Archive for August, 2007

Back from the Non-living!

Published at August 31, 2007 in Games, Technology and Uni. 0 Comments

It seems like forever since I have blogged. I guess it has been a while. I have been bogged down with uber amounts of assignments (like 2!!!), the it04 site taking off, and generally being busy. I want to change that though with a comeback post. What is going to be in this comeback post you ask? Well, truthfully, not much. But it will start me blogging again! Yaaay!

Anyway, if you haven’t heard, Bioshock has been released and many people say it is awesome. I say yeah, it is awesome, but it is also generic. What does it offer gaming culture apart from some new jokes? The plasmids are not that great, the weapons are just that, weapons, and the storyline… well it has an interesting idea, even if it is completely implausible. Alright, it is a good game, which I am sure to spend a few more hours finishing and then replaying, but it just isn’t the HL2 killer everyone thought it would be.

With my new rig fully operational (scoring 10500 3Dmark06 marks) I am able to play it on high, and marvel at the graphical goodness. Because I am waiting for Vista SP1 before upgrading, I will leave judging the graphics entirely until I have played it DX10. But we all know graphics don’t make the game.

In one of my more interesting classes this semester (KIB202 – Enabling Immersion) I have been tasked with creating a MUD (Multi-user Dungeon). This is a group task which we will be undertaking soon enough. After talking to the lecturer I have decided that this task will be best completed in entirely text, without any fancy “flash” foolery, or very many artistic depictions. Knowing the people that I am working with, I know that this will be an excellent venture into the linguistic side of everyone. Who doesn’t love reading a good book, or even better, reading a good “pick your own story”?

Some other things that I am getting involved in soon are a Neverwinter Nights 2 Module (details TBA) and possibly building up a new computer for my girlfriend on a budget! I love bargain shopping.

One of these days I promise I will update my uni page with all of the subjects I am doing this semester, but until then please check out the IT04 forum for all the latest goss, glam and gaming celebs (heh, by that I mean arguments about ATI, Nvidia and everything else geeky).

I’m out.
Andrew

Deep, Immersive Gameplay

Published at August 15, 2007 in Games and Society. 1 Comment

Communities are a very interesting environment, and they usually encompass many types of people. Having a closer look at how people interact with each other usually allows for someone to recreate a more realistic environment pertaining to people. In the game industry, you have to understand how computer-controlled actors work, and how they will interact with the player, and other NPCs (Non-player characters).

Usually in games the main character or the plot characters he/she interacts with are really extraordinary people, and are interesting and have a lot to say. This just isn’t the case in the real world. You have the quiet people, who just don’t want to talk to anyone. And you have the loud obnoxious people who are incredibly annoying. Sure, having these characteristics in the characters in the game would make it more realistic, but would it make it enjoyable?

Having an extreme personality type for a main character gives the game a twist, but what if you have a city of different personality types? It would make the place very interesting to explore and understand. If each character reacted differently depending on their personality, it would change the way players looked at the game. Using facial expression in games is a great advance, and it can be used even more thoroughly if it is required to tell the player what the NPCs are feeling.

Imagine, busting into a hotel room during an alien invasion and the person inside was just about to shoot themselves. Not because of the invasion, but because they were unhappy. You would have to talk to person out of it, or let them do it, as long as they don’t shoot you or alert the aliens. Entire new aspects of games open up, and things become more realistic, or more interesting the deeper you go.

Again, this is just an example. What if the whole city ran on extreme personalities? How things would change.

Andrew

Modding a Community

Published at August 10, 2007 in Games, Society, Technology and Uni. 0 Comments

Modifications for games are some of the most interesting, innovative and often inspiring pieces of software that are on the web (Usually for free). They range from making a gun in Quake 3 look like Yoda, to an entire “Total conversion” making the game completely different, with a new story, new models, new quests, new everything. Modding is a community based hobby, which has made some people very rich.

This rant is about two things; the fact that mods are awesome, and the fact that some companies are exploiting them.

Do you remember the days when a new version of counter-strike would come out, and you would have to wait another 8 hours for the 150mb file to download on your dialup connection, because all those internet servers with amazingly fast internet already have it downloaded? I sure do, and I miss them greatly. Valve, after all, are a good company, in that they have released some good games, and they know what the market needs. But buying off modders and selling their content for profit? Is it just me, or is that low.

The latest victim that I am aware of is Garry Newman, creator of Garry’s Mod which is now for sale through the steam shop for $9.95 or something. Why? I don’t know why. All I know is that it is stupid how we have to pay for stuff like Team Fortress 2, Day of Defeat Source, Counter-strike Source and even the HL2: EP1+2. I realise that episodic games can cost, but they are a little expensive for 4 hours of gameplay. How greedy are they?

Anyway, some friends and I have decided that we are going to use the Neverwinter Nights 2 toolset to make a module for that, so we can have something to show sooner, rather than later. This will take a fair bit of planning as we don’t want to do something small. It’s going to be grand. 5 or 6 person production grand! I am thinking about using it as my other project. That may be a good idea…

Andrew

Technological Consideration

Published at August 4, 2007 in Games, General and Technology. 0 Comments

As you may have heard, I have recently purchased myself a new computer. This beast set me back a fair bit, but I can assure you it was worth it. I have been unable to play some of the latest games and have been quite annoyed that technology was holding me back. Thus it is time for a blog on how much I don’t agree with that!

From the beginnings of technology, there has always been “upgrades”. New, pointier sticks to get food from in holes with, new steam engines with more power, new Morse-code style beeping devices, and of course, new computer parts. As most of you would know, the way it always seems to happen is you buy an upgrade, which seems great, until two weeks later something twice as fast is released for half the price. And then another month down the track all the games now require this new feature, so you have to go and shell out more money for something else.

Ok, maybe the timeframe there was a little skewed, but you get the picture. Why does gaming have to be so pointed at rich people? Most geeks don’t have that much money, and have to settle for “just gets the job done”. Quite frankly, I don’t think this is right. Games should be for everyone. Now I understand that games requiring windows to run won’t work on MS-DOS, but why do you need a Geforce6600 to run Neverwinter Nights 2? Something game companies will have to start thinking about is backward compatibility.

Why should someone have to spend heaps of money to enjoy something that everyone else is enjoying? Gaming is about enjoyment, not tech.

Games run with different graphic settings, and some games run well on any system while still looking good, but there is definitely a point where they are just unplayable. To cater to a wider audience (and to people who want to spend their money buying games, not the tech to run them) is going to take some ingenuity, even recreating games down to their core, but Valve seemed to do it pretty well. Half-life2 is very well known for the engine on which it was created, how damn good it looks and how well it runs on almost any computer. The minimum specs for this game are 1.2 GHz Processor, 256MB RAM, DirectX 7 level graphics card, Windows 2000/XP/ME/98, Mouse, Keyboard and a Internet Connection, which nearly everyone has.

More developers should start making games this way. They look amazing at high settings, but run just as well at low settings for playability. Because no one likes a game they can’t play.

Andrew Out.

Console vs. PC Rants

Published at August 2, 2007 in Games and Technology. 0 Comments

Personally, I am a computer guy. Consoles have just never really done anything for me because of the stupid thumb sticks and lack of buttons. Also, with consoles everything that you play has to be bought, and none of them are cheap. But beyond my rants, I think consoles have got one or two things right.

One thing: They never have to be upgraded. Consoles are some gamers’ choice because you don’t have to put $1500 into them every 2 years to stay up to date. This is both a good and a bad thing because although everything runs perfectly, it runs perfectly at whatever quality the unit is capable of. As new consoles come out (X360 or PS3) the quality gets better, but do either of those consoles know what is one, or even two years down the technology track? They will be as old as the PS2 in a few years.

Two Thing: They are stable. Although consoles have maybe a 10th of the computers over all usefulness, they are maybe 10 times less likely to break down. Computers are amazing, with so many different brands for different parts which all essentially do the same thing, but this brings up compatibility issues. Older software with newer computers, newer software with older computers, the list goes on. Consoles have maybe 2 or 3 versions with different sized hard drives, and that’s it. A lot less room for screw ups, unlike the PC.

I own an Xbox but that is only because it was a present, and a cheap present at that. I enjoy playing with it every now and then, but my main gaming addiction will always be satisfied by my computer, which I have just purchased an upgrade for. Yes, this is exactly why I am writing this, but I believe it was $1500 well spent. My next blog will most likely be my upgrade, which I will take photos of the whole way though.

See you then!
Andrew