Community level designers in LBP2 can give details about the level in a little text bubble that appears as the level loads. Some folks take advantage of this by begging you to heart their level. Some folks simply describe what the player can expect, in whatever language. Some folks apologize:
Hello ! This is my first level so there are maybe some problems and it is maybe short but, please, be cool :] [Minimum 2 players]
I’m usually not a fan of artists opening with apologies. The thing about these community levels that I haven’t really mentioned before, though, is that they are all works in progress. Perpetually. It took me awhile to get hip to this. Having been burned by the Special Editions(tm), I’m not crazy about revisionist artistry. But here I’ve come to respect it, and even find my interest piqued by it. A couple of designers whose levels I’ve featured in Daily Little Big Planet 2 have contacted me to let me know they’ve tweaked the level and have asked me to give it another go. One time, as I was trying to figure out how to upload extra pictures, I saw a screen of the revisions one designer had been making to a level. It showed revisions leading up to a moment three minutes before. That designer was still working on the level and I’d finished with it hours before.
The community world in LBP2 is far more alive than I initially realized. There is fluidity here, and I find this exciting. The above quote, appearing in the details for the level It ‘s everyone destiny, is a perfect example of this. I find this level mesmerizing. It’s mysterious, and it’s got atmosphere–partly because of the haunting music–and because of that the fact that I’ve gotten stuck doesn’t bother me. The designer admits there are glitches here in the opening tags and in the above text. Cool. I like where you’re going…I’ll come back and give you more chances. Especially since I only now noticed, after playing your level a few times, that it requires more people than just me. My bad. Regardless, props for being honest about where you are.
This Playstation blog entry for the upcoming Mortal Kombat game is mostly one of those self-serving “Hey, look at what a collaborative team we are even though we keep pointing out that Ed Boon is in charge!” write-ups. Here’s how they come up with new fatalities at the studio that used to be Midway:
Inspiration can come from anywhere — gruesome murder news stories, old horror movies, and actual nightmares have spawned more than a few of our most disturbing fatalities. There is a usually a lot of “You know what would be cool…” and “What if…” The designers pantomime many of the motions for that fatality and the reaction of the other team members in the room determine whether a fatality is good enough for inclusion in the game. Ideas with the strongest team reactions are the ones we all build on and polish into a final concept. Ed then goes on to storyboard each fatality for the motion-capture session.
I’d love to be at one of those pantomime meetings, watching the dev team act out fighting moves. I imagine they’d make Ghyslain Raza look like a rank amateur.
By the way, the pre-order incentive for the April 19 M-rated reboot is that you get a code that lets you watch fatality videos before the game comes out. The Mortal Kombat series is kind of a joke these days, and fatalities are the punch line.
I’m finding that what increasingly appeals to me in these community levels is an understanding of just that. I don’t necessarily need great gameplay in these levels. In fact, I’ve come to expect that I’m not going to get that. I run across clever moments in some of the levels, and that can be exciting, but the real draw in dipping into these levels is getting some random individual’s take on this world. A feel that I’ve landed someplace specific, with a texture or sound or sense of humor that reflects the designer’s sensibility in some way. Most of these folks can cleverly place a jump pad. It’s rare that one of them can make me lose time.
Today’s level, histoire mixe, did just that. I jumped in to sample a couple of levels before I had to head off to pick up my son from school. Before I knew it, thirty minutes had gone by and I had to hustle. Histoire mixe, made by Darkness-Thomas, achieves this in two main ways. One way is the depth of the background, which you can see in the screenshot above a little bit. That figure behind my sackbot is a garden gnome, over there to the left is a shovel resting against a fence, behind which fence you see the greenery of neighboring yards. The other way is through sound.
A lot of the levels use a fairly generic sound scheme. Random music or the seemingly ubiquitous–and annoyingly extraneous–buzzing of flies. At the start of this level you hear a buzzing. As you play you realize it’s a lawnmower in the distance. A neighbor is mowing his lawn. Other mechanical noises bully their way in, including, inexplicably, a helicopter, which I understand slightly when I realize the half-worded sign below me says, “Call of Duty” on it, followed by a helicopter full of sack soldiers. Why is this in the backyard? Can’t tell you. Does this matter to me? Nope. Because like a good short film, this level has a sense of place. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, and I couldn’t care less.
Just when you think you’ve seen nothing new, someone does something new. The Dead Island trailer tells you pretty much nothing about the game, but that doesn’t matter. It instead tells a fantastic zombie story in a way you’ve never seen and it doesn’t even have to use John Murphy’s 28 Days Later music to do it.
The Retribution add-on for Dawn of War II adds the Imperial Guard. You know the Imperial Guard, right? They’re normal dudes, like you and me, but with ruthless leaders, big guns, and tanks. There are at least ten ways they can kick ass. For instance:
7. With the Commissar Lord’s fists
The Commissar Lord is an Imperial Guard leader built to lead men into the thick of battle. All three of his weapon upgrades are melee weapons. The two most powerful are the Power Fist and Fist of Brockus, both of which are effective against all target types. You know what that means, don’t you? Tank punching! Unlike the other Imperial Guard leaders, the Commissar Lord doesn’t start with any skills. Instead, he has a retinue of followers tagging along. Give him the Carapace Armor or a Flak Jacket for more health. Now equip Stubbornness in his equipment slot and he’ll regenerate health based on the number of nearby infantry. Now go punch some tanks and bring along plenty of friends.
It’s a bit cruel to dribble out screenshots like these for a game that won’t be out until probably right before Black Friday 2011. Particularly a game as eagerly awaited as Batman: Arkham City. But what am I going to do? Ignore them?
After yesterday’s somewhat harrowing helicopter ride, it was a relief to discover that today I got to ride a mouse. I think my sackbot is much more geared for mouse riding anyway, especially with mice as agreeable as those in this day’s level, Mousehole.
One of the joys of playing these community levels without having played the actual game itself so much is the discovery. Even when I get frustrated with a level design I find I’m only a little ways away from feeling a sense of wonder. I started this level and saw these mice floating at the top of the screen, right under me. They all had triangles over their heads, and I assumed this meant they had something to say to me so I ignored them and fell to the bottom of the screen. I couldn’t do much down there but be chased by a scrapbooky cat. I started over and this time pressed the triangle only to discover that this was not to get the mice to speak, but to activate them for riding. Now I could scoot all over the level, avoid the cat more easily (pictured), and even have the opportunity to drop into another level called Mousehole Reloaded (yes, there is also Mousehold Revolutions) where I could ride my mouse over to a jukebox and choose my tunes for the extra level.
The other side of not knowing what I’m doing is that I’m often confused by objects in these worlds. The prompt to drop grabinators and controlinators and otherinators always furrows my brow. Am I supposed to drop the object? What if I don’t? Is the game just being polite by giving me the option, or trying to tell me something? Am I being rude if I want to hold onto my grappling hook? Because that gives me comfort.
I suppose if I played more of the story I’d get a better understanding of these issues. I’ll get around to it. The discovery phase is too great to worry about that right now.
From February 22 until March 1, PSN users have the chance to vote for your favorite game in each of the four categories by downloading a free XMB theme corresponding to that game. At the end of the voting period, the four winning games — one per category — will go on sale at a 30% discount…
Well, okay, that’s a weird way to vote. I have to download a theme for my PS3? And the prize is that the winning game, which I presumably already have if I voted for it, goes on sale?
But what’s even weirder is the list of nominees. Last year had some truly wonderful stuff available for download from the Playstation Store, much of it exclusive to the PS3 or PSP. Yet many of them are conspicuously absent from the nominees.
Where is Hoard, the really cool dragon game based on harvesting gold and princesses from a dynamic kingdom? Where is No Heroes Allowed, the latest iteration of those wacky dungeon ecology sims with names like Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman? Where is Z.H.P., the fantastically detailed grindfest RPG from the creators of Disgaea? Where is Cladun (pictured), one of last year’s finest RPGs on any platform?
Also, Sony, while I’m berating you: Where is Patapon 3? Figure it out, Sony.
Here’s who you can have sex with in Dragon Age II. Along with what I could call fan fiction, although it’s actually written by the developers, so it’s technically just fiction, kind of like the novel that came with Elemental. Dig it:
It doesn’t take long for a foul-smelling longshoreman to show up. Isabela stiffens as she feels a hand, low on her back. The longshoreman opens his mouth to say something, but never gets the chance. Isabela grabs the man by the wrist, twisting his arm behind him. His cry is one of shock rather than pain, but that quickly changes as Isabela rams her elbow into the back of the neck, slamming his face into the wooden bar-top.
“Touch me again, and I’ll break more than just these,” she hisses in his ear. And then she snaps the fingers of the offending hand. I hear a crunch, several sickening pops, and a howl of pain. The longshoreman slinks away, cradling his hand and spitting curses.
“What?” she says, holding the empty tumbler out for a refill and daring me to make a comment, any comment. I gesture towards her striking outfit — nothing but a chemise worn without the benefit of a jacket or cloak, covering only the barest minimum required for decency. Put on something like that, and you’re going to get attention whether you want it or not.
“What? This?” She picks at the laces on her bodice, then lets out a short, bitter laugh. “Would’ve dressed up for you, but I left all my polite clothes at the bottom of the ocean.”
Get it on with Isabela when Dragon Age II comes out on March 8.
It looks like Double Fine still has to work out some “poly penetration” issues in the above tech demo, but what a great way to announce they’re working on a Sesame Street game for Microsoft’s Kinect to be published by Warner Bros. Interactive.
In a truly original interactive experience, young players join Cookie Monster, Elmo and other Sesame Street characters as they explore a living storybook titled Once Upon a Monster. In the book, they make new zany monster friends from the Once Upon a Monster world and share in their adventures, solving problems, forging friendships and learning key life skills along the way. Parents and children literally become part of the whimsical storybook adventure by getting active together through dancing, jumping, flying and more.
It’s not a game I’ll be playing — I don’t have a Kinect, for starters — but I couldn’t be happier that the studio that made Brutal Legend for me is working on something a) with a license that will ensure sales, and b) that will get kids hooked on Tim Schafer’s sense of humor so they’ll buy more Double Fine games when they grow up. I hope Once Upon a Monster sells a bazillion copies.
Jane McGonigal, author, game designer, and futurist, has a column over at Huffington Post in which she informs us that playing video games will make us healthy, wealthy, and wise. But only if we restrict our playing to an hour a day. What’s more, a good game will not only make us more creative, optimistic, and goal oriented, it will also make up for what real life currently lacks.
The truth is this: in today’s society, computer and video games are fulfilling genuine human needs that the real world is currently unable to satisfy. Games are providing rewards that reality is not. They are teaching and inspiring and engaging us in ways that reality is not. They are bringing us together in ways that reality is not.
She’s written a book detailing actual scientific research into this so that gamers, and their parents, can look at gaming as preparation for life’s challenges, like curing cancer and ending world hunger. But those possibilities pale in comparison to the real breakthrough in her research.
And just 90 seconds of playing a game like World of Warcraft – where you have a powerful avatar – can boost the confidence of colleges students so much that for up to 24 hours later, they’re more likely to be successful taking a test at school… and more outgoing in real-world social situations.
Whoa! Great news for WoW players! You folks now only have to play for a minute and a half. Science has just given you your life back.
Read the post to find out how much gaming is too much and adjust your lives accordingly.
I flew a helicopter tonight. Yes, it was to no avail. The thing was impossible to control, and flying it did me no more good than running would have done. Or keeping my cool little jetpack on. But now I can say I’ve flown a helicopter in one of these levels. That’s never happened before. You know what else has never happened before? I’ve never gotten this direction from one of the creatures in a level:
“Kill those things.”
Whoa. I don’t recall seeing the word ‘kill’ in any part of LBP2 as yet. Maybe I just missed it. But it struck me here. True, the killing in this latest level, outbreak 1, consists entirely of firing what I think is a paint gun, but still, I was given the directive to kill. That caught me up short for a moment. My little sackbot is now a killer. I will have to take stock of that.
I’ll let you know when, and if, I get a machine gun.
Last week, Atari said they would implement fixes for Test Drive Unlimited 2’s clubhouses, a cornerstone of the game’s social advancement, on Monday evening. Which they did. Briefly.
Earlier today we made an attempt to bring Club functionality online, but due to a new issue being discovered, we took it down immediately to get things fixed. At this time we don’t have an exact ETA of when Clubs will become available, though its a top priority and we’re working to get them back into the game ASAP.
The short version: “Never mind.”
Furthermore, the multiplayer races are still borked. I find it hard to believe that when I choose the blanket overall option to join a multiplayer match, there simply isn’t one. Seriously? There isn’t a single multiplayer match you can put me into? The game has been out a week and I’ve been unable to play it multiplayer, either as a head-to-head race or in one of the nifty cooperative modes that I’ll supposedly be doing with the other members of my club once the padlocks are taken off the clubhouse.
I love what this game is trying to do. I look forward to some indeterminate point in the future when it actually does it.
You can’t swing a dismembered necromorph without hitting a blandly positive review of Dead Space 2. But I’d like to direct you to two more guarded Dead Space 2 reviews.
The first is from Thomas Grip, whose thoughts on Dead Space 2 are far more informed, informative, and insightful than what most of us reviewers write, thanks to Grip’s unique perspective on horror games. He’s the co-founder of Frictional Games, the developer of Amnesia: the Dark Descent. That game is very different from Dead Space 2, although they’re both “horror” games. One is an adventure game with some unique gameplay mechanics intended to express the genre of choice. The other is just another expensive looking shooter in which stuff jumps out at you a lot. Grip’s comments make me wish more developers would speak frankly about other videogames.
And speaking of what most of us reviewers write, you can read my review of Dead Space 2 here. Thumbs down, by the way.
(Thanks to Paul for the link to Grip’s Dead Space 2 article!)
