this week’s reads

Here’s some of the things that I read this week:

• I am adding and subtracting – Eskil Steenberg shares his know-how on game programming, giving tips on what you should know and do to be an effective programmer based on his experiences.
• Software That Guards Virtual Playgrounds – NY Times article on various applications that are used to monitor content aimed at minors. The virtual world is moving more and more towards addicting children. Protecting them from predators and the like is therefore a key component for virtual world creators, and a booming marketplace for those creating the tools to protect minors.
• Author of Play – Infocom is one of my favorite game companies of all time, and Steve Meretzky designed some of my favorite games of all time. Technology Review sat down with him recently and interviewed him about the good old days of Infocom. A must read for any Infocom fan.
• What Went Wrong? – the subtitle says it all: learning from past post mortems.
• when the bomb goes off – auntie pixelante does a good write up of “when the bomb goes off,” a flash game in which you have five seconds to figure out the goal of a level.

looking at lundum dare

Lundum Dar #14 Games

Lundum Dare #14 came and went and while I didn’t actually compete due to not coding my own game, I was very pleased with what I did do: design a very basic game using the theme LD voters came up with. That was my goal for the weekend, and I accomplished just that. I am, to be perfectly honest, quite proud of myself as I’ve been trying to inspire myself to actually use these kinds of contests not to program games, but to use my nogin to come up with designs, no matter how simple.

This was the perfect exercise for me. “Simple” and “basic” were the two most important words in my vocabulary this weekend. My tendency is to sit down and think a lot about a game design and then explode the idea. The idea then tends to float around in my head all bloated, and I never actually get around to writing it all down because I never know where to begin. By forcing myself to keep to a simple design I was able to easily craft a game that would have, had I been a coder, been something I could whip up relatively quickly and most likely well within the timeframe of this contest. Now I don’t know if my game would pass the playability feature, but that’s the beauty of keeping it simple: I would have been much more able to tweak with a simpler design than I would have if I thought it out to death.

That’s not to say that I didn’t start coming up with all sorts of complications to my basic beat-the-walls-back theme. Several times I wanted to take pen to paper, map out changes, write down ideas, but I was able to stop myself for once. The challenge for me was to keep it simple, shithead, and I’m really glad that for once I did.

I noticed that a lot of the participants ran into this problem fairly early in the competition. They most likely did not map out their concept, or if they did they weren’t thorough enough. Or, and this is another most likely, simply said to themselves, “hey, what if I add this, or let me tweak this and see…” and then get wrapped up in their work all the while leaving the basic design that should have gotten them through the first phase of coding behind.

Another thing that I noticed is that some focused on the wrong thing first, such as graphics and splash screen before they actual had a playable something (by “playable” I mean at least their basic game play functionality coded). When you have only 48 hours in which to design and code a game, don’t get caught up in pretifying the whole thing, especially if you have to playtest (another thing some competitors did not have time to do) your game.

I liked how various participates interpreted “advancing wall of doom.” Some interpreted it literally as I did, creating a moving wall or walls, some with spikes, some entirely made of flames or lava, moving towards a player. Some turned the AWOD into a maze, others, numerous spherical objects. Two (that I saw) turned the wall into a static object that the players had to climb. One created an interactive fiction game, which amused me because I had said to myself, “wouldn’t that be an interesting challenge.” Imagine my surprise when I saw someone take up that mantle!

You can check out all 121 entrants by pointing your browser here.

kevin codes “advancing wall of doom game”

Kevin has been threatening to code my game ideas for the last year or so. I had told him about the Ludum Dare contest, but he said he couldn’t design his way out of a paper bag (or something like that). So we’re unofficially teaming up on this. We can’t enter because teams are not allowed.

Kev’s design inspiration is Rogue, a game he passionately plays. He has yet to code the walls. Here’s what it looks like so far.

Advancing Wall of Doom sans walls

He’s created two difficulty levels, and you fire with the arrow keys.

Design Idea for Ludum Dare #14 Competition

The newest Ludum Dare competition has been announced for this weekend, and the theme is “advancing wall of doom.” As I’m not a coder I can’t compete, but I can still come up with an idea! So here’s mine.

• 4 wall tiles: N, S, E, W.
• avatar in middle of screen
• wall tiles advance towards avatar
• avatar shoots them back
  • 4 bullets on screen at one time maximum

advancing wall of doom concept game

• gun direction/fire:
  • W – north
  • A – west
  • S – south
  • D – east
• each hit moves wall back 1 space
• game difficulty increases with time – faster wall movement towards avatar
• end game – when a wall hits avatar

thus goes my first casual game!

What I’m Reading…

BTW, hopefully I won’t be as lazy this weekend and I’ll finally write the article I have floating around in my head.

Regardless, here’s some of the things that I’ve read this week:

• GameBoy Oddities – 13 weird things for the GameBoy. My favorite has to be the nitrous oxide headset. Do want!
• How to Make an Atari Game – a very detailed guide on making your very own Atari game and cartridge. 100% out of my league.
• Twenty Essential Design Questions – there’s one important question that I think is missing from this list: do I like the game I’m designing? If the answer is no, your game will probably suck.
• Retrogaming Times Monthly 59 – the latest issue. Includes an article about my beloved Timex Sinclair 1000. In someone related news, Retro Thing has an article about how you can mod a Sinclair ZX Spectrum (a British cousin of the TS1K) to run Linux.
• Inside the Soviet Arcade Games Museum – here’s something to do when next you’re in Moscow: visit the Soviet Arcade Games Museum.
• Video Game Sales Go South (and Fast) – the so-called “recession-proof” video game market has dropped 17% for March compared to 2008. The Times is quick to note that NPD says the reason is because Easter fell in March last year.

Japan + Manga + Video Games

Found this happening in Friday’s New York Times:

JAPAN SOCIETY: ‘KRAZY! THE DELIRIOUS WORLD OF ANIME + MANGA + VIDEO GAMES,’ through June 14. This show addresses a vibrant chapter in the history of visual storytelling: a specifically Japanese set of approaches that has gained a worldwide following over the past two decades. It will not live up to its promise for devoted followers of Japanese pop culture, but as a multimedia sampler including comics, graphic novels, video games, action figures, animated cartoons and more, it might entice the uninitiated to explore the field more deeply. 333 East 47th Street, Manhattan, (212) 832-1155, japansociety.org.

Check this out…

Here are some links to what I’ve been reading of late:

• Gamer War Vet Fears That Six Days in Fallujah Will Dishonor Those Who Served in Iraq –Stratics writer, gameslaw editor, Iraq War veteran and friend Dan “SWATJester” Rosenthal was interviewed about his concerns with Konami’s recently announcedSix Days in Fallujah.
• Saved Games: Preserving the New TV– interesting article about the efforts of scholars and the Library of Congress’s Digital Preservation Project‘s on preserving video games and the issues they’ve been coming across (e.g. DMCA, DRM, a complacent industry not interested in preservation). I especially liked how they are making efforts to preserve not just the games, but the environment as well. “You have a game and it can stand in isolation, but to understand if it had an impact on society you really need the external information.”
• Monopoly Killer: Perfect German Board Game Redefines Genre – Wired article on the “Settlers of Catan” board game and the popularity of board games in Germany. Related: the New York Times recently profiled a Long Island board game club.
• IGDA Casual Games White Paper – no, this should be called a White Book, it’s that freaking huge (214 pages). It covers pretty much everything one needs to know about developing and publishing a casual game. There’s also some great tips for general game design projects as well.

Upcoming Design Lectures @ NYU

This came through the NYC IDGA mail list a short while ago:

Thursday, April 16th form 6 – 7:30PM
Warren Spector, influential game designer presently working with Disney Interactive.

Thursday, April 23rd from 6 – 7:30PM
Marc “Mahk” LeBlanc, creator of the MDA framework, a powerful conceptual approach to game design.

Thursday, April 30th from 6:30 – 8PM
Eric Zimmerman & Katie Salen, co-authors of the groundbreaking book on game design, Rules of Play.

Friday, May 8th from 6 – 7:30PM
Clint Hocking, pioneering game designer whose work explores new directions for blending narrative and gameplay.

The talks take place at 721 Broadway, in room 006 on the lower level.

These talks are open to students, faculty, and the general public. We welcome everyone, whether your research and teaching is related to games or you are simply curious about this rapidly evolving field. Please come, and feel free to bring any interested colleagues.

RSVP to gamecenter@nyu.edu