Some minecraft adventures with the guys at yogscast
enjoy
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Portal 2
There is a part in Portal 2 soon after you escape from the Aperture Relaxation Center when the player as the elusive and, within the game, nameless character falls through a glass ceiling (Though a quick Google search will reveal her name to be Chell.) The player finds that they are in a glass cube. It is not hard to see that this cube is as high-tech as the facility it resides in, yet vegetation has grown over it. The natural world is encroaching on Aperture Science at an alarming rate. The cube is mostly empty with just a a few things lying around. A portal opens up on a wall and, in case they didn't know already, the player knows that this is the cube where the first game started. It's obvious that Chell is right back where she started.
Portal 2 is a game that knows it's not in a vacuum and exactly what a developer can do within this new artistic medium. It's timely, dealing with issues of technological advancement for it's own sake, the blurred line between the natural and the artificial and, especially when looked at in conjunction with the Half Life series, the effects of a war between two corporations that have brilliant minds, unlimited money and no morality. They are aware they are making a game, not a movie, and use that to tell their story. Look at the very beginning of the game. Wheatley, played by Stephen Merchant who is one of my favorite actors and new favorite voice actors, tells you that you may have a little bit of brain damage. He tells you to speak. A giant A button with the message "Press A to speak" pops up on the screen. If you press A, you jump. Wheatley then tells you that you jumped , so try saying apple. Same thing; you jump. Wheatley then says that it'll have to do and the game moves on. This scene exists because it's hysterically funny, but also because it shows that Valve knows what they're doing. They rarely use cut-scenes or cinematics in any of their games; they tell the whole story from the first person perspective. They play with the medium because the medium needs to be played with. This game is a great game because it has something to say and knows how to say it without giving up.
Something people seem to forget about this game is how simple it is. There are, really, two active characters in the game besides the player; Wheatley, and GlaDos the big evil robot lady. Of course, there is also Cave Johnson (voiced by JK Simmons, who is also amazingly good,) but he is really just a recording. He is fantastically funny and informative, but he also isn't in the game beyond a few portraits and a gruff voice-recording. You could also argue that the turrets are characters, but they are more just obstacles to be overcome. So, again, two characters besides the player, who never speaks. Yet through darkly hilarious dialogue and through design choices they made with the world, Valve manages to convey all the meaning they need to. For instance, look the reoccurring theme of the blurred line between the natural and the artificial. To start with, Aperture is falling into disrepair and there is vegetation growing throughout the facility. Once Chell falls to the bottom, the old facilities are rundown and ravaged by age, not to mention surrounded by these massive caverns. Nature is reclaiming this area as well. Birds are even nesting down there. Wheatley is an AI, sure, but he speaks like a nervous human. He is all robot but he has a personality, something usually reserved for organic life. GlaDos embodies this idea more than anything else. She is an AI, but one derived from an organic consciousness (Caroline.) Though she is more monotonous than Wheatley, she still has a personality an plots revenge, something only humans and dolphins do. Then, there is also the fact that she is plugged into a potato battery for about half of the game. This is essentially an organic body for her. Even Chell has been augmented so that she can fall long distances without dying. There are more examples, but the point is that Valve is using the game medium to convey themes in a very subtle way. This is something lost in most games and for most developers.
Gameplay also holds meaning in this game. One of the most important things that video games tend to lack is a way to convey meaning that is unique to the medium. Valve uses the world's design and aspects of gameplay to make reflexive statements about the industry itself. Look at how Wheatley makes puzzles. All he does is cram two different test chambers that GlaDos made together to make one large test. One the first one that he makes, he even makes Chell run it twice because he's too lazy and stupid to make another one. This seems to be a very obvious statement about the lack of ideas in the industry. Wheatley takes the role of the designer or level designer who just doesn't care. The level doesn't matter, its a means to an end. There's also the introduction to the game I discussed earlier which pokes fun at the tutorials that most games start with. Then there's the conflict resolution button that Chell presses to stop the dispute between Wheatley and GlaDos, which is less meaningful but is using gameplay for comedy rather than as just something to do to make it to the next cut-scene.
This is what makes the game truly great, possibly even perfect. The gameplay and the narrative are inextricably entwined in Portal 2. One supports the other. You are always moving in this game; always doing something. The gameplay doesn't exist to advance the plot so much as it's where the plot lives. Everything happens within the context of the interaction between the player and the game. Wheatley can't hack anything until the player turns around. They could have easily had him just hack the door, but this works for the character and is tied to what makes a game a game. They use the unique tools that the medium gives them to tell a story that never could have been told in any other medium. The world is too deep for a film. It's too reliant on the actual senses for a book (would Cave Johnson be funny without JK Simmons' voice?) It's story is too tied into a player actually controlling Chell to be anything other than a game. That's the way it should be.
Portal 2 is a game that knows it's not in a vacuum and exactly what a developer can do within this new artistic medium. It's timely, dealing with issues of technological advancement for it's own sake, the blurred line between the natural and the artificial and, especially when looked at in conjunction with the Half Life series, the effects of a war between two corporations that have brilliant minds, unlimited money and no morality. They are aware they are making a game, not a movie, and use that to tell their story. Look at the very beginning of the game. Wheatley, played by Stephen Merchant who is one of my favorite actors and new favorite voice actors, tells you that you may have a little bit of brain damage. He tells you to speak. A giant A button with the message "Press A to speak" pops up on the screen. If you press A, you jump. Wheatley then tells you that you jumped , so try saying apple. Same thing; you jump. Wheatley then says that it'll have to do and the game moves on. This scene exists because it's hysterically funny, but also because it shows that Valve knows what they're doing. They rarely use cut-scenes or cinematics in any of their games; they tell the whole story from the first person perspective. They play with the medium because the medium needs to be played with. This game is a great game because it has something to say and knows how to say it without giving up.
Something people seem to forget about this game is how simple it is. There are, really, two active characters in the game besides the player; Wheatley, and GlaDos the big evil robot lady. Of course, there is also Cave Johnson (voiced by JK Simmons, who is also amazingly good,) but he is really just a recording. He is fantastically funny and informative, but he also isn't in the game beyond a few portraits and a gruff voice-recording. You could also argue that the turrets are characters, but they are more just obstacles to be overcome. So, again, two characters besides the player, who never speaks. Yet through darkly hilarious dialogue and through design choices they made with the world, Valve manages to convey all the meaning they need to. For instance, look the reoccurring theme of the blurred line between the natural and the artificial. To start with, Aperture is falling into disrepair and there is vegetation growing throughout the facility. Once Chell falls to the bottom, the old facilities are rundown and ravaged by age, not to mention surrounded by these massive caverns. Nature is reclaiming this area as well. Birds are even nesting down there. Wheatley is an AI, sure, but he speaks like a nervous human. He is all robot but he has a personality, something usually reserved for organic life. GlaDos embodies this idea more than anything else. She is an AI, but one derived from an organic consciousness (Caroline.) Though she is more monotonous than Wheatley, she still has a personality an plots revenge, something only humans and dolphins do. Then, there is also the fact that she is plugged into a potato battery for about half of the game. This is essentially an organic body for her. Even Chell has been augmented so that she can fall long distances without dying. There are more examples, but the point is that Valve is using the game medium to convey themes in a very subtle way. This is something lost in most games and for most developers.
Gameplay also holds meaning in this game. One of the most important things that video games tend to lack is a way to convey meaning that is unique to the medium. Valve uses the world's design and aspects of gameplay to make reflexive statements about the industry itself. Look at how Wheatley makes puzzles. All he does is cram two different test chambers that GlaDos made together to make one large test. One the first one that he makes, he even makes Chell run it twice because he's too lazy and stupid to make another one. This seems to be a very obvious statement about the lack of ideas in the industry. Wheatley takes the role of the designer or level designer who just doesn't care. The level doesn't matter, its a means to an end. There's also the introduction to the game I discussed earlier which pokes fun at the tutorials that most games start with. Then there's the conflict resolution button that Chell presses to stop the dispute between Wheatley and GlaDos, which is less meaningful but is using gameplay for comedy rather than as just something to do to make it to the next cut-scene.
This is what makes the game truly great, possibly even perfect. The gameplay and the narrative are inextricably entwined in Portal 2. One supports the other. You are always moving in this game; always doing something. The gameplay doesn't exist to advance the plot so much as it's where the plot lives. Everything happens within the context of the interaction between the player and the game. Wheatley can't hack anything until the player turns around. They could have easily had him just hack the door, but this works for the character and is tied to what makes a game a game. They use the unique tools that the medium gives them to tell a story that never could have been told in any other medium. The world is too deep for a film. It's too reliant on the actual senses for a book (would Cave Johnson be funny without JK Simmons' voice?) It's story is too tied into a player actually controlling Chell to be anything other than a game. That's the way it should be.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Internet stuff (9/20/11)
Yo yo yo yo yo ... yo. homies !
My time down here in vegas is quickly coming to an end, and honestly I love all your faces but f*ck this town kicks so much more ass. Yea anyways Heres some vids that was / are interesting and/or AWESOME!
so yeah enjoy.
Firsty first first, the diablo 3 Beta has been unleashed !! actually idk how long its beena running but the guys over on Yogscast finally got there beta keys and did a great 6 part video... hope my diablo boys find this interesting
Have you ever wanted to recapture the glory of rolling down the street on your trike, looking like a boss, and running away from the monsters that you imagined were chasing you... well maybe screaming down a mountain at over 55 mph can help recapture a little bit of that
This same group went and made maybe the most awesome slip'n slide / ramp ever ... srysly I bet These guys have the best f-ing summers. its like they go out and do all the shit we sit around and talk about doing
Now I know no shave November is still over a month off but, its always in style to show a little upper lip hair love
Thats all the video fun ive got for you today ...blah blah blah you know this bit
(how about some points for my contributors being all wordy and informative eh ...yea!)
I'l see you at your next dose
_dom
musical treats
My time down here in vegas is quickly coming to an end, and honestly I love all your faces but f*ck this town kicks so much more ass. Yea anyways Heres some vids that was / are interesting and/or AWESOME!
so yeah enjoy.
Firsty first first, the diablo 3 Beta has been unleashed !! actually idk how long its beena running but the guys over on Yogscast finally got there beta keys and did a great 6 part video... hope my diablo boys find this interesting
Have you ever wanted to recapture the glory of rolling down the street on your trike, looking like a boss, and running away from the monsters that you imagined were chasing you... well maybe screaming down a mountain at over 55 mph can help recapture a little bit of that
This same group went and made maybe the most awesome slip'n slide / ramp ever ... srysly I bet These guys have the best f-ing summers. its like they go out and do all the shit we sit around and talk about doing
Now I know no shave November is still over a month off but, its always in style to show a little upper lip hair love
Thats all the video fun ive got for you today ...blah blah blah you know this bit (how about some points for my contributors being all wordy and informative eh ...yea!)
I'l see you at your next dose
_dom
musical treats
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Dragon Age:Origins
Just one big pile of spoilers.
For a long time, I was really in the dark about why I enjoy Dragon Age: Origins as much as I do. It's is a pet peeve of mine when RPG's force you to push a button and watch your character repeatedly attack something over and over. Attack should be a button, not a mode. That's the reason I never got into another of Bioware's much lauded RPG's, Knights of the Old Republic (well, that and I didn't have an original Xbox.) However, this pet peeve of mine is a central aspect of Origins. It's how you play the game. Granted, there are activated spells and pound the attack button throughout combat even though it does nothing, but such a distance is created between the player pushing one button and the character going ape on an enemy that the player's emotional suture to the character should be broken, thus killing the illusion that the RPG is inherently trying to create.
But it doesn't. Despite my status as a self-avowed hater of the one-click, many-attack fighting style of this game, I've beaten it almost three times now. I beat it the first time with a Dwarf Noble named Cap'n. He was a black dwarf with ginger-red hair who fought with the biggest weapon I could find him. Then I beat it a second time with Mugen, a human noble and rouge who duel-wielded swords and was a cunning back-stabber. This time around, I used a Dalish elf, who was a rogue again because I realized partway through that I hate being a mage. In these last two playthroughs, very little changed. I had created Mugen as a perfect playthrough character. Everything turned out the best for every race in the land. However, whereas Mugen preferred the dark, fantastically evil Morrigan as his lady friend, my elf (Havanna Bob) chose Leliana, the shy former nun who is surprisingly down for a foursome. Besides that, I chose a different dwarven king in Orzammar because even though Bhelen leads his people better, he is the scummiest character in the game. So why did I do it and why am I telling you all this? The answer to both of these questions is that Dragon Age: Origins is one of the best cases for narrative in games that I've ever seen. I kept coming back because I didn't want to leave this world they'd created. Everything works so well together that it becomes somewhat of an addiction.
One of the big draws of this game was the origin part of Dragon Age: Origins. The player gets to choose a race, a class and an origin story, go through a fairly well-made character creation tool and then play out whichever one of the six origin stories they chose. These prologues are pretty good. They're appropriately dramatic and fun to play through. All of them end with the character being recruited into the Grey Wardens, who are the requisite order of badasses. The only problem is that they're fairly superfluous in the grand scheme of the game. They affect how certain characters talk to you, sure, but other than that the events in the origin are rarely mentioned. Which race you pick can greatly change the outcome of the story and the class affects how you play throughout the game but the origin doesn't really affect how you see the darkspawn or anything. The only thing it does is give you a little more insight into whichever race you pick and can make you hate the guts of certain characters (killing Arl Howe as a Human Noble is a fantastic feeling.)
After the prologue, every character regardless of races goes to the fortress of Ostagar where they meet the cocky new king who is obviously going to die very soon after you meet him so who cares. There's going to be a big battle with the Darkspawn, evil monster people, and you learn more about the Grey Wardens and their badassery. By the end of this story arc when Ostagar goes horribly wrong and the next one begins when you start gather armies of dwarves, elves and men, the game starts feeling more and more like a cheap Lord of the Rings ripoff. The game starts to turn things around, however, once you get to the small village of Lothering.
It's here that you start to realize that this game may have been cut from well-worn cloth, but there are some tricks hidden in the sleeves. For one, you can get a giant as a companion who goes by Sten. Sten isn't his name so much as his rank or title. He is of the Qunari race (pronounced like coon-ari) and is first met in a cage because he killed an entire family when he couldn't find his sword. Then there's the townsfolk who try to murder you because the guy who screwed you over said that you killed the King. They don't believe it, but there's a bounty and they have kids to feed. This is not a happy story.Once you leave Lothering, the Darkspawn come behind you and BURN IT TO THE GROUND. There are children that are possessed by demons, a cult of dragon worshipers that want to defile a relic, dwarven politics and elves who are being hunted by werewolves who may be the victims but kind of aren't. It's a dark story with dark tones.
And this is why the characters work so well. They're funny, engaging and very well-acted (with some exceptions, children being the most notable.) There isn't one companion in the game that I dislike. None are too preachy, too stupid or too bland. Even the aforementioned Sten who acts without emotion based solely on duty has that lack of any humanity, has a strange likability to him and, even stranger, a plausibility. . Morrigan is probably my favorite, though I enjoy Leliana and Alistair as well. She is a cruel, evil bitch who is just trying to be practical. She does soften up, but not to any degree that's unbelievable. It's just enough to give us hope for her.
The settings are fantastic as well, if a bit cliche. The dwarves live underground. The elves live in the forest. The humans have thatch huts. However, within these cliches, they again breathe a new life. Darkspawn also live underground, so the dwarves have to constantly fight them in the ruins of their once great empire. They also have a lot of intrigue within their nobility caste (oh and there's a caste system) that creates opportunities for some great satire. The elves that live in the forest are called the Dalish and they are the traditional J.R.R. Tolkien elves in many ways. However, there are also city elves who were enslaved by the humans long ago. This creates a lot of tension if you pick city elf as your origin. There is also friction between the Chantry (Ferelden's church) and the mages. Magic is seen as a curse by many and any mages not confined to a place that the Chantry can keep an eye on them (called The Circle) are labeled apostates and are executed on sight or arrested. Bioware did a fantastic job of creating a country on the edge of destruction from the outside that is leading to fractures in the society on the inside. The way all of these dramas play out are fantastic and mostly up to the player.
Now, I've gone on and on about the story, but haven't mentioned too much about gameplay. This is because, as I mentioned, I'm not a huge fan. They have plenty of awesome weapons and armor to choose from as well as spells and special moves called talents. However, the gameplay itself (at least on the Xbox 360.) is somewhat boring. The one-click fighting is lame, some bosses have really annoying knock-down moves or paralysis moves that don't allow you to fight back and overall it's just not that satisfying.There's also quite a few bugs that pop up all over the game, from problems with the conversation system to being pushed around by your teammates in a fight. It's not terrible, by any means, it's just not the reason this game is so great. It's great because of the world they created.
This game is a perfect illustration of video games as a narrative device. You do need good gameplay, and hopefully have great gameplay, for a game to work. However, if there are holes in the game's battle system or if the graphics aren't top notch (and they aren't as evidenced by the sex scenes) or if the music can be somewhat annoying at times (rewatch that sex scene,) a fantastic story with engaging characters can work wonders. If you have any doubt, search for Alistair slash fic. On second thought, don't. Just assume there's a lot because there is and now I can't get certain images out of my head. The point is that the people who played this game and have been writing about it have barely mentioned gameplay. It's all about the story and the deep, immersive world Bioware created. In the realm of RPG's, story and world are the most important components. Everything else is important as well, but not as much as in a puzzle game or a shooter. You can forgive a glitch here and there if you still get the sexy witch in the epilogue.
For a long time, I was really in the dark about why I enjoy Dragon Age: Origins as much as I do. It's is a pet peeve of mine when RPG's force you to push a button and watch your character repeatedly attack something over and over. Attack should be a button, not a mode. That's the reason I never got into another of Bioware's much lauded RPG's, Knights of the Old Republic (well, that and I didn't have an original Xbox.) However, this pet peeve of mine is a central aspect of Origins. It's how you play the game. Granted, there are activated spells and pound the attack button throughout combat even though it does nothing, but such a distance is created between the player pushing one button and the character going ape on an enemy that the player's emotional suture to the character should be broken, thus killing the illusion that the RPG is inherently trying to create.
But it doesn't. Despite my status as a self-avowed hater of the one-click, many-attack fighting style of this game, I've beaten it almost three times now. I beat it the first time with a Dwarf Noble named Cap'n. He was a black dwarf with ginger-red hair who fought with the biggest weapon I could find him. Then I beat it a second time with Mugen, a human noble and rouge who duel-wielded swords and was a cunning back-stabber. This time around, I used a Dalish elf, who was a rogue again because I realized partway through that I hate being a mage. In these last two playthroughs, very little changed. I had created Mugen as a perfect playthrough character. Everything turned out the best for every race in the land. However, whereas Mugen preferred the dark, fantastically evil Morrigan as his lady friend, my elf (Havanna Bob) chose Leliana, the shy former nun who is surprisingly down for a foursome. Besides that, I chose a different dwarven king in Orzammar because even though Bhelen leads his people better, he is the scummiest character in the game. So why did I do it and why am I telling you all this? The answer to both of these questions is that Dragon Age: Origins is one of the best cases for narrative in games that I've ever seen. I kept coming back because I didn't want to leave this world they'd created. Everything works so well together that it becomes somewhat of an addiction.
One of the big draws of this game was the origin part of Dragon Age: Origins. The player gets to choose a race, a class and an origin story, go through a fairly well-made character creation tool and then play out whichever one of the six origin stories they chose. These prologues are pretty good. They're appropriately dramatic and fun to play through. All of them end with the character being recruited into the Grey Wardens, who are the requisite order of badasses. The only problem is that they're fairly superfluous in the grand scheme of the game. They affect how certain characters talk to you, sure, but other than that the events in the origin are rarely mentioned. Which race you pick can greatly change the outcome of the story and the class affects how you play throughout the game but the origin doesn't really affect how you see the darkspawn or anything. The only thing it does is give you a little more insight into whichever race you pick and can make you hate the guts of certain characters (killing Arl Howe as a Human Noble is a fantastic feeling.)
After the prologue, every character regardless of races goes to the fortress of Ostagar where they meet the cocky new king who is obviously going to die very soon after you meet him so who cares. There's going to be a big battle with the Darkspawn, evil monster people, and you learn more about the Grey Wardens and their badassery. By the end of this story arc when Ostagar goes horribly wrong and the next one begins when you start gather armies of dwarves, elves and men, the game starts feeling more and more like a cheap Lord of the Rings ripoff. The game starts to turn things around, however, once you get to the small village of Lothering.
 |
| Lothering. Katie said I need more picures |
And this is why the characters work so well. They're funny, engaging and very well-acted (with some exceptions, children being the most notable.) There isn't one companion in the game that I dislike. None are too preachy, too stupid or too bland. Even the aforementioned Sten who acts without emotion based solely on duty has that lack of any humanity, has a strange likability to him and, even stranger, a plausibility. . Morrigan is probably my favorite, though I enjoy Leliana and Alistair as well. She is a cruel, evil bitch who is just trying to be practical. She does soften up, but not to any degree that's unbelievable. It's just enough to give us hope for her.
The settings are fantastic as well, if a bit cliche. The dwarves live underground. The elves live in the forest. The humans have thatch huts. However, within these cliches, they again breathe a new life. Darkspawn also live underground, so the dwarves have to constantly fight them in the ruins of their once great empire. They also have a lot of intrigue within their nobility caste (oh and there's a caste system) that creates opportunities for some great satire. The elves that live in the forest are called the Dalish and they are the traditional J.R.R. Tolkien elves in many ways. However, there are also city elves who were enslaved by the humans long ago. This creates a lot of tension if you pick city elf as your origin. There is also friction between the Chantry (Ferelden's church) and the mages. Magic is seen as a curse by many and any mages not confined to a place that the Chantry can keep an eye on them (called The Circle) are labeled apostates and are executed on sight or arrested. Bioware did a fantastic job of creating a country on the edge of destruction from the outside that is leading to fractures in the society on the inside. The way all of these dramas play out are fantastic and mostly up to the player.
Now, I've gone on and on about the story, but haven't mentioned too much about gameplay. This is because, as I mentioned, I'm not a huge fan. They have plenty of awesome weapons and armor to choose from as well as spells and special moves called talents. However, the gameplay itself (at least on the Xbox 360.) is somewhat boring. The one-click fighting is lame, some bosses have really annoying knock-down moves or paralysis moves that don't allow you to fight back and overall it's just not that satisfying.There's also quite a few bugs that pop up all over the game, from problems with the conversation system to being pushed around by your teammates in a fight. It's not terrible, by any means, it's just not the reason this game is so great. It's great because of the world they created.
This game is a perfect illustration of video games as a narrative device. You do need good gameplay, and hopefully have great gameplay, for a game to work. However, if there are holes in the game's battle system or if the graphics aren't top notch (and they aren't as evidenced by the sex scenes) or if the music can be somewhat annoying at times (rewatch that sex scene,) a fantastic story with engaging characters can work wonders. If you have any doubt, search for Alistair slash fic. On second thought, don't. Just assume there's a lot because there is and now I can't get certain images out of my head. The point is that the people who played this game and have been writing about it have barely mentioned gameplay. It's all about the story and the deep, immersive world Bioware created. In the realm of RPG's, story and world are the most important components. Everything else is important as well, but not as much as in a puzzle game or a shooter. You can forgive a glitch here and there if you still get the sexy witch in the epilogue.
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