Sean Bouchard http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/ en Copyright 2009 Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:52:53 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Black Swan Play Black Swan online!]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/11/black_swan.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/11/black_swan.html class projects conversation interactive fiction playable playtest prototype science-fiction world building Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:52:53 -0800 Sunday Playtest / Playdate First of all, thank you to everybody who stopped by last week for the get-together / brainstorming session. I had a great time, and got a lot of great ideas, so I'm going to hold another get-together this Sunday. All are welcome! Fun, games, baked goods and pizza (or some sort of non-pizza food, as the group decides) will all be present. We'll start around 2:00 on Sunday the 2nd, but let me know if you can't make that time. http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/07/sunday_playtest_playdate.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/07/sunday_playtest_playdate.html imd negotiation playdate playtest projects prototype social games Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:40:00 -0800 Sunday Get-Together/Brainstorming Session July 19th 2pm, 8pm 2009 — Suits Brainstorming & Social— at ZML
First we'll brainstorm on a new game (all are welcome), and then we'll hang out and watch movies or whatever.
Greetings, all. I don't know about the rest of you, but I miss the creative fervor that pretty much filled my days just a few short weeks ago, B.S.B. (Before Summer Break). I'm working on my 491 game this summer, but it just isn't the same without other people around to bounce ideas off of and get excited with. So on Sunday I'm going to have a brainstorming session for Suits, and take the opportunity to have a little mid-summer get-together, as well. What do you say?]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/07/sunday_gettogetherbrainstormin.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/07/sunday_gettogetherbrainstormin.html brainstorm imd negotiation playdate projects social games Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:29:13 -0800 New Post at Softcore Gamer: Greatly Exaggerated some comments that I consider controversial, and I responded. If you're interested in interactive fiction, you might be interested in this.]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/05/new_post_at_softcore_gamer_gre.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/05/new_post_at_softcore_gamer_gre.html controversy design design philosophies innovation marketing response text user interface xpost Mon, 18 May 2009 23:35:39 -0800 CTIN544 Story Assignment I was a little at a loss as to what to do for this assignment. I came up with half an idea for something recombinant based on Jane Austen Unscripted, but I didn't have time to develop it. So I opted for lots of particles. Particles make everything better. http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/02/ctin544_story_assignment.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/02/ctin544_story_assignment.html assignment cgi processing render Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:56:42 -0800 HanakoLand For a CTWR518 assignment from last week, here is my slideshow presentation on HanakoLand, a theme park based on the properties of Hanako Games. http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/02/hanakoland.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/02/hanakoland.html assignment creative writing games for girls indie games massively multiplayer role-playing slideshow theme park time-management Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:20:37 -0800 Story-o-matic A CTWR518 assignment from a couple weeks back. My randomly-generated prompt called for a wealthy person for a protagonist, a ship at sea for a setting, and a murder for an inciting incident. One note: I didn't intend to name the main character after Jack Nicholson's character in The Shining. It seemed like a good name in my head and I didn't realize why it sounded so familiar until after the story was turned in. I'll retcon that, though, and suggest that in the future it becomes popular practice to name children after the villain in old movies. http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/02/storyomatic.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/02/storyomatic.html assignment creative writing ideation random prompt science-fiction Mon, 16 Feb 2009 07:48:39 -0800 CTIN544 Library Assignment (Updated) For a CTIN544 assignment, this program demonstrates use of the networking library built into Processing. UPDATED: Fixed a bug in the server and extensively commented the code. No longer including compiled builds, but leave a comment if you need one. You can compile it yourself on any system using Processing. http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/01/ctin544_library_assignment_upd.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/01/ctin544_library_assignment_upd.html assignment code example networking processing Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:39:08 -0800 New Post at Softcore Gamer: Getting in Trouble Getting in Trouble, over at my blog Softcore Gamer. It contains a brief review of Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble, recently nominated by the WGA for best writing in a video game in 2008, and a long digression about grinding as a necessary feature in RPGs.]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/01/new_post_at_softcore_gamer_get.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/01/new_post_at_softcore_gamer_get.html analysis design choices difficulty failure recommendation review story in games system women in games writing xpost Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:45:19 -0800 New Post at Softcore Gamer: Learning Curve Learning Curve, over at my blog Softcore Gamer. It might be of interest.]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/01/new_post_at_softcore_gamer.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2009/01/new_post_at_softcore_gamer.html accessibility barriers to entry casual gaming design difficulty fun genre interactive fiction introduction to games narrative recommendation story in games structure system text user interface Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:30:08 -0800 Butterfly Garden: Capture Prototype Butterfly Garden: Capture. There was some amount of skepticism that the idea would actually make a workable game, and I figured there's only one way to know for sure. So you can check out the rough prototype here, if you like.]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2008/11/butterfly_garden_capture_proto.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2008/11/butterfly_garden_capture_proto.html design fun playable playtest projects prototype Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:30:35 -0800 Boundary Conditions: Trust and Consequence in Negotiation Games (For a CTCS505 assignment.) The concept of boundaries is fundamental to the design of games. Traditionally, games have explicit and unequivocal demarcations that separate the space of the game-world from the larger world around it. The spacial boundaries of a game like tennis are clearly marked by the court; games like chess and go are likewise bounded by the edges of the game board. But even more important than spacial boundaries are the ideal conditions that determine when a game is being played and who is a participant in it. Participants are always clearly differentiated from non-participants, even when the two groups occupy the same space. The act of participation, which extends from the moment of invitation to play until the conclusion of the game, is an implicit social agreement between parties that a game is taking place within the agreed-upon spacial, temporal and conceptual boundaries, and that the actions they take within the context of that agreed-upon game have a different meaning than they would have outside the game. In Rules of Play, Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman say that within the boundaries of the game, "special meanings accrue and cluster around objects and behaviors. In effect, a new reality is created, defined by the rules of the game and inhabited by its players."1 http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2008/10/boundary_conditions_trust_and.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2008/10/boundary_conditions_trust_and.html assignment boundary emotion interpersonal relationships magic circle metagame negotiation participation research shared reality social games social play strategy trust Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:31:06 -0800 Photopia and the Illusion of Control Photopia, and that you do so before reading this, as the following will contain some spoilers for the game. Photopia is one of the defining works of interactive fiction and, in addition to that, it is relatively short (around forty minutes) and accessible to newcomers to the medium. If you haven't yet played the game, you can find an online version here, or download the script and interpreter from here.) ]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2008/10/photopia_and_the_illusion_of_c.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2008/10/photopia_and_the_illusion_of_c.html agency assignment if interactivity narrative Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:02:38 -0800 Undertow! Undertow! is a mod of the popular family board game Up the River, with a grim slant. Instead of merrily rowing boats up the river, each player is responsible for a group of swimmers who are being pulled out to sea. We were aiming, in our design, to hit a particular emotional note: hopeless desperation, waxing panic. I believe we hit that mark.]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2008/10/undertow_1.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2008/10/undertow_1.html alpha assignment design playtest projects Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:56:51 -0800 Interesting Interactions Interesting Interactions" over on my personal blog, Softcore Gamer. It's a response to this post by Leigh Alexander at Sexy Videogameland, as well as musings about this post from Jamie's blog last year.]]> http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2008/09/interesting_interactions.html http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sbouchard/2008/09/interesting_interactions.html classification combat design design choices design philosophies genre industry innovation interactivity interesting interaction link quote response survival horror system violence xpost Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:38:44 -0800