Thoughts in Theory

Back From The Dead

2011-09-27T14:08:00.000-04:00

Okay, I am totally bringing back this space but repurposing it to be a space to share some of my writing! Especially with NaNoWriMo coming shortly I want to use this space to share bits of my writing and hopefully post my 1700 words a day for writing my novel. I know its cheating a little to come up with an idea ahead of time but I am pretty excited about this particular idea so I am gonna go ahead with it for Nov.

I am hoping to write about my life as a Type B personality. Non-fiction is a little terrifying for me but that is okay! I've never seriously written any non-fiction at all so this is gonna be a huge challenge for me. Well, 1700 words a day on top of a full time job is already a huge challenge but now its gonna be hard core.

That's about all I got for this space now. Just reopening the portal to my mind and getting some thoughts out (in theory).

Back on the Bike

2010-09-21T00:30:00.000-04:00

Okay,

I am writing this more for me than anyone else. Mostly because I am terrible at keeping journals. Particularly journals that are all in one place. I have found that this is mostly because I have been writing EVERYWHERE. I didn't notice I did this but apparently I write stuff literally everywhere. If there were some way to have this stuff collect itself in one location I would have enough material to write this blog non-stop.

As it is. I am forced to write more in more places until I get a scrap of writing that ends up here. This brings me to my next and previous topic. Recovery, how it went, and if I met my goals.

I am feeling much much better. I have a follow-up in Nov to make sure I am actually doing better and not just feeling better. As for my goals... well lets see.

1: my prototype is not playable but is much closer to being playable and I am satisfied with my progress as other things to precedence and my goals shifted (mostly to not feeling like crap... I had no idea how exhausting regrowing a breastplate could be).

2: I have a decently detailed document at least getting my idea down on paper. A lot of paper. And some Internet, but not much. Don't have much research but I have enough to feel like this is possible IF I can find out more about start-up costs and start-up capital.

3: I'll be honest. I didn't touch this one. I didn't like computers while I was healing... too much sitting up... it hurt me.

4: I used it a bit but didn't learn a lot. What I DID do was look at a ton of photographs and learn more about how people do some of the things I want to learn. Now I won't feel as weird trying to put some techniques into practice.

5: Done and Done. This one I nailed. I love it so far and now I'm super pumped about it. To the point where I am starting to write another campaign AND hoping to translate both into wiki format via Obsidian Portal at some point. (Getting so into DMing its not even funny)

6: This one will bring me back to my original statement and I will now revisit this goal. My goal is not to write more it is to share more of it and possibly collect more of it and learn from my older writing. My other goal is to get in the practice of scheduled writing (which would require a real schedule but... whatever) and to help with this I am really looking forward to Nov again as I will probably be trying to participate in NanoWriMo again and failing at it gloriously again.

That appears to be all for now. It seems my life is slowly shifting and a few big shifts seem to be wanting to take place soon so I'll look forward to writing about these as well.

What's Goin' Down

2010-05-12T09:53:00.000-04:00

Alright. So coming up soon I am gonna be somewhat out of commission recovering from surgery but before that happens I have set aside 3 major goals of mine which I would like to accomplish by the end of my recovery time. I figure that writing them down is a great way to force myself to follow through on them. Any encouragement towards these goals would be greatly appreciated as well lol.

The First: Complete a playable prototype of a card game I have been working on and test it with as many people as I can. Attached to this would be figuring out copyrighting for the game as I have little to no idea how copyrights on games work.

The Second: Conceptualize and lay out some sort of document or plan for a place of business that has been bouncing around my head for quite some time. Do some research regarding precedents for this particular type of business and hopefully have some actual numbers to start working with. Any good resources for modeling business plans would be appreciated.

The Third: Orange box an exterior level design concept I have been working on. Seriously. I really just need to go and do it. For real.... or unreal... unreal 3. Yup. That's all. But I felt like this bullet note needed more. And now I can't stop. I think I need help.

The Fourth: Use my camera more and learn more about what I am actually doing with it.

The Fifth: Plan out a bit more of my DnD campaign so I don't need to think about it when our group finally decides to sit down and play.

The Sixth: Do more writing in general. Document my progress on stuff and get everything on paper. (Linking to this concept I have been falling in love with post-it notes... they are like bullet notes but more awesome)

So I realize I said 3 but I figure the last three are wishy-washy enough that I can throw them in and not suffer too much. So that's my plan and I am sticking to it.

Leagues of All Shapes and Forms

2010-04-19T01:07:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I have noticed recently that Leagues have been dominating my life recently.

I have been playing a lot of League of Legends (LoL) recently and I have been loving it. Such a simply game that I can pick up for an hour and be done with. Its not entirely unique or special in any way it just takes a lot of good things from the genre's it draws from and puts them all in one neat little package. I'll be excited to see where it goes in the future.

I have also been slowly making my way through the Pokemon League in Soul Silver. Again, not unique at all as far as games go but puts a well needed coat of paint on my favorite game in the series. As a side note, pokemon still remains in my top three games of all time.

In addition I have been DMing (Dungeon Master-ing for those unfamiliar) a pretty low key Pathfinder game where the group is starting their own little pseudo justice league. I am loving this Pathfinder campaign. I find that I run the game like I run so many other things in my life... completely through intuition, randomness, and a little bit of pulled together logic from what I know of how the game works. It is working surprisingly well. It helps that my players don't mind the loose structure but it also gives me so much freedom to adapt to what my players want and need from a given session. I even drew a small crowd! (though it was only my sister and a few of her friends lol)

Finally, I suppose major league baseball is starting to become sort of the background noise of my life because so many people I know have started watching it. I like watching games now and again but I can't pay attention to it. I need to be doing something else while its going on, unless I am right there watching it (which is rare).

Either way, its rather odd how many things in my entertainment life are kinda circling around different leagues... maybe I'll go watch League of Extraordinary Gentlemen later...

Micro Review: Tatsunoko VS Capcom (and other things)

2010-02-16T22:54:00.000-05:00

Okay, so having finally officially unlocked all the characters in TvC I feel am ready to give the game a fair micro review.

To start off, the game feels similar enough to its predecessors to be comfortable to fans of the series. However, it gets major points for being a simple fighter (in the scope of fighting games) and thus appealing to people who might not otherwise give it a second look. I think people in general would enjoy the game if they gave it a shot. That being said... NO ONE knows who or what Tatsunoko is (not even my spell checker...). That is a major problem with the game gaining popularity in a casual market.

Moving on past the general appeal of the game we get into the actual control scheme. Quite literally it is 4 buttons and a control pad/stick. Easy. No swapping of control modes. No major flaws. Not even elaborate controller inputs (THANK GOD). The most you are asked to do it like a half-circle and two buttons at the same time. This is a godsend for those of us who dread seeing two full circles and a six button sequential combination when we pull up our favorite character's move list for the first time. I personally use a gamecube controller (the D-pad seems faster to me so I am working on a thumb callous). I have tried the standard Wii controls... they don't feel good to me but a classic controller fixes the problem. I imagine an actual fight stick is probably the best (as always with these games) BUT the $70+ price tag is a bit of a deterrent for a cheap gamer like myself.

The art style is perfect for this type of game... the only thing that bothers me about it is I wish I could see more of Tatsunoko's animation not just still frames...

The music is quite good but nothing that jumps out to me. Some songs really strike me, others seem to just fade away... and none of them seem original to the game (save perhaps the opening cutscene? which isn't remarkable).

As far as game balancing and design goes I think the game is quite elegant. It doesn't get convoluted but it has enough complexity to make me feel like there is always something new for me to learn. For example, you can do a super move. Cool. But you can also do a double supermove with your partner. Awesome! But it doesn't end there, you can do a supermove followed by a supermove to switch your characters. The game also has a thing called a Baroque combo, which while silly sounding makes for some very very fun and overwhelming results in a fight. When done right it can make a supercombo look like childsplay.

The characters themselves are also fairly well balanced and not many stand out as too incredible/unstoppable or just plain terrible. I can see all of them having their own unique uses. The only thing is the game seems totally directed to all out assaulting making turtle characters hard to play the way they were meant to. When the pace gets set for all rush-down style play blocking takes a back seat to whooping ass (which again lends itself to a casual player very well).

The online play is great only held back by the Wii's inexplicable ability to suck at using the internet.

Finally, the game's sense of humor is the icing on the cake. The fact that there is a mini shooter game that you unlock by beating the credits minigame (yes... there is a minigame in the credits). Makes me smile like not many other unlockables have in a long long time. (mostly unlockables make me groan to be honest). And even though it is a trivial thing... I love dealing damage in billions.

Overall, I approve of the game. It doesn't break too much new ground but makes the genre of fighters seem a lot more interesting as a whole. It is great as a way to break the massive learning curve barrier into the genre if you are willing to go out of your way for it. It doesn't seem like it will be a superstar in the marketplace but it has a place in my library as one of the games I am proud to own.

My Trip

2010-02-05T09:39:00.000-05:00

Man, it felt good to catch up with people. I got to see a lot of friends I hadn't visited in a while and even managed to meet a few new/cool people. It was nice to get my mind away from home for a while and helped me get motivated and inspired to use what little free time I have wisely. Battling the dredge of winter has been difficult but I feel somewhat revitalized now.

SO. With that said I have recently been playing a couple different Wii games. Namely, FFCC: Crystal Bearers and Tatsunoko VS. Capcom. Both have been holding my interest to a good extent and I will definitely be going into some detail about them when I feel I have gotten a sufficient taste of them. First impressions are good though.

I have also been sort of dabbling in a few games that are not quite as new (I tend to be behind the curve because it saves me money) but I finished Arkham Asylum, and I am playing through a few other games in the Eidos pack from Steam (mostly Tomb Raider Legends). When I say playing I really mean like an hour of gameplay a week... maybe. I am also supplementing this with a bit of LOTRO and getting a feel for the skirmishes which are a breath of fresh air for the game and have really kept my interest in it alive a bit longer.

On the non-game side of things I started working on a Pathfinder campaign which I hope to run in the future. Its based in a metropolis city filled with all sorts of evil. A major theme in the world is going to be villains trying to fix the city in their own twisted way. It is more than a little inspired by comic books but I am loving the feel of it so far.

I think that's about all I got for now. More coming.

An Overdue Update

2010-01-31T10:16:00.000-05:00

It has been some time since my last update but I have good reason. I started a new job, I'm still applying to positions as much as possible, I am still working on a few personal projects.

My last update I was working on nanowrimo. Unfortunately I didn't quite finish but I am going to continue writing my story. I'll let you know when I complete it.

In the mean time I hope to write a few more micro reviews on games that have crossed my path recently. I also hope to write a more detailed post on the topic of card advantage at some point so that should give me something to keep me writing here for a little while. Looking forward to warm weather and visiting friends in Burlington soon so I'll probably be posting about that at some point. (maybe with pictures?) So I guess thats something else to look forward to. That's all for now.

NaNoWriMo

2009-11-02T21:53:00.000-05:00

Okay. So I think most of my writing energy is going to go into NaNoWriMo this month. I just felt like posting to share it and to say that I am pretty pumped for this. I can't believe I have never tried it before. So far I think I am on track but it has only been 2 days. We'll see if I can keep up with it.

Wish me luck!

I Wanna Start A Business

2009-10-26T22:10:00.000-04:00

So... I feel like I should have double majored in business or something because never before in my life have I wanted to start a business more than I do now. I have so many random ideas for businesses that I would love to see come to life. Some are my own ideas, some are inspired by others, a few are shared. Who knows maybe I'll sit down one day and figure out if any of them are actually viable. Maybe one might even have potential to stay a float.

With that said... I have little to no knowledge of how to actually plan or run a small business so the likely hood of it happening is slim to none. However, if I ever become rich or have a patron of any kind I will totally start a business and run it into the ground for fun (or maybe sell it for a small profit?).

Also, with no known way to fund said business I find it unlikely that this will happen any time soon. However, if you happen to have a couple hundred thousand dollars lying around please feel free to send it my way and I will be more than happy to make a small plaque for you and put it in my business for everyone to see.

Ancient Co-op Games

2009-09-28T22:50:00.005-04:00

Okay. To preface this post I must say I have been absolutely obsessed with ancient board games recently. Like, I have been playing Chess and Go non-stop. I have even been having Go dreams... like I am playing go against myself and losing (don't ask me how I am not also winning if I am playing myself but trust me I am not).

So in most obsessions of mine curiosity is close at hand. I have become very curious about where cooperative play had begun. Where are the roots of cooperative play? What are the best examples of it from ancient games? After asking myself these questions I started searching.

I honestly haven't found a lot of good examples of it. The strongest ones I can find are either puzzles or games like Chinese Checkers where it is possible to have teams but are not what I would call co-op. The only other examples I have found are mutations of solitaire with multiple players trying to accomplish the same goals (which basically boils down to a puzzle but perhaps I am being too much of a reductionist).

So, with these discoveries I have begun exploring potential routes for co-op games to take. I feel that the strongest route a co-op game can take is a game based around construction rather than destruction. What I mean by that can be explained by comparing Chess to Go or even better Solitaire to a jigsaw puzzle. In Solitaire players are trying to deconstruct a chaotic deck of cards and then reorganize it into their rightful stack, or in peg style solitaire puzzles players attempt to reduce the amount of pegs until only one remains. While in a jigsaw puzzle many "players" are trying to construct a picture from a single starting point.

The reason I feel this construction path is stronger is because it would force players to rely on one another to create a solid construction and foundation. In a destructive game one player could potentially do all the work while the other accomplished little to nothing and they could still be successful. This may work for some players but I feel to create a challenging co-op game all players need to be contributing to accomplish the goal.

However, even in writing this I have found that my point of view comes down to casual/social play vs. core/competitive play. If one player falters it may provide unwanted punishment to players and drive away casual players while on the other hand if a single player is carrying the "weight" of the team they will feel like they are being dragged down.

I dunno, I guess it is something I will continue mulling over. I wish to have a lengthy discussion about it in the near future. Anyone reading this with input please feel free to add something. My curiosity hungers for your input.

Game Review: Scribblenauts

2009-09-16T12:39:00.005-04:00

Okay first of all, if you don't already know what Scribblenauts is (which, if you have been following upcoming games at all you should) I am going to explain it a bit.

Scribblenauts is a game from 5th Cell, makers of Drawn to Life and Lock's Quest. All of these games have grabbed a lot of attention from E3 and the game community at large for their unique play style and quirky art style.

Scribblenauts is a puzzle style game actually very similar in style to Crayon Physics. The basic object is to get Character A to Star-Thing B with all the crazy obstacles you could want in between. The trick is in the primary mechanic, the ability to write whatever comes to mind and have it appear on the screen.

Overall the game is a gem in the piles and piles dirt offered to those of us who love the DS. It stands alone as a thoughtful game with personality, depth, and most of all a lot of heart and thought put into it. It shows in every corner of the game from the simple introduction screen to the developer's room I found by accidentally stepping into a teleporter.

The puzzles are fairly simple to start off with and offer an easy way to get into the game and learn your limits (which there aren't many of... but they will be discussed later). As you get further into the game the puzzle start to take on their own style, putting twists on typical game situations. The art and characters give them game its own humor but when combined with the infinite possibilities offered in the game hilarity is a natural bi-product.

I honestly haven't explored the Wi-Fi of this game but I truly hope that sharing levels in Scribblenauts will be the next Little Big Planet. The level editor in my opinion is where this little game will truly shine. I have only scratched the surface of the things you can do in the level editor but it is already satisfying. I can't wait to share some of them with my friends. (yea... gimme your friend codes.)

As a whole, the game doesn't leave a lot to be desired, but as they say the devil is in the details. The one glaring drawback to the game is the clunky movement controls. I have always hated point and click style movement and I personally feel if they had only swapped the D-pad controls with the stylus controls it would have made the game much more playable. I can't count the number of times I have restarted levels due to a clumsy jump where it should have been simple.

The only other major frustration I have is with the player's ability to interact with other characters. The interactions feel very limited unless they are part of the puzzle. For example I wish I could give clear orders to a creature I have created, or I wish that when I spawned a dragon it wouldn't immediately hate me (I wanna ride it!!). However, most of these problems are fixed by the level editor, the more in depth control of the characters in the editor is just what I needed to satiate my hunger for more control.

One thing I must say is surprising about this game is that when I first bought it I thought that a game with so many possibilities couldn't possibly account for all the ideas people have for solving problems. In other such games it can feel like a struggle to try and figure out exactly what the developer wanted you to do rather than being able to what you wanted. However, in this game it feels like (with a few exceptions... the major one being that flying seems to solve almost everything) I can solve each puzzle in my own way.

I guess all that's left to say is I hope to see more games takes risks like this one in the future. It is a pleasure to play and I would recommend the game to anyone of any age.

Why are Cute Games the Most Innovative?

2009-07-30T11:27:00.012-04:00

Okay, you may be asking yourself where I got such an idea. How can I say something as seemingly simple as an artistic choice to make fluffier bunnies drives innovation? I tend to ask myself the same thing sometimes but I continue to find examples of this statement's truth in both past and current games on the market (and off the market to a large extent, meaning art house games and other indy titles).

I can't count the number of times I have found myself playing a childish looking game with adorable characters, plants with smiling happy faces, or even cute little bits of pixel art and found that the design around that art is ingenious, unique, inspiring. Heck look at Orisinal Games. Maybe it is just me or perhaps I have the cause and the effect, it could be that brilliant design inspires adorable art but I believe it is a synergy of the two. One drives the other.

I suppose I can't say it is only the 'cute factor'. What I guess I really mean by 'cuteness' is actually artistic abstraction. Art that is distanced from reality. It is inspiring in so many ways and seems to be a part of if not the best at least the most risky designs.

Artistic abstraction is an incredibly useful design tool in many ways that have already been discovered over and over again. I am not an expert on the subject so I won't talk at length about abstraction's strengths but I can give a few examples. Abstract art can draw on emotions realistic art can't. It lets the player see more of themselves in the characters and thus empathize with them more. It allows for more variety and unique style in games to set it apart from others. But I would argue that it also drives innovation in design.

I think this is because abstraction allows more freedom in decision making. With abstract art there are little to no assumptions about what the art should be or how the characters should act. This freedom from assumptions means that the mechanics of the game can be ANYTHING.

What I mean by this is that with realistic art it is much more difficult to have that freedom of mechanics. With realistic art players expect realistic gameplay, which leads to a sort of stagnation in what realistic games offer. Don't get me wrong, this has its strengths too. Having realistic art definitely has its merits. Players know what to expect from it, they know what they are buying when they look at it so these games are easy to sell and can lead to more subtle innovation and evolution of the different game genres without much economic risk. This is equally important in my opinion but does not excite me in the same way as a completely (or mostly) unique experience.

I guess what I am getting at with writing this is partly for my benefit, to try and focus where I find my inspirations. To realize that I need to look to visual art more to draw my inspiration and drive gameplay innovation. But it is also to try to get others to look in places they might not consider for inspiration, look to a medium or a game genre that you might not normally consider great. Even just writing this I have convinced myself to try and get more excited about hardcore games and realistic ones to look for more subtle design decisions in those experiences and learn from them.

SO I guess I am just trying to say, don't rule out a game just because the cover is an animu mushroom angrily kicking a plumber. That game might have something to it you have never seen before.

Thanks for reading.

~Brian

Some Pictures

2009-07-23T21:55:00.006-04:00

Here are a couple pictures I snapped during my visit with Kaleigh. They are mostly taken from a small bridge over a pond where we ate a short picnick. I like the shadows on some, the reflections on others, and some other things about them so I thought I would share them.

A Compendium of Thoughts

2009-07-07T15:44:00.004-04:00

I have decided to start working on a project to get all my thoughts together on a bunch of topics that I deam important. This will be a sort of compendium of my knowledge and refer to a number of famous works (though I probably won't cite or anything). It might be riddled with accidental plagerism for now but hey, oh well. It is better to ask forgiveness than permision.

Anyway, I am posting to try and collect a number of topics together in one place which I can then condense or expend. If people have suggestions I'd love to hear them. I am hoping to make this a sort of philosophical thing and a look into my morality.

So far I have the following:

Dreams
Play
Chaos vs. Order
Myths/Cliches/Architypes
Story Telling
Spirituality
Death
Cooperation vs. Competition/tit for tat/Prisoner's Paradox Game
Paradoxies
The Rat Race/Corporate Living/The Trap of Modern Living
Art
Music
Love
Family
Rules/Laws

I dunno, these are just thoughts for now. I hope to start writing about them soon. Everthing I write will be almost purely opinion and much of it will probably draw on famous authors that I don't remember so they might not be all my ideas originally but they will be what I think currently.

What I've Been Up to

2009-06-24T11:51:00.005-04:00

Well, I applied to a few jobs in/around Boston today so wish me luck!

But besides from the job search I have been keeping busy, mostly writing actually. It has been a while since I have really sat down and writen a bunch of stuff so it felt good.

I am getting pretty excited about my D&D campaign, it feels like it is coming along but I have a ton of stuff still in my head that I haven't gotten onto paper... er... wiki.

Other than that I have basically been writing character bibles for use in role plays as well as some of my own stories. Heck some might even cross into my campaign.

I have also finished reading 3 small books recently. The Power of Myth, This Book Does Not Exist for only 9 bucks at Barnes and Nobles I recommend it, and The Universe in a Single Atom, not to mention four short comic books.

I really enjoyed the first two and recommend them as easy/awesome reads. I may have already mentioned Campbell but I have been looking into his other works and the works of Bill Moyers (his interviewer). I really want to find his PBS series so I think that is my next project.

Other than that I have recently downloaded the trial for Multimedia Fusion 2 and finished the tutorial. I am hoping to challenge myself to do rapid designs of different types of game and perhaps then redesigning them with a twist.

Finally, I have been playing Guitar Hero II with my father recently, I think he is almost ready to move up to Medium difficulty. I myself am only just breaking into Expert (I don't think I can even beat all the songs on hard yet...) but I am getting there. I also am hoping to show him CoD 4: Modern Warfare as I think he will love it.

Thats all for now. Thanks for reading.

What To Do?

2009-06-04T11:35:00.006-04:00

Well, again I fail at keeping regularly updated. I guess I have just been distracted as always. But I have to say, it is quite nice to be able to get my thoughts out in one place every now and again. I think it helps keep me sane(ish).

Since my last post I have been fairly busy. I have been applying to jobs (a somewhat daunting task). The strange thing is, every time I send out a copy of my resume I realize something else that can be fixed on it or something I need to do to improve it. I suppose it it probably like that with everyone straight out of college but it is such a strange feeling to be "finished with school" and have so much to do.

So on that note, to improve my portfolio/resume I am currently working on a level design. I haven't decided what engine to use. I'd like to learn Source a bit more so that will probably be the one I use, though using Unreal isn't out of the question. I am also kicking around designs for a card game. Even though I have no idea how to even try to publish one it is something I want to try. Lastly, I have been trying to jot down ideas for rapid design games (and failing because unfortunately it is a little lower on my totem pole of things to do).

Besides all of that I have also been working for fun on a number of things. A Pathfinder campaign using Obsidian Portal, an incredibly easy tool. Improving my writing through various RP forums, RP gaming, and personal writing. Keeping a dream journal. Amature photography with my new camera (a nikon d60). Amoung other random things (reading Campbell mostly).

So I have a lot on my plate, I am having a bit of trouble prioritizing but only because all of it is so interesting. I need to create deadlines for myself...

Anywho, I am off to to help my father ventilate our roof. Thanks for reading.
~Brian

Graduation Work

2009-04-19T23:58:00.003-04:00

Okay, so I realize that I have not written a post in a long... long time. This is primarily because I have been preparing to graduate. I have been getting my projects in line for my portfolio, I have been working on my resume, and I have been searching for jobs online, all while trying to figure out the best place to live for the time being.

Anyway, this is going to be a short post but it is mostly to remind myself to write here consistently for once and to post up a link to my portfolio for those that are interested in looking. Check it out!

Thanks for following me if you do, Wish me the best of luck in the future and soon I will be writing like closing thoughts on my graduation, my senior projects, my experience at Champlain, and all kinds of good stuff. Maybe even a video game critique or two if I am feeling up to it.

~Brian

Allow Me to Rant a Bit

2008-11-03T10:21:00.007-05:00

To preface my life is still crazy but I don't want to talk about it. In stead I am going to talk a little bit about a bunch of games I have watched recently. I use the term watch because I didn't actually play them but glanced over at my roommate while he played them and I was doing homework or reading to keep my brain from melting. Regardless I saw a lot of little things that people already probably knew about these games (including myself) but I felt the need to point them out a little. The games being Fallout 3, Dead Space, and Fable 2.

Let's start with Fable 2. I didn't really enjoy playing Fable 1 but it was a good game, fairly innovative with a lot of cool features, and a style (artistic and otherwise) that fit the name "Fable" far better than most people really noticed. The second is still a good game but much less interesting to me. This is because sequels bother me in the first place. They need enough new content to really drive me through and with Fable 2 my hope was that it would give me the drive to play it that Fable 1 failed to. This is not the case. The style remains strong giving an amazing fairy-tale feel to the game. The story (from this little taste I have had) is a bit more interesting. The game-play is a bit smoother. But overall it feels like they tweaked the first game a little and released it again. I will say this though. I tend to struggle with western style RPGs because I have no attachment to the character and they tend to be sandbox games, which are interesting but again have no drive to get me through them. I personally tend to get more attached to a character that has their own story and Fable 2 does that well. The game does a good job of eliciting emotion something I haven't seen from a Western RPG in a while (probably because I don't play through a lot of them).

Next on the list, Fallout 3. Another sequel so I am again a bit underwhelmed by it. It is also another sandbox game, though I will say it gives a decent amount of direction to the player... at least in the beginning. Since I have only really seen the beginning and tidbits of game-play I can't comment as much on the experience as I would like to but I have to say the character creation process in this game does a really good job of holding immersion into the world, at least compared to other character creation processes. You get to see your character grow up and you even see their birth so it is like you aren't just pulling this character from thin air but rather seeing the moments that make them who they are when you start playing the game. It is a very clever solution to the problem of keeping immersion. The game-play itself impressed me less. It has the same feel of Oblivion with some sugar coating and then it is deep fried in the world of Fallout. This crates an interesting mix, not unlike deep fried candy bars, but it isn't much more that simply interesting. It doesn't do enough differently to stand out in my mind. It is delicious and good but the game is somewhat heterogeneous, two parts that would have been better melded together rather than rolled in one another. It is still delicious just not as delicious as a whole new recipe would have been.

Dead last is Dead Space (ha, get it?). This one stands out a lot more than the other two. I spoke briefly of immersion before and Dead Space does this very well something it must do well to be a horror game I would argue. The only reason this game got on my radar was that my roommate would jump a bit every now and again and I would hear a bunch of gunfire then silence. That right there shows a good game-play experience. It has incredible dramatic structure on a microscopic level. Every action in the game has it's own little climax and resolution and when a number of them are stung together it gives the game a very interesting feel. The only problem I can see with this is it might get exhausting later in the game, seeing the same pattern again and again (which I haven't seen so i can't comment on). But back to the immersion thing. It was a bit hard to catch this at first and I thought originally that it had a bad immersion factor because my roommate would explain exactly how he was NOT falling into the game world. I thought about it a little more and I realized what he failed to say was that he forced himself not to be immersed so as not to fall into the game's TRAP. He was staying removed from the game on purpose to avoid messing up his last clean pair of pants. Even when he was slightly remove he would still manage to get pulled in enough to jump and say a brief "Jesus, Mary, n' Joseph!" while blowing off the gross limbs of something that grabbed him while he was saving the game. The minimalistic interface does wonders for the immersion and the real-time inventory is the perfect way to get players to do what they should never do in a horror/action game which is stand still. Overall, it is a very clever and well designed experience. I can't wait to see my roommate when the end of the game comes along.

Anyway, thanks for reading, sorry for ranting if you don't like rants but I though I needed to talk a little about the games outside my crazy work world.

~Brian

C is for Crazy that's good enough for me

2008-10-27T13:29:00.004-04:00

I am really bad at doing this... Thank you for bugging me about posting I really need to make it a habit like weekly would be best (though I don't know how much new information will be popping up. Anyway, here goes.

So life is still crazy, I say that casually these days. Like "Oh yea life is still crazy... nothin' new" but that is kinda how I have been feeling. But when I really sit down and think about it my life is crazy and not just crazy like a lot of stuff going on I mean crazy like a lot of awesome stuff is going on. For example, We have a deliverable for the UNFPA project in 2 days. Like people from the UNFPA will be reading this document... That is huge. I never though I would be in a situation where my work would be judged by the same people that work to reduce poverty work wide on a daily basis. That is crazy. I am pretty excited about it though. I am nervous because I feel like no one in the world knows how to make this game, let me say that again no one knows how to make this game. I have to make it. Crazy. I am still working on Information Literacy and it is freaking me out but we won't get into details on THAT. Lets just say it is something I needed and it was my first real taste of production outside of class. In class I am learning a ton in my level design class, I am loving level design by the way. It is this awesome place where I can feel artistic and create artistic spaces while still focusing on things like balance fun design etc. it is a good hybrid and it is one of those classes that has me learning how to learn. I need to learn and use some Kismet by Thursday and that is crazy too but awesome I can't wait to sit down and work on it. My Advanced Seminar class I feel like has been on the back burner. I am working on a design in that class that I love, I love it but it doesn't feel like a priority for some reason (crazy). It is this awesome little game about how communication works, how it strengthens us and how we need connections to make it anywhere in life. My other idea I had for that class that I absolutely love but won't have time to work on until later is an electronic game for the blind. It focuses on alternate feedback but I haven't put any real time into it. My other classes are nothing work loads comparatively I treat them as time that I don't have to work on other stuff and THAT is crazy. That is the majority of stuff in my work/professional life but as a side note my personal life isn't any less confusing.

But speaking of communication, a little while ago I had a pretty good opportunity make new connections and practice my communication skills. The opening of the EMC was just last Tuesday (feels like a year ago) and I met many awesome people from all kinds of different professions who all had interest in what we were doing. The governor of Vermont was even there. What was really cool was I got to talk to Jason Della Rocca - Executive Director of the IGDA among other folks from 'the biz' in Montreal. A2M is sounding cooler by the second and they will definitely be on my list of companies to look at/apply to. We got to talk to people from EA, Microsoft, and America's Army as well (crazy). It was an awesome experience and built my confident in what I am doing at the EMC even more. Now I just have to make sure that confidence transforms that C in crazy to C is for Career and THAT is good enough for me.

Just the Start

2008-09-03T18:37:00.000-04:00

So, this is the beginning of my 4th and final year here at Champlain. It will certainly be an interesting one by the looks of it. I am taking 5 classes 3 of which of which will require somewhere in the area of 10 hours a week including class time. I am doing 40 hours of community service this semester (not sure where yet but if you have suggestions I'm open to them). Plus 2 projects for the EMC both requiring somewhere in the range of 10 hours a week. I am totally excited for all of it but I feel like my social needs are going to take a bit of a hit because of this. Level Design is going to be an incredible class where I will get to learn a little bit more about a ton of different engines (my first class is tomorrow). Senior Team Project is exciting because it will give me a chance to really push myself with my partner and make something that is finally something I would actually want to show a potential employer. Finally Advanced Seminar will be exciting because I get to explore some of the crazier ideas I have had for game concepts and get more experience with rapid prototyping. Some of my ideas for that one are a game that is meant to be played by feel or that is designed specifically for the blind (this one I am pumped about but will probably be the most challenging) and another idea I had that was inspired by Orson Scott Card's books Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide, I love his Sci-Fi theories on the soul and connections and wanted to play with those ideas in a mechanic. So to say the least I am feeling the pressure already.

Aside from all of that, the Emergent Media Center (EMC) projects I have been working on have taken a bit of a break for this week but it is very much needed. Last week was my trip to Africa for the UNFPA project and my mind has been swirling ever since the day we landed. We saw so many things and learned so much it is hard to put into words. It was a very draining trip emotionally, physically, mentally, etc. So I am grateful to have this week to try and collect my thoughts (many of which are scrawled randomly in a journal). The Information Literacy project I haven't heard much of (because of my trip) and I have a feeling that it will be a struggle to get a finished product on time. Everything is there it just needs to be put together and that seems to be out of my hands for now (though I am trying my best to do what I can still). I will be working on both throughout the semester and hopefully I can keep posting my thoughts on the projects as they progress.

Thanks for reading.

I'm in South Africa

2008-08-27T17:25:00.000-04:00

So this is so strange. When I first started college I never thought I would end up in Africa let alone making a game dealing with issues such as domestic violence. I think this experience speaks for itself and I am having a hard time figuring out how to put it in words, especially tonight knowing that tomorrow we will be going to an elementary school and we are apparently expected to dance for them...

The rest of the day I am excited for though

It's like a 10 ton truck...

2008-08-19T00:15:00.000-04:00

Yep. There is a LOT of stuff going on for me right now. Some good, some not so good, some stressful, some more stressful. But it is all very exciting. I am trying to keep up with my blog (I really need to make this habit) but there is just so much going on. I just got my new computer running (built it myself and very proud of it). So I just got back online in my free time. This upcoming school semester I am excited for but a lot of what I am doing is going to be stuff I hope to put in my portfolio so I want it to look nice and feel right (which it never quite will but I hope to get it close). I have 3 main ideas for prototypes I hope to work on during school. My senior project is what I am most worried about. I don't know what the class involves but working with my partner Kyle R. (a good friend since freshman year) will be good. All I know is that it is an important project and will probably end up being a bit portfolio piece (if I don't turn out something crappy). But what is weighing on my mind the most right now is the UNFPA project. I am going to South Africa in 3 days to do research. It is a bit mind blowing and happened super fast. I am looking forward to it but I am also scared. Either way it will be a good experience. I think that is all for now but I think I might go into more detail later on my ideas for prototypes. But I need to rest for now.

Purpose

2008-08-15T13:17:00.000-04:00

So I suppose I should probably mention who I am and what I do. Well I graduated from Salem High School in New Hampshire in 2005 and that is really when all of this started. I began going to Champlain College in Burlington Vermont. I am now going into my fourth year in the Electronic Game and Interactive Development as a Designer. I am currently working on 2 game projects right now and in my last year here I will be working on my Senior project as well as other design courses involving level design and prototyping. I honestly am not sure where I am going after this year. I am not even sure what it is I want to do. All I know is that I love writing and design theory so hopefully I can find something to combine the two. Anyway, that is sort of the reason I finally decided to start this blog. I want to keep writing even if it is not entirely relevant to my profession. I also want to keep my brain thinking about Design theories. I hope to share my design processes a little here and to share my concepts and some of my writing (as well as empty my head of strange personal thoughts so if those put you off just ignore them). I will soon go into detail on the projects I am working on but this is mostly to give this place a foot hold and get me in the habit of using it. Again thanks for reading.

First Post

2008-08-15T09:57:00.000-04:00

Hey people,
So this is my blog. I haven't ever been much of a blogger. I when I was younger I tried a few different web journal style things but I never had much to write about. But I figure now that I am coming up on professional life (scary) I might have a little bit more to write about. So this is a place for my thoughts to reside. I hope to use it to share ideas and get feed back on them as well as hopefully connect to a few people who I find interesting and vice versa. But this is just an introduction so I think I will leave it short and simple. Looking forward to actually using a blog.

Thanks for reading!