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September 30, 2005
Gaming on the Cheap...
Since other people have pushed this as a good idea, I'm going to start mentioning some of the deals in games and tech that I see in nearby stores. Today through Tuesday at Fry's, we've got Half Life 2 for 20 bucks. What makes this a good deal? Well, it's the CD-ROM edition, but that really doesn't make a difference once you install it, does it? :) If you've been looking for a good price on this title, this isn't a bad time to get it...
Posted by diamante at 05:53 PM | Comments (2)
September 28, 2005
Notorious ADC: MMO Asshole
Considerations in moving from the real world to digital
1. The potential for increasingly large groups of people to play together
2. The typically more abstracted, less personal space of internet play
3. The highly variable speed and quality of play within the larger internet space
The current game of Asshole looks like this:
Game.
Repeat.
The game iterates upon itself and everything within is very amorphous malleable.
What the computer is good at, however, is: Delivering highly delineated and embellished structures. Computer game players, for their part, do a nice job with the space in-between these highly componentized pieces.
Inspiration
One of the more interesting facets of the game was the thought of it being drawn from some sort of political model, what with its presidents and vice-presidents. In government, there are so many levels of political power: presidents, governors, representatives, mayors, superintendents, sheriffs, etc. Even further, there are positions outside of government that have community impact: football club owner, PTA president, gang leader.
My idea is to have the game of Asshole be multi-tiered, with the potential of movement within and between tiers.
Rules
If you are the asshole, you have the option of creating another game in a tier below the one you just played a game in. You may also join an existing game in an open spot, so long as you do not take the president title (vice president is okay).
At any time outside of gameplay, a player may sidestep into an open spot in another game on the same tier, keeping his own rank while pushing others in the game further down in rank.
If you are the president, you may move up in tier in the hierarchy; you may take a spot in any open game, but you can only have the bumblefuck title.
About the tiers
The tiers can be thought of as paralleling layers of command with an organization, tiers of government in a nation, etc. In the top tier, there can only be one game. Players cannot make any more games in that tier; they may only create new games in tiers below them. Players cannot move up unless there are openings above them.
Posted by diamante at 05:00 PM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2005
Katamari sale and other reasons to drive in LA...
If you know me even a bit, you know that I'm really really REALLY into finding sales. When I find sales, well... I like to spread the word. From tomorrow through Tuesday, Fry's will have We Love Katamari on sale for 19.99. I plan on picking it up tomorrow. I also have my eye on Indigo Prophecy (check out Aaron's blog entry on it) for a very tempting 29.99. There are also a couple of non-game things that I have my eye on; that 28 dollar Logitech web cam should do nicely for some of this Jitter stuff we've been playing around with in Perry's workshop...
If anyone wants a ride to your friendly Burbank Fry's and you e-mail me by the end of my 1-3 PM class on Friday, I'll be happy to bring you along. ARGH! I have a make up class in the afternoon! DOH! Looks like I'll be going this evening; my invitation to people who'd like a ride from campus still applies. Just give me a heads up...
Also, every now and then I'll make mention of the LA Computer Fair. It's a good place to hit if you find yourself in need of computer equipment or scrounging around for more obscure stuff like mass quantities of SCART female connectors. I'm planning on heading there on the 8th of October. If you need anything, I certainly don't mind the company on the drive to Pomona (the only computer fair worth going to.)
Posted by diamante at 12:36 AM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2005
Open Mic: MG2!
No, not Metal Gear 2. This is the rather brief powerpoint that will accompany my open mic presentation tomorrow morning: MG2, Mobile Gaming 2. MG1 was the predecessor (of course): a play on words touching on both nostalgia-minded and the performance art crowd. MG2's conception came about through the late discoveries made in the MG1 project. You crazy 532 kids will find out more tomorrow...
(Shout out to Shelby, my partner in crime on MG1!)
Posted by diamante at 12:18 AM | Comments (1)
September 15, 2005
Thoughts on Pachisi Variants
First off: sorry Team Brad-Rick-Doox for not getting to play your game. It sounded like a neat concept from what I was able to hear during your meetings.
Tropical Circle of Life
I played this game twice. I enjoyed this game. Also, I really found myself struggling with this game. I think it was the math.
The game itself was pretty sound. Unlike some other comments, I had no problem with the abstract nature of the piece because our own sides of the board were pretty clear, I thought. The theme of the game was very appealing; I was reminded of various experiments and theories in evolutionary behavior, especially computer programs by Axelrod.
One thing that felt weird was the fact that all the pieces were already out in playable position. With Pachisi, getting another piece out of the center was an enjoyable event, a sort of “A HA!” moment. With this, I really didn’t get that sense; one could say it was all downhill from the start, since you could never play more than the four pieces you start out with.
And then there’s the math. It was a bit frustrating that I had to go through every piece I had on the board to figure out what was the best move I could make.
I think the fact that there was this sort of equality between the players from the start and lasting for a significant time through the game kept the game from being as close as it could be to its Prey/Circle-of-life theme. Or that could be my own personal prejudices, where tropical jungle life is cold, ruthless and unforgiving. Still, a fun game.
Cops and Robbers
I think I should admit off the bat: this game annoyed me with the first die roll. It was thematically spot on.
I just couldn’t stand the theme. The thought of an inept and unwilling police force angered me; seeing it happen on a board where I could do little else but roll and watch as they puttered around, doomed to failure at the hands of more mobile thieves.
At least in our game where nothing went right for our donut eating cops, happily munching away while the lucky double-rolling throngs of robbers were off doing the things that robbers do best.
The board and instructions were pretty shaky. It was really hard to get a feel for the ordering of things. If there was an example of a turn progression in the instructions, that would have been really helpful.
Coattails (Quick thought on our own game)
I talked a bit about how this game came about with much consternation, very aware of what it meant in terms of treatment of life theme. If I had any sort of drawing ability, I would have drawn this whimsical title graphic showing various tuxedoed folks running on top of everyone’s coattails in a line. People stepping on people’s heads, falling down, jumping over people, sprawling on the floor, jumping off to the side… It was a fantastic image and we rolled with that… much to the detriment of this concept of larger life theme. In my mind that was a worthy sacrifice, but…
Posted by diamante at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2005
New Gateway Tablet
Well...it looks like there's going to be an affordable tablet solution out there. Gateway just introduced a convertible with a WXGA screen! and...more importantly, an 1100 USD entry price point! That and some decent power (you can get a Radeon X600 option for it) suddenly makes the tablet form factor a LOT more appealing... Check it out...
Posted by diamante at 04:37 PM | Comments (2)
September 13, 2005
Aquarium brainstorming...
Things I thought about...
1) Physical range of interactivity. One thing that I noticed at the aquarium was how easy it was to get drawn in to the living stars of the exhibits. For so many of the kiosks or windows with some electric (audio) or electronic (computer app) interaction, the person had to be right next to the thing in order to elicit anything of importance out of it. The sea otters were drawing in people from 40 feet away. The nearby touch-screen plasma needed people to be a foot away for them to begin to realize that it was the interactive companion to the mural immediately next to it. Ideally, the connection leading to interaction should happen as soon as it’s within sight: as soon as they round the corner.
2) Broad range of input. Back to those otters. Kids were clapping. Kids were smacking the glass. Kids were flying their hands over the glass and pointing in all sorts of directions. Whether the otters did things in direct reaction to their motions is a moot point; they felt that their input in all of its forms was meaningful. Whatever we make has to be ready and willing to do more than just accept tapping on a particular area of a 2d plane. (Might also want to think about how input gets changed thanks to the prejudices brought to the computer screen…)
3) Size and shape are key. I couldn’t help but think: Damn, we have to fit in THIS? I think a lot of the brainstorming we did previously had us thinking very square or cube when it looks like we’re going to be thinking lines or sheets for our project…
As for what to spend it on? $5000 doesn’t feel like a lot right now, but I think a lot of it is going to be developing the look and feel of it. Materials over software. Of course, who really knows what we’re going to be doing by the end of tomorrow…
Posted by diamante at 12:09 AM | Comments (0)
September 09, 2005
Updating ye olde demo reel...
A bit of prodding from some outside sources got me to update my demo reel...
http://www.apocalypsewow.com/reel.mp3
Yeah. I did this when I was tired. I can't believe I put THAT much flute in there! Especially considering I greatly prefer reeds in the lead, nine times out of ten...
Posted by diamante at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)