Browsing Date Archive: 2008

In my previous post, I wrote about Silver Bullets, and how they’re a dangerous thing to strive for when writing software. Naturally I’m not the first person to write about them

Jeff Atwood’s “Quantity Always Trumps Quality” deals with the underlying cause of Silver Bullet Syndrome – trying to design the perfect system. When I first read the headline, I was already getting ready to disagree, but it makes a very valid point. If you’re not writing code, you’re no learning. Theorizing about best practices and architecture is all well and good, but you can only see things go wrong when you actually code them and see how they work.

“I’ll get to your application in a minute – First, we need to build the framework” by Jeffrey Palermo looks at the problem from a web developer’s point of view. The environment may be different, but the problem remains the same. Well worth a read.

Legend has it that the way to kill a werewolf is to shoot it through the heart with a silver bullet.

Software is not a werewolf.

That might seem like an obvious statement, but how many times do developers approach a task with the mentality that there’s only one "perfect" way of doing it?

A good illustration of this is to give ten programmers a single, small problem to solve. Chances are, they will all do something slightly different. Even simple algorithms can be done in a dozen different ways. And remember, this is just small stuff here. Once you get to developing full pieces of software, the choice of solutions explodes. Just look at how many RSS readers are out there. Each one solves the same basic problem in a different way.

Games are just as likely to fall prey to the "perfect" way of thinking. Perhaps even more likely, because of there’s always the thought of "we can use this framework for every other game, so it has to be good". This type of thinking sounds smart in principle. After all, re-using code saves money and time. The only problem is that too much time gets wasted on tweaking engines instead of creating the actual product.

Start small, and concentrate on what needs doing. Don’t get caught up in trying to develop an engine that can do everything, because it’s a waste of time. Always remember that what you’re creating can be done in a million different ways, and none of them are perfect.

There is no silver bullet.

Keira Peney from Write The Game recently emailed me to request an interview. It’s my first time, so the answers might be a little dry and long-winded, but it was fun and I hope it’s useful to other developers out there.

Interview: Interview with Phil Newton of Sodaware.

One of my favourite games of all time is Sonic Team’s "NiGHTS" for the Saturn. The core mechanic is very simple, and the graphics look a little ropey compared to more modern titles, but it still has oodles of charm and lots of playability. You can imagine my excitement when "Journey of Dreams" was announced, but having played it recently there was something that irritated me.

There’s too much story.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good yarn, but there’s a time and place for it. Ignoring the fact that video games tend to have sub-standard plots, there’s several deeper problems that need to be addressed.

The biggest problem is games that have a plot for no reason other than to fit in. If Space Invaders was made today, would each level need to start with a monologue about the plight of the human race? Perhaps the ending would reveal that mankind were the real space invaders, destroying other worlds for their resources. That might sound like a great plot on paper, but do we really need it?

Let’s use horror films as another example. The bits we don’t see can sometimes be the scariest. A close-up of the victim’s face, followed by a cut to their shadow and a ghastly scream is far more effective than seeing them being sliced up whilst the killer explains about how he wasn’t loved as a child. The real power of the scene lies in the viewer’s mind. Perhaps they see the attacker as a clawed monstrosity, or maybe it’s the theme park owner who’s in it for the money. The important thing is that the viewer is left to decide what really happened.

That’s my problem with Journey of Dreams.

The first NiGHTS had some great FMV which set the story up nicely. From the opening film, it becomes apparently that Claris and Elliott were talented individuals plagued by fear and nightmares. There are no cut-scenes once the game has started, and it’s pretty much left up to the player to decide on everything.

Once the final boss has been vanquished, the two main characters meet in Nightopia, but again it’s up to the player to decide what happening. Have they fallen in love, or are they just cementing a friendship from their adventures?

Sadly Journey of Dreams decided to add dialogue to the mix. Lots of it. Although I’m not keen on the voice acting, my real problem is that it doesn’t give you chance to use your imagination. For a game that’s all about dreams, it’s a shame the developers decided to go down this route.

Games don’t have to tell a story. It’s nice when they do, but there’s really no need for hours of cut-scenes and pages of dialogue for a game that’s about collecting orbs and flying through hoops. It’s an important lesson to learn: More isn’t always better.

Unnecessary story elements aren’t a huge problem in indie gaming, but that’s mainly down to the limited budgets and time constraints. What’s more important is remembering that as indies we have a lot more flexibility in deciding how we tell stories.

Take time to consider what really needs to be told, and strip out the bits you don’t need. You want people reading your story to know just enough to be interesting, whilst still leaving gaps for their imagination to fill in.

 

Apparently today is the most depressing day of the year, so here’s the Carnival of Video Game Bloggers to cheer you up! As always there’s a lot of great articles to read through and new sites to discover.

The first entry goes to the baglady over at schlaghund’s playground,  who looks at Rock Band’s uncanny valley. There’s quite a distinct degree of separation between fantasy and reality when playing games with a keyboard or a control pad, but games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band can blur the line. An interesting look at how this convergence of the game world and the real world can effect the playing experience.

Next up is Blue Skelton, who looks at The Best Video Games of 2007. It’s a video that showcases some of the best video games from last year. With so much quality in 2007, it’s easy to get overly excited about what this year will offer.

NES fans are in for a treat, as raptor looks at SydLexia.com’s 100 Best NES Games at Listosaurus Rex. There’s some classic games on the list, and the number one will come as no surprise.

If you’re a fan of multiplayer games, then you’ll love Danogo’s fascinating History of Online Games With a Big Featured Gallery. All of the classics are there, such as Neopets and RuneScape, as well as mentions of the Dreamcast which always earns bonus points in my book ;)

Chris George presents a review of Phantasy Star at Retro Gaming Hub. The original Phantasy Star really pushed the Master System, with 3D effects in the dungeons and an epic story. Be sure to check out the other reviews on the site too for a real dose of nostalgia.

If you have some spare cash and you’re wondering What technological things should you have, then bennie from Technology Matter has just the list for you!

Scott Davis from ZombieChatter.com is next in line with two articles. The first is a very positive Contra 4 Review, and the second looks at The worst NES games of all time. It’s part one of a series, and the first featured game is "Cybernoid".

As if psychically alerted to Scott’s list of bad games, the old-wizard (from Old-Wizard.com, of course) gives us his own list of the Top 20 Worst Video Games of All Time. I don’t agree with all of them, and it’s quite obvious which game is at number one, but it’s always nice to be reminded that terrible games are not a modern phenomenon.

Dale from The Gamers’ Chronicle submitted "Dan Hsu versus The Video Game Industry", which looks at how 1UP.com’s Editorial Director, Dan Hsu, responded to Midway, Sony, and Ubisoft’s banning of Electronic Gaming Monthly from receiving press material for coverage in their magazine.

The ever-reliable Jigsaw hc returns with his Blacksite: Area 51 Review. Be sure to visit Jigsaw hc’s Rants & Reviews for more rants and reviews.

John M takes a slightly different approach to video game blogging, with the "would you like to use the Internet to earn a PS3?" project at Earn a PS3. There’s a lot of ways to make money online, but if you’ve thought of giving it a go you might like to read John’s blog.

And finally, Write the Game’s K Peney gives us A History of Computer Games: The Multiplayer Years. There seems to be a lot of excitement about MMPORPG’s these days, but it’s nice to look at some of the older games and see that they’re still kicking around.

You can submit an article for the next carnival of video game bloggers using the carnival submission form, and view past and previous editions at the blog carnival index page. The deadline for submissions is February 22nd, so play some games and get some inspiration!

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