Just a test blog
By spacetrucking 4 Comments
.Just a test blog
No Thanks Mr. Apocalypse, I'm good
By spacetrucking 5 Comments
It's quite obvious that game developers love the post-apocalyptic setting, especially the nuclear fallout kind. While I really enjoyed games like Fallout and S.T.A.L.K.E.R, I'm at a stage where I've grown a little wary of this particular scenario. Zombie apocalypse is another breed that ironically refuses to die. I think Plants vs Zombie is the only zombie game I really enjoyed lately.
It's part of the reason why I'm having fun with the old concept-made new take of Darksiders. The game just runs with the notion of total destruction of humanity. It's been a while since we had a game that featured an apocalypse where absolutely no one survives. The world here is well realized and you can see the effects of some horrible event everywhere you look.
However, this also made me think - why not make a game in a scenario where all these events are actually happening ? Imagine 2012 the movie, only you're Nic Cage - running away from stuff and trying to survive. Survival Apocalypse, if you will. You are moving from one action-packed sequence you another as everything around you is falling apart. Maybe in between you have to scrounge resources and supplies for the coming doomsday and give it an adventure feel.
Well, I guess I'm babbling about some really gloomy scenarios now. Lets just end this post on a happy note. And nothing screams happiness like flowers and sunlight!
Digital Distribution pricing needs to evolve
By spacetrucking 3 Comments
I've been thinking a lot about Steam and digital distribution in general lately. I believe, it was the most significant gaming trend of 2009, as it allowed us to enjoy games like Shadow Complex, flower and the near-endless amount of Fallout 3 DLC content - things that would have never seen the light of day had it not been for services like XBLA and such. In general, I'm really happy with the way it all works. I prefer managing my game library online and its more convenient to buy too. But I do have one big concern for the current model - pricing (for retail games specifically).
Both those titles would've been amazing buys if there were cheaper on Steam at launch. Ask yourself, would you give Bionic Commando a try if it was say $20 (or $30 on consoles) ? The game certainly had some issues but at that price range, it's an outstanding buy. I can't speak with any authority about sales figures and the accounting behind it all but I just wonder if Grin would still be around if that had been the case. This analogy/supposition goes double for Dead Space and the demise of Visceral Games.
Runic Games had the right idea with Torchlight. The game has been selling extremely well, partly due to its sweet price range. They even have a solid fan base now to launch their MMO on and it's a great success story that most publishers can learn from.
If you look at all the lay offs last year, the game industry is really hurting right now. Production costs are upwards of millions with everyone trying to score the next Modern Warfare. It's about time some of them realized that not everything is going to sell millions. If anything, learn from the success of all the small download-only games from 2009. Maybe they can achieve more by just lowering their expectations. I realize that digital distribution is not part of the problem here but it can be part of the solution.
The Truth is creeping me out
By spacetrucking 16 Comments
I'm nearing the end of the Truth puzzles in Assassin's Creed II (18/20 at the moment) and its been amazing so far. I'm more interested in what happened to Subject 16 than what Ezio is upto. I was never much into Dan Brown books (I liked the movies but they never really struck a cord with me) but going through Altair's Codex Pages and Subject 16's cryptic messages give me a greater sense of mystery than those movies ever did. This interactivity is exactly why video games are awesome. Figuring out all the small touches like the hidden morse/digital codes and little subliminal messages give you a great sense of satisfaction.
Apart from the intriguing conspiracy theory, I love the audio and visual feedback you get during the truth puzzles. The first time I was solving a picture puzzle, I never noticed the eerie white noise in the background and as soon as the last piece clicked, the loud * clink* sound gave me a big enough jump scare that I dropped the controller (in my defense I partly blame the 2 AM timing and an imaginary force feedback).
I really admire Ubisoft's attention to detail here for what is essentially an option sidequest. I think this is the best example of how to do collectibles in an open-world game. I just hope the ending to both these mysteries don't let me down in the end.
Dedicated Servers - remnants of a bygone era ?
By spacetrucking 20 Comments
Personally, I agree with him. Before the hardcore PC gamers chew me out, I want to make it clear that I grew up on Quake and UT and I used to swear by that model. But over the last 2-3 years, I've had a better experience with games that use a matchmaking system instead. It started slow with Halo and I was initially annoyed by the constant lag and dropped games but with time, the overall experience has almost caught up with dedicated servers while still maintaining the inherent accessible nature. I'm still very much a PC gamer but I constantly envy some of the console matchmaking features.
I think Carmack and the whole MW2 scenario indicate that we are at a tipping point where developers can fully commit to a matchmaking system and still provide a great multiplayer experience.
An important part of the puzzle that a few people miss is that almost everyone has cable internet connections now and even the base hardware running these games have improved drastically over the last 3-4 years to an extent that you can host and still play at the same time. Modern desktops/laptops, Xbox360 and PS3 are mighty machines with some serious performance and we no longer need to spend four grands to host a video game.Dedicated servers were born out of technical restrictions imposed by the old 90's hardware. Even the internet infrastructure at the time wasn't conducive to online gaming. You needed a heavy duty system using office lines to run stable Q2 games but times have changed.
The other issue is the community. Dedicated servers indirectly led to the creation of clans and online communities based around a single set of servers. But whats to say the same kind of close-nit community can't be accomplished with a matchmaking system ? I can't speak with any authority here since I tend to meander around when it comes to games but I can site a couple of examples here. Street Fighter had a very active community scene with the arcades which acted like a server host for everyone to hang around and meet up for games. But they have transitioned really well to the current matchmaking system used on XBL and PSN and you see a lot of people who first played on these networks randomly, liked what they saw and went on to form their own fight game clans and such. The arcades scene is still alive but the torch has been passed to the console version so to speak. The second example I have is Forza which is another game that uses the matchmaking system with an active community. Forums, group and ingame chats are a few ways I can think of that can help sustain a sense of community in these games.
Performance is another caveat that stops people from fully endorsing the matchmaking system. I'll admit that a fully dedicated server is still going to outperform a p2p based system in sheer numbers but how much of that translates into the actual game ? Is the extra 50ms worth all the hassle an average user has to put up with ? And look at it from a developer's point of view - the amount of control they get interms of content delivery when everything goes through them. Being a programmer myself, I'm very much for anything that gives the original developers as much control over their product as possible without stifling the community. We will see how IWnet turns out but I've high hopes for it.
Sadly, the demise of dedicated servers will hurt the mod community the most. If there was one thing I could carry over from the dedicated servers, it would be the mods.
My favorite multiplayer moments have occurred when I was playing modded versions of Q3 or UT2k4 and I wonder how they will adapt.
Soapbox: LoL and HoN communities
By spacetrucking 11 Comments
Gamasutra ran an interesting article about these two communities: Heroes of Newerth Vs. League of Legends: The Communities
Its a not review for these games but rather of their respective communities.The community is the heart and soul of a multiplayer game so I'd recommend giving it atleast a glance if you're even remotely interested in picking up either of these titles.Inspite of the slightly passive aggressive tone towards the MOBA genre as a whole, I think its fairly positive press for League of Legends and the article was interestingly published on the same day the game goes live. Hmmm. Anyway, I agree with most of the points he made about the mellower, more fun-loving community that is LoL.
I must admit it makes the entire Heroes of Newerth community look like nothing but jerks. While that is certainly not the case, the stereotype does exist for a reason. Personally, I just find it hard to get into a multiplayer game where a significant portion of community is selfish and can't see the value in relaxing and having fun with others (if you think winning every match is the only way of having fun then YOU are the problem).
I'm very new to MOBAs so I had some really harsh matches in both games at first. However, the way the community responded to me fumbling around during these initial matches made all the difference in my experience.In LoL, my teammates and sometimes even my enemies helped me pick items and character/laning strategies etc. and pointed out what I was doing wrong. Some even pointed me to helpful tutorials in the forums and it improved my enjoyment of the game. Whereas in HoN, I just got profanities and insults hurled at me.This eventually lead to me just giving up on the whole thing. It was doubly disappointing because I keep hearing that HoN has more gameplay depth but I just don't see the value of it all if the community continues to be so abrasive.
Maybe someday I'll get good enough to graduate from my noob standard but I've to ask myself...why ? Why bother if you're a perfectly good alternative where you don't have to deal with as much jackassery ?
Shuriken and Lightning!
By spacetrucking 2 Comments
I've been giving Painkiller a try this past week and I'm truly surprised at how well that game holds up to modern day shooters. It's been more than four years since it was released and if you consider all the shooters that have been released in that time, you might expect it to pale in comparison to games like Gears but the amazing thing is that Painkiller is actually more fun than 99% of the shooters available in the market today. It provides the visceral gameplay style which most shooters lack these days. The whole game is basically about having fun by mowing down tons of dude and making you feel like a complete badass. There is a story but it's completely superficial and takes up a grand total of 5 mins throughout the whole game. You play the role of Heaven's hitman and are sent to stop Lucifer's armies from conquering all thats holy.
The level design is very compact and you can actually breeze through most of them in about 15-20 mins each. Every stage has a different, unique set of enemies with different abilities so you never feel like you are grinding through a bunch of generic mobs. Each stage has multiple secret areas which you must discover to unlock something known as Black Tarot cards, which basically provide even more exotic ways to kill tons of dudes.Completing all the 24 stages in the game would take about 6-7 hours on average difficulty but because of the unlockables - the game has some decent replay value as well. The graphics aren't too bad either and do the job of portraying the morbid world of "purgatory" quite well. The game has plenty of gore and blood to satisfy any sadist.
This game is really a throwback to the time when you could take on a hundred goons at a time without having to crouch behind a rock after every shot. It even has good old big boss fights and a GAME OVER screen. I found Painkiller to be a real adrenaline rush and at $10, I think its a steal! Honestly, I haven't had this much fun with a shooter since Half Life 2.
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