Gaming Manifesto

I just finished watching AngryJoe's review of Quantum Break, by Remedy.

I'm not going to talk about Quantum Break here, if you want to know more, got to AngryJoe's channel and watch it yourself. It's entertaining and funny, and well worth half an hour in my opinion. If you've been considering buying the game, you should definitely watch the review.

Anyway, it got me thinking, and I thought I'd talk a little bit about game design instead. Disclaimer: I am not a game designer, I am a gamer. Therefore this is completely from the viewpoint of a consumer not a producer.

The basic gameplay must be good

Whatever game you are making has to be worth playing at it's most basic core. Example: Grand Theft Auto is about cars, so driving them has to be fun. It doesn't matter how much extra fluff you put in the game, if the driving mechanic is garbage. Luckily GTA 5 is a great game and the cars are fun. If the basics are off, the game is off, no matter what.

There is no substitute for level design

Something that is sadly rare these days, good level design is crucial to most games. Sure, a football game doesn't need level design as it's a field, but most others do. Boring layouts and overuse of the same configurations kills the mood quickly. Levels should be interesting to explore, they should challenge us and make us think outside the box. Even back in the day when corridor shooters a la Doom 1 were the norm, the levels were varied and atmospheric. Do not rinse and repeat.

There is no substitute for quality

Here's a shocker: No matter how good the graphics are, they don't matter at all if the game is boring. Games aren't movies, they must be fun to play. Not that special effects can save bad films either, it's just that in games you drive the action, you do he work and if it's a chore, the game fails. The story has to be well written and the characters likeable/hateful as required. You wouldn't read a book if you care nothing for the characters, the same goes for games. Fancy graphics can't cover up these issues.

Powers and Abilities must be consistent

This is what prompted me to write this. In Quantum Break you can rewind time to go back to a point where a locked door is unlocked, so that you can walk through. Except when you can't for no reason whatsoever. If you give the players powers, assume they are going to use them. If that becomes problematic when designing levels, don't put the power in the game to begin with. Or put limitations on how the power works, like This power only works during the day for this reason. That way you can make sure that your level works. Also, when inventing cool abilities for your game, don't forget to put in why something doesn't work all of a sudden.

Example: Dishonored. You get lots of cool powers in this game. One, Windblast, can smash open doors, but not reinforced doors. This may seem like quibbling, but keep in mind you also can't blow down walls. This remains consistent throughout the game. I never felt like the game cheated in Dishonored, not even once.

Anyway, this was part 1 of my “gaming manifesto”. I'll probably do more next time, so until then, have a great week!

Oculus Rift

Today we're going to take another look at the emerging technology that is virtual reality.

I found two of Angry Joe's videos for you to look at. The first is an unboxing and setup/review of the Oculus Rift and the second is a game review for Dreadhalls, a horror game for the Oculus.

Not only do I find this tremendously interesting in itself, but the one point that really stood out in the Dreadhalls video, is the point Joe makes about the games graphics.

See, the graphics are “old-school” if I'm being polite. I could be rude and call them dated and clunky, but I am nothing if not polite. That's not the point either way. The point is what I have been saying for years, namely that graphics mean nothing if the game isn't good.

With the immersion the VR goggles creates, you'll forget about the graphics in no time, and your survival is all that becomes important. By today's standards, Skyrim's graphics are old, but that doesn't matter when I play it, since the game is so good.

For years now, people have complained that the AAA studios are churning out bland garbage. Not all the time, sure, but too often considering the price tags. Then the studios complain that the games aren't selling well enough, even though they turn out a healthy profit.

Of course, if you invest $250 million on a game and the players can't even begin to guess what you actually managed to spend the money on, you have a problem. Yes, the game looks awesome, but with barely any story, and dull repetitive gameplay, your game is not going to break any records, and then it does not matter how pretty the game is. No way, and never.

Case in point: The Order 1886. Amazingly beautiful graphics, boring dumb gameplay. I can't find any hard numbers on it's sales, but all sources report it was garbage, and a large portion of the gamers refused to even finish the game. That alone says something considering it's about six hours long.

So what does that have to do with the Oculus Rift? Well, this:

VR is the first new thing to happen to games in decades. And I'm not talking about minor things like “Ooh, we put a touch pad on the controller. Isn't it shiny and wonderful?”

Sure that's “new” but at the end of the day it's still just a controller. VR is for-real-new, and it will hopefully teach the developers and publishers to think outside the box and make them reevaluate what makes a good game, not just for VR but for all gaming.

That's it for me today, so until next time, have a cool week!

Backup video links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87IJU1AtcAw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvvooIcET8k

The whole rotten saga

One Sunday evening, back in the early 90's, I flopped down on the couch for some creative channel surfing.

On BBC World, I found something with a castle, which peaked my interest. I like castles, you see. Then I saw Rowan Atkinson, who I recognized from Mr. Bean, but this wasn't that. Oh no, this was my first glimpse of Blackadder, and I've been hooked ever since.

I have long since lost count of how many times I have watched the four original seasons, but I still know most lines by heart, even though it's been more than twenty years now. I have seen the specials, Blackadder back and forth, The Blackadder Christmas special and the Cavalier Years. They're good, but not as good as the originals.

Last week, I stumbled on Blackadder – The Whole Rotten Saga, and thought to my self, Hello, a new special? Alas, no. It's not a new special but rather a 90 minute documentary about the show. Interviews with all the original actors, the writers and producers. If you ever watched Blackadder and thought it was funny, you should watch this, you really should.

So here you go, The whole rotten saga:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi2bX2u5HpA

They lied to us

A couple of days ago I ran into a Youtube channel called Lindybeige.

The owner is a historical re-enactor, live role player, gamer etc. The thing I find most fascinating about his channel is the experiments he does with armor, weapons and amongst other things, torches.

As it turns out, media such as TV, movies and games have lied to us for years. Take torches as an example. A medieval torch was most likely made from pitch. If you set fire to pitch the first thing you're going to notice is the smoke, and there's going to be a lot of it. Outside that's not much of a problem, but if you're inside, or even worse, under ground, you're not going to have to worry about orcs, smoke inhalation is going to get you first.

He also demonstrates what drawing a sword sounds like (it's not a metallic schiing sound), how wearing a full helmet affects your vision and hearing and many other things.

So if you, like me, find stuff like that interesting, go check it out. The link is up above, and I'll ad a sample below.

I'm a bit rushed today, so you'll have to settle for this. If you do go to the channel, you'll be busy as well.

Until next time, have an interesting week!

More gaming news

Hello there, it's time for more Eccentric Spheres!

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Microsoft's plans for their Universal Windows Platform (UWP) and the plan to erase the walls between PC and Xbox gaming.

Well more information is available and it's not all that good. I did mention that games bought from the Windows Store are locked to borderless full-screen and that LSI is disabled, but it goes deeper than that.

The problem is that the .exe game files are essentially apps, and as such are locked down and can not be modified. In essence this means that games bought from Microsoft can't be modded! One of the biggest elements of the PC gaming scene is disabled. Microsoft please...

If this persists they have completely lost their minds. Another aspect is that games can't be recorded by traditional means, which means that Let's Players and streamers can't and (most likely) won't use these games. This in turn will kill any chances Microsoft has of becoming a major retailer of games. Why should anyone buy their games from them when other retailers don't have these limitations? You tell me, I can't figure it out.

Microsoft did say there would be 'growing pains' but this is worryingly dumb. Get your heads straight guys.

Interestingly, speaking of MS, they have suggested to Sony that it would be interesting and cool of Xbox players and Playstation players could play together, and Sony has agreed, at least in theory. These talks are very much in their infancy, so time will tell.

Finally, Creative Assembly, the team behind the beloved Total War series, have pushed back the release date for Total War Warhammer by a month. Considering how messed up Total War releases have usually been, this is a good thing.

Other interesting things about Total Warhammer are that the Vampire Counts have finally been released, and it looks fine so far, but many essential elements are still absent.

They have also revealed that the sieges will be different from previous Total War titles. Where you could previously attack all four sides of a city, you can only attack two in Warhammer. This is to aid the AI in using functional strategies, something that has been lacking in previous titles, I'm told.

Again time will tell if Total Warhammer will be a good game, and in that vein I have decided to adopt a wait and see strategy instead of getting the game upon release. I love the setting too much to take the risk of getting my heart broken.

That is that. Until we see each other next time, have a lovely week!

Cats and flu

OK, so a nasty flu has absolutely kicked my ass.

It's a 'good old fashioned' one too. Stuffy nose, increased temperature etc...

But come hell or high water, Eccentric Spheres gets updated on Mondays.

Since I can't really think straight and I don't want to deal with anything stressful, please enjoy this documentary on cats. They're cute and cuddly.

Hopefully I'll have recovered by next time. So until then, have a great week! 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVVN_7zZNf4

 

Windows 10 and Xbox

I recently read an interesting piece of gaming news.

With the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft has repeatedly stated that they're committed to gaming. Well, companies have made statements and promises before that hold about as much water as the average politicians promises. But now things are getting interesting.

Microsoft is blurring the lines between PC and Xbox. It's already possible to stream games from your Xbox via your PC, but the lines are getting even blurrier. The plan is to start selling triple A games on the Windows store much like Steam or GOG, but for both PC and Xbox. So far there aren't more than a small handful of games there but that will no doubt change soon.

Case in point: Quantum Break.

This games was originally an Xbox exclusive, but it will also be released on PC. This is a good thing. I have always hated exclusives. It's wasteful and does nothing but foster resentment between the user of the different platforms.

Example: Bloodborne. I would love to play this game, but it's a PS4 exclusive and I'm not buying a Playstation to play one game. No way. There is, or rather was, a petition to bring Bloodborne to the PC. It got 49,708 signatures. Likewise there was a petition to stop this and keep Bloodborne a PS4 exclusive. It got 819 signatures. Why? Because of the “I'm a special snowflake” syndrome that some people get when they have tied something like a console or a car to their identity, and need to defend it.

Now, we could argue the merits and flaws of exclusivity until the cows come home, and yes I get why companies do it, but I still hate it. If Microsoft's plan works, there won't be any real differences between PC and Xbox games anymore. It'll only be a question of how you like to play games. On the couch in front of the TV or at your desk with keyboard and mouse? When a game is released on one platform it also comes out on the other. That only leaves the Playstation on it's own. And technically Nintendo, but they have always done their own thing regardless of the other industry giants, so they don't really count here.

This might make Sony even more defensive and isolationist, but it may also force them to open the gates and exclusivity will be but a distant memory. And frankly gamers shouldn't have to choose “sides”. You should be able to play any game you want, with the people you want (or alone), on the platform of your choosing. The platform wars are ridiculous, juvenile and only serve the companies, never the consumers.

Microsoft has admitted that there will be “growing pains” with this Universal Windows Platform, or UWP. An example of this is Rise of the Tomb Raider. If you buy it from the Windows Store you are force to play it in borderless full-screen mode and you can't turn off SLI. The same game on Steam allows you to change these things. Or so I'm told. And the game costs the same in both shops. Sure, I'm willing to give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt and time will tell. Either way there is a slim chance that this will allow gamers to have an even wider choice of games to play, and that is a good thing.

Here is some further reading:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2972866/software-games/how-the-xbox-one-and-windows-10-come-together-and-where-they-fall-apart.html

http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/gaming/649991/Windows-10-gaming-Xbox-One-update-Phil-Spencer-UWP

If that doesn't sate your appetite, Google 'Windows 10 gaming'. That should do it, and that does it for me. Until next time, have a great week!