Topics

61

Discussing Game Design / Challenge 1: Minimum Viable Games?

« on: March 13, 2012, 10:30:17 AM »

I was listening to an episode of Second Quest yesterday where they mention Dark Souls and how cohesive the game's focus is. It got me thinking about minimal game experiences. Here's the podcast. The whole episode is good listening, but the part I was focusing on is right around 47:00:

It's very clear what's in that game and what isn't. It's not a big game...it's not nearly as big as a Skyrim, or something like that. Every part is in there because it belongs...the imagery is so tight...
I love that they didn't waste money on things like--that the NPCs like, don't move. They basically don't even move. You'll go up and talk to them and they don't even turn their heads...I don't think. Maybe I'm just remembering it that way. You know, someone might have actually stood up in one of those meetings and said, "We have to have NPCs that walk around. Oblivion had NPCs that walked all over the place. They could walk all the way across the game world. Why do our NPCs just kind of sit there. Everyone's gonna think we're lame! We're gonna get an 8 score for gameplay from whoever!" and you know they knew they didn't need that...and there were probably many other decisions like that.

Taking a game you know and love, how could you reduce it to the most minimal game possible?

Example:
Game: Go
Reduced version: Go

 

I'll think of another one later.

62

General Discussion / Introduce Yourself!

« on: March 12, 2012, 03:40:05 PM »

• Where are you from?
• Name/handle
• What was the last game you played?
• Name a really great game, and something really great about it.

63

General Discussion / How to Write an Interactive Story - Proposal

« on: March 05, 2012, 03:50:32 PM »

For the inaugural h2w, I think we should start with something simple and fun. Here's a suggestion:

Twice a week, I'll post an article or subject related to game design to talk about. We all take turns posting thoughts or reactions afterwards. We can do this for 8 different subjects and at the end of it, see how it went.

What do you think?

64

Discussing Game Design / How to Write an Interactive Story - The Course (Proposal)

« on: March 05, 2012, 03:44:59 PM »

How to Write an Interactive Story

What is it?

Are you interested in writing games? We’re going to start an online seminar/workshop where we work on and discuss games together. In Writing a Modern Interactive Story, we’ll study video games– their overall experience, the mechanics and what makes them fun. We’ll then apply that knowledge to designing interactive books, creating games that combine good story writing with modern thoughts on game design.

Who is this class for?

People who play games on their own and are thinking about writing a game.