Comments on: More

By: Vertigames » Blog Archive » More Part 2: Justifying the Axe

Vertigames » Blog Archive » More Part 2: Justifying the Axe — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 03:22:52 +0000

[...] know that hardcore gamers hate to hear about developers delivering anything but the maximum they possibly can… Members of [...]

By: Vertigames » Blog Archive » Weapons of Awesome Power (and some less so)

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:53:40 +0000

[...] Clank folk), so they skipped the pistol in this game. Being a fan of every weapon having a “raison d’etre“, I certainly don’t mind that they didn’t just throw in a pistol for extra [...]

By: Vertigames » Blog Archive » Conference-bound

Vertigames » Blog Archive » Conference-bound — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:28:00 +0000

[...] a short talk on scope, vision and just good game design practices, which you know I’ve been thinking about a lot lately… It’s the first talk like this I’ve given and hopefully [...]

By: MrValdez

MrValdez — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:00:35 +0000

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

French writer (1900 – 1944)

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/26979.html

By: Kriss Daniels

Kriss Daniels — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:10:43 +0000

Samuel Dane:

“I am so very sad that every single frickin’ developer is doing that these days. Don’t underestimate your audience’s intelligence, PLEASE.”

I don’t know how to explain this to you, but it is not an underestimation.

Sorry. I wish it wasn’t true but the audience, en mass, is retarded, finding a non retarded audience is almost impossible and the numbers just don’t work. In theory the internets should allow niche audiences to open up, but mostly it just seems to enable ad supported content to hit the millions of retards it needs.

BTW what the audience wants is something that looks hideously complex, but is actually mostly down to dumb luck (or fake luck if you are talking single player). That way they can kid themselves that they are smart and persistence will triumph.

Personally I wish to create simple looking games that express more complexity as you play and understand them, rather than the other way around. Unfortunately this is a suicidal act.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:05:39 +0000

I most certainly am not afraid of “rich” content if it means “deep”, and I know that what I say freaks people into thinking I’m advocating simpler gamer to be more “accessible” (and nowhere did I say it was). While I think that burdensome presentation and overly complex interfaces go directly against reaching the audience you want to reach, what I generally avoid is complexity for complexity’s sake. There are times when I see a feature that seems like mental masturbation on the part of the designer, like gamers should pat them on the back.

I’ll get into this on the next post on this topic.

By: Samuel Dane

Samuel Dane — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:35:17 +0000

Rich content is not the same as “complex”, and certainly not the same as having “500 guns”. I think you’re a tad confused on the difference between more content and rich content. I don’t really think that Bioshock and System Shock have anything to do with what you’re saying here. Bioshock wasn’t a dumbed down System Shock because it had less content, but because Bioshock’s content was presented in a much more straightforward manner so that the players had no need to think for themselves or use their imagination. Frankly, I felt like I was playing a game that had been catered for retards. While System Shock is a deep and stimulating experience, Bioshock’s depth is the equivalent of the shallow end of a child’s wading pool. While System Shock is a clever little piece of entertainment, Bioshock is an attempt to present that clever little piece of entertainment to an audience full of Forrest Gumps. Same thing with Morrowind and Oblivion. Oblivion doesn’t have less content then Morrowind, but its content was made “more accessible”, and thus, frustratingly stupid. It didn’t go from complex to simple, it went from rich to shallow. I am so very sad that every single frickin’ developer is doing that these days. Don’t underestimate your audience’s intelligence, PLEASE.