Anyways, GTAIV came out yesterday, it looks good and I can't wait for the weekend to come so that I can actually have some time to play my copy (which currently lies unopened). I'll be too busy for the rest of the day for another post, so I'll see you all on Sunday when I might actually have time to think for once in the past three weeks.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Ack!
I completely spaced writing a post for yesterday. I blame evil wizards, or more accurately, the paper I was finishing up since I'm heading to Portland for an emergency dentist appointment today.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Fin
I take back everything bad I ever said about Assassin's Creed's story, because I just saw the last four episodes of Escaflowne.
I was enjoying Escaflowne before, it wasn't exactly genius in the writing department, but it was watchable, but in the last four episodes the writing took a turn for the "amazingly terrible". New plot points and characters are introduced, only to be solved in the next episode. The main character seems to have forgotten everything she has seen and heard up to this point. One of the major plot points is ignored as if it had never occured, and then there's the dialogue, which became cringe-worthy. The real topper though was the ending. I'm not going to spoil anything here, and I don't know how to make a jump, so I can't say my real thoughts, but I can tell you that it is bad. The ending is bad enough that if the rest of the series had been good, and those last four episodes hadn't been terrible, the show would still be terrible. It was bad enough that I wanted to physically harm the writers of the show.
For those of you who don't know me, I really like endings. I like it when things end, and I really like good endings. Good endings can improve a show/game/book's quality in my eyes several fold. On the other side of the coin, a bad ending can ruin a masterpiece. This is probably why I hate most books in the literary canon that everyone seems to love *cough*Hemmingway*cough. I seriously considered not finishing Persona 3 because I was afraid it was going to have a bad ending, and I didn't want to ruin that game.
When I say bad ending I don't mean a sad ending, a depressing ending, or even an ending that isn't an ending at all. A bad ending is one that leaves me not with contentment, excitement, depression, or any other single word feeling. A bad ending leaves me saying, "What the fuck was that!?"
I just don't understand how a writer can get through a series, a game, a book, and keep my interest until the end, and then write at their worst. The end should be when the writer pulls out all of their tricks, and you should be left amazed at what they did. However, I find it is all too common to have endings that just kind of slump over and are done. Even some of my favorite games fall into this category. I loved Dark Cloud 2 to death, but it had one of the worst endings I have come across. I mean really, the final boss didn't even have a unique song!
I wonder if the writers who make bad endings just don't know how to do it. They've been writing for so long, they don't know how to stop. So, rather than taking the time to really think it over and craft a finale, they just stop writing and call it good. Dang, now I'm really curious what the hell the writers and translators of Escaflowne were thinking.
I was enjoying Escaflowne before, it wasn't exactly genius in the writing department, but it was watchable, but in the last four episodes the writing took a turn for the "amazingly terrible". New plot points and characters are introduced, only to be solved in the next episode. The main character seems to have forgotten everything she has seen and heard up to this point. One of the major plot points is ignored as if it had never occured, and then there's the dialogue, which became cringe-worthy. The real topper though was the ending. I'm not going to spoil anything here, and I don't know how to make a jump, so I can't say my real thoughts, but I can tell you that it is bad. The ending is bad enough that if the rest of the series had been good, and those last four episodes hadn't been terrible, the show would still be terrible. It was bad enough that I wanted to physically harm the writers of the show.
For those of you who don't know me, I really like endings. I like it when things end, and I really like good endings. Good endings can improve a show/game/book's quality in my eyes several fold. On the other side of the coin, a bad ending can ruin a masterpiece. This is probably why I hate most books in the literary canon that everyone seems to love *cough*Hemmingway*cough. I seriously considered not finishing Persona 3 because I was afraid it was going to have a bad ending, and I didn't want to ruin that game.
When I say bad ending I don't mean a sad ending, a depressing ending, or even an ending that isn't an ending at all. A bad ending is one that leaves me not with contentment, excitement, depression, or any other single word feeling. A bad ending leaves me saying, "What the fuck was that!?"
I just don't understand how a writer can get through a series, a game, a book, and keep my interest until the end, and then write at their worst. The end should be when the writer pulls out all of their tricks, and you should be left amazed at what they did. However, I find it is all too common to have endings that just kind of slump over and are done. Even some of my favorite games fall into this category. I loved Dark Cloud 2 to death, but it had one of the worst endings I have come across. I mean really, the final boss didn't even have a unique song!
I wonder if the writers who make bad endings just don't know how to do it. They've been writing for so long, they don't know how to stop. So, rather than taking the time to really think it over and craft a finale, they just stop writing and call it good. Dang, now I'm really curious what the hell the writers and translators of Escaflowne were thinking.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Thank God For GTA (Good design That's Awesome)
First things first, watch this: Bad Design.
This is some of the worst design in a game I have ever seen. On a PC, which the version of Assassin's Creed that the video shows, you want to be able to get in and out of programs at the click of a mouse, and it is an industry standard to have a quit-to-desktop choice from the first time you ask it to quit. This design flaw is pretty bad by itself, but there are other reasons why I find Assassin's Creed a study in bad design.
-Give everyone localized accents except the main character.
-Give your worst voice actor the role of the main character.
-Make your main character an assassin who reveals his secret with five minutes of questioning.
-Make your main character, essentially, emotionless.
-Hide your invisible walls with giant blue clouds that clash horribly with the landscape
-Have a plot that a fifth-grader could have written
-Add a sci-fi twist to that plot that gets revealed in the INTRODUCTION.
-Give players the ability to run up walls, but make it slow and not fun
-Give players the ability to kill anyone, but hurt them for killing most
-Getting hit by a retarded person reveals that you are an assassin
-Running into a wall makes guards attack you
-Use four mission types over and over and over.
-Make a combat-system that doesn't take advantage of the ability to run around like spider-man
-Loading screens every eight seconds.
-Have loading screens for loading screens.
I could go on. Despite all of this, however, Assassin's Creed is pretty fun for a couple of hours, but I'm still glad I didn't buy it myself. What makes Assassin's Creed design hurt me so much, is that all of these things are blatant and easily fixable design flaws (for the most part). Heck, if they got rid the sci-fi twist about half of my complaints would be nullified along with it. Ubisoft had a great premise and I'm excited to see how the sequels turn out.
Also, I've been reading this webcomic all day. I really would love to see more games with the same kind of imagination that this comic has. I take that back, I would really love to see more
people with the same kind of imagination that this comic has.
This is some of the worst design in a game I have ever seen. On a PC, which the version of Assassin's Creed that the video shows, you want to be able to get in and out of programs at the click of a mouse, and it is an industry standard to have a quit-to-desktop choice from the first time you ask it to quit. This design flaw is pretty bad by itself, but there are other reasons why I find Assassin's Creed a study in bad design.
-Give everyone localized accents except the main character.
-Give your worst voice actor the role of the main character.
-Make your main character an assassin who reveals his secret with five minutes of questioning.
-Make your main character, essentially, emotionless.
-Hide your invisible walls with giant blue clouds that clash horribly with the landscape
-Have a plot that a fifth-grader could have written
-Add a sci-fi twist to that plot that gets revealed in the INTRODUCTION.
-Give players the ability to run up walls, but make it slow and not fun
-Give players the ability to kill anyone, but hurt them for killing most
-Getting hit by a retarded person reveals that you are an assassin
-Running into a wall makes guards attack you
-Use four mission types over and over and over.
-Make a combat-system that doesn't take advantage of the ability to run around like spider-man
-Loading screens every eight seconds.
-Have loading screens for loading screens.
I could go on. Despite all of this, however, Assassin's Creed is pretty fun for a couple of hours, but I'm still glad I didn't buy it myself. What makes Assassin's Creed design hurt me so much, is that all of these things are blatant and easily fixable design flaws (for the most part). Heck, if they got rid the sci-fi twist about half of my complaints would be nullified along with it. Ubisoft had a great premise and I'm excited to see how the sequels turn out.
Also, I've been reading this webcomic all day. I really would love to see more games with the same kind of imagination that this comic has. I take that back, I would really love to see more
people with the same kind of imagination that this comic has.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
So Wanna Say, But Really Shouldn't
Alright so I had an absurdly awesome idea for a game today and I really wish I had a development studio at my fingertips so that I could make it. Sadly, I do not have a development studio at my beck-and-call, but I still really like the idea, which is why you won't hear too many details from me (I'm kind of paranoid). Why I think it's a good idea is as follows:
It has a pretty and varied landscape.
It has very few, but extremely unique enemies. Similar in fashion to Shadow of the Colossus there are no enemies besides the few boss fights. This focus on single opponents allows for a lot of depth and detail in each of these enemies, and unlike Shadow of the Colossus, these wouldn't be the same kind of fight over and over with a slightly different puzzle each time. Each of these bosses are very different from one another, and the ways to defeat them are extremely different (think platformer versus fps different, or chess versus freeze-tag).
There's a story based around mystery and interpersonal relationships, like Lost, but I know what the hell is going on (seriously I haven't seen the invisible polar bear/t-rex in ages, where did they go, did they explain that on an episode that I missed?).
A defined area for the game world, as in I already know how much space is necessary and where everything should go. Also includes natural barriers to avoid the "invisible-wall" effect (and no, making the invisible walls visible a la Assassin's Creed does not count).
Online Multiplayer that works gameplay-wise (whether connections could handle it or not is something that I don't know enough to answer).
A gameplay experience that would change every single time.
A game world that continues to run as you play, so a second boss could run into you as you fight the first (though that shouldn't happen unless you've done something really bizarre with the first boss to change his location).
I could go on, but this is a really solid idea I feel (wish I could describe it more, but you'll have to talk to me in person for that, plus I really like it). I think the most interesting thing is how full of an idea it came to me. The gameplay, the world, the story, the characters, all of these came to me at the same time, which never happens. Oh well, if all goes according to plan, expect to see this game within ten years, until then, just try to imagine what I've got cooked up.
It has a pretty and varied landscape.
It has very few, but extremely unique enemies. Similar in fashion to Shadow of the Colossus there are no enemies besides the few boss fights. This focus on single opponents allows for a lot of depth and detail in each of these enemies, and unlike Shadow of the Colossus, these wouldn't be the same kind of fight over and over with a slightly different puzzle each time. Each of these bosses are very different from one another, and the ways to defeat them are extremely different (think platformer versus fps different, or chess versus freeze-tag).
There's a story based around mystery and interpersonal relationships, like Lost, but I know what the hell is going on (seriously I haven't seen the invisible polar bear/t-rex in ages, where did they go, did they explain that on an episode that I missed?).
A defined area for the game world, as in I already know how much space is necessary and where everything should go. Also includes natural barriers to avoid the "invisible-wall" effect (and no, making the invisible walls visible a la Assassin's Creed does not count).
Online Multiplayer that works gameplay-wise (whether connections could handle it or not is something that I don't know enough to answer).
A gameplay experience that would change every single time.
A game world that continues to run as you play, so a second boss could run into you as you fight the first (though that shouldn't happen unless you've done something really bizarre with the first boss to change his location).
I could go on, but this is a really solid idea I feel (wish I could describe it more, but you'll have to talk to me in person for that, plus I really like it). I think the most interesting thing is how full of an idea it came to me. The gameplay, the world, the story, the characters, all of these came to me at the same time, which never happens. Oh well, if all goes according to plan, expect to see this game within ten years, until then, just try to imagine what I've got cooked up.
-1+2=0!?
Unfortunately it appears that I guessed correctly yesterday. Worry not though, I will be back tomorrow with actual things to say and time with which to say it!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
ZZZ...
Spent most of today sleeping to make up for all-nighter and so I can do slightly more than just try to survive the rest of the week.
In other words I completely forgot about a post today. Expect similar results tomorrow unless I somehow manage to crush that 2 hours make-up for every 1 hour lost rule.
In other words I completely forgot about a post today. Expect similar results tomorrow unless I somehow manage to crush that 2 hours make-up for every 1 hour lost rule.
Monday, April 21, 2008
I Am Never Writing A Paper On Anything But My Mac Again
So... started the week off by pulling an all-nighter.
Yeah...
The worst part was that it wasn't even because I had that much work to do or I put it off that long, I was just having an absurd number of technical problems. Basically every time I tried to scroll down on my paper, there was a 1/12 chance of the program locking up and requiring me to force quit. I finally walked into class half an hour late because just as I was printing out the final copy my printer ran out of black ink, ran around looking for my spare cartridge that has learned how to become invisible, ran down to the library to print it out there only to find out that they don't support whatever crazy format I had my paper saved as so I had to run back to my room, change all of the black text into red, then run back down to the library so I could three-hole-punch the paper. From there it was a simple walk across the entire campus as the library and field house are at exact opposite ends, and voila, I was done.
All on no sleep.
For a couple hours there I was ready to kill someone with my hat, and I know I scared some people when I burst into the library the second time. So yeah, there's your post for today, not much, but I have to go do my homework for tomorrow.
Yeah...
The worst part was that it wasn't even because I had that much work to do or I put it off that long, I was just having an absurd number of technical problems. Basically every time I tried to scroll down on my paper, there was a 1/12 chance of the program locking up and requiring me to force quit. I finally walked into class half an hour late because just as I was printing out the final copy my printer ran out of black ink, ran around looking for my spare cartridge that has learned how to become invisible, ran down to the library to print it out there only to find out that they don't support whatever crazy format I had my paper saved as so I had to run back to my room, change all of the black text into red, then run back down to the library so I could three-hole-punch the paper. From there it was a simple walk across the entire campus as the library and field house are at exact opposite ends, and voila, I was done.
All on no sleep.
For a couple hours there I was ready to kill someone with my hat, and I know I scared some people when I burst into the library the second time. So yeah, there's your post for today, not much, but I have to go do my homework for tomorrow.
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