In this episode...

You know what the industry needs? Episodic content that's truly episodic rather than just a long game cut into sections. I enjoy the aspect of that delivery method as well, but I would really enjoy something more self-contained. Games like the Half-Life Episodes and Sin Episodes are fine in their own right and, at least as far as Half-Life is concerned, I'm happy to buy the installments.

But compare this "episodic" format to television. This is much more akin to a show like Heroes or Lost, where if you miss an episode you could have missed something important. As well, shows like these are nearly impossible to enjoy if you haven't been watching from the beginning.

For lack of a better example, take a show like Friends. You’ve got a familiar cast of characters whose lives evolve over the course of the show. However, each episode is a self-contained story that doesn’t require prior knowledge of the show. I would love to see something like this in a game format.

It really wouldn’t be too hard to accomplish as compared to the current model for episodic content. You’re still using the same game engine. You just need to create new content, and much of the old content will be reusable. After the completion of a season, an engine upgrade might be in order. At this point, you’re basically looking at a sequel in the current format and then you repeat the cycle of new content on a regular basis.

The end result of this method is small, independent gaming experiences released on a regular basis which can be bought individually. This allows the consumer to pick and choose which episodes they wish to play and when. I really think this would be a popular format for consumers, although I don’t know how well received this would be by the developer. The issue that arises is that if one of the episodes gets a poor score or is generally not well received, that will lower sales for the episode. For everyone who’s not involved in the money aspect of the game, this is nothing but good. It forces a high quality product and punishes a bad one. Unfortunately, this can put a financial burden on the developer and may scare them aware from this model.

True episodic delivery can be a bit scary from a developer perspective, but done right, this has the potential to create a very popular series and make a lot of money in the process.

*Sigh*

Come on Nintendo. What the fuck are you doing? Your online service is a complete joke.

First you shaft us with these terrible Wii system codes; A 16 digit system that we're forced to pass around in real life. On top of that, the is no online system except for the Miis. We can't tell what games a friend has, what they're playing, or even if they're online. And now there's this.

What could your reasoning behind this possibly be? No one liked the friend code system on the DS yet you still force us to do the same thing with our Wii system codes. Fine. But why the hell do you need individual codes for each game? Just use the damn system code.

Update: I found out a bit more about this. It seems that the code system for Pokemon is only this way because of its interaction with the DS game. While I still think this is a terrible system, it bodes well that other games won't have this garbage.

Hahahaha...

...hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. I totally need to play this game.

Cinematic Goodness

Say what you will about World of Warcraft, but damn they have some awesome cinematics.



Download HD Version (Link no longer working.)

Post-Mortem - Tactics Flash 0.57

As promised, here is my pseudo-post-mortem. Now, I’m calling this “pseudo” because it is not a true post mortem. There is no what went wrong/right section as that’s really not a way for me to look at this. This is more just a telling of my experiences on the process and my feelings towards it. So, without further delay and no more ado, enjoy the show.


Tactics Flash was created over just under 6 weeks. I’m really proud of what I was able to come up with, especially considering my level of knowledge going into the project. There was almost no design put into the game, but rather a simple list of guidelines and a general idea in my head.

Creating the game was a really great experience for me and I learned a lot. The most interesting thing about the project was how I was constantly forced to learn how to deal with new situations. Because my code was so specific by the time it became difficult, it was nearly impossible to get any help on solving the walls that I was facing. While it was sometimes frustrating and always time consuming, I was always able to come up with a way to make it work.

As the project went on, I found myself consistently having to reprogram old parts of my code. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be avoided with the way I developed this project. Since I was going step by step through the program in order to learn, it prevented me from looking at the larger picture. This resulted in situations like being able to create and control a unit, but I could only do so with a single unit. I was forced to go back through all of my code and alter it so that it would work with multiple characters. While there’s not much I could do in this situation, it definitely gave me an appreciation for planning out your code ahead of time.

Once I was able to get multiple characters in and working, the project really took off. I accomplished more in the last two weeks than in all of the rest of the project. It went from being a test environment to learn code to looking and acting like a game.

I’ll be the first to admit that the current version isn’t exactly what you would call “fun,” but it is completely playable and is an excellent framework for the next stages of the project.

My current work on the game is all design focused. I’ll be spending the next month or so completely fleshing out a design for the final game. I expect to have a new version up within the next three to four months and I’m excited to show you the changes.

Tactics Flash - Ver 0.57 Alpha Release

The first release of Tactics Flash is now live. It is currently in a very early stage with only a small amount of gameplay and a limited selection of options. The project began about 5 or 6 weeks ago and I've put somewhere between 100 and 150 hours into it. I'll be writing a pseudo post-mortem on the experience shortly. Click the link to check out the game.

Game Link

Review - Nintendo Wii

I've posted my review on the Nintendo Wii. Click the link below to read it.

Full Review

First Impressions - Zelda: Twilight Princess

I’m about halfway through Zelda: Twilight Princess and I just wanted to give my impressions so far.

I’m a huge Zelda fan. I have been since Link to the Past. The world and gameplay has always been a cut above the rest and they’ve always managed to push the genre to it’s full potential. More importantly, they all had a cool factor or a hook to keep you coming back for more. Link to the Past had the Dark World, Ocarina of Time had the two distinct times, and Majora’s Mask had its amazingly intricate three day cycle.

Twilight Princess has no "hook", as it were. Sure, it’s a fun game, but there’s nothing to set it apart from the rest. If it didn’t have Zelda on the box, it wouldn’t be nearly as popular. Don’t get me wrong. There’s lots of fun to be had and it’s still a great game, but it just doesn’t hold up to Ocarina of Time or Majora’s Mask.

Keep an eye out for my full Zelda review in the coming weeks.

NS2

I'm a huge fan of Natural Selection, a mod for Half Life 1. It was one of the first games to mix FPS and RTS game styles and it did a pretty damn good job. If you have a good commander and a team willing to listen to orders, the game rises to a spectacular level. If you're looking for a new mod to try out, I would definitely recommend it.

Anyway, the team that made NS has been working on NS2 for quite some time. It's a mod that I've waiting for and I can't wait to see what they come up with. They recently released a video showing off "Dynamic Infestation." The idea is that as the aliens gain or lose control of the map, the bacterial growth will advance and recede. Looks very cool. Check it out for yourself.

AVO

I've been informed that, unfortunately, I am unable to distribute A Vancouver Odyssey. The rights to the game are held by Canuck Place which prevents me from handing it out without copyright infringement. If this changes or if Canuck Place begins to distribute the game, I will be sure to post it here.

I have to find that sword

If for some strange reason you're not watching Heroes, shame on you. Go watch it now. I'll wait.

All about me

Well, I've updated my personal profile, but let me expand a little on that.

I originally started at The Art Institute of Vancouver -Burnaby in early 2003. I took the Electronic Game Art & Design program and I loved it. While it had its flaws like any program, I learned a lot and came away with a lot of knowledge and a little bit of experience.

I was part of two projects during my time at Ai. The first was an Unreal Tournament 2004 mod called Neosaka: The Forgotten. The general premise was a futuristic samurai in space. Yeah, sounds awesome I know. We worked on the game over a nine month development cycle. The final product was obviously a student work, but it was definitely something I can be proud of. While not something I would recommend as a game to simply pick up and play, I would suggest taking a look if you're interested to see what a team of a dozen students can come up with in nine months with only 1 programmer. The file can be found here and requires Unreal Tournament 2004 to run.

The second project is something I am extremely proud to have been a part of. The game was called A Vancouver Odyssey and it was the first game ever to be created expressly for a charity. The charity was Canuck Place, located in Vancouver. Canuck Place provides hospice care for children with terminal illnesses. The game was created using Director (Shockwave) over a 3 month development cycle. AVO was a collection of mini games based on different areas of the Greater Vancouver area and was meant to emulate the act of exploring the city, as many of the kids at Canuck Place were incapable of doing so on their own. I was the lead scripter on the project and was responsible for more than half of the code in the game. The game turned out great and looked very professional. We received a slew of media coverage and there was talk of releasing the game a commercial product. Unfortunately, this never happened. I do not have a link for the game (although I have a copy), but if this changes, I'll be sure to post the link here.

Since graduating in October of 2004, I've had a couple of different jobs related to games, but was unable to actually break into the industry. After being laid off from a QA position in June of 2006, I decided it was time to head back to school and get some more sellable skills. I started the Visual and Game Programming program at Ai in October of 2006.

The program is great and I'm really enjoying it. I'm currently working on a small Flash based tactics game that I will be sure to share when it's complete.

Which brings us to today. So, now you know a little about me. Welcome to the site and I hope you enjoy what I have to offer.

A glorious day for Dankind

Welcome to the official launch of The Chem Lab blog. I plan to be adding a few entries shortly, including my take on the Wii as well as my first impressions of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I'll also be adding a quick description of who I am and what I'm doing with my life.