Typing about my imaginary Gardening game got me thinking about other In Real Life (IRL) activities that may be simulated in games. There are some obvious ones: Racing, for example. I hear that Grand Tourismo series, and its competitors, are all about the ultra-realism in terms of physics. I hear that Mario Kart is all about ultra realism in terms of fun. I think they both succeed in their own ways.
But In Real Life, things are always way different from games. For example: In games, the risk-reward system is... well, skewed. When you wreck your car, even in the most realistic of all racers - you don't die. You don't break your pinky finger. You're not even scarred for life! Hell, for that matter, you probably get a continue or something. This is an extreme example.
It's not just video games. In baseball, for another hyperbolic example, you aren't ritually executed when you are thrown out at first. This is good, because being thrown out at first happens a LOT. Hundreds of times every day during the regular season. But playing baseball is WAY harder than playing video games. Then again, it pays better, I think.
But I guess I mostly want to talk about challenge. There's a pretty fun article about challenging games over at Gamasutra. I've been enjoying it. It's got a lot of tasty retro stuff that I love. It's a long article- thankfully presented in ten tasty bites- I've been reading it over a series of days. It emphasizes skill building, and expertise at different games. I think I'm more interested in the quality of challenge in games, than the amount of challenge.
Sometimes the challenge is in achieving a perfect balance. And that balance can be elusive. Following the garden example, proper watering is a real problem when nurturing a plant. You can fuss with a plant so much that you kill it. Smothering can be as bad as neglect. It is this way in other IRL activities, like cooking. There is also a fine balance struck with cooking. You can definitely worry a dish into mediocrity, when leaving it alone may have produced something fantastic. I do this all the time. Are there any games that demonstrate this sort of delicate balance?
I guess I'm looking for something like this in gaming. And as I'm typing, I thought of an interesting idea: Achievements . That is to say, what if a game was released with no achievements whatsoever, and the achievements were submitted by players after they had made them. Just submit a screencap, and the game moderators will decide if it is a worthy achievement. Then keep a directory of them. That could be fun. Has a game done this yet? I bet team fortress 2 has. It seems like the kind of game that would do that. Anyhow, I'm stumbling into seriously out of touch zone, so I should shut up.
But yeah, it's fairly obvious why many IRL features aren't included in games. They don't sound fun at all. Like, for example, the RPG trope of 'life points' and 'potions.' Got a gaping wound in your belly? Down a couple potions, you'll be fine. Life doesn't even closely resemble that. Most of us don't deal with gaping wounds, just scratches and tiredness. Food helps, and caffeine, but there are no potions. There is Nothing that works like that.
And, like I said, it doesn't sound fun to have to rest your RPG characters because they're tired from walking around all day. A game where your characters need Exercise, a balanced diet and plenty of rest. BO-ring. And yet, somehow it sounds interesting to me, to balance the in-game system with more realistic needs. I often find myself contemplating Player Stat and Item systems for imaginary RPGs that are more realistic, somehow. I think this means I am a giant nerd.
-D
Showing posts with label achievement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label achievement. Show all posts
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Proteus: Graphics and Exploration
I'd like to start off with a nice video walkthrough/commentary on Proteus. Just in case my gushing and images aren't enough, this walk-through will give you some idea of what it is like to play Proteus. That said, this video is basically one big spoiler. So if you haven't yet played Proteus... maybe just ignore me until it goes on sale (I'll let you know), and then buy it and then play it.
I've played Proteus through a couple times now, and I think I've made some basic determinations about this game: Proteus is an easter-egg hunt. No one is keeping score - and there is a complete lack of achievements. The purpose of the game is to play it and enjoy it, the player decides how much they enjoy it. I am one who has decided to love it. There are others who decided not to. That is ok with me. But if you choose to play, you can spend your time looking around, and you will find some things that may catch your attention and interest, and possibly provide you with some delight.
Actually, funny thing-- I have been thinking about making a game based on the causeway which connects Sacramento to Davis. I ride over this causeway on the train all the time, and when I'm looking out the window, I have observed a lot of beauty and subtle differences. Because I love games and thinking about gaming, I've wanted to depict this environment through gaming.
My initial idea was to make a minecraft of the causeway. This I still may do if I come into a boatload of time and patience. The things that I observe from out the train window are mostly: the weather and the animals. The causeway is sometimes foggy, sometimes clear, sometimes flooded. Sometimes I see egrets and ducks floating in the water, sometimes I see geese in the air, and little swarms of tiny birds. Sometimes I can see the mountains in the distance and snow on top. Sometimes the fields are full of wheat or squash or some other plants. The colors can be many shades of brown, or contrasting shades of bright green, blue mountains, stark-white farm buildings and bright blue sky.
As I've observed the world of the causeway through the window of a train, I've wanted to share this form of peaceful joy with the world. And as I imagine an artistic rendering of this landscape, I've thought of doing so with a video game. This video game would need to pay special attention to the landscape, animals and weather. The purpose of the game would be to travel through and observe a world of beautiful sights and sounds.
Proteus has done just that. My playing experience is akin to looking out the window at the causeway, imagining what it would be like to wander around there and take in the sights, sounds and smells. It really is amazing to me, to capture such a sublime experience, and I am very glad I found this game. Sorry to gush.
Two of the most outstanding features of Proteus are: the practiced restraint on the part of programmers, and the synchronization of the sound and visual space. There are musical cues triggered by the environment in a variety of ways. Some triggers come from being near something: the hoot of an owl, the croak of a frog. Some are triggered by looking at something, such as the sun on a hot summer day, or a shooting star.
Sometimes I think that Proteus is too sparse, and could use more of everything. More birds, more bugs, more trees, more weather. But one thing it does wonderfully is to balance what it does have into a consistently interesting gaming experience. I believe it is through restraint on the part of the game designers, that this balance is achieved. I would be very sad if there was a sequel or expansion to Proteus that, perhaps with a zeal to improve and expand on the game play, was to disrupt the balance so that the sense of wonder and joy were lost or significantly diminished.
It is possible that this game can be so much more than it is, but it is also possible that what Proteus is - is the best thing it can be, and that this feeling I've gotten from playing, of so much more, is best for me to hold, and relish and used for inspiration to create something beautiful myself, rather than to demand it from the creators of Proteus or the industry in general.
I think it may be that the very sparseness of Proteus lends itself to the need for a player to explore. For example, if I'm feeling aimless while playing, I find a good strategy is to chase a frog until I find something that catches my interest. Sometimes this leads to finding something unexpected.
RockLeeSmile highlights indie games in a series of videos called 'Indie Impressions.'
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I've played Proteus through a couple times now, and I think I've made some basic determinations about this game: Proteus is an easter-egg hunt. No one is keeping score - and there is a complete lack of achievements. The purpose of the game is to play it and enjoy it, the player decides how much they enjoy it. I am one who has decided to love it. There are others who decided not to. That is ok with me. But if you choose to play, you can spend your time looking around, and you will find some things that may catch your attention and interest, and possibly provide you with some delight.
Actually, funny thing-- I have been thinking about making a game based on the causeway which connects Sacramento to Davis. I ride over this causeway on the train all the time, and when I'm looking out the window, I have observed a lot of beauty and subtle differences. Because I love games and thinking about gaming, I've wanted to depict this environment through gaming.
My initial idea was to make a minecraft of the causeway. This I still may do if I come into a boatload of time and patience. The things that I observe from out the train window are mostly: the weather and the animals. The causeway is sometimes foggy, sometimes clear, sometimes flooded. Sometimes I see egrets and ducks floating in the water, sometimes I see geese in the air, and little swarms of tiny birds. Sometimes I can see the mountains in the distance and snow on top. Sometimes the fields are full of wheat or squash or some other plants. The colors can be many shades of brown, or contrasting shades of bright green, blue mountains, stark-white farm buildings and bright blue sky.
As I've observed the world of the causeway through the window of a train, I've wanted to share this form of peaceful joy with the world. And as I imagine an artistic rendering of this landscape, I've thought of doing so with a video game. This video game would need to pay special attention to the landscape, animals and weather. The purpose of the game would be to travel through and observe a world of beautiful sights and sounds.
Proteus has done just that. My playing experience is akin to looking out the window at the causeway, imagining what it would be like to wander around there and take in the sights, sounds and smells. It really is amazing to me, to capture such a sublime experience, and I am very glad I found this game. Sorry to gush.
Two of the most outstanding features of Proteus are: the practiced restraint on the part of programmers, and the synchronization of the sound and visual space. There are musical cues triggered by the environment in a variety of ways. Some triggers come from being near something: the hoot of an owl, the croak of a frog. Some are triggered by looking at something, such as the sun on a hot summer day, or a shooting star.
Sometimes I think that Proteus is too sparse, and could use more of everything. More birds, more bugs, more trees, more weather. But one thing it does wonderfully is to balance what it does have into a consistently interesting gaming experience. I believe it is through restraint on the part of the game designers, that this balance is achieved. I would be very sad if there was a sequel or expansion to Proteus that, perhaps with a zeal to improve and expand on the game play, was to disrupt the balance so that the sense of wonder and joy were lost or significantly diminished.
It is possible that this game can be so much more than it is, but it is also possible that what Proteus is - is the best thing it can be, and that this feeling I've gotten from playing, of so much more, is best for me to hold, and relish and used for inspiration to create something beautiful myself, rather than to demand it from the creators of Proteus or the industry in general.
I think it may be that the very sparseness of Proteus lends itself to the need for a player to explore. For example, if I'm feeling aimless while playing, I find a good strategy is to chase a frog until I find something that catches my interest. Sometimes this leads to finding something unexpected.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Bleep Bloop - Achievements Unlocked
Achievements, as they are currently known, began three years before I became aware of their existence with the already established terminology. The fact that I've never been a big fan of "achievements" could in part be from the fact that I've never owned an Xbox or PS3. I understand the concept of achievements just as well, but again, they're not really my thing. My prepared rebuttal to the almost inevitable discussion that not liking achievements must mean that I suck at video games and that I should get back to sucking dick goes something like this, "Whatever."
When I first watched the Red vs Blue PSA "Small Rewards" back in 2008, I was introduced to the concept of Achievements in their present form. I had mentioned in a previous post that I consider the cheats in Goldeneye 007 to be "functional achievements," but calling them as such is only as recent as the writing of that article.
With the acquisition of games via Steam, being my main source for PC gaming, I now have an avenue to acquire achievements. What I sort of like about the achievements via Steam is that what you have earned is not posted on the front page of your profile. Maybe they can be with a bit of tinkering in the profile settings, which is fine I guess, but it's not something that I'm going to actively look for. Yes I can go and find out which achievements Dr. Potts has obtained/acquired/unlocked in LIMBO, but I've got to make at least 3 mouse clicks in order to find out. To me, this says that the achievements on Steam are not as important to other people as they are on Xbox Live or the Playstation Network. That you have to actively go looking for someone else's achievements says something about that system. And whatever it's trying to say, I like it.
One other thing that somewhat disappointed me about the concept of earning achievements is the fact that you know about them before you even play the game. In Portal 2, one of the achievements is titled "You Made Your Point" with the subtext "Refuse to solve the first test in Chapter 8." It tells you how to earn the achievement. Granted some other achievements aren't so easily accomplished or even tell you how to accomplish them as in the "Transmission Received" in the first Portal which lists the subtext as "..?". I like the idea of achievements being totally ambiguous or just having no description at all. I'd personally felt a sense of pride when I figured out what that achievement entailed. Do I have that particular achievement? Nope, I've got 7 of 26, which is just fine with me as I know what to do to acquire the achievement, I just haven't done them all yet.
I like the idea that you would be playing a game and all of a sudden the game lets you know that you achieved something that you didn't know was there, that you did something cool that the programmers also had thought of, but again, that just might be me. Or maybe in the case of multiple part achievements, trying to figure out what it was that you just did and have the game say that you need to do the same thing nine more times at other parts in the game.
The last thing, and I know a lot of games do this, is offering achievements for either passing a level or reaching a checkpoint in a level. If it's something you're supposed to do like collecting fully powered portal gun, I don't see a reason for there to be an achievement for it. I can almost imagine what achievements would have looked like in early NES games. Get an achievement for beating the game on any difficulty level (if the game has difficulty levels)? Sure, give out an achievement for Easy, Medium and Jedi level difficulties or for just beating the game in general. Maybe they're around to show other players your progress through the game.
Someone who has a larger degree than I do might say that achievements are the product of a society that has become one based on instant gratification, that if there weren't achievements in games (except that most/all of Nintendo games don't have an achievement-type system) that people would feel that their progression in the game isn't worth anything. But, I'm not that someone, so I won't say that.
~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
My Gamerscore is 0, If Anyone Wants To Know.
P.S. I couldn't figure out where to put this in the main body of the article, so a post script will do just fine. I get that some achievements are challenging to unlock, but some are just plain bitch-cake crazy (I'm looking at you True Form). I have yet to come across a game on Steam that I feel compelled to unlock all of the achievements in order for me to feel like I played a game to its fullest.
I like the idea that you would be playing a game and all of a sudden the game lets you know that you achieved something that you didn't know was there, that you did something cool that the programmers also had thought of, but again, that just might be me. Or maybe in the case of multiple part achievements, trying to figure out what it was that you just did and have the game say that you need to do the same thing nine more times at other parts in the game.
The last thing, and I know a lot of games do this, is offering achievements for either passing a level or reaching a checkpoint in a level. If it's something you're supposed to do like collecting fully powered portal gun, I don't see a reason for there to be an achievement for it. I can almost imagine what achievements would have looked like in early NES games. Get an achievement for beating the game on any difficulty level (if the game has difficulty levels)? Sure, give out an achievement for Easy, Medium and Jedi level difficulties or for just beating the game in general. Maybe they're around to show other players your progress through the game.
Someone who has a larger degree than I do might say that achievements are the product of a society that has become one based on instant gratification, that if there weren't achievements in games (except that most/all of Nintendo games don't have an achievement-type system) that people would feel that their progression in the game isn't worth anything. But, I'm not that someone, so I won't say that.
~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
My Gamerscore is 0, If Anyone Wants To Know.
P.S. I couldn't figure out where to put this in the main body of the article, so a post script will do just fine. I get that some achievements are challenging to unlock, but some are just plain bitch-cake crazy (I'm looking at you True Form). I have yet to come across a game on Steam that I feel compelled to unlock all of the achievements in order for me to feel like I played a game to its fullest.
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