Class of '05

Postcards from GW

Robes: Complete

High Quality, 80mb. Seriously suggested.

Lower, 30. Not good though, subtitles are harder to read.



That's right, Robes, my second machinima film is finished and ready for download. I call it machinima, but it isn't strict. Here's a brief synopsis.

Tonight on Channel 6's documentary series 'Krazy Kult Kount Down', is an insight into the story of Leo Deus and his shady organisation, Leoism. So shady that even the most basic purpose and beliefs of the cult eluded the masses. Thankfully, Janey and Darrel, the Channel 6 experts, along with various other qualified persons are on hand to lend their limitless expertise, going behind the myth of 'one of the most popular cults in the last few years'.

Open Hammer

Whatever the current state of the industry, I'm consoled today when presented with this image. Open Hammer, draw a box. Like God rubbing his omniscient hands before the creation of the Earth, whole virtual worlds of possibility are suddenly opened. Gaming can't be creatively doomed yet.

Despair and Disillusionment

I'm losing faith in games. Look at the titles, or the trailers of any game shown at E3 this year. Count the number of games that centre around 'HIGH OCTANE KILL EVERYMUTHAFUKARTHATMOVES' gameplay, the number of games with 'war' in the name, the number of sequels, the number of games with bosses, or with 'destructible scenery', and you'll have accounted for every offering I've clicked on the name for during the trade show's coverage.

It's fucking boring. High fantasy, sci-fi, sports, ancient civilisations... Very, very little has changed in a very, very long time. People studying cinema next year might be looking at old films like 8 1/2 and new ones like I Heart Huckabees. I'll be falling asleep listening to people talk enthusiastically about old games like fucking Lemmings, and new ones with names like Gears of War, Burnout Revenge, and Stranglehold. Urgh. It's artistically and intellectually barren nonsense with big sharp teeth, probably a rocket launcher, and maybe a spread sheet thrown in to remind you you're dealing with something as emotionally unattached as the numbers what you're playing is based on.

You could argue that I'm wrong, perhaps offering examples of intelligence in some recent games. "Swat 4 introduces some humanity in conflict", "Resident Evil 4 does something new for the importance of environment", you might say. You'd be right, these are the points I argue daily. But really, one game is an episode of a shallow cop show, another is a disastrously generic zombie flick. Step out a level - all these games are actually, derivitive, childish tedium fit only for those who would watch the non-interactive versions upon which these examples are based. And interactivity just doesn't make up for enough of the shortcomings of any of these titles.

I haven't played a single game this year, or, actually, ever, that has made me come away feeling better about myself, or more learned, or anything remotely positive. I'm tired of making excuses for the mind-numbing pap that makes up the majority of every game we play. In fact, I'm tired of worrying about the 3D Mark of my graphics card. I'm tired of banal details we pour over, oohing and aahing at alternate filing methods in and out of game. I'm tired of the innovation extending as far as the fucking GUI. I'm tired of ID3 tags, viruses, junk mail, IGN, the Splinter Cell series, Oleg Yavorsky interviews, EA, slow uploads, windows, even this damn chair. Excuse me.



Notice the claws on the character's feet. This makes him scarier.

Gaming Weather

I don't know. And if it is the case that those with a life they really enjoy never have time for games, what is the point in making them? Watching the rain from my window I've often smiled, thinking; "ahh, ideal gaming weather". Yes - weather fit for doing nothing else. Apart from maybe testing a new umbrella.

When complimented by real, happening life, games seem dischordant and wasteful. Conflicting. Also drab, shallow, and always, always jouvenile. If I treat myself to an extra half hour of Guild Wars, I'll always regret it 30 minutes later, when I'm suddenly rushing to get my stuff together for school or something. Watching a bit more of Twin Peaks or Six Feet Under, I might feel defiant, angry at the commitments keeping me from watching something I feel is benificial on some level.

Not so with Guild Wars, or indeed, any other game. Defiance and frustration with other people and their deadlines is replaced by guilt, shame - regret for inflicting upon myself an extra level of stress, for the purpose of increasing my 'swordsmanship' skill from six to seven.


But I have more faith in Us than that. Fundementally, I think we just need better games. Perhaps also shorter games. More on that soon.

My Garden.

What is the purpose of computer games? With reference to the fact that I can have a more vivid experience than almost any of them provide by simply standing in my garden.

Earthly Gamma

Summer has a specific feel. Something quite additional to just the hard shadows and squinting brightness. Smell is a significant factor - the melting tarmac, the heightened pollution. The ambient sound also changes. Insects buzz, traffic noise somehow seems more prominant. Planes go over, patches of cloud push the earthly gamma slider around.

Games (thought I was straying there?) overstep or understate a good deal of the environmental sensory detail that's needed to create the mood for a scene. A summer atmosphere can evoke a lazy calm, or a heightened anger spurred by the heat. Winter; a whitened clarity, or a desperate foreboding maybe. So let's feel this in-game.

The best example of this I can think of was in San Andreas. I was knocked off my bike as I wheelied down my girlfriend's street - barged off the road, landing flat on my face. Standing up, shaken, I surveyed the area for the silver BMX. The sight before my eyes was one that was profoundly based on the environmental elements. The grass was long, neglected, blowing wavily around my knees. The low set houses, little more than shacks were mostly boarded up. A gun shot could be heard in the distance, and the heat haze blurred the cars at the junction up ahead. A perfect atmospheric composition. Even better is the level design to make your initial home where it is. My most distinct memory of San Andreas is riding across the train tracks on the main road near Carl's house, "Wrong side of the tracks" kind of symbolism immediately conjured. I'd bunny hop the curb to the gym in my wide jeans and white vest. Sandy buildings, contrasty shadows. That moment was hugely memorable. To me, it's what defines the game from it's predecessors. It was the authenticity of the setting - the economic but artful choosing of environmental detail.

The famous image of Stalker is the abandoned ferris wheel. Of course! What image could better connote the eerie, meloncholic emptiness of Chernobyl?

Don't confuse my point with something graphical - although these elements are graphically represented, it's the strategic and tactful choosing of these elements that makes effective environments. Summer is more than a fancy lense flare.

Conservative

1up hands-on with Epic's new Unreal Tournament.

"Our goal is to make a much better UT than anything anyone's ever seen,"

- Steve Polge, lead designer.


There are some pretty mind blowing screenshots, and evidence that level design is based on geometry rather than artwork, but I thought that was standard practice. Also a new game mode, 'codenamed 'Conquest''. Get this, with an element of resource management. A new game mode? For a new game!? No DAMN WAY.

"It's only at a pen and paper stage right now," mentions Steve. Ah, excellent. Slap some new textures on some new levels, update the old games in the usual way, then add in the precious little (semi) innovation at the end. That way, it'll be too late to implement it to the rest of the game!

Here's an idea: stop playing to the needs of these conservative, anal-retentive UT hardcore types and do something interesting. I mean, Deathmatch could do with some reinvention...

Evolution not revolution then, as usual. On a more positive note, the first time I saw this as a thumbnail I was thinking "must be artwork, must be artwork, must be- ...OMGLOL It's not artwork! It's not artwork!"

Emerald Leaves

Large amounts of time spent in-game inevitably takes its toll, in today's case by referencing itself outside of play. My life wouldn't make a hugely interesting game, so I try to avoid talking about it in this blog, but a Guild Wars analogy surfaced whilst standing a fair distance from my alternate 1152x864 existence that struck me vividly.

She stood there impatiently. An aging, stout, gnome-like woman with a no-nonsense countenance and eyes magnified by her glasses. I fumbled with my bag's zipper, half tearing the crumpled sheet of paper from the pocket.
"Here", I said, placing the tattered chart on the table. We were standing in the school lobby. Students passing by through the automatic doors brought gusts of cold air with them, the woman quickly placed a fist on my exam timetable to stop it blowing away.
"No, you don't have a clash. Look, you'll have philosophy in the morning, then media in the afternoon". She pointed at the contours on the page. A paperweight on the desk read "Mrs Cook - Administration".
"Ah, yeah, ok". I replied. "Won't that mean I have four exams on the same day?"
"Now you listen here, there are people who have seven, and asking for more". The woman's brow furrowed, suddenly affronted.
"In the real world-" she continued,
"Ok, ok. I know all about the real world". I thanked her and left. Strolling out of my usual side gate, across the playing fields and the school's surrounding area I paused to stare up from beneath the trees, marvelling at the emerald green of their translucent leaves against a pure blue sky. I don't know what the real world is like, not even slightly.

A perfect analogy for Guild Wars. What is known as 'pre-seared' Ascalon, the bright, green, lovely fantasy world you are eased in from. As with childhood, you're soon a big fish in a small pond. I've heard of the real world - out of the n00b area - but what's out there? The discovery is like a loss of virginity; a tainted innocence, a taking of one of life's major steps. Arriving in the 'post-seared Ascalon' is a shock. It's scary, and exciting.

Robes

The teaser trailer for the spiritual successor to Dead Dogma is now available for download. More details soon.

Robes Teaser

41mb

Postcards from Tyria

After a night of playing (slaving), there seems to be very little to distinguish Guild Wars from WoW. The clustered server system means that you very rarely see lots of people in one place, and the combat seems almost identical to Blizzards game. Player skill driven? How? Anyway, hooked up with someone. Tomorrow we're going to enter the 'real world' - leaving the soft, autumnal starting zone shown previously. Apparently it's big. Big and scary. There's inctricate PvP, guild combat, and customisable weapons options, all of which certainly sound worth a look. If they drag you through eight hours of The Grind to get to something that's actually original, they must think it's really worth it.




Tomorrow - Any substance beneath the style?