tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post4441200390159742430..comments2023-05-15T01:25:47.032-07:00Comments on Fullbright: Being ThereSteve gaynorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01516595172941914708noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post-4024463389157361942008-11-26T21:11:00.000-08:002008-11-26T21:11:00.000-08:00Considering that you call video games a medium, I ...Considering that you call video games a medium, I take issue with these views.<BR/><BR/>If video games offer that kind of player agency, they aren't in any way comparable to film or literature. They're comparable to a camera, or pen and paper. (Only, more restricted - remember those 'fill in the blanks/gaps' stories? Like that.) Designers of these are creating personalised and restricted toolsetsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post-32644824115420845592008-08-18T15:01:00.000-07:002008-08-18T15:01:00.000-07:00Maybe I should have said it was fabulous until I _...Maybe I should have said it was fabulous until I _realized that it was (just) a puzzle. Such a sad waste.Michael Samynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06876210549451561173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post-62911462087214117432008-08-17T13:47:00.000-07:002008-08-17T13:47:00.000-07:00I'm not sure what Portal is "until it turns into a...I'm not sure what Portal is "until it turns into a puzzle." You just loved standing inside a 4x4 plexiglass box?Steve gaynorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01516595172941914708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post-50266747794217789532008-08-16T11:23:00.000-07:002008-08-16T11:23:00.000-07:00This is exactly what we are trying to do with our ...This is exactly what we are trying to do with our games at Tale of Tales. But in our opinion, the rules and goals of traditional gameplay always destroy any kind of narrative experience. Gameplay as we know it adds an abstract meta-layer on top of the game that disconnects the player from "being in the world".<BR/><BR/>What we need to do, in my opinion, is to develop new forms of interaction thatMichael Samynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06876210549451561173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post-76349361403602534332008-08-03T11:05:00.000-07:002008-08-03T11:05:00.000-07:00This post got a quote in a recent talk Jon Blow ga...This post got a quote in a recent talk Jon Blow gave:<BR/><BR/>http://braid-game.com/news/?p=242<BR/><BR/>(towards the end)JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14428445037480337300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post-56286153124576919332008-07-31T20:33:00.000-07:002008-07-31T20:33:00.000-07:00Sometimes I find game designers worry too damn muc...Sometimes I find game designers worry too damn much about all of this. As you say in your post, your primary job is to create a vehicle for the player to make a story. People, by nature, create stories around them. They see a human face in the moon. They see an emotional moment when their NPC pal dies. The cultural willingness to be receptive to caring about the events in a game is the biggest Kirk Battlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16612840105075834275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post-82282274108730777262008-07-28T21:48:00.000-07:002008-07-28T21:48:00.000-07:00"Our lives are collections of little scattered sto..."Our lives are collections of little scattered stories adding up to a whole." - Steve<BR/><BR/>I like to think of life as a series of choices that weave together the tapestry of our character. It's the choices we make that define who we are and thus creates a story, a "his-story" that needs to be told. <BR/><BR/>I think all our ideas are valid, there isn't one right way to make a game. You can Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post-39473956877772351872008-07-28T10:47:00.000-07:002008-07-28T10:47:00.000-07:00Michael,I think that story can be an incredibly us...Michael,<BR/><BR/>I think that story can be an incredibly useful tool for reinforcing the feeling of being there. Certainly when I've gone traveling overseas (little as I've been able) what stick with me have been the stories of meeting people, interacting with them, exploring places.. but these have been micro-stories, not huge dramatic arcs. The pressure of casting the player as the protagonistSteve gaynorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01516595172941914708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post-58802500504868162122008-07-28T09:02:00.000-07:002008-07-28T09:02:00.000-07:00Justin,I think characters are one of the toughest ...Justin,<BR/><BR/>I think characters are one of the toughest challenges in games now. The options you present are valid, but some more difficult than others to pull off. We've gotten good at making environments believable and reactive to the player's input (high-res art, physics simulation, fire propagation, destructibility, etc.) but people are just that much more complex. It's why the vast Steve gaynorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01516595172941914708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post-68326552703887407512008-07-28T08:37:00.000-07:002008-07-28T08:37:00.000-07:00"a video game is a box of possibilities, and the b..."a video game is a box of possibilities, and the best stories told are those that arise from the player expressing his own agency within a functional, believable gameworld." <BR/><BR/>Oh, I will most certainly steal this one, Mr. Gaynor. Most assuredly I will. ;-)<BR/><BR/>You present your ideas eloquently, and I don't disagree with any of them. But I do wonder if you understate the possibilitiesMichael Abbotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14437378247420941499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post-58251396748990867852008-07-28T08:33:00.000-07:002008-07-28T08:33:00.000-07:00Iriquois,I think that Portal and BioShock's commen...Iriquois,<BR/><BR/>I think that Portal and BioShock's comments on player agency highlight its centrality to the nature of game-playing; both acknowledge about halfway through that the player in fact had no agency in how they might progress up to that point... then continue to give the player no real high-level agency. At least Portal had the decency to dress up the rest of its linear objectives Steve gaynorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01516595172941914708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post-72868741677059731092008-07-28T06:38:00.000-07:002008-07-28T06:38:00.000-07:00You've probably seen it, but if you haven't, Patri...You've probably seen it, but if you haven't, Patrick Redding (narrative designer on Far Cry 2) had some <A HREF="http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3727/redefining_game_narrative_.php" REL="nofollow">interesting things to say</A> about how they're trying to implement those tools needed for logical interactions. It seems to me that tools like these are vital for creating worlds with enough Nels Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06484436433023780229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post-15077643394572910452008-07-28T02:45:00.000-07:002008-07-28T02:45:00.000-07:00What role, if any, do you feel narrative, and spec...What role, if any, do you feel narrative, and specifically characters, have to play in such games?<BR/><BR/>Should they simply be there to add colour and versimultidude to the environment. Providing information and context for you actions? An example would be System Shock 2 where because there is no direct interaction between you and the other characters their diaries serving as clues and Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post-59872147658390005212008-07-28T00:03:00.000-07:002008-07-28T00:03:00.000-07:00I thought this article was very well thought-out. ...I thought this article was very well thought-out. <BR/><BR/>I found it really interesting to hear the sense of "collaboration" that the player feels with the designer in a game described from the opposite point of view. <BR/><BR/>I was struck by the fact that you use you use like "agency" and "autonomy" to talk about the agreement established between the player and designer. <BR/><BR/>I had oneIroquois Pliskinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14324582950813408440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20951746.post-13498836947657670272008-07-27T20:19:00.000-07:002008-07-27T20:19:00.000-07:00I whole-heartedly agree! I wrote a similar piece a...I whole-heartedly agree! I wrote a similar piece about why I thought that Oblivion, even with all its failings, is still one of the best examples of 'setting up the stage' and letting the player go nuts in the world.<BR/><BR/>Suffice to say some people disagreed by degree, but essentially the idea is pretty integral to videogames as a medium.<BR/><BR/>I don't know if you've read it but Ian BogostBen Abrahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04146790136740709664noreply@blogger.com