Privateer Newbie 2
- Thread starter Kalor
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criticalmass said:
Actually, I don't. The only games I've ever owned in which I got into the provided material were X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Space Quest V: The Next Mutation, and Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger. The way I see it, in the old days the storage, audio, and video mediums were so limited that developers didn't have much choice but to include fun material with the game. These days, the sheer storage and storytelling capacity we have renders fun extras obsolete.
To me, extras are just something to lose. Only recently did X-Wing's The Farlander Papers show up for the first time in about eight years, and I had to totally repurchase TIE Fighter to get The Stele Chronicles once again. Don't even get me started on the various external copy protections of old DOS games... if you lost the copy protection answers, you were screwed, and it happened to me all the time.
I consider it a priviledge that I began life playing both PC games (early Sierra On-Line adventure games) and console games (of the Nintendo Entertainment System) at the same time. I learned the strengths and weaknesses of both mediums, never having a much of a chance to be biased in one direction or the other.
criticalmass said:
Exactly! The way I see it, PCs and consoles will become one, as PCs and, well, every other aural and visual medium are becoming one. I figure it best to plan for this eventuality. And believe me, the average gamer -- console gamer, I mean -- wants fast-paced, adrenaline-pumping action. They care nothing for slug-like PC mainstays like CRPGs, traditional adventure games, turn-based strategy or tactical games, and all the like. Even the RPGs of the console world are fast-paced and built around their garphics and combat elements. Such gamers also won't "appreciate" the idea that their games might have buggy code causing gameplay, audio, and video errors or even outright crashing. They're not too keen on the idea of having to install games either. Lastly, console gamers crave multiplayer.
First-person shooters are difficult to play on consoles, but are becoming more popular with ever-better graphics and streamlined gameplay. I've become quite good at games like Halo and Timesplitters, actually. I've also developed a taste for Unreal Championship II: The Liandri Conflict.
As much as we mainly PC-gamers may not want to admit it, the market has spoken, and consoles have won the battle we've all spoken of for years. If we want to bring back "obsolete" genres like CRPGs, traditional adventure games, and turn-based strategy or tactical games, we must update them to look better, play faster, and if at all possible, provide multiplayer expandability.
The way I see it, the industry needs people like myself: gamers who were born in the early 80's and who have had both a PC and console presence in their lives since day one.
And so I sit back, and dream, and come up with multitudes of game ideas and rough design documents. I just recently wrote a 2,407 word rough treatment for a space combat simulator that takes the best of the X-Wing and Wing Commanders series and melts it all into one formula. I got so into it, I wrote the whole thing in one night. That sort of thing happens to me all the time. Sure, it's far from done from a developer's perspective, but it's crammed full of ideas and even a checklist to jumpstart serious development.
I remember being six and seven years old and mailing level and boss designs for Mega Man games to Capcom... man were those things terrible... but I've come a long way since then. Video games are second nature to me (as are films, but that's beyond the scope of this forum). I've owned and played hundreds of video games in my life, across the PC and console worlds, and learned whatever I could from each and every game and genre, ripping apart and reverse-engineering game designs to find out what made them tick.
Is the game fun? Why is it fun? Who designed it? What's his/her philosophy in life? What was he/she trying to do with this game -- what were his/her goals? Who is the target audience? Why were they the target audience? Where they reached? Is the game solidly built from a basic, aesthetic standpoint -- and not just in terms of sheer graphics? What makes a game immersive? Is the game immersive? Why or why not? Is immersion something that's even important to this game? How's the pacing of the action and plot? What could be done to smooth out the pacing? And so on, and so on...
So why am I saying all this? To get it off my chest, I guess. My whole life is films and video games, and I really don't have anyone to talk to regarding them... and I'm a 23 year-old guy starting out in the post-college real world who's just looking for a little affirmation. So many plans, so little time.
Even the name many of my friends associate with me -- Kalor -- has its origins in the game TIE Fighter. When I was in seventh grade my friend Jim and I would walk around the perimeter of our school's playground during recess, and we would take turns adding on plot "modules" to an epically long -- but now tragically forgotten -- TIE Fighter saga starring him (Mike Terran) and myself (Jeff Kalor). Of course, I've learned since then that those weren't particularly Star Wars-y names, but what're you gonna do? We were 13 years old.
At the same time, we'd discuss our fervent passion for Final Fantasy III (VI) and Chrono Trigger, the latter of which we still both consider the greatest game of all time for purely sentimental reasons (I still remember being so excited I couldn't sit down when I uncovered the major plot twist involving Magus). And Final Fantasy VI? The opera scene will forever stick in my memory as one of the pinnacles of my gaming life. TIE Fighter, the Space Quest and King's Quest Sierra On-Line adventure games, and all the like also fill my memories and drive my passions.
I desperately want to direct films and design video games to make a difference in the lives of others, but I don't have the money for the former or the resources for the latter. I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place... with a BS in history.
Anyway, thanks for letting me get this off my chest.
Thanks,
Robert Aronson (Kalor)
spiritplumber said:consoles? uhm, how the heck do you play a rts or a fps (decently) without a mouse?
how the heck do you make a game mod on a console?
thanks, i'll stick to a real computer. Consoles are just excuses to get people to write emulators.
If a game is designed efficiently and effectively around the fact that there is no mouse, you can play a FPS extremely well on a console. All it requires is a little practice.
As for mods, I was never pleased with the quality of them (being the tyrannical quality freak that I am), so I don't miss them when it comes to enjoying console games. I never felt that modders maximized their potential as developers, always desiring to enhance something that already existed instead of grasping for bold, original ideas.
Thanks,
Robert Aronson (Kalor)
ChrisReid
Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
Kalor said:
Yeah, I'm in the same situation. Actually enjoyable mods are really few and far between. We've been lucky to get a few in the Wing Commander community, but the vast majority of them out there are a real waste of time. I can't stand using a mouse with an FPS. I really need the analog sticks of a controller to move around fluidly. And mice have been coming out for consoles for years. There's no reason why the next batch of consoles wouldn't have them. If you want to play Halo with a mouse on your tv, you can, but I'd never be able to. There's really just nothing preventing a good RTS from coming out on the consoles. My tv runs in a higher resolution than I run RTSes on the computer here, and I'd really enjoy the built in voice communication which is only just beginning to infiltrate some genres on the PC. I've been a big RTS fan on the PC for more than ten years now.. and I can't wait to see the next console ones they develop.
Happy Camper
Spaceman
That's very true, but partly because there are so many of them. Multiplayer mods are another thing entirely though. Counter Strike and Day of Deafeat are just two quality mods that are great fun to play. The fact that they were both bought up by valve is a testament to their quality. But yeah, most mods created are a bit on the crappy side to say the least.ChrisReid said:
spiritplumber
Spaceman
Mods are a good way for people to learn to program though...
Happy Camper
Spaceman
It's a good motivation to start. It would be more effective to learn from the ground up, but I would imagine learning to program through modding is a lot more appealing.
KrisV
Administrator
It sounds like the quick road to mediocrity. If you want to learn something well, you start from the beginning.
In any case, most people will never play a mod, so I don't think this is something that a company would take into consideration when deciding what platform(s) to develop for.
In any case, most people will never play a mod, so I don't think this is something that a company would take into consideration when deciding what platform(s) to develop for.
KrisV said:
Speaking of that, I mentioned earlier in my big-ass post that I was a goodly way into developing a design for a space simulator combining the best of the Wing Commander and X-Wing series into a new, original formula.
Anyone with art, music, and/or programming skills without much to do want to jump onboard if you like the design? I'm obviously going to ask around in more places than just this topic and forum, but I figure I could start here. Anyone know anyone who might be willing to jump onboard?
Thanks,
Robert Aronson (Kalor)
http://www.progressivedementia.net