[shahar2k]

http://gamasutra.com/features/20010129/adams_01.htm

some of you might read Gamasutra, if not this site is about games, for game makers. In this perticular article, the author proposes a method (not entirely his own) of moving away from "mainstream" gaming and glamour'n'glitz design into the very essence of games. basically proposing a Dare to game designers to create a game that is good solely based on it's own orignial, fun gameplay, (ORIGINAL being the key word) style, and that relies on no external variables in order to deliver that experience (no special controllers, no special needs prior to the game, and nothing except for playable sections)

I think this is entirely possible, and even today there are thousands of original good Ideas that havn't been exploited as of yet.

infact I think I've decided to take on the chalange this article puts up, and I've done changes to my game design to reflect what he states.

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Maybe I'm paranoid... maybe it's you!

[Ben Barker]

I don't think it's quite that simple. Game makers making AAA titles are really at the mercy of the producers. Most producers don't like to take risks with their money.

I think his rules are a little extreme. There aren't many computers that ship now without 3D cards, and it's ridiculous to think that taking advantage of newer technologies won't drastically improve gaming.
I look forward to hardware AI accelerators, voxel worlds, fully dynamic lighting, true volumetrics, and all the other good stuff that's coming in the future. I like pretty shoot em up games like Quake 3 Arena. I watch the Matrix just for the bullet-time kung fu. Sometimes that's all you need. Every movie doesn;t have to be Citizen Kane.
I think most people are the same.

We look back at games like Pitfall with awe and nostalgia. But let's face it, those games suck. They were good then, but compared to games today, they are ass. Yeah, I could play Tetris for hours, but it's far more enriching to play Half Life.

I want to be able to see the sweat on my teamates' faces and have 2048x2048 textures. But then again, I'm a computer artist, and the look of a game has always been what interested me the most.

[aquamire]

Sounds interesting. I'm growing sort of tired of next-generation graphics games that are the same thing over again.. pretty much remakes of Doom and Quake. If I remember correctly, Peter Molyneux writes the game so its playable, and gets the major rules and gameplay going before any graphics are done with his games. So pretty much you start off with crappy (programmer) graphics, then its made to look all pretty afterwords. Thats what has been done with Black&White anyways. It'd be interesting to play it a few years ago, when it hadnt progressed very far in terms of graphics.


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-Aquamire
"Quotes are for mislead wussies." - Me.

[shahar2k]

Ben barker, but didn't you just say it though? you could play tetris for hour, but half life is more enriching... perhaps, but halflife does not live on it's gameplay alone, halflife is good because it relies on suspense, a good plot and great pacing, however take those away and it's still just another shooter. albeit with slower gameplay.

tetris on the other hand, is a game of playing, you derive pleasure not from beating the game, but from being in the game. (although it could be argued that the progression from one line eliminated to the next is tetris's plot) half life on the other hand lives on revealing the plot to you, but once you've played through it enough times there is no real universal merit to the gameplay. no "diffrent" tactics to be discovered. it's basically a great movie(ride?) advanced by well refined shooter gameplay.

and I think that is what the author of the article meant when he says that designers are dreaming of being directors. they try to tell a story, to give you their version of events. and the gameplay itself provides a minor role as a "device" which basically entices you to progress in the game.

we praise older games because they were exactly what they advertised, GAMES, and nothing more. you look at pacman, and it isn't about seeing the next level that the designer crafted for you, instead, it's about skill, and about strategy, and about your own subjective experience through the game.

with black and white that subjective experience looks quite diverse, however it allso has an objective experience (being the plot) and while the plot can be approached many diffrent ways, it is still what holds the game back.

a game designer once said that games are all about "letting you go to wonderfull places and letting you do wonderfull things".
however, I think that the message has been twisted, and instead it has become more of a forced ride than an open playground.

I'm not saying there isn't space for the amazing plot, and the wonderfull ride, but lets not make that our claim to greatness when making games.

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Maybe I'm paranoid... maybe it's you!

[shahar2k]

curses!
how about this, what's your favorite Game, from a pure design....?

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Maybe I'm paranoid... maybe it's you!