Video Game News and Miscellany

PatrThom

PatrThom

CynicismKills said:
I think my problem is I just never put a lot of stock into graphics, for the most part. If a game's ugly to me it's more on the style of the graphics, not the quality. The same goes for replaying older-gen games. Generally I can overlook big nasty polygons and such if the game still holds up in other areas.
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Kati wanted to start thinking about video games, I mean seriously think about them, possibly even think about what it would take to build her own, but she was concerned about her lack of art skill and what a daunting task it would be to create a game featuring modern graphics.
In response, I loaded and let her play my copies of Darkstone and Dungeon Siege, two games whose graphics are rather chunky, but which have surprisingly good gameplay (for dungeon crawlers, at least). She wasn't too concerned about story (which is fortunate in both cases) as she planned on developing that out on her own, but I wanted to show her that she could still create a reasonably immersive game experience even with low poly count.

Then we had a kid and all, but the lessons still stand. If you want to design a game, prioritize lore and gameplay. You can always license an engine from someone else who's already done all of that work for you.

--Patrick
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

PatrThom said:
Kati wanted to start thinking about video games, I mean seriously think about them, possibly even think about what it would take to build her own, but she was concerned about her lack of art skill and what a daunting task it would be to create a game featuring modern graphics.
In response, I loaded and let her play my copies of Darkstone and Dungeon Siege, two games whose graphics are rather chunky, but which have surprisingly good gameplay (for dungeon crawlers, at least). She wasn't too concerned about story (which is fortunate in both cases) as she planned on developing that out on her own, but I wanted to show her that she could still create a reasonably immersive game experience even with low poly count.

Then we had a kid and all, but the lessons still stand. If you want to design a game, prioritize lore and gameplay. You can always license an engine from someone else who's already done all of that work for you.

--Patrick
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Look at Minecraft. Hell, look at Dwarf Fortress.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

bhamv3 said:
Look at Minecraft. Hell, look at Dwarf Fortress.
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Those came out later.
In fact, I think Minecraft is part of the reason she hasn't continued to pursue her original idea. It's turned her from a creator into a consumer.
Ehh, so long as she's happy.

--Patrick
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
More gameplay video and info on Batman: Arkham Knight



In case you were wondering "dual play" is not a two-player mode, it's an AI controlled second character that you can switch to. I really hope that it works smoothly, because babysitting an AI character sucks.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

figmentPez said:
More gameplay video and info on Batman: Arkham Knight



In case you were wondering "dual play" is not a two-player mode, it's an AI controlled second character that you can switch to. I really hope that it works smoothly, because babysitting an AI character sucks.
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Man, a two-player mode would have been awesome.
 
CynicismKills

CynicismKills

I've never enjoyed protecting AI, I think Bioshock Infinite was the first time an AI companion didn't make me rage like mad.

Granted, she was basically invincible, but still.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

CynicismKills said:
I've never enjoyed protecting AI, I think Bioshock Infinite was the first time an AI companion didn't make me rage like mad.

Granted, she was basically invincible, but still.
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From the looks of what I've seen, you don't have to babysit the AI. You only lose your combo and health if you are controlling the character when they get hit.
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
SpecialKO said:
So it's like the Lego games? I can dig that.
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If they're exactly like the AI in LEGO games, it's going to break immersion, because the AI in LEGO is almost not there at all. It's not just that they don't count; it's like they're completely not there. In LEGO if an AI is fighting an opponent, and you finish yours, they'll just stop and let that enemy waltz right over to you. If Arkham Knight does this, I'll find it massively frustrating.
 
CynicismKills

CynicismKills

Ravenpoe said:
Also, Star Wars: Republic Commando had good AI teammates, where your squadmates felt like a huge boon rather than a hindrance.
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Yeah I need to replay this and then cry that we'll never get a sequel. My brother and I both hate that we'll never see what happened past a Clone Wars cameo.
 
SpecialKO

SpecialKO

figmentPez said:
If they're exactly like the AI in LEGO games, it's going to break immersion, because the AI in LEGO is almost not there at all. It's not just that they don't count; it's like they're completely not there. In LEGO if an AI is fighting an opponent, and you finish yours, they'll just stop and let that enemy waltz right over to you. If Arkham Knight does this, I'll find it massively frustrating.
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It depends on the game, I've found. The original Lego Star Wars games were less likely to do that than some of the recent ones.

But yes, definitely don't want them to go that far.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

What that box art says to me:
"Mario and Bowser have gone out for another night of drinking and carousing! Can Peach find Mario and drag him back home before his 'wasted' meter fills?"

--Patrick
 
filmfanatic

filmfanatic

PatrThom said:
What that box art says to me:
"Mario and Bowser have gone out for another night of drinking and carousing! Can Peach find Mario and drag him back home before his 'wasted' meter fills?"

--Patrick
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Wait until you hear what the game was actually like. In it, Bowser had gotten his hands on a mystical weapon that controls emotions and uses it to kidnap Mario and Luigi, presumably thinking this would solve his problems. As a result, Princess Peach has to go rescue the Mario Bros., tapping into her emotions for different powers.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

I hope you're joking, because that sounds like exactly the sort of game that would be birthed by a board room full of men who would have also tried to add "every 28 seconds you enter a special 'rage mode' that powers up your attacks for 3 seconds."

--Patrick
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

PatrThom said:
I hope you're joking, because that sounds like exactly the sort of game that would be birthed by a board room full of men who would have also tried to add "every 28 seconds you enter a special 'rage mode' that powers up your attacks for 3 seconds."

--Patrick
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Some of her powers include -

- Crying a huge amount of tears
- Getting angry and setting things on fire

No, I'm not joking.
 
filmfanatic

filmfanatic

Celt Z said:
:censored:
I can think of something that will get me angry and set it on fire...

Seriously, over 30 years and THIS is the lead she gets?!? I'm going to go play SMB2 and pretend this didn't happen.
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Wish I could say they gave her a better game to star in, but that's what they went with. At least she's one of the main playable characters in Super Mario 3D World and her powers don't rely on emotions. Instead, she still gets her awesome hover move.
 
CynicismKills

CynicismKills

Celt Z said:
:censored:
I can think of something that will get me angry and set it on fire...

Seriously, over 30 years and THIS is the lead she gets?!? I'm going to go play SMB2 and pretend this didn't happen.
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And technically that's not even supposed to be her.

3D World was great, though, her and Rosalina were both solid characters.
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

CynicismKills said:
And technically that's not even supposed to be her.

3D World was great, though, her and Rosalina were both solid characters.
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I'd rather use a not-originally-intended-to-be-Peach than a "well, she's a girl, so instead of using skills or cleverness or strength, let's get her emotional" crap.

On Peach's behalf:
 
Frank

Frank

Star Citizen had a pretty massive asset leak and the guy put up a video of the very unfinished Bengal carrier. Unfinished spaceship porn at it's finest.

 
fade

fade

Staff member
Celt Z said:
:censored:
I can think of something that will get me angry and set it on fire...

Seriously, over 30 years and THIS is the lead she gets?!? I'm going to go play SMB2 and pretend this didn't happen.
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And once a month, Peach can go into a beserker rage for 5-7 days. But she'll turn on the player if you don't keep her ice cream meter filled.
 
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