Archive for December, 2007

31 December, 2007 | No comments

Free Game News: Nekonote Escape 6 – Dream 2

Nekonote Escape 6 – Dream 2 is the sixth installment in the Japanese Room Escape Nekonote series. No more lion in this game, but you will see a few elements in this game that remind of previous episodes: where is the safe and what is the code? Have fun!

31 December, 2007 | No comments

Casual Review: Treasures of Ra

Treasures of Ra involves lots of puzzles based on light, but it's certainly not a lightweight game. Solving the puzzles with moving blocks and mirrors will eat away at your days and nights.

31 December, 2007 | No comments

Casual Review: Grimm’s Hatchery

It’s time to get your nest on and hatch some eggs! In this fantasy-incubation game, you can buy, sell, and hatch your own critters to make enough egg money to return to your rightful place in the castle.

31 December, 2007 | No comments

GBGames: Gender Portrayal and the Meaning of Game Elements

In any discussion about gender portrayal in games, someone will talk about how female characters are unrealistically hyper-sexualized. Many people argue that it may have a lot to do with the fact that most game game developers are male and so don’t have anyone to act as a check against their juvenile urges. Regardless of [...]

31 December, 2007 | No comments

Some Seasonal Positives

Well, I promised I'd try and be more optimistic in my next blog, and 'tis the season to be jolly and all that, so I'll stick to my word. If you've been following my previous rants you might have gathered that the games industry isn't all gumdrops and roses, but then most industry insiders tell you that from the off. Harsh deadlines, long hours, some crazy-go-nuts ego battles, and over-abundance of takeouts... like the littlest war veteran I've experienced these things and lived to tell the tale. It's strange but as much as I bitch about this job, I absolutely love it. Even when things are stressy it's in a good way... only a couple of times has it reached the point where I've had to excuse myself and go for a 10 minute walk through the freezing cold to avoid throttling someone. It's the same in any job I guess - stress happens. Get over it.

So it's almost 2008 and one of my new year's resolutions is to try and adopt a more positive outlook. It won't last, but they never do. But I honestly do love being a games designer. I love the design process, bouncing ideas off my fellow designers, getting their input, offering my own opinions about their ideas, slagging off programmers for kicks... One thing I took away from uni was a quote from my design tutor that 'if you enjoy your job you'll never work a day in your life'. It's true of this - I love computer games, and now I get to help make them. Even if the game we're working on isn't something I would normally choose to play, it doesn't matter, I can still do my part to make it something I wouldn't throw out the window if I HAD to play it. Like if I had a gun to my head. But then I suppose the gunman wouldn't really let me throw it out the window. But anyway, that challenge to make something that has every risk of becoming turgid and mediocre into something more than that is what keeps me, and I reckon most of my colleagues, going. The odds are against us - nobody expects a licensed game to be that good; even the more open-minded gamer isn't going to expect 10/10 greatness from us. But since I started I've wanted to take everything I've learnt from playing games most of my life and use it to help our game be considerate to the player and fun to play.

It's that weird thrill you get as well when you see one of the levels you've designed become fully functioning in good ol' 3D. I didn't get that until a few weeks ago because I was working on levels designed by my colleagues... but eventually my own designs were becoming realised, and it's the weirdest thing. Sure, a lot of things were chopped and changed (I think I moaned about that in one of my previous blogs), but the essence of what I created was there for all to see. And potentially thousands, maybe millions I guess, will see it as well. It's mind blowing, and gives you that added incentive to try and make it great. I'll be the first to admit my designs are a bit basic, a combination of the limitations stressed to me while I was designing and the fact I still have stuff to learn about making a truly great level with limited resources... but I worked hands-on with one of my levels and having played it through I think it's harmless fun... nothing too taxing or mind-blowing, but basic fun. There's still a few months to make it better of course.

Working hands-on with the team isn't something I thought I'd enjoy, but it's amazing how quickly you can replace shyness with confidence when you're thrown into a situation. I'm still not the world's most outgoing bastard, but having mingled with the artists and programmers for several weeks I've started to find a certain confidence which really is crucial for a designer (the actual designing process can be quite solitary if you want it to be, but when the stuff is actually getting made you don't have much of a choice but to go and talk to the people making it to make sure they understand it and such). I'm trying my best to be the 'agreeable designer' who doesn't storm over and make demands, but whereas before some of them would see I was new to this and walk all over me, now I'm a little better at telling them to do what they're told. Sort of. And if they don't, that's what the boss is for... Really though I just enjoy going over to programmers and artists and pledging my case, saying 'well this could do with being a little more like this, if that's okay' and trying to stay on their good sides. And I think they appreciate that; I seem to have some sort of trust thing going now with most of them. And it is actually sometimes genuinely interesting to find out why something won't work the way you want it to, so then the design crowbar comes in to try and make something else fit in its place. Trust me, it's fun.

Throw in the odd goody bag from publishers and the always-entertaining office spamming that goes on and you have a job I really wouldn't trade for the world. God knows I probably won't be saying that in a few weeks; we reached alpha (just about), but beta (the next stage, though I'm not sure what the standards are for this one) promises to be just as fun and is only a couple of months away. But I'm genuinely looking forward to the rush, because that's personally when I'm in my element and although it's exhausting and stressful it's also the point where you realise that despite everything you're still having the ball. Something is definitely right when you barely notice you've just worked 13 hours without lunch.

Anyway... Happy New Year and all that folks!

31 December, 2007 | No comments

Copy protection and anti-cheat

What do copy protection schemes and anti-cheat software have in common?  They both suck, and they inconvenience the legitimate user more than the software pirate.  My adventure with Punkbuster continues.  This abortion is supposed to prevent people from cheating in online games by allowing the software to scan your computer for codes that are, well, cheat-y.  In this sense, it acts like an antivirus, but in a far more invasive way.

You install Punkbuster as an option along with certain games.  Check out the wikipedia article for a list of those games.   That's the last time that your opinion will be taken into account regarding this program.  Even after uninstalling Call of Duty 4, which is the only game I have that runs Punkbuster, PnkbstrA.exe still remained in Task Manager.  There is no option to remove this, and Activision did not have the simple courtesy to uninstall the thing along with your copy of COD.

This is scary.  After all, there is no way for the user to remove this thing even when there is an act that implied that they don't want it.  It goes on, hogging CPU resources even when you just play the single-player features.  My previous post shows how to remove it, but it involves tweaking with things in XP best left alone.

To think that most multiplayer gamers are casual ones who do not know how to code anything, much less a sophisticated cheat system.  I don't know if cheaters have beaten Punkbuster already, but most likely, they have.  Just like software pirates are able to beat the most sophisticated of copy protection schemes.  The thing is, it becomes easier to use the illegal products more than the legal ones.  I'm not saying that companies should abandon copy protection and anti-cheat schemes, but can't they find a way to do it in a less obtrusive way?  Concerning anti-cheat procedures specifically, will it be too much to ask them to do it unobtrusively, with the consent of the player all the way?  We paid good money to play, and that should be respected.  Even if they continue to claim the game as their property, the computer is OUR property, not theirs, not by any stretch of imagination by highly-paid IP lawyers.

Why not use PB as a regular program that can scan for cheats, where they would prevent a user from playing in multiplayer mode unless the scans are done and/or PB is activated at that moment of play? It's not that hard, I guess.  Looking at my blog stats, my previous post was pretty popular with people all over the Internet checking it out on how to remove Punkbuster.  Perhaps you can leave a comment and tell me what you think.

31 December, 2007 | No comments

Everything i needed to know, I learnt from a game of Tetris! (a.k.a The Brick Game)

(Otherwise titled - "Help me somebody....I've turned into a Tetris Geek!!")

 

1. Don't take it seriously
2. Everything looks elementary and slow at first 
3. Foreseeing the next flying object to come at you, keeps the going good.  
4. No matter how hard you try, you cannot plan beyond the next three steps!  
5. When you need a pole, all life throws at you are blocks!  
6. Make space for a block, and all you get are poles! 
7. Sometimes bad luck can mess up a perfectly good game!
8. Stop waiting around for the perfect line - you gotta make do with what you get! 
9. Even a messed up bunch of lines can be salvaged if you try!
10. The better you get - the harder it gets!
11. No matter how it ends - its never really over!!
12. In the end, the only competition, is with yourself
13. Irrespective of what they may say - YOU ARE NOT ADDICTED!!

31 December, 2007 | No comments

Soggy Holiday musings

Technically speaking, Tech--for Everyone is still on vacation. But I think today that I will jot down a few thoughts on the state of computer gaming, football...and maybe publish a new free link. For those of you who would prefer to see the re-posted prior Tips & Tricks article (one you may have missed) which I would normally have published here, click here. Again, I sincerely hope you are all having a safe and a happy holiday. My online Tech Support business is open as usual.

I am a guy. And when I say "guy", I am basically saying, "a big kid". Because I am a guy, I like football and I like video games -- as Loyal Friends and True already know. So I was delighted when Santa delivered to me the latest release of my all-time favorite FPS, Call Of Duty 4 from Infinity Ward (and released by Activision).

As happy as I was to get this new game, and as much of an admirer of the good folks at Infinity Ward as I am, I was disappointed when I actually played the game. This latest installment exemplifies the direction in which games are evolving, and I think the gaming companies should take a second look at some of their decisions.

First, let me say that I was not disappointed enough in CoD 4 to tell you not to get it. That's not what I'm saying. CoD 4 is (to me) a "must have" if you're into the combat genre. Its graphics are impressive and it's a blast to play. But. (Have you ever noticed, in life, how many unsaid "but"s there are?)
Let me preface this transitional thought here with a reminder that I am a computer geek: I play my video games on a PC, and not a game "console". I have a 'souped up' computer to play these games on (although it is getting elderly, and by that I mean it is about a year and-a-half old) -- it has plenty of RAM and dual 256MB graphics cards. Please keep the PC angle in mind when considering my critique.

1) Is it just me, or can everyone complete a new game in less than a day?
This is my biggest disappointment in Call of Duty 4, specifically, and the new games in general. I have been playing computer games since their inception (Star Trek on a teletype terminal) and I think this progression will state my case clearly enough: It took me about a month to get to the final scene in Duke Nukem 3D (1996), and to this day I don't believe I have found all the secret locations: It took several days -- almost a week -- of intense sessions to get to the final scene in the original Call of Duty (2003): and it took about 5 hours to complete Call of Duty 4 (2007).
Quite a bit less "bang for my buck", wouldn't you say? And over far too soon.

2) Too durned big. Call of Duty 4'sinstall required 6 GB's of hard-drive (six!), and is the first game that required so much effort from my dual graphics cards that I found myself accepting the relatively mild defaults (such as 800 x 600 dpi) to keep up a playable frames-per-second. Typically I can crank up the resolution and turn on every special effect (every "bell and whistle") to its highest setting. My system is no slouch. This means the average person, with an average PC, simply cannot play CoD 4 (..and for those of you who are wondering, I have dual 7600 GT's).

3) There are glitches in CoD 4 because it seems pretty clear to me that there's been a major shift in the way games are being written (I could be wrong here). It used to be that games were written for the PC and then "ported" to run on the various consoles, and that now the reverse is true-- a new title is written for one, specific game console and then "ported" for other platforms. If I'm right, this is a colossal mistake in strategy (which will ultimately hurt sales).

I believe all these things are due to a desire to make the graphics in games as "realistic" as is technologically possible. In the past, this has a been a "good thing", and because of it we are no longer looking at two-dimentional Ms. Pac Man-type graphics...

but are can wander through very realistic 'virtual' environments that are quite impressive in their ability to make you feel like you're there.

But I think too much is being sacrificed to attain this level of "realism", and I for one, would rather have more maps/levels, secret rooms, and a longer game than a short game with accurate shadows. (For instance, there is no 'level' in CoD 4 where you get to drive a tank, a feature expected from earlier releases.) And, yes, I know, it is this evolution which has pushed the development of other PC technologies... but.
As a point of reference, I have developed a new sense of admiration for Far Cry (2004) from Ubisoft, which seems to be the perfect blend of reasonable realism and (seemingly) endless maps and challenges.

And now to football:
Having been born and raised in SF Bay Area, it is only fitting and proper that I am a 49ers fan.
Man... what can I say? It a job that it is getting harder and harder (and harder) to do.

It is somewhat comforting that there seems to be only two really good teams this season. But (there's that "but" again!) something has changed in football, and it hasn't been for the better. The refs are changing the outcomes of games more than ever before. "Parity" is a joke. Certain "football fundamentals" seem to have vanished from the scene. It seems -- to me -- that football has become "entertainment" and not a Sport. There has been... some sort of vague decline which I cannot put my finger on.
Perhaps I am just becoming an old fart... but I haven't been enjoying watching football (for some years now) like I used to, and it is not simply because the niners aren't the "Dynasty" niners any longer.. it's something else.
There..enough kvetching for one day. Anyone else thinking these things... or am I all wet?

Today's free link: for those of you for whom the Ms. Pac Man screenshot brought back nostalgic and happy memories, or for those of you who prefer arcade style games, download Mega Mario. Featuring the Mario Brothers -- first introduced in Donkey Kong -- this classic arcade game works on all versions of Windows.

Copyright 2007 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved.

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31 December, 2007 | No comments

Confessions of a sneaksy, thiefsy crash test dummy

Well, for once I won't write about last night's episode of Lost (titled "Catch-22"). Why? Because it wasn't very interesting - but neither was it so horrible that I have to share my eye-gouging terror with the world (and the Keira Knightley fans who may want to eviscerate me after yesterday's entry... Just kidding!).

So, instead let me regale you with my current PC gaming choices: Colin McRae DIRT (which I've mentioned here before) and Thief: Deadly Shadows. The latter is a game that I originally played when it came out, but now, two computers and three videocards later, it runs much, much smoother than it ever did. However, the game bears sad witness to who I really am: someone who gets a kick out of skulking in the shadows, waiting for people to pass, and then hit them over the head with a blackjack and rob them blind.

Yup, that's me. I prefer crouching in the darkness and waiting, and then knocking out my enemies. With almost any shooter game, if I have the option to put my opponents to sleep, that's what I'll do. There are few things as satisfying in a game as a totally non-lethal headshot with a tranquiliser dart and then dragging the motionless body behind a wall or some rocks... and then waiting for the guy's buddy to turn up, looking for his mate - and do it all over again.

Now, as far as DIRT is concerned... I'm not bad at it. Not totally bad, at least. But sometimes... well, sometimes my driving looks pretty much like this - and (moving) pictures say a lot more than words in this case:

31 December, 2007 | No comments

Yay! It’s a Secret Message!

A young man of my acquaintance has come up with a unique new business idea. He has decided to sell custom computer games that deliver a personalized message to the recipient/player. As the player completes each level, a little more of the message is revealed.

He figures people might like to use them instead of regular e-cards to send a birthday greeting, New Year's card, Valentine, marriage proposal, or just for fun!

He's listed it for sale on ebay, but since it isn't the kind of item people are likely to go looking for (since they have no idea that it even exists) I told him I'd help spread the word a bit (with my vast ;-) blog readership)

Below you can see samples of his flower, rainbow, star and heart themes. If you think it's a cute idea, and especially if you know of someone who might like to order one, please pass the word along.

Update:  He's also now listed it on Etsy.  That's a longer listing, so this link is more likely alive even if the ebay link above is stale.

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