion into the galaxy; encounter with an alien species; and our downfall after nearly wiping each other out.

The art was created mostly with Photoshop, except the ship which I modelled in Blender. And the planet, which was originally a public domain NASA photo taken with the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It came out fairly soft, despite being very high res. I wanted a more brushy look anyway so I painted in fake details.

This is influenced by the ORIGINAL (don’t be fooled by the crappy releases from a few years back with extremely poor 3d art substituted in) Terran Trade Authority books released in the 70’s and by the work of Chris Foss. The TTA books are super rare so if you ever see one for sale, grab it!

I Dream of Toilets

There goes the game, right in the crapper.

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I Dream of Ghosts

Idreamofghostspromosmall

Captain Tabitha

While Aquin is busy with coding the A.W.E. UI, I’ve been working on a sort of adventure (not)game utilizing Construct 2. Here’s a little teaser animation of the main character:

Suitanimation01

Shadowcast 07 - A.W.E. Alpha 0.2

Alpha build 0.2 in action!

Shadowcast 05: http://www.indiedb.com/games/awe-alien-worlds-explorer/videos/shadowcast-05

Shadowcast 06: http://www.indiedb.com/games/awe-alien-worlds-explorer/videos/shadowcast-06

If you are wondering where Shadowcasts 1-4 are, they are on a YouTube account I can no longer log into. The videos are still there: http://www.youtube.com/user/shad0wjack/videos

I will eventually re-upload them my new account.

Alien Worlds Explorer is a 2d scifi landscape creation toy for iPad. Users will be able to add, scale, and colour scenery. Animations will bring the landscape to life. Unlockable achievements will include weather effects and other natural phenomena. Coming soon from Ghostwheel Games.

Dummy Lights

One of the things that frustrates me in games is dummy machines. You know, things that are just decoration, like machines in a game like Fallout or Doom 3. I’d like to go up to them and push buttons, just to see what happens. But I can’t! Of all the 1000s of machines in the virtual world, only one does anything and all it does is open a door. What a lost opportunity. Even if the machine just made a bunch of mechanical gibberish noises and flashed lights at me it would be something to engage in some way. I do have to give Bethesda credit though, their furniture actually does work. One of the great tragedies of the failure of Uru (the online Myst game) was a lost opportunity for engagement. And I’m not talking about the puzzles. In the central multiplayer hub space there was a rock/papper/scissors-like game and balls you could kick around. This could have been a whole new area of MMO interaction. But it was only an afterthought. I like the idea of toys and games inside the virtual world, it’s a shame it hasn’t been explored in any meaningful way.

Anyway, these are the things interesting to me, not finding the red card key to open the door marked “WARNING DO NOT ENTER!” People have been trained to look for the “bare metal” so to speak. The base mechanics and how to exploit them. The whole problem solving mindset has caused this. Mechanics are the enemy of immersion. The more they intrude the less the virtual world matters.

Further Clarification

Alien Worlds Explorer is a weird combination of inspirations. 1.) Star Trek episode “City on the Edge of Forever”. I like the idea of looking into a windows to other places and times. 2.) Colorforms. Those vinyl sticker toys. 3.) Mighty Men and Monster Maker.

I like creative toys. Unfortunately many old analogue creative toys (Lego-type toys aside) are rather limited and the enjoyment shallow. I’m hoping A.W.E. will provide a bit more depth and stimulation. I guess that’s the best any toy or game designer can hope for.

Shadowcast 06 - Game Updates

Development updates on “Alien Worlds Explorer”, “Zlythy” and “COMA”.

Alien Worlds Explorer is a 2d scifi landscape creation toy for iPad. Users will be able to add, scale, and colour scenery. Animations will bring the landscape to life. Unlockable achievements will include weather effects and other natural phenomena. Coming soon from Ghostwheel Games.