Welcome First Years!

2009-07-18T18:51:58Z

Hello First Years, Welcome to the BLOGOSPHERE! I feel the following may thematically sum up your experience here: That is, this is the beginning of your adventure time! (Click picture or hit the jump for video.) Update: Behind most of the things I like there's a story about an interesting artist. Here is "Adventure Time's" creator's website.]]> The most important thing to gain from this is to never let anyone call your hat stupid!

First Batch of Breath Screen Shots

2009-07-14T09:26:34Z

]]>

FIGHT ON - IGF 2010

2009-07-13T17:54:39Z

I cannot stress how important it is to get your work showcased outside of the USC community. The IGF is the best way. FIGHT ON! (Also, I have chosen the shirtless man version of the IGF logo due to comical value. Sorry Erik!)

WHO DO YOU THINK I AM???

2009-07-13T07:41:19Z

In case you never met me, or didn't take the time to get to know me, I'll let you know that my favorite thing of all time is Gurren Lagann: Why do I love Gurren Lagann? Because it was the first time I saw someone put my spirit into a work of fiction. When faced with the impossible task, the infinitely powerful force, the enemy that lords over everyone like a king telling us what our limitations are, and asked if I would give up the only response is: WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!?! Now I have some work to do... I may not be posting for a bit, but I think it will be worth it!

Sergei Rachmaninoff

2009-07-07T06:18:03Z

I don't really have a game this works with, but I want to keep the link: Bad Ass Pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no 2 Op. 18 Moderato! 'Nuff Said.

Wanted: Artist who can explain sky art.

2009-07-06T08:51:17Z

Basically, skies, cities, and terrain represent a huge part of the setting for a game about affecting a society. I'm looking for anyone who can explain how to make a 3D game version of the following environment. (Basically its a "sky box" question that has a lot to do with palette.) ]]>

He's Beginning to Belive

2009-07-05T02:27:46Z

The Mighty Atom

2009-07-03T00:51:26Z

Kotaku's article inspired me to post about one of my favorite heroes: Astro Boy's sharp insights about human nature combined with his intellect, power, and a general sense of discrimination about his uniqueness make for a compelling show. Black and white somehow seems more fitting, though I may feel that way because I saw the black and white version first. Doing an IP crossover justice is a formidable design challenge, but a worthwhile one. The cost of failure is only a mediocre work. I hope this game meets its mark!

Broken but slightly interesting.

2009-07-01T11:24:13Z

Debugging screenshot:

GOTW - Grow Game

2009-06-30T09:55:03Z

This time a classic fun flash game, "Grow Game." I replayed this recently because of the narrative structure. You can play the game and watch an interesting story unfold in many different ways without feeling personally at fault for bad endings because the middle sections are completed by autonomous agents. The "AI" is simply an animation, but if it were procedurally controlled... well, its an interesting thought. ]]> Studio: EyeMaze Format: 1 Player, Flash Core Mechanic: Decide what to build. Control: Select from a menu.

Painkiller, FPS'es, and Space.

2009-06-28T18:53:09Z

Charlie Silver, incoming IMD undergrad has a featured post over at Gamasutra about Painkiller. I think he is talking about a couple of underexploited areas in game design. For one, space is too rarely used as a meaningful gameplay mechanic. Also, few games use intelligent agents, not necessarily as better killing machines, but to impart a feeling on the player. Interesting stuff Charlie.

More Time Lapse

2009-06-26T23:35:55Z

These time lapses are really making an impact on my design sensibilities. There is an inherent play to affecting a society over time. It has an implicit underlying narrative structure. The city is intrinsically tied to space, time, and humanity. ]]>

City Source Material

2009-06-26T12:17:46Z

I've recently become much more interested in societies, cities, and simulation in general. I'm currently of the belief that by focusing on simulating a real world phenomenon, it will let me express my artistic POV in a meaningful and worthwhile way. First off we have a lovely fluid animation: ]]>

Prototype:Star D

2009-06-22T09:17:11Z

The goal here is to figure out how to stop the dots from reaching the center of the star. Keep in mind that this prototype is more the core mechanic "toy" instead of a full fledged game. (No win state, they just keep re-spawning) When it was time to make the plunge and start designing the enemy system and so on I had a "why?" moment.]]> recent replaying of A-Train killed a lot of my enthusiasm for completing a tower defense game. If I do complete the core reward structure, I want to pick something more meaningful than keep the dots out of the center. Otherwise the only name that would make sense for the final version is "Death Star." One thing I've always wanted to mess with is the "growing" aspect of the star. I want to make 4 cells of the same color merge into a giant version of itself and eventually have the whole game zoom out to revert back to the normal game state. Anyway, this was a good learning experience. I may come back to it later. As always I appreciate feedback.

GOTW A-Train

2009-06-22T07:50:23Z

This GOTW is in honor of father's day. One of my earlier gaming memories was playing "A-Train" with my dad back on our old machine. It was published in the states in 1992, but it was first released even further back in Japan under the title: "A Ressha de Ikou" -> "Take the A-Train" (Image and facts via Wikipedia) You can get the game to run on a DOS emulator, and I recommend it. It still holds its own as a well designed piece. Studio: Artdink Format: PC, 1 Player, DOS - Emulator version here. Core Mechanic: Build and operate a railroad which indirectly causes urban growth. Control: 3rd person isometric via HUD. ]]> Design Notes: The first thing to note is the beauty of A-Train's simple aesthetic. I like the sunset animation better than a lot of stuff I've seen on current gen consoles. The city itself sprouts up in a beautiful and procedural way as your railroad supplies building materials and passengers to stations. In terms of gameplay, there are two feedback mechanisms that motivate rail building. First are the cities, which spawn based on how rail accessible areas are. Second is the underlying economy system: a simplified numeric financial system of the business end of running a rail system. As a combination they offer a well designed core mechanic that is enjoyable to this day. It makes you feel like you are running a railroad.

Michael Silverman