Karoshi 1 & 2

I don't laugh out loud at games very often, but I laughed pretty heartily at several of the levels in this pair of games, Karoshi and Karoshi 2.0.

Hints: the mouse can be used on some levels (look for your mouse pointer to become visible) and you will have to think outside the normal rules of games in several cases. Way outside.

I got through the first one no problem. Some of the stuff in 2.0 is just wicked, so here are some hints.

Labels: design, indie, web games

--jvm at 22:28

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Jordan Mechner tells you why movies and games are different

Jordan Mechner is one of my favorite game designers. No fewer than three of his games are classics in my life: Karateka, Prince of Persia, and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. I think he also did The Last Express which I never played -- ask Bob about that one.

Anyway, I thought this was a great answer in Gamasutra's Q&A with Mechner:

What are the differences between writing for a video game and writing for a film? How closely does the movie storyline correspond to the games?

If you summarize the movie in one sentence, it sounds identical to the first Sands of Time videogame, but scene by scene it's actually completely different. It has to be, because games and film are such different mediums.

On the surface they're deceptively similar -- you can watch five minutes of an action-adventure videogame and think "this could be a movie," or vice-versa -- but structurally the requirements are totally different.

Here's one example: The game kicks off with a cataclysm that basically destroys the world and turns all living creatures except for the three main characters into raging, murderous sand monsters. That was a great setup for the gameplay we had, which was "acrobatic Persian survival horror."

But if you put that setup in a film, it would be a "B" movie, and that's not the kind of movie Prince of Persia should be. Our model is classic epic, swashbuckling action-adventure movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Zorro, and Thief of Baghdad, with humor and romance and full of memorable characters. You can't get there if you turn everybody into sand monsters on page fifteen.

He goes on to dodge a question about future games. I hope that's a sign he's going to be back doing a game soon.

Labels: design, Gamasutra, mechner

--jvm at 11:34

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First fruits of Game 3.0?

This post that just popped up on Sony's PlayStation blog shows off a way to get users creating pieces of games. Basically, you scan in objects on a white background and they become objects in some sort of game/program. Simple, but effective.

My older son has been drawing a lot lately, and getting more sophisticated as he works at it. I would really love to be able to draw some characters with him and put them into a game we could play together. Heck, how about just letting him use a prefabricated character to play in levels that he creates and scans into the PS3?

Mostly Sony has let the whole Game 3.0 concept wither away, but if this is what they plan to do with it, count me in.

Labels: business, design, sony

--jvm at 16:28

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How not to go to Hell

Remember going to Hell? In DooM that is. I thought it was kind of cool, fun, and unique that first time. It was just like the space marine base only more twisted and difficult.

Then I played Half-life and went to Xen. Sure, it was supposed to be an alien world, but it was really like going to Hell. Like everyone else, I hated the jumping puzzles, the annoying physics, the crazy evil fetus.

In God of War on the PlayStation 2 you also go to Hell, or rather Hades. Regrettably, it is less like DooM and more like Half-life. There are annoying jumping puzzle sections. There are ridiculously frustrating climbing sections. There's even a decent bit of horrible collision detection. Add in a complete inability to change the camera angle to mitigate the problems and I nearly put the game back on the library shelf. For a game that does many things quite well, it's a disappointing finale.

There's more to complain about, but you'll just have to wait.

Labels: design, ps2, sony

--jvm at 22:19

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