This is likely the most strange thing I've ever written, however I assure you every word of it is true. At around 3am today I was alone at my house, in my basement, at my computer, when suddenly I smelled smoke. I was quite sure the house was on fire and rushed upstairs as quickly as I could to see what it was, perhaps the christmas tree with too many lights and ornaments or maybe I left something like the toaster on. None of these things, there was no fire I could find. I traced the smell back to kitchen where I found a fresh out of the oven hot loaf of banana nut bread. It was in one of my bread pans. I hadn't done any cooking. Furthermore I knew I was alone in the house, not to mention the fact my kitchen is above my computer room and the floor boards creek if I breathe too hard, and I didn't hear a single thing creek at all. On top of everything else I checked the oven which still had all the pans in it, and the oven itself was quite cold, clearly it had not been used to bake this fine loaf of bread, nor were there any dirty dishes in my sink. Out of confusion I test the bread again to make sure it's as hot as I thought and it was. I look for any sort of card or note before I now check the doors to make sure they're locked and can't simply be pushed open, then I even check the screen doors.
Eventually I couldn't explain how this loaf of bread came into existence, how it wound up in my house, or why it was in one of my bread pans. I eventually settled on it either had to be baking ninjas or baking ghosts. I opted for ninjas. Once people started arriving I asked if one of them had came by and dropped it off, check with my neighbors which are also family if they came by for something or left it for me. Nobody claimed the banana bread as theirs.
Clearly this is going to be the most interesting new years ever, and perhaps the entire year will be awesome. Or simply put, perhaps I've completely destroyed reality and the universe will implode any day now, we'll see. I saved some of the bread aside to see if there's anything special about it, but I figure safety test it first by feeding it to all of my guests minus the section I saved for myself, because it would be rude not to try some of it assuming it's safe. So far everyone is still alive and says it tastes great. I'm inclined to believe the baking ninjas love me for some reason and this is their holiday thank you gift to me.
Also if you have an answer to this, feel free to say it in the comments.Aside from the obvious of course which is that I've completely lost my mind, because apparently I haven't, I checked, it's right where I left it.
December 31, 2012
December 27, 2012
Consideration for Users
One of the most important things that's constantly told to any developer over and over again is how important the end user is. You have to have consideration for the player. What is that though really? It's more than just knowing your target audience and developing accordingly.
Small file sizes aren't just for improved performance, they will also make your players happy that the game isn't eating their hard drive space. If you're making a game for pc. If it's on a disc, most devs tend to not worry as long as it fits. This then can result in some problems when doing a pc port later or if consideration isn't taken for the pc players if you're developing for both. By problems of course I really just am complaining about the obscene size of some games that clearly weren't a thought for devs when they did a pc port. Though they can also seriously alter performance and load times as well. So this is one thing to consider.
Interface is another, not just GUI but the basics as well. Knowing if it's a controller or keyboard and mouse, and giving more user control over these things. Namely the option to turn off or modify controller key maps on pc, and change keys on the consoles would be nice. Not everybody is going to like how you choose to implement these interface methods and will undoubtedly want to do it their way and it's not that hard or unreasonable to accommodate them.
Understanding the value of the player's time and cutting out unnecessary grinding just to lengthen playtime. It doesn't make your game good and it's not about to convince me to buy a sequel. Games like ICO or Shadow of the Colossus are great examples of how to either completely cut out the grind, or disguise the grind so well you have absolutely no idea it's going on. In the later example grinding is also entirely optional. Don't even try to argue that the series of boss fights is somehow a grind in itself because while vaguely repetitious each fight is notably different and doesn't meet the requirements to actually be called grind. Keep in mind grind is not repetition in and of itself, it's repetitive tasks that don't forward a plot or have minimal rewards. For example in games like runescape where you can mine ore for days to make a few sets of armor to sell for coin. That is grindtastic.
This isn't meant to be a rant. More precisely I'm pointing out that a good game merely takes consideration of it's players in as many aspects as you can conceive. Try to think about it as though you were already playing, and would you really want to go through that process as a player.
Small file sizes aren't just for improved performance, they will also make your players happy that the game isn't eating their hard drive space. If you're making a game for pc. If it's on a disc, most devs tend to not worry as long as it fits. This then can result in some problems when doing a pc port later or if consideration isn't taken for the pc players if you're developing for both. By problems of course I really just am complaining about the obscene size of some games that clearly weren't a thought for devs when they did a pc port. Though they can also seriously alter performance and load times as well. So this is one thing to consider.
Interface is another, not just GUI but the basics as well. Knowing if it's a controller or keyboard and mouse, and giving more user control over these things. Namely the option to turn off or modify controller key maps on pc, and change keys on the consoles would be nice. Not everybody is going to like how you choose to implement these interface methods and will undoubtedly want to do it their way and it's not that hard or unreasonable to accommodate them.
Understanding the value of the player's time and cutting out unnecessary grinding just to lengthen playtime. It doesn't make your game good and it's not about to convince me to buy a sequel. Games like ICO or Shadow of the Colossus are great examples of how to either completely cut out the grind, or disguise the grind so well you have absolutely no idea it's going on. In the later example grinding is also entirely optional. Don't even try to argue that the series of boss fights is somehow a grind in itself because while vaguely repetitious each fight is notably different and doesn't meet the requirements to actually be called grind. Keep in mind grind is not repetition in and of itself, it's repetitive tasks that don't forward a plot or have minimal rewards. For example in games like runescape where you can mine ore for days to make a few sets of armor to sell for coin. That is grindtastic.
This isn't meant to be a rant. More precisely I'm pointing out that a good game merely takes consideration of it's players in as many aspects as you can conceive. Try to think about it as though you were already playing, and would you really want to go through that process as a player.
December 26, 2012
Cutting Floor
I'm a very wasteful dev. I tend to make all sorts of things I inevitably decide not to keep. These things get filed away for some other time, and it's not just once in a while, I tend to cut probably half of the things I make. I thought today might be an interesting time to tell you about some of the things that were almost in the main title that might show up somewhere else and kind of give perspective on how much the game has changed since originally writing it down.
When I first started the game was going to be centered around a player that accidentally wandered in to a criminal based deathmatch game in a city that'd been converted to a play field. There was a floating camera that followed the player around recording what you did, allowing you access to 3rd person mode, and would allow friends to watch you play from a spectator view. There were tools to hack street cameras and manipulate city defenses. There were vehicles you could grab off the street and drive around, and if you came to a sudden stop you would sometimes go flying out the windshield, which could be an intentional option to chase an enemy getting away through a narrow pass between streets. In the end it all got cut and the story re-written. I use the excuse that all the metal was taken by the survivors to build their walls. Though I'm still considering adding back 3rd person under a different pretense.
Now there's one thing that I had put in that I'm considering cutting though I've already gotten it mostly finished which makes me think I might just leave it in for the same reason it was there to begin with. I have a multiple choice answer system where by pressing triggers or the shoulder buttons, aka L1/2 R1/2 etc to shift perspective selection options. By pressing none you get the neutral response options. Essentially you'd be using one set for lawful/chaotic and the other for good/evil and by not selecting a set you get the neutral of the unselected. Your answers basically don't effect anything, sometimes a slightly different response and the idea was to add an achievement to point out the pointlessness of having the choice considering it would end with the same net result. I'd also point out that is a lot of dialog to come up with. So far it's safe though it depends on how many complaints I get. It would seem people want these choices to mean something which is in direct opposition to their entire purpose. I'm probably just going to leave it in out of spite.
Then there's the recently removed giant mechs. Literally as tall as some of the tallest skyscrapers in the game these giant mechs dominated the field and were designed to help players focus on team work to brink the behemoths down. Turns out that it's much more difficult to get people to work together on a single target than I'd originally imagined. This includes even when I made them the primary objective for all players. Even weakening them to absurdly easy didn't really seem to help get people to work together so I've since been trying to find other ways to do so. Including forcing players to stick together, and punishing them even more than before for not doing so.
There are a lot of other things on the cutting room floor, this is just a highlight of some of the things I worked fairly hard on that simply aren't in the game anymore.
Not to make up for anything here but I also added a new grenade. When it explodes all of it's fragments also explode on impact, great for clearing a room or taking down a small building. It can be combined with some of the splitting skills so the fragments split apart again after the secondary explosion to make 3rd and 4th explosions wile also doubling the number of fragments or more. It also ties in with any and all other skills because I had enough forethought in the framework to make future weapons as dlc options as well, most likely free of course. This means throwing 2 or more of them at the same time, bigger explosions, more damage, further throwing distance than the base value, additional properties like poison gas, invisibility texture application, flashbang properties, explode on impact, and ever so many other options. There's an entire tree of options dedicated to ranged weaponry, as well as explosives, which together tend to combine well with grenades or under barrel launchers, or RPG's etc. Hopefully you'll like it, I certainly do.
When I first started the game was going to be centered around a player that accidentally wandered in to a criminal based deathmatch game in a city that'd been converted to a play field. There was a floating camera that followed the player around recording what you did, allowing you access to 3rd person mode, and would allow friends to watch you play from a spectator view. There were tools to hack street cameras and manipulate city defenses. There were vehicles you could grab off the street and drive around, and if you came to a sudden stop you would sometimes go flying out the windshield, which could be an intentional option to chase an enemy getting away through a narrow pass between streets. In the end it all got cut and the story re-written. I use the excuse that all the metal was taken by the survivors to build their walls. Though I'm still considering adding back 3rd person under a different pretense.
Now there's one thing that I had put in that I'm considering cutting though I've already gotten it mostly finished which makes me think I might just leave it in for the same reason it was there to begin with. I have a multiple choice answer system where by pressing triggers or the shoulder buttons, aka L1/2 R1/2 etc to shift perspective selection options. By pressing none you get the neutral response options. Essentially you'd be using one set for lawful/chaotic and the other for good/evil and by not selecting a set you get the neutral of the unselected. Your answers basically don't effect anything, sometimes a slightly different response and the idea was to add an achievement to point out the pointlessness of having the choice considering it would end with the same net result. I'd also point out that is a lot of dialog to come up with. So far it's safe though it depends on how many complaints I get. It would seem people want these choices to mean something which is in direct opposition to their entire purpose. I'm probably just going to leave it in out of spite.
Then there's the recently removed giant mechs. Literally as tall as some of the tallest skyscrapers in the game these giant mechs dominated the field and were designed to help players focus on team work to brink the behemoths down. Turns out that it's much more difficult to get people to work together on a single target than I'd originally imagined. This includes even when I made them the primary objective for all players. Even weakening them to absurdly easy didn't really seem to help get people to work together so I've since been trying to find other ways to do so. Including forcing players to stick together, and punishing them even more than before for not doing so.
There are a lot of other things on the cutting room floor, this is just a highlight of some of the things I worked fairly hard on that simply aren't in the game anymore.
Not to make up for anything here but I also added a new grenade. When it explodes all of it's fragments also explode on impact, great for clearing a room or taking down a small building. It can be combined with some of the splitting skills so the fragments split apart again after the secondary explosion to make 3rd and 4th explosions wile also doubling the number of fragments or more. It also ties in with any and all other skills because I had enough forethought in the framework to make future weapons as dlc options as well, most likely free of course. This means throwing 2 or more of them at the same time, bigger explosions, more damage, further throwing distance than the base value, additional properties like poison gas, invisibility texture application, flashbang properties, explode on impact, and ever so many other options. There's an entire tree of options dedicated to ranged weaponry, as well as explosives, which together tend to combine well with grenades or under barrel launchers, or RPG's etc. Hopefully you'll like it, I certainly do.
December 22, 2012
2012 The year of the PC
So 2012 turned out to be quite the year for pc gaming. I started the year off with less than 10 games on steam, and only a few more other pc games in total. For the purpose of this blog though I'll stick to steam. My total budget for the year was $117.36 and I used it to buy 278 games by my last count, possibly more. My most expensive purchase was during the steam winter sale... Tom Clancy you are downright evil sometimes. I ended up buying future soldier and splinter cell conviction and that finally tipped me over the 100$ mark. How did I do it you ask? How did I get so many games, and what did I actually get? Obviously they all have to be garbage right? you can't buy anything good on the cheap right? Wrong!
Many of you have probably bought or at least heard of the THQ bundle. On humble the above average price was only 5$ and change and gave some great games, and for only 1$ you still got an amazing selection. In fact I bought 7 1$ copies as christmas gifts, and those of you that got them and are reading this, you're very welcome. Of course now it's available at amazon for 7$ and metro 2033 a game in that pack has been giving away free keys on the THQ facebook page for some time now. I do dare say anyone who doesn't have a copy of metro 2033 in their steam account by now doesn't deserve it. Excluding those that simply were incapable of getting it of course. But for those of you that heard "free game" and went "nah I don't think so, I'm gonna pass, I'd love to pay for it instead" and walked away shame on you. Though enough on that part, thq bundle is the smallest example of this years great deals.
Earlier in the year during the spring bundle on steam there were some downright amazing deals which is where I got the majority of my titles. Then throughout the year humble bundle, indie royale, indie gala, groupees build a bundle, and many other similar bundle sites had tons of great deals for only a fist full of dollars. Great sites like steam gifts awarded me a couple games. And even a few friends got me gifts by simply asking when they were on sale. Then recently amazon has had some amazing holiday deals on games like the borderlands game of the year edition, and the bioshock games. I got bioshock 1+2 for only 5$ from amazon, and for 10$ I got duke nukem forver, darkness 2, and borderlands goty. Granted the real reason I bought that bundle was borderlands which was worth it, meanwhile the other two were really just added bonuses, either way they get added to the collection. GOG and gamergate also had some great deals from time to time. So really I hopped all over the place buying up whatever was cheap at the time if it was something I actually wanted. So that's the how, now comes the what. What exactly did my money buy me? After all some of us plop down 120$ on one game, like assassins creed 3 limited edition for the consoles. This could also be applied for almost any limited edition on consoles which had a very expensive year if you're a limited edition addict. ME3, BL2, AS3, DoA5, etc, so how exactly could I come by 300 games worth over 1000$ for 1/10th the price, and again are they any good?
Well the best way to tell you is just to list some of the awesome games I got. And to also simply remind you to just wait for a deal, make an RSS search for deals on games you want and eventually you'll find them cheap enough. Don't outright beg your friends, but it never hurts to ask when you find something on sale but might not have enough yourself. This works better if you remember to get them something from time to time as well when you have money. I spent 16$ on gifts and got over 200$ in gifts back by value, not sure what they actually paid. For example a friend I got a humble bundle for got me sleeping dogs without me even asking because he noticed it on my wishlist while it was on sale. I bought another friend the witcher for 2$ and he bought me every deus ex game. I don't expect gifts from my friends, but it's interesting to note that by remembering their birthdays and holidays how much I tend to get back regardless. Then there's trades. I managed to trade dota 2 early access gifts for sanctum and unstoppable gorg, I am alive, and several others. I also got plenty of DLC gifts from friends and trades which aren't counted in the actual games list.
Some of the other games I've gotten include torchlight 2, the spellforce games, velvet assassin for a measly 75 cents in which I got 2 copies, the other warhammer 40k game that wasn't included with thq bundle, nuclear dawn, from dust, defense grid, atom zombie smasher, magicka, orcs must die 1 and 2, the portal games, the left 4 dead games, and all the dlc's pretty much for all of my games, the only one so far I don't have all the dlc for yet is sleeping dogs and that's just because it hasn't had a great sale yet to put the dlc's down to a good price. I also got the supreme commander gold pack, all the company of heroes games, alien shooter 2, nation red, zombie driver, really just some absolutely great games. Many of them might fall under the category of arcade or snack games that don't have the AAA full on gaming experience but are meant to fill your spare time, even so they're the best of the best, and you can't really argue with geometry wars for a quarter. Given also that every game so far has worked perfectly on my system without any lag and I never have to worry about discs I'd say pc gaming has also got all of my gaming budget next year, I doubt I'll be buying any more console games, and I might just let my XBL of 6 years lapse. I'm tired of the full price nonsense at 60$ a game when if I wait a few months or a year I get it for pennies on the dollar, that even includes just getting it used over at gamestop.
Again my only real complaint with steam is I can't loan my games or resell them, but that's not so big of a detriment to me, more of just an inconvenience. Though with new things like the marketplace opening up where I can make money by continuing to play rather than by forfeiting my ability to ever play again... well that sounds a lot more appetizing. While I'm no stranger to buying used games, I will say that it's exceptionally hard to find older titles, a problem I've never once faced with pc, because I can still grab tachyon the fringe if I want to and that game will never be seen on store shelves again outside of perhaps some niche shop if you're really lucky. Really my year with PC gaming has turned me from a true believer into a devout zealot. Not the hardcore mouse and keyboard you normally get but at the very least the power of pc gaming.
While I still prefer my mouse power I won't blame you for using an xbox controller, because that's probably the one thing I'll always like about controllers. I like the feel of it and the extra feedback, the overall compact form of the buttons and simply put the comfort. I don't have to find an awkward position to hold the shift key to run or ctrl to crouch, and if done properly I still get all my macro's. Accuracy is the only downside to controllers actually, and while I may not be able to have the same power I'd get from my mouse I can calibrate it to the point that the loss in accuracy is either negligible or ignorable. A better mouse doesn't make you a better player, it's all about skill and when it comes down to it the skill of aiming is secondary to all the other skills needed to be a great player in shooters. As to non shooting games you really almost never have to worry about awkward finger positions and usually don't have to worry about micro so you can confidently use both the mouse and the controller. Though in RTS I will say you'll probably never beat a keyboard and mouse with a controller, that's just how they're built. When it comes down to it it's just whatever works for you in whatever game you happen to be playing. As long as you're playing on a PC.
Many of you have probably bought or at least heard of the THQ bundle. On humble the above average price was only 5$ and change and gave some great games, and for only 1$ you still got an amazing selection. In fact I bought 7 1$ copies as christmas gifts, and those of you that got them and are reading this, you're very welcome. Of course now it's available at amazon for 7$ and metro 2033 a game in that pack has been giving away free keys on the THQ facebook page for some time now. I do dare say anyone who doesn't have a copy of metro 2033 in their steam account by now doesn't deserve it. Excluding those that simply were incapable of getting it of course. But for those of you that heard "free game" and went "nah I don't think so, I'm gonna pass, I'd love to pay for it instead" and walked away shame on you. Though enough on that part, thq bundle is the smallest example of this years great deals.
Earlier in the year during the spring bundle on steam there were some downright amazing deals which is where I got the majority of my titles. Then throughout the year humble bundle, indie royale, indie gala, groupees build a bundle, and many other similar bundle sites had tons of great deals for only a fist full of dollars. Great sites like steam gifts awarded me a couple games. And even a few friends got me gifts by simply asking when they were on sale. Then recently amazon has had some amazing holiday deals on games like the borderlands game of the year edition, and the bioshock games. I got bioshock 1+2 for only 5$ from amazon, and for 10$ I got duke nukem forver, darkness 2, and borderlands goty. Granted the real reason I bought that bundle was borderlands which was worth it, meanwhile the other two were really just added bonuses, either way they get added to the collection. GOG and gamergate also had some great deals from time to time. So really I hopped all over the place buying up whatever was cheap at the time if it was something I actually wanted. So that's the how, now comes the what. What exactly did my money buy me? After all some of us plop down 120$ on one game, like assassins creed 3 limited edition for the consoles. This could also be applied for almost any limited edition on consoles which had a very expensive year if you're a limited edition addict. ME3, BL2, AS3, DoA5, etc, so how exactly could I come by 300 games worth over 1000$ for 1/10th the price, and again are they any good?
Well the best way to tell you is just to list some of the awesome games I got. And to also simply remind you to just wait for a deal, make an RSS search for deals on games you want and eventually you'll find them cheap enough. Don't outright beg your friends, but it never hurts to ask when you find something on sale but might not have enough yourself. This works better if you remember to get them something from time to time as well when you have money. I spent 16$ on gifts and got over 200$ in gifts back by value, not sure what they actually paid. For example a friend I got a humble bundle for got me sleeping dogs without me even asking because he noticed it on my wishlist while it was on sale. I bought another friend the witcher for 2$ and he bought me every deus ex game. I don't expect gifts from my friends, but it's interesting to note that by remembering their birthdays and holidays how much I tend to get back regardless. Then there's trades. I managed to trade dota 2 early access gifts for sanctum and unstoppable gorg, I am alive, and several others. I also got plenty of DLC gifts from friends and trades which aren't counted in the actual games list.
Some of the other games I've gotten include torchlight 2, the spellforce games, velvet assassin for a measly 75 cents in which I got 2 copies, the other warhammer 40k game that wasn't included with thq bundle, nuclear dawn, from dust, defense grid, atom zombie smasher, magicka, orcs must die 1 and 2, the portal games, the left 4 dead games, and all the dlc's pretty much for all of my games, the only one so far I don't have all the dlc for yet is sleeping dogs and that's just because it hasn't had a great sale yet to put the dlc's down to a good price. I also got the supreme commander gold pack, all the company of heroes games, alien shooter 2, nation red, zombie driver, really just some absolutely great games. Many of them might fall under the category of arcade or snack games that don't have the AAA full on gaming experience but are meant to fill your spare time, even so they're the best of the best, and you can't really argue with geometry wars for a quarter. Given also that every game so far has worked perfectly on my system without any lag and I never have to worry about discs I'd say pc gaming has also got all of my gaming budget next year, I doubt I'll be buying any more console games, and I might just let my XBL of 6 years lapse. I'm tired of the full price nonsense at 60$ a game when if I wait a few months or a year I get it for pennies on the dollar, that even includes just getting it used over at gamestop.
Again my only real complaint with steam is I can't loan my games or resell them, but that's not so big of a detriment to me, more of just an inconvenience. Though with new things like the marketplace opening up where I can make money by continuing to play rather than by forfeiting my ability to ever play again... well that sounds a lot more appetizing. While I'm no stranger to buying used games, I will say that it's exceptionally hard to find older titles, a problem I've never once faced with pc, because I can still grab tachyon the fringe if I want to and that game will never be seen on store shelves again outside of perhaps some niche shop if you're really lucky. Really my year with PC gaming has turned me from a true believer into a devout zealot. Not the hardcore mouse and keyboard you normally get but at the very least the power of pc gaming.
While I still prefer my mouse power I won't blame you for using an xbox controller, because that's probably the one thing I'll always like about controllers. I like the feel of it and the extra feedback, the overall compact form of the buttons and simply put the comfort. I don't have to find an awkward position to hold the shift key to run or ctrl to crouch, and if done properly I still get all my macro's. Accuracy is the only downside to controllers actually, and while I may not be able to have the same power I'd get from my mouse I can calibrate it to the point that the loss in accuracy is either negligible or ignorable. A better mouse doesn't make you a better player, it's all about skill and when it comes down to it the skill of aiming is secondary to all the other skills needed to be a great player in shooters. As to non shooting games you really almost never have to worry about awkward finger positions and usually don't have to worry about micro so you can confidently use both the mouse and the controller. Though in RTS I will say you'll probably never beat a keyboard and mouse with a controller, that's just how they're built. When it comes down to it it's just whatever works for you in whatever game you happen to be playing. As long as you're playing on a PC.
December 19, 2012
How I see a real zombie apocalypse happening.
In my game I propose one theory on hour our forced evolution or abuse of cloning results in mutations in our dna resulting in the abnormal behavior of anyone that's been cloned too many times. I also try to reflect how people who have never been cloned react to those that have been. This is one potential however it's nowhere near the more frightening concepts I imagined. The reason I settled on it was the message, telling a story and following tradition of what a good zombie story is supposed to be. What I really think would happen in a real zombie outbreak is much different.
I see it coming in one of two ways. A parasite that easily can live in all kinds of species and can survive in water alone. These parasites would rapidly infect and multiply spreading in ways we couldn't hope to contain. Eventually it would be nearly impossible to eat or drink anything natural at any time and potentially dangerous to be out in the rain from an infection standpoint. It'd be likely that these parasites would also be easily transmitted in saliva and blood making them that much deadlier as then you have to worry about what you touch and use, and how you use it. How it would really effect you or change you into a zombie is a good question though. I would imagine a rudimentary intelligence that builds the more of the parasite is in your system until it gains control. In order to keep you alive for it's own survival and propagation it would likely find ways to repair damage and keep vital organs working and would do so quickly making killing a parasite based zombie very difficult indeed as it wouldn't be a centralized intelligence where a headshot would easily kill it I would imagine.
Then there's the traditional virus. Airborn, transmittable via water, cross species, this relentless pandemic would sweep the nation before we could possibly hope to control it. Though it could just as easily take a much more subtle approach. It starts off small, some land locked country far from regular civilization in an area prime for bacterial propagation and evolution. It infects but leaves no sign it's even there. It then begins to spread, it's months before doctors start noticing the abnormality in blood work. They begin to analyze it and find a treatment. It slowly evolves or mutates causing minor loss in body fat. A group effort is formed once it becomes apparent the world is rapidly becoming infected. Some of the more paranoid nations start restricting travel into the country. Then in some highly overcrowded city like kowloon it mutates again. Within the first week major deaths are reported and substantial weight loss for the survivors. The mutation now eats away at brain cells causing loss of fine motor control, hemorrhaging from every orifice, constant vomiting, dehydration, liver failure and in some cases blindness. The first wave of infected starts to turn on fellow humans and violently tear them apart. The human physiology tries to adapt and survive some partial immunities keep some of the infected alive though with their diminished brain capacity they're nothing but mindless drones prone to extreme violence and cannibalism. At this point most countries have completely disallowed all traffic and have declared martial law. The borders aren't protected but the blocked streets slow the spread. Governments start handing out bottled water, killing rodents, pests, and other creatures, burning everything.
During the second week the first UN meetings on the subject are held. Consideration is given to joint military operations to eliminate the infection in the most heavily populated areas while also establishing perimeter control until a cure can be found. One of the greatest collaborations in history takes place as the worlds greatest work around the clock to find a solution. By the end of the week the first strikes begin. By the end of the first month military action is failing to control the spread and it is now confirmed every country in the world is at least 10% of it's population dead, and at least 40% of the remaining population is infected. Some of the first countries are declared no mans land. In the following weeks the first nukes are used on countries deemed devoid of life. The containment perimeters on existing locations are expanded and extreme measures are taken to maintain them, including massive terraforming, constant bombardment, and automated turrets that fire on anything that moves.
After 3 months the collective collaborations of scientists has come to a conclusion that no cure can be made and the project is terminated. By now over 60% of the world population is infected. Constant nuclear strikes are authorized and the first centralized evacuations occur to relocate the population to an area that can be safely controlled and maintained. Anyone who is infected has a sample of their blood taken then executed on the spot. A few scientists still hold out for hope of a natural immunity. Experiments are conducted on some of the infected to find deterrents, efficient methods of killing, and survivability under extreme conditions. During the relocation process it's estimated the infection spreads to nearly 80% of all remaining world population.
The new underground cities prove effective at preventing infection. Massive air filtration, and cleaning processes that are isolated from the outside world. Daily testing of blood samples the test has been honed down to a process that takes only seconds for extremely accurate results. Positive testers are isolated in case of false positives and tested for potential immunity. The food supply is stable though not of the highest quality. Water is almost too clean though the supply is tightly controlled, maintained, and monitored. Alcohol becomes the standard liquid of choice due to it's relative safety aside from other less practical reasons. The supply is abundant. The outside world is almost completely lifeless and all military efforts have been abandoned in favor of protecting the last city.
One day some how some way the virus makes its way into the city. By now it has evolved several times and is now hundreds of times more infectious and deadlier than before. hundreds are infected within minutes, within hours the greater majority of the population is now infected and the first signs containment have failed start to show. By the end of the day there are fewer than 100 people left in the world and 20 of them are confined within the city now overrun with the infected. Perhaps some of them are actually immune, perhaps they're just lucky. The species is on the brink of extinction and nearly impossible to propagate under the current conditions the end of all life of the planet is now imminent. The infection has greatly altered all other life on the planet and the atmosphere has adjusted accordingly making life that much harder on the survivors.
At this point either the human race dies, or a glimmer of hope is revealed as the few survivors begin to rebuild and have offspring. The world will never be the same and the human race will be starting practically from square 1 if it survives. It's likely the virus is alive inside all the survivors however doesn't effect them for some reason, likely immunity possibly something else. Over time this causes a mutation in the genetics redefining what a human even is.
That's how I imagine a real zombie apocalypse happening, because even if you stop the people at first the disease will find a way to travel and once it's spread everywhere there's no stopping it.
I see it coming in one of two ways. A parasite that easily can live in all kinds of species and can survive in water alone. These parasites would rapidly infect and multiply spreading in ways we couldn't hope to contain. Eventually it would be nearly impossible to eat or drink anything natural at any time and potentially dangerous to be out in the rain from an infection standpoint. It'd be likely that these parasites would also be easily transmitted in saliva and blood making them that much deadlier as then you have to worry about what you touch and use, and how you use it. How it would really effect you or change you into a zombie is a good question though. I would imagine a rudimentary intelligence that builds the more of the parasite is in your system until it gains control. In order to keep you alive for it's own survival and propagation it would likely find ways to repair damage and keep vital organs working and would do so quickly making killing a parasite based zombie very difficult indeed as it wouldn't be a centralized intelligence where a headshot would easily kill it I would imagine.
Then there's the traditional virus. Airborn, transmittable via water, cross species, this relentless pandemic would sweep the nation before we could possibly hope to control it. Though it could just as easily take a much more subtle approach. It starts off small, some land locked country far from regular civilization in an area prime for bacterial propagation and evolution. It infects but leaves no sign it's even there. It then begins to spread, it's months before doctors start noticing the abnormality in blood work. They begin to analyze it and find a treatment. It slowly evolves or mutates causing minor loss in body fat. A group effort is formed once it becomes apparent the world is rapidly becoming infected. Some of the more paranoid nations start restricting travel into the country. Then in some highly overcrowded city like kowloon it mutates again. Within the first week major deaths are reported and substantial weight loss for the survivors. The mutation now eats away at brain cells causing loss of fine motor control, hemorrhaging from every orifice, constant vomiting, dehydration, liver failure and in some cases blindness. The first wave of infected starts to turn on fellow humans and violently tear them apart. The human physiology tries to adapt and survive some partial immunities keep some of the infected alive though with their diminished brain capacity they're nothing but mindless drones prone to extreme violence and cannibalism. At this point most countries have completely disallowed all traffic and have declared martial law. The borders aren't protected but the blocked streets slow the spread. Governments start handing out bottled water, killing rodents, pests, and other creatures, burning everything.
During the second week the first UN meetings on the subject are held. Consideration is given to joint military operations to eliminate the infection in the most heavily populated areas while also establishing perimeter control until a cure can be found. One of the greatest collaborations in history takes place as the worlds greatest work around the clock to find a solution. By the end of the week the first strikes begin. By the end of the first month military action is failing to control the spread and it is now confirmed every country in the world is at least 10% of it's population dead, and at least 40% of the remaining population is infected. Some of the first countries are declared no mans land. In the following weeks the first nukes are used on countries deemed devoid of life. The containment perimeters on existing locations are expanded and extreme measures are taken to maintain them, including massive terraforming, constant bombardment, and automated turrets that fire on anything that moves.
After 3 months the collective collaborations of scientists has come to a conclusion that no cure can be made and the project is terminated. By now over 60% of the world population is infected. Constant nuclear strikes are authorized and the first centralized evacuations occur to relocate the population to an area that can be safely controlled and maintained. Anyone who is infected has a sample of their blood taken then executed on the spot. A few scientists still hold out for hope of a natural immunity. Experiments are conducted on some of the infected to find deterrents, efficient methods of killing, and survivability under extreme conditions. During the relocation process it's estimated the infection spreads to nearly 80% of all remaining world population.
The new underground cities prove effective at preventing infection. Massive air filtration, and cleaning processes that are isolated from the outside world. Daily testing of blood samples the test has been honed down to a process that takes only seconds for extremely accurate results. Positive testers are isolated in case of false positives and tested for potential immunity. The food supply is stable though not of the highest quality. Water is almost too clean though the supply is tightly controlled, maintained, and monitored. Alcohol becomes the standard liquid of choice due to it's relative safety aside from other less practical reasons. The supply is abundant. The outside world is almost completely lifeless and all military efforts have been abandoned in favor of protecting the last city.
One day some how some way the virus makes its way into the city. By now it has evolved several times and is now hundreds of times more infectious and deadlier than before. hundreds are infected within minutes, within hours the greater majority of the population is now infected and the first signs containment have failed start to show. By the end of the day there are fewer than 100 people left in the world and 20 of them are confined within the city now overrun with the infected. Perhaps some of them are actually immune, perhaps they're just lucky. The species is on the brink of extinction and nearly impossible to propagate under the current conditions the end of all life of the planet is now imminent. The infection has greatly altered all other life on the planet and the atmosphere has adjusted accordingly making life that much harder on the survivors.
At this point either the human race dies, or a glimmer of hope is revealed as the few survivors begin to rebuild and have offspring. The world will never be the same and the human race will be starting practically from square 1 if it survives. It's likely the virus is alive inside all the survivors however doesn't effect them for some reason, likely immunity possibly something else. Over time this causes a mutation in the genetics redefining what a human even is.
That's how I imagine a real zombie apocalypse happening, because even if you stop the people at first the disease will find a way to travel and once it's spread everywhere there's no stopping it.
December 12, 2012
Gamers Today
It's sad to say but the new generation of gamers simply don't understand or respect the classics for the most part. They tend to focus so much on graphics they simply don't care about mechanics. A good game to them is simply what looks the best, and every time I hear that it just breaks my heart. They'll never know what it was like to play pong, tetris, pacman, super mario brothers, the original zelda or any other great legends. You can't convince them on zelda for the snes or ocarina of time, you can't get them to try final fantasy 5, 7 or 8. To them any game older than last year is so ancient it's not worth even looking at. They won't even watch speed runs it's so sad.
I understand how graphics can really push things and that in some cases they are important. You can't sell me a bad game based on graphics though, they're not there to define the game they're there to accent it. The original doom wouldn't really be made much better with graphics nor would we really love minecraft that much more if it had super graphics. That's not the reason we love these games. That's not to say they can't benefit, but they're not the selling point. Would we love portal any less if it had bad graphics? I don't think so. These games aren't great because we grew up with them, they're great because of great design. Some games are great throughout the ages. I have no problem picking up and playing ICO, shadow of the colossus, or any of the metal gear solid games. Just because they're old and the graphics can't directly compare to modern day doesn't suddenly make them bad.
I'm somewhat inspired by games like the Halo anniversary that went out of their way to give you the ability to play both the old and the new graphics and easily switch between the two. This allows newer gamers with their fixation to play the classic and understand why it was great and show them a great game isn't just about how the graphics look.While some experiences may not age well or simply won't really transfer over into today's audience like perhaps goldeneye that's not to say we shouldn't try. Because some games really are perfect in their original state and are worth breaking out old hardware to play like they were meant. Look at missile command, is it really something that needs those amazing graphics? I say no, the core mechanics and principal are the reason it was so great. When you die it's not game over, it's the end pure and simple. The lesson being that there are no winners in nuclear war which is what it's all about, you buying a few extra moments to the families of the cities you're protecting. It has no end, eventually you will lose. The complex strategy of picking which cities to save and which to sacrifice for the greater good. Do you protect your important bases with their few resources to save the other cities longer or do you sacrifice them to save all the cities right now even if it'll only make it harder later? How would asteroids really be any better with a graphical overhaul? The game is all about core mechanics and high texture asteroids with animated comet trails and explosions won't change that. We've seen what an update of space invaders has done, and it wasn't pretty. The same could be said for centipede, millipede, and snake. Donkey kong would probably lose something in such a process as part of what gave it such charm was the basic graphics.
I'll repeat that I don't really long for the old days or a throwback, but it's very important we know and remember our gaming history as we look forward. There's a lot to be said about the lessons learned from making the older games where you didn't have all the raw power you wanted and instead had to focus on great ideas and better execution. About the importance of mechanics and melody, timing and pace, there's the understanding of what actually makes a great game.
I understand how graphics can really push things and that in some cases they are important. You can't sell me a bad game based on graphics though, they're not there to define the game they're there to accent it. The original doom wouldn't really be made much better with graphics nor would we really love minecraft that much more if it had super graphics. That's not the reason we love these games. That's not to say they can't benefit, but they're not the selling point. Would we love portal any less if it had bad graphics? I don't think so. These games aren't great because we grew up with them, they're great because of great design. Some games are great throughout the ages. I have no problem picking up and playing ICO, shadow of the colossus, or any of the metal gear solid games. Just because they're old and the graphics can't directly compare to modern day doesn't suddenly make them bad.
I'm somewhat inspired by games like the Halo anniversary that went out of their way to give you the ability to play both the old and the new graphics and easily switch between the two. This allows newer gamers with their fixation to play the classic and understand why it was great and show them a great game isn't just about how the graphics look.While some experiences may not age well or simply won't really transfer over into today's audience like perhaps goldeneye that's not to say we shouldn't try. Because some games really are perfect in their original state and are worth breaking out old hardware to play like they were meant. Look at missile command, is it really something that needs those amazing graphics? I say no, the core mechanics and principal are the reason it was so great. When you die it's not game over, it's the end pure and simple. The lesson being that there are no winners in nuclear war which is what it's all about, you buying a few extra moments to the families of the cities you're protecting. It has no end, eventually you will lose. The complex strategy of picking which cities to save and which to sacrifice for the greater good. Do you protect your important bases with their few resources to save the other cities longer or do you sacrifice them to save all the cities right now even if it'll only make it harder later? How would asteroids really be any better with a graphical overhaul? The game is all about core mechanics and high texture asteroids with animated comet trails and explosions won't change that. We've seen what an update of space invaders has done, and it wasn't pretty. The same could be said for centipede, millipede, and snake. Donkey kong would probably lose something in such a process as part of what gave it such charm was the basic graphics.
I'll repeat that I don't really long for the old days or a throwback, but it's very important we know and remember our gaming history as we look forward. There's a lot to be said about the lessons learned from making the older games where you didn't have all the raw power you wanted and instead had to focus on great ideas and better execution. About the importance of mechanics and melody, timing and pace, there's the understanding of what actually makes a great game.
December 08, 2012
Question to the Readers
I've been thinking about adding a training/learning mode to multiplayer and bots. In the training mode I would have a menu to teach you about each and every thing, weapons, attachments, maps, strategy, etc, all with voice and camera focus and player interactions. As for bots, well it's just in case things flop and we don't get a lot of players you can still play against an AI not to mention balancing teams when there's not enough players for a match proper, then adding drop in drop out and people take over AI or it takes over when they leave for smooth gameplay.
So my question is, would you want these features, would you use them, and that else would you want if I were to include them? Namely if I'm setting up a learning mode what would you want to learn about that I haven't already listed?
To be more specific about map learning I'd show a basic heat map of where people tend to move, and where people tend to die. I'd explain how the map was designed, what it was meant for and how it was originally intended for use. Granted the maps are just sections of the existing city however that is primarily how the city was designed to begin with, in sections, each with a practical purpose and a gameplay mode in mind. I'd probably include some history about what that part of the city was used for even if it's irrelevant it might help with immersion. I might highlight a few key areas of note, some good sniping positions, and alternative entries to particular locations where objectives are. Things of that nature, though if it wasn't actually pointed out here and it's something you want be sure to mention so in comments.
Right now I'm working on adding heat maps for each game mode and map, as well as more stat tracking. Again though I'm not bothering with accuracy because it's hard to measure when a person is actually aiming, or is just spray and pray or suppressive fire. The only way I know to measure so far is how many bullets fired compared to how many hit a valid enemy target which doesn't include that extra round you didn't need when shooting someone that hit them anyway, you see? Other than that though I have plans for favorite weapons, maps, attachments, game modes, weapons types, and more. These will also be used to recommend upgrades from the upgrade menu.
To clarify from a previous post while I removed oversized mechs I do still have the tank, and small to medum sized battle armors and mechs. Though nothing taller than an average house unlike before. So the role is still there just a different ultimate upgrade I'm working on right now.
That should about wrap things up, again if the mentioned features from before sound nice or if there's anything you want to add I would appreciate mentioning it in the comments.
So my question is, would you want these features, would you use them, and that else would you want if I were to include them? Namely if I'm setting up a learning mode what would you want to learn about that I haven't already listed?
To be more specific about map learning I'd show a basic heat map of where people tend to move, and where people tend to die. I'd explain how the map was designed, what it was meant for and how it was originally intended for use. Granted the maps are just sections of the existing city however that is primarily how the city was designed to begin with, in sections, each with a practical purpose and a gameplay mode in mind. I'd probably include some history about what that part of the city was used for even if it's irrelevant it might help with immersion. I might highlight a few key areas of note, some good sniping positions, and alternative entries to particular locations where objectives are. Things of that nature, though if it wasn't actually pointed out here and it's something you want be sure to mention so in comments.
Right now I'm working on adding heat maps for each game mode and map, as well as more stat tracking. Again though I'm not bothering with accuracy because it's hard to measure when a person is actually aiming, or is just spray and pray or suppressive fire. The only way I know to measure so far is how many bullets fired compared to how many hit a valid enemy target which doesn't include that extra round you didn't need when shooting someone that hit them anyway, you see? Other than that though I have plans for favorite weapons, maps, attachments, game modes, weapons types, and more. These will also be used to recommend upgrades from the upgrade menu.
To clarify from a previous post while I removed oversized mechs I do still have the tank, and small to medum sized battle armors and mechs. Though nothing taller than an average house unlike before. So the role is still there just a different ultimate upgrade I'm working on right now.
That should about wrap things up, again if the mentioned features from before sound nice or if there's anything you want to add I would appreciate mentioning it in the comments.
December 05, 2012
Publish? Don't make me laugh.
So I finished up one mini game and started another, all while still working on a main title, only to find out how insane it is for me to try and publish. Turns out there's a lot of people I have to sign papers with to get the game out there if I expect to do it for any sort of profit that I might use towards my next game. I would almost end up owing more than I would make which probably means when it's all said and done I would owe more. I can launch for free but I can't accept donations if I do that apparently. I've been thinking of doing kickstarter and pointing out it's already done except for it's for funding unfinished products... It seems like I must've seriously missed something somewhere. So in response I'm re-working as much as I can to cut out as many people as I can. I'm also trying to find out why autodesk is trying to double dip when I know Epic covers their fee for any and all "gameware". Well perhaps not any and all but at least what I used, I'm not entirely sure what other gameware they have and if Epic covers it or not but for what I used it's clearly stated they do.
My frustration is compounded by the fact the UDK editor I've been using doesn't want to start anymore it's immediately crashing after it finishes loading. Which makes me inclined to believe I have some kind of conflict somewhere but I can't narrow it down. Then again it might be my ati/amd graphics drivers which are of course up to date but I remember them having a conflict earlier in the year I think around july that was frustrating me. I haven't picked up the november UDK update yet so hopefully that will fix it.
Someone pointed out nfringe to me to incorporate with visual studio, at the time I got a free copy of visual studio 2012, granted I've never worked with visual studio before, but it becomes pointless relative to unrealscript when you realize nfringe doesn't support 2012, only up through 2010. Which means I'm sticking with my notepad++.
I've also come up with a few more random game ideas bringing my total of "on paper" ideas to 26. 16 of which actually have been thought out fairly well, have feature lists, and an overall storyline where relevant. 4 of which are in development 1 of which is actually technically finished if not for my now necessary revisions.
I'm going to try and see if any of the licenses can accept payment after release as well and hopefully I can get people to work with me on this. I'm going to have a meeting tomorrow with a couple venture capitalists to see if I might be able to bypass community funding somehow. If all goes well we might actually see this game this year yet. It's sad how a 3 month project turned into an all year venture like this. Makes me wonder what I'll do next year....
My frustration is compounded by the fact the UDK editor I've been using doesn't want to start anymore it's immediately crashing after it finishes loading. Which makes me inclined to believe I have some kind of conflict somewhere but I can't narrow it down. Then again it might be my ati/amd graphics drivers which are of course up to date but I remember them having a conflict earlier in the year I think around july that was frustrating me. I haven't picked up the november UDK update yet so hopefully that will fix it.
Someone pointed out nfringe to me to incorporate with visual studio, at the time I got a free copy of visual studio 2012, granted I've never worked with visual studio before, but it becomes pointless relative to unrealscript when you realize nfringe doesn't support 2012, only up through 2010. Which means I'm sticking with my notepad++.
I've also come up with a few more random game ideas bringing my total of "on paper" ideas to 26. 16 of which actually have been thought out fairly well, have feature lists, and an overall storyline where relevant. 4 of which are in development 1 of which is actually technically finished if not for my now necessary revisions.
I'm going to try and see if any of the licenses can accept payment after release as well and hopefully I can get people to work with me on this. I'm going to have a meeting tomorrow with a couple venture capitalists to see if I might be able to bypass community funding somehow. If all goes well we might actually see this game this year yet. It's sad how a 3 month project turned into an all year venture like this. Makes me wonder what I'll do next year....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)