At GDC, I moderated a panel on the future of strategy gaming. My opening premise was that the genre is in a golden age, thanks to the range of great games spanning AAA big-budget titles, mid-sized developers working with larger publishers, garage developers working with smaller publishers, and even some amazing titles developed and published by just one person.
During the panel, I mentioned six such games. I mentioned them again on the latest episode of the strategy gaming podcast, Three Moves Ahead. And I’ll expain here why you should play them. Although, to be fair, at least two of these games hired artists, so it’s not entirely accurate to call them one-man projects in terms of the development process. But they are all self-published and well worth playing.
After the jump, six great strategy games made (mostly) and published by one dude Continue reading →
To counter yesterday’s annoyance at spelling sloppiness (which seems to have since been remedied), I just want to say that I find some of the level descriptions designers use to be absolutely charming. Especially when the interesting word usements they structure are obviously the cause of language barriers, and not laziness. Today’s example:
There is no reason. Crush a lot of Sackboys of favorite mischief with the weight. Crush! Crush!
I not only find that endearing, I’m a bit touched that the level designer has bothered to translate the level description into English. Not all designers do this, and that’s fine, but I like it when they try. It’s a nice touch. Does this say something about who is playing the game? Or is it merely a comment on the fact that most of us who speak English in the U.S.A. can’t be bothered to learn other languages. I don’t know, I just like it.
Crushes Sack!! is the level in question today. I felt a little guilty about what I was doing at first, dropping huge weights on the little sack creatures below me. The fact was, however, they were shooting at me, so I had to crush them. Why were they shooting at me? There is no reason.
I’m getting to be a real sucker for these homage levels. With two exceptions. First, I don’t care for any of these community “levels” that are films. I’ve got precious little time to game, so I’d rather not spend it with your sackmartymcfly version of Back to The Future. It’s cute, but I came here to play. Second, I have yet to find a Star Wars level that is useful in any way. Furthermore, if you title your level “Dule of the Fates” I’m probably going to avoid it. Unless I’m supposed to be fighting as Charlie from The West Wing. I don’t get it. A designer puts all this time into creating a level, then spells the title of the level wrong. Come on people.
Today’s homage was pretty good, in spite of the title apostrophe weirdness (you’ll have to click the link to see what I mean). Sack of War doesn’t really play like a God of War game, but that’s okay with me. I’ve already beaten one of those games. Have I not told you that story? I beat God of War 2. On my own. Totally kicked its ass. I’m not saying that to brag or anything. Just establishing my bona fides. At any rate, aside from the overwhelming music and general harshness to Persians, this was a nice play. And a value play as well, since when you get to the end you transport over to the sequel automatically. Also, you get to ride a cyclops (pictured).
Although I did get a little nervous when I got the instruction to “Grab the cyclops and smash through the fire walls”. I haven’t heard that since my wedding night.
Thanks folks. I’m here all week.
Next time you hear or read “fag-this” or “nigger-that” in an online game, don’t just ignore it. Most games or online communities have some provision for reporting that stuff. Use it. Or even use it if someone’s being disruptive in a less provocative way. And lest you think nothing comes of reporting people, consider this awesome thread on the League of Legends forum.
Pendragon, the community manager for Riot Games, asked for five people who’d been temporarily banned to volunteer their names, at which point he would detail exactly why they’d been banned. He had no shortage of volunteers, and there’s no shortage of discussion following the explanations, which comprise the five posts after the initial request. It’s an intriguing way to look at what you’re not allowed to do in the game.
I’m glad to see racist language and intentionally sabotaging games are bannable offenses. At first I was taken aback that you’re not supposed to draw smiley faces using Teemo’s mushrooms, but that does fall under the category of griefing the other nine players instead of actually playing the game. Fair enough. If you want to make artwork, do it during a custom game!
League of Legends is notorious for its unfriendly player community. Not to say you won’t find friendly people. You will. Most of the time. But when it comes to jerks making themselves heard, League of Legends is right up there with the worst of them, like Halo, Call of Duty, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. I’m glad to see Riot Games doesn’t just take a laissez-faire attitude about the whole thing.
(Thanks to Rob Zacny!)
I’m already set up with a couple of fancy Mad Katz Fightsticks, but they’re not nearly as classy looking as the upcoming Mortal Kombat Fight Stick. I understand that Capcom’s Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom branding would be all cartoony and brightly colored, but what’s with the Mortal Kombat branding being so tasteful and refined? That thing looks like something Captain Nemo would use to drive the Nautilus.
The Mortal Kombat Fight Stick has been designed to reflect the look and feel of the classic Mortal Kombat arcade cabinet and its ergonomic button layout has been updated with additional design and technological touches to create the ideal joystick for serious console players. The underside of the Mortal Kombat Fight Stick is lined with velvet-wrapped memory foam for the comfort of players who hold the stick on their lap, while rubberized feet at the bottom corners will prevent the stick from sliding when placed on a table or similar surface. The inner workings of the Mortal Kombat Fight Stick are composed of high quality arcade parts from Suzo Happ and are easily accessed without the need of any tools. Inside the joystick base, all parts and wires are protected by a unique plastic shield emblazoned with the Mortal Kombat logo, and there is room to store cables and a copy of the game. You put your weed in there.
Okay, I added that last bit, but come on. I mean, seriously, what were they thinking?
Publisher D3 announced some pre-order doo-dads for Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon today, along with new screenshots of the game to supposedly get you excited. However, none of the screenshots shows more than ten bugs onscreen at a time. What kind of Earth Defense Force fights fewer than a dozen bugs? That would hardly be worth their time. Your local mall security or neighborhood watch should be able to handle that just fine.
The above screenshot was the most crowded. Let’s take a closer look:
I count six. Maybe seven. At least the price of gas is suitably nightmarish. Remember the gas station in the original Deus Ex? In that version of dystopia, gas cost $4 a gallon!
Fortunately, Earth Defense Force: Insect Armaggedon doesn’t come out until July 5th. Hopefully, they’ll add more bugs by then.
I love Gratuitous Space Battles! I don’t love the Galactic Conquest add-on, which gives the game a campaign mode. Well, it’s technically a “campaign mode”. It might be more accurate to describe it as a “vicious beat down designed to make you never again want to play this stupid game”. Galactic Curb Stomp might have been a better name.
The single static map was the least of the add-on’s problems, so the four new maps added in today’s free patch are nice. But what’s really nice is this bit:
The new update (which brings the game to version 1.56) also changes the difficulty level down from ‘totally impossible’ to ‘playable’, so those of you who thought you might not be cut out for supreme galactic ruler-ship, may be able to re-consider it as a career now.
You can get the patch here.
As you’ll see below, today’s theme is stuff going wrong with console systems. I’ve been through the replacement process with Microsoft’s Xboxes more than 12 times. That’s right: more than 12 times. I’ve been through the process with Sony and Nintendo exactly zero times. Although I once replaced the little laser eye thingie in a Playstation 1 by cannibalizing another Playstation 1, but that didn’t involve several exasperating exchanges with a borderline incompetent customer service department.
However, I’m slightly terrified that something (pictured?) could go wrong with my PS3, which has been a little under the weather since I first got it. The HDMI connection has been broken from day one. Also, the system periodically forgets what kind of connection it’s using, so it reverts to 480p resolution, which requires slogging through the display set up process again (I can do it blindfolded by now). And as you’ll see in the next entry, now it’s having problems with Killzone 3. But for the most part, my PS3 is well behaved and does what it was built to do.
Which is good, because getting a Playstation 3 fixed can be an utter disaster for your saved games. There’s apparently no provision for removing the hard drive or guaranteeing that your saved games will be intact after the repair process. Even after all those Xbox 360 exchanges, and even a hard drive upgrade, I’ve still got my saved games for Kameo, Amped 3, and Perfect Dark Zero. In case I ever want to go back and play those. Because you never know.
Now Sony is offering a solution:
PlayStation Plus subscribers can store up to 150MB of PS3 game save data and a maximum of 1000 data files per PlayStation Network account. “Copy-prohibited save data” is also supported, and all previously backed-up save data may be restored once per 24-hour period. When the new feature launches, most PS3 titles will be compatible with online storage for game saves, and moving forward new titles will have the capability to offer the storage option.
Whew. But only for subscribers, huh? Like Xbox Live, Playstation Plus is basically $50 a year. Which is $50 more than Steam charges. I’m just sayin’.
The new feature goes live with tomorrow’s update.
Given all the problems I’ve had with Test Drive Unlimited 2 on the Xbox 360, I’ve been watching this page pretty closely. Now, nearly two weeks after finishing the patch, there’s some news! Namely, that they hope to have some news soon. Microsoft’s long approval process is not an excuse for the patch taking so long. Instead, it’s the reason console games have to get it right from the get-go.
In other non-news, Bethesda’s latest word on a Fallout: New Vegas update is that it’s “coming soon”. Well, it was coming soon on February 7th, so it must be coming even sooner now. Several patches and months later, and I still can’t play that game without it freezing up so hard that I have to hit the power button to reset my 360.
I would also gripe about Killzone 3 if I cared one whit about the single player campaign, which grinds to a halt as soon as I get to a cutscene after the jungle mission. It’s as if my PS3 is trying to load something that simply won’t load. I let it run for literally a half-hour, the cutscene stuttering and freezing the whole time, and no luck. I guess I won’t be finding out what happens after the jungle mission! But the multiplayer works just fine, so they can take as much time as they want with their patch.
Consoles, man. It’s enough to make a guy think about playing games only on a PC.
Today’s level is called The Burning Wheel. You bounce on bounce pads in a wheel as the wheel gets faster and the pads turn to hot flaming coals and it’s really fun and–
Oh poop. I’m totally annoyed. Nothing against The Burning Wheel. It’s fine. Neat. Nifty. Bouncy. Fine. Thing is, I didn’t want to feature it today. I wanted to feature this sweet little twin-stick shooter I discovered today. It is so cool. I played it over and over again because it’s got this great mix of Asteroids and something that reminds me of Boom Blox. What’s more, I had a slightly obscure quote from a certain space opera I was going to use as the headline. I was so excited to share it with all of you. The level, not the quote. Okay, both.
But something nagged at me. These visuals…they looked familiar. So, I went looking through previous dailies and found that Tom had already posted about this level weeks ago. Crap monkeys. I’m such a dork. Oh well. I learned two things.
1. Pay attention to your friend when he recommends something.
2. All those times Tom made me play Geometry Wars really paid off.
Sigh. You’re okay Burning Wheel, but you’re no Blast Radius.
Now that’s an elf! For far too long, the beauty of elven ears has been minimized in Western RPGs like Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. Not so in Rift, where elf ears are long and pointy and proudly displayed at dramatic angles.
By the way, do any of you have, like, a safety pin you can loan my elf?
Pictured above is the exact wrong way to play Killzone 3. Not because you’ll look silly. Not because it’s got a fairly steep learning curve. Not because it’s $40. But because of Killzone 3.
After the jump, Sony (et al.) solves problems no one is having Continue reading →
I’m not gonna lie to you. My reasons for posting this level for today are wholly superficial. First off, I love the title, which is Animal Kingdom. I love this title for reasons which have nothing to do with LPB2, but I couldn’t help jumping in just for title recognition. So I’m confessing that. Next, I got to ride Tyrannosaurus rex (pictured) and shoot a paint gun at Spinosaurus. Having a little boy has reacquainted me with dinosaurs to the point that I know far more about them than I ever knew when I was growing up, so getting to ride one in this game was pretty special. Add to that the fact that a platypus makes an appearance, and you have to avoid crocodiles and feed elephants…well, there’s a lot here.
Unfortunately the “a lot here” is in the service of basically nonexistent gameplay. The level designer tries to bribe you with a mess of community keys at the end–like I know what the hell to do with those–but by then it’s too late.
Still, I like the concept and that the designer is reaching for this epic theme park idea. Like a safari across time. Because one of the coolest things about LPB2 is that it creates a place for designers to swing for the fences. I really appreciate that.
Next time, please just give me more to do. You’ve given me the opportunity to ride my beloved Triceratops. Now…let me rock.
I’m sitting at the far end of a long table with four dudes who make strategy games, waiting to moderate a panel in front of about a thousand or so people at this year’s Game Developers Conference. Folks are milling around finding seats.
“You gave us a 75,” says Dustin Browder, sitting directly to my right. He’s the lead designer of Starcraft II.
After the jump, I try to think of something to say. Continue reading →
My favorite talks at this year’s GDC were from the creators of two games I didn’t like. David Cage gave a talk on Heavy Rain. Hidetaka Suehiro (known as “Swery”) gave a talk on Deadly Premonition. I didn’t care for either game.
But I can’t stress enough how important it is to listen to people with whom you disagree. Too often those of us who write about games — and that includes people just posting on a forum or in a comments section — base the value of an opinion on whether or not they agree with it. And there’s no faster path to stupidity and deafness than the inside an echo chamber.
After the jump, games without Colin Firth Continue reading →
