PAX 08 or Bust!

Heading to Seattle, WA this coming Thursday for Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) '08 with some of the other Sandswept folks. 12 hour drive, both ways, in a nice crowded sedan. It's going to be sweet. (Or is the word I'm looking for "sweat"?)

I plan to spend a good amount of my time at PAX around the Bungie and Behemoth booths. Hopefully NEXT year we'll be attending as exhibitors and not rabid fans... I will be taking lots and lots of pictures. Perhaps I'll see some other people I know, along with giving the Bungie guys a run for their money at their own game, as myself and Brighton (Sandswept Studios Creative Director) often do.

Should be a blast!


Also; Play Castle Crashers this week! It comes out Wednesday, August 27th. It's going to rock!

I will post of my travels upon return.

Comic #1: Polar Fishing

To depart from my usual writings, and on the same line of thought as my rant about Discovery and History channel becoming "Let's look at boring Blue-Collar jobs!" reality shows, I bring you a stupid comic. Enjoy the stupid comic. (Click stupid comic to view stupid comic in full stupidity)



All apologies to the people now scarred by my horrible 5-minute artwork and misuse of Photoshop.

Story Writing in Games: 15 Minute Plot Segments

While working non-stop to plan storyline for our current title, it has been tough to keep the story interesting as a whole (the overall story), while at the same time, keep it interesting throughout the game (the smaller plot events). That is to say, we were having difficulty imagining players being continually interested in the story if the entire goal of the game is to get to the end, and nothing really happens between the beginning and end, except for lots of combat and perhaps a few puzzles and basic navigation of the levels.

Yes, when it comes down to it the gameplay is the core component that keeps people playing, but in my eyes, I don't want people to just play the game because it's fun, I want them to play because it's interesting. I want them to get a bit concerned about the story events, and hopefully, laugh when the dialog demands it. So, let me tell you of the system we came up with to organize our story. Perhaps it will help you plan out your stories in the future.

We had the beginning of the game planned out. We had the ending, and we had the climax. Unfortunately, I couldn't really think of specific events that chained those three main events together. We didn't have plot holes, we had plot craters. We're talking Highlander style. If you've waded through the movie Highlander, you will appreciate that analogy. Our Creative Director, Brighton, suggested we divide it up into 15 minute plot segments. He struck oil on that one. Allow me to explain how that small idea (and now a completely obvious to me why-didn't-I-think-of-it concept) saved our story, at least in the planning phases - To be determined by players whether or not it's actually a good story.

Create 15 Minute Plot Segments

The purposes of dividing the game into 15 minute segments is fairly simple. The first one being the obvious; it drives the game. You go here, save someone, go here, save someone else, go here, discover something, go here, encounter a big bad boss, go here, encounter these people, go here, fight these guys, go here... And so on.

The second reason I'd like to point out is that it makes the game incredibly accessible by every one, from the hardcore "I played it for 6 hours straight" gamers to the casual "I had 20 minutes to spare" gamers. Both players will feel like they've accomplished something. If you receive a mini-plot quest, if you want to call them that, you can complete it in about 15 minutes. For gamers who play the game for hours on end, they'll have accomplished lots, and really feel like this game is just moving right along, event after event, so much fun! For someone just picking the game up to play for a short time, they will have accomplished something and have likely received their next goals. The next time they pick up the game, they'll already be eager to find out what's next. I have played so many games (Battlefield: Bad Company's single player mode comes to mind) where I have played for 20 minutes, even an hour, and felt as if I've made no substantial progress in the story. At this point; the game becomes a grind and you really only continue playing it (IF you continue playing it) either A) Hoping it will magically improve or B) To suck easy but monotonous achievements through a straw. I'm not really a fan of the latter, as I'm not really into Achievement milkshakes, so generally at this point I give up and play something else. That is bad. A developer never wants their game to be put down to due lack of interest (when it's new, especially) and/or pure boredom. While I can't say that EA/Dice (developers of Bad Company) didn't try; they have some fun gameplay, but perhaps it's really the poor AI and repetitive singleplayer objectives that really do it. They generally have a new cutscene every 30 minutes. Worth a play? Maybe once, but I didn't really enjoy it as much as I could have. So again; Bad. Keep your player interested throughout.

The third reason is that it's just plain easier to manage from a developmental point of view. If I want to find a specific section of the game, bam! It's right there, nicely sectioned out in it's own 15 minute block. This helps you design your levels more appropriately and really get some idea of what you're trying to convey. In a minute I will give you an example of how our storyline documents look.

How do I create these? What is the process?

Here's how we did it.

Excuse me Sir, do you have directions to...?

First, you decide where the player must go. If he has to travel to a new land, you need to decide how long it will take him to cross the current one. One level? Two? Ten? That's the simple part. Generally the best way to do this is to think up the coolest scenarios you want to put the player through, or perhaps even just some cool scenery you really want them to see. Extreme example? You asked for it:

"It would be so much fun to have the player drive a convertible through an alligator infested canyon desert swamp while being attacked by ninjas from monkey powered helicopters!"

Perhaps too extreme. If you need the player to travel a great distance, let's put them on a river. Now you have a sequence where the player is stuck on a boat, and must fend off the enemy attacks. Halo 2 had multiple instances of this on the level "Delta Halo", where the player is required to ride 'tram cars' across a huge distance while fending off flying enemies, and enemies from opposite-moving tram cars. Does the overall story demand a tram ride? Nope. Is it mega-fun? Yes! Gears of War did this, in some ways, where you're stuck on a train and must fend off the enemy. Epic Games likely said "We have to have a scene where the scenery is rushing by and you move up the train fighting from section to section."

We have cool events. What's next?

Do you ever wonder why we're here?

Why is the player riding a sweet train with epic scenery? Oh, that's right. The story put him there. This is where your 15 minute plot segments really come into play. You have great scenarios, now to figure out how and why the player gets there. What chain of events leads up to this? While that is for you to decide, this method makes it so much easier to plan, manage, and generally speaking, come up with ideas.

Let's try a generic example of a 15 minute plot segment.

You are on your way to save the day. Someone is in peril! You must save them! You fight off the baddies and save them. You're a hero. How long did that take? 15 minutes.

In 15 minutes, the player has been giving a minor goal, fought for it, and solved it. They feel like they've just done something. Now, I'm not suggesting you rush the player. Some minor events can take much longer as well, but during those longer events, make sure you are overlapping at least one, if not many, 15 minute plot events.

Since I love examples, here is a mini-plot segment that is longer than 15 minutes.

The player walks through a town that has just been pillaged by pirates. The pirate took the women, as pirates do, and the player must save them. This is an overall goal, let's say it will take the player 30 minutes to accomplish. That means we will require two even smaller plots segments inside this one. One of the villagers, crying, tells the protagonist that the pirates have stolen all the women and taken them to their secret cove.

Let's go for the obvious; How does the player find the pirates secret cove? That will easily take 15 minutes to figure out. The player has to talk to some people in the town, perhaps do some 'talk to him' NPC searching. (You know, the old "I think so-and-so may know" trick)

Once you've figured that out, you need to acquire a boat. Perhaps this will take 10 minutes, and once you've set sail to the cove, another 5 to save the women. In 15 minutes, the player has acquired a really sweet boat. In another 15, the player has saved the day and is now a hero in that town. The player feels accomplished. I wish I was the player. I would be feeling so great right now.

This is a fairly shallow example, but I believe you can grasp the general idea. The next thing you must not forget.

Is Santa coming this year, Mommy?

Rewards! You must not forget to reward the player. As I see it (and I'm sure they've been categorized further and/or called by different names), there are two kinds of rewards:
- Emotional Rewards
- Material Rewards

The first, emotional rewards, involve anything that just makes the player feel good. Things that make the player laugh, cry, panic, or finally let out that breath they've been holding during that incredibly difficult boss fight. That "Finally!" or that "Woot!" or that "I'm not crying, I just haven't blinked for awhile and my eyes dried out" every gamer gets when they encounter something they are just so proud of, excited, or touched by. You've all come across these, these are the main reasons you play games. While you may be doing almost nothing but sitting on a couch, you feel like you've just been crowned King of Arcadia. These rewards come from simply completing things. Emotional rewards should be given at every 15 minute segment. If these aren't given, the player is not enjoying themselves since the game is not stirring any emotions, whether they be "I'm having tons of fun" or "No way, he did not just stab Aeris."

Then there's the material rewards. Just defeated a really hard boss? I hope he drops a ton of gold. Just saved the damsel in distress? You better level up. Reached a major point in the game? Plate mail, watch out, because the player is going to wear you. If you want my personal opinion, material rewards should be given out roughly every 30 minutes, usually after defeating a boss. If you're really good, you will give the player a boss, big or small, every 30 minutes.

Moving on.

This is how we lay out our storyline document(s). (Sorry, this is not an actual excerpt from our game, I made this entirely up on the spot. No sneak peeks today!)

Goal: Save the child, return him to his home.

(In the previous level, the protagonist is told of a lost child in the next valley over. He ventures there to save this child from certain death.)
/Level#1: Level Title/
[The Protagonist] travels down into the valley the old man spoke of. The air, eerily calm, does not bode welcome through the low-lying fog. (note: this describes the scene) He moves onward, encountering strange beasts that jump from the mist. He must rely on his reflexes to survive their constant attacks. Up ahead, he hears a cry for help. Figuring it must be the child, [The Protangonist] charges forward to find himself in front of the Evil Overlord, holding the child by the arm. He had been using the child as bait! [The Protagonist] demands that he let the child go. "Your quarrel is not with him! It is with me!" "Very well..." The Evil Overlord thrusts the child to the ground. [The Protagonist] rushes forward, axe drawn, and engages his foe. [Boss Fight: Evil Overlord] ...

Does he save the child? Does the Evil Overlord escape? Is the child hurt? Must [The Protagonist] hurry the child back to the village witch doctor in order to heal some mortal wounds he might have acquired?

This is the power of 15 minute segments. The player does something, something happens, something is accomplished, and something new is presented. On and on and on, throughout the story.

If you can dream it, with the help of this technique, you can make it a reality.

So, You Want to Be a Game Developer?

[Authors note: I wrote this quite some time ago, so I thought I'd revise it and give it another try. I like to think I've learned a lot since then. Again, I do not claim to be an expert at all. This is all my opinion and my insight from my perspective, learning, and observation. If you want to criticize me for inexperience, you are more than welcome. This is also purely my opinion; you may disagree. Feel free to express your opinion on the matter. - GK]

“I want to be a game designer.”

I hear this all the time. Let's just lay it out flat; truth is, the term 'game designer' is vague. Ridiculously vague, and it sounds silly to anyone who knows better. Since it seems a lot of people don't actually know better, let's look over what you really mean. Or.. Probably mean, anyway. This should help out a lot of people interested in game development. Or maybe you have no idea what you mean, or what game development even consists of? Chances are, many people have no idea how games are created. Let me try to at least point some of you in the right direction.

What is a Game Designer?

This is a very loose term. I never use it, except for the purpose of putting it into layman's terms for those not even remotely aware of how games are created (generally when speaking to a non-gamer). Even then, I try to use the word “Developer”, since it's more appropriate and covers a broader range, which most people are mean when they say “Designer”.

Designing a game, to me, generally means you are one (possibly in a group with a few others) who conceives the game from top to bottom. That is to say, how it plays, the overall feel of the game, the goals, and the mechanics in which the game runs. I'd call this guy a “Project Lead” or a “Producer”, someone who manages the overall quality and management of the game throughout development. A “Lead Designer” is also a term used often, but even that yields very specific tasks.

To create a game, you must have multiple talents. This is where the term “Developer” comes in, since it covers every aspect of game development, not just the conception of a game idea, which, chances are, every one has. The trick is to have the team, resources, and brains to pull it off. You need people who can program, people who can do artistic work, people who can write stories, people who can get your game to store shelves or other outlets, and someone to manage all these programmers, artists, writers, etc. The list goes on, and in each category, more specific roles can be given out. Now, I'm not saying one man could not do it all, but generally game development requires working with a team, and each team member helps design their section of the game, with one or more members leading every one with the overall vision of the game.

To my experience, when most people say; “I want to be a game designer.”, they're really saying “I want to help develop games.” Again, this is very broad, but they're heading the right direction. Now you must ask yourself; what part of games do you want to help develop?

Idea Men

“I have an idea for a game.”

This is the classic one to hear from the general population. Simply put, everyone has an idea, big or small. Chances are, you thought it up based off of some other games you've seen, or maybe a cool movie you saw. It's a very brief idea, maybe the only thing you can say about it is “It's a game where you find [some cool aliens], go to [some place], and have [cool weapons.]” (More or less simplistic, but not much more detailed than that.) I call these guys “Idea Men”. They have a small, vague idea, and they believe that their idea is great, if only someone would create it. They go about on various game studio forums telling the studio how they would make boatloads off of their idea. Everyone is an idea man, and most just realize their idea isn't going anywhere, or they don't care that much to pursue it. Others believe their idea is right up there next to the greatest games of all. Now, if they really want their idea to become a reality, they need to evolve their idea a bit more and get to a position where that's possible. Why would a studio spend 1-2 years of development and expenses to create an idea that is nowhere near as complex or in-depth as the one they're already working on? It just doesn't happen, as the risk is too high. Once the idea becomes more in depth, now you're getting somewhere. Myself, I have ideas of games I would love to see created, and I've worked my way, through toil and strife, into a position where this is more possible. “Idea Man” is not a position, so let's continue on to the real stuff. I might have ideas, but I have more jobs than just thinking about stuff. By all reckoning, that would be a very easy job...

Artists

Artists come in all shapes and sizes. 3D Modeling, creating polygons? 3D Animation, bringing characters to life with movement? Concept Art, helping the modelers and designers capture their ideas? Graphical Art, such as textures? These are the guys who make your game shine. Everything that you see on top, is art. I love my artists. My days would not be nearly as fun if I couldn't blame horrible in-game blemishes on someone. As I said, I love to kick my artists.

Are you interested in drawing pictures on paper, maybe some cool vehicle, weapon, or character you've come up with? You may just make a good concept artist. Concept artists can create many things, but generally specialize in one area of the game. They create art that the modelers or other artists use to create the more detailed, in-game version of whatever it is that was conceived. Concept artists, with some other talent, can also be environment/level designers.

How about 3D work? Do you like taking pictures of things (say, from concept artists) and creating them in 3D? Or perhaps bringing them to life with movement? You might be a good modeler or animator.

Perhaps you spend countless hours editing pictures of kittens to say funny, grammatically incorrect statements, or perhaps you enjoy sewing heads of presidents onto monkey bodies with Photoshop? I would hardly call that talent, but maybe you've managed to do other things as well. Maybe you've managed to create something more, such as amazing wallpapers or visuals, and you declare yourself to have “1337 photoshop skillz”. There's a chance you might be a very good graphical artist, someone who creates anything from company logos to in-game art. Textures on characters, objects, and environments. Dirt, grass, wood, metal, you name it!

The next group are the nerds. The very smart, holy-crap-how-did-you-do-that group.

Software Engineers (Programmers)

For many who don't understand, a programmers job is not as simple as it seems. They merely bring things to life, make things work, and create the gears that turn underneath all of the fancy art. Not so hard, is it?

Hah! I'm sure I could direct you to a few programmers who will punch you in the mouth for such comments.

The average programmer is fairly intelligent. Good programmers have to be. Most future programmers can find their talent if they just try it some. There are many people, like myself, who couldn't program if their lives depended on it. But all of you, listen to this next sentence: That didn't stop me from trying. People like myself just don't have the natural ability to do it. We don't like math, we don't like bringing things to life in the same sense, and we sure try to avoid thinking too hard. Programming can be learned, but for some, it comes much more quickly, and their aptitude for it is amazingly high. Programmers are in shorter supply than other professions. China and India are graduating, per person, more engineers than the US. That says something about us being behind. While obviously they aren't generally going into game development, the point still stands. Engineers are hard to find. They are few and far between. Their skills are precious.

Without a programmer, a game will never crawl, much less walk. If you're the kind of person who gets in trouble at school for opening files you're not supposed, or fixing the teacher's computer before the school technician shows up, you may have the talents of a good programmer. Or maybe you're just a nerd. If you're not sure, or maybe you've been interested in programming, as I will re-iterate before this article is finished; try it. That is the only way you can say it's not for you, or alternatively, is.

Writers

Do you like writing stories? Are you a big fan ficiton or short story writer? Did you always love English class throughout school? (I know I did!) You might just be a writer. These guys aren't always looked upon as a major contributor, though anyone who has played a game with a good story, you can bet there was a good writer behind it. A good writer can really make or break a game, in a lot of ways most people wouldn't imagine. Maybe they're not the best gameplay designers, but boy, can they cook up a good story! These are the guys that game developers want to keep their eyes out for. They've got all the names, places, action, romance (ooh), suspense, and fantastic world stirring around in their head. Get them to write it down. Without teaming up with someone who really knows how to make games, these guys will remain as is, with pages and pages of storyline. No gameplay to speak of, just an epic story that puts Stephen King to shame. These guys have talent, but it's not for “Game Design”, it's for writing. I highly encourage anyone who is a “Writer” to find a job in the game industry for writing, and look out for project leads and other game developers who are in need of someone to write cinematics, storyline, anything of the sort. These are men like Joe Staten (writer for Bungie Studios and author of Halo novel “Contact Harvest”, one of the best books I have ever read), who have carved worlds thick with lore and history, things the fans can really sink their teeth into. Games are rapidly becoming interactive movies/interactive books, in a sense, and these are the guys that help it along the way. Some people just can't write a great story, so good writers can be invaluable. If you're a lone writer interested in game development, find someone, some studio that will bring your writing to life. It just may be the most amazing job of your life.

Anything else?

There's a few more advanced positions in game development, say, as a Producer. They're more in charge of the global aspect of things, must be good with people, must be a good leader, and must have many of the skills you'd think to find from a manager. Generally speaking, this requires either A) Starting up your own studio as I've done, or B) Many years of working your way up the ranks. If you're the guy for this kind of job, you've probably already thought about it and I don't need to tell you twice. If you're this kind of person, you'll already have figured out the options and how to get to your goals. That's the sign of leadership, initiative, and that “Go get 'em!” attitude managers need to have. Also, with all companies, game studios do occasionally need other positions that aren't related to the game development itself, such as a CFO, managing budget and such. That's a completely different set of cards.

So what's your point?

If you have no idea what you're interested, try everything. Try to write. Try to draw. Try to model. Try to program. I believe those who really want to create games will find their niche. For those who want to be project leads, producers, or get their idea created as a game, I can only say that it requires connections, rising through the ranks, or founding your own studio, all of which are very difficult. As I just mentioned; if you're the kind of person for that type of job, you should already be well on your way to it, as you're intelligent, you're a hard worker and you never give up.

Let me just say it here, loud and clear. If you want to make games, start now. Do not wait for high school classes to teach you, do not wait for college. Familiarize yourself with the tools now. Spend your spare time learning, practicing, and creating. If you enjoy programming, you must start programming now. If you want to do art, you'd best get out your pen and paper. Nothing impresses a game developer (read: a potential employer) more than actual work. Credentials on your resume help your credibility, but actual work dwarfs it in comparison. I would highly suggest you start building a portfolio as early as possible.

For those of you who are already working a full time career, you likely have a degree, (or maybe you still want one?) and you're not sure what to do. If you like games, you're creative, and you want to really enjoy your job, see if you might have any of the skills it might take. I want to stress that no one go through life working a job they don't enjoy. Make sure you're putting food on the table, but if you're not enjoying your work, find what you really like. For you gamers out there, you might really find something magical about creating games. Though, it's not for every one. For me, game development is the only type of work I've done in my life that I have truly and honestly enjoy with a deep passion. I would not trade it for a crummy job with a massive salary.

If you're not sure what to do, start out with modding tools for games and go from there. Don't be intimidated by the industry. Start small, grow big.

See you on the battlefield.

The Path To Enlightening Your ... Wallet?

Without divulging any specifics, I have a friend who recently has started down the path of Zen Buddhism. Or, he'd like to think so, anyway. After all, he reads all the Zen blogs, reads all the Zen books, and listens to all the Zen Masters. While I'm hardly an expert in any of these fields, I know one thing is true.

The true path to enlightenment in your life does not come through paying hundreds (if not accumulated thousands) of dollars to listen to a "Zen Master" talk and teach for an hour.

Let's get this part out of the way first; I have absolutely nothing against modern lifestyles and natural human instinct. Also, I do agree that people should be striving for self improvement and 'enlightenment' in all things in their lives. I don't think Buddha ever charged for his teachings. In fact, charging money for Zen teachings is almost entirely against everything I've ever read regarding Zen. It's as ridiculous, in my eyes, as paying a religious leader to give sermons.

I'm more than positive that this topic has been touched on by countless Zen-types and such, but I feel a lot of the "Zen Buddhists" of our time carry about "the stench of righteousness". The holier than thou attitude, such as "I'm more enlightened than you are." That is not what Buddha taught. In fact, he taught in the entirely opposite direction.

I'm not really saying a lot of the Zen teachers are wrong; they generally have very good points, but when it comes to them asking people to pay hundreds of dollars for some of those teachings, you're really turning it into a business. They're business men, not lowly, humble teachers for the cause of bettering humanity. Changing the world does not require money. (But let's face it, it sure helps!)

Before I wrote this, I did a bunch of research, just to ensure I'm not making too big of a fool of myself. Buddha taught people to follow the Middle Path (or Middle Way). Not extremist one way, not extremist another. One of the more prominent Buddhist teachers (Unfortunately, his name escapes me, and I can't seem to find it) touched on the subject of "The Upper Middle Path", achieving enlightenment through expensive mountain retreats, classes, and various other methods that most of the common people could never do. While it may be somewhat of a joke among Buddhists, I think it proves how much of a 'fad' Buddhism has become in some parts of the world. (North America/The United States, to be specific.)

"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought." - Basho

Many of the Buddhist/Zen followers are still frequently angry people, still have their life running thousands of different directions, still yell at their children for miniscule things, and don't really have their emotions in check.

"He is able who thinks he is able." - Buddha

While you might say this clearly means "Confidence is key", this is not what I'm seeing, nor how I interpret it at all. If you're not acting like someone who follows Zen teachings in your daily life, stop pretending to. To put it simply; there is no possible way enlightenment is a part-time job or a "I don't feel like being Zen right now."

To end on a high note;

It is said that a man, alone and naked in a room can learn the martial art of Ninjutsu. Are a bunch of Monks going to let a few Ninjas beat them? I encourage people that are trying to better themselves, but perhaps they need to consider that they're not really following the right path to do so. I promise you will find more of yourself hiking in the mountains, sitting on a park bench, or taking an evening walk around your neighborhood, than you will ever find at a fancy spa or lecturing hall.


For those who pay for all the exquisite retreats and lectures; the only "enlightenment" you are reaching is that of your wallet. True enlightenment doesn't cost a dime.

Why Developers Cater To the Casual Crowd

Warning to the faint of heart; if you are part of the competitive crowd you'll likely say I exaggerate, perhaps even lie. If you're part of the casual crowd, you might be inclined to say I'm spot on. It's a matter of perspective, but at the end of the day, competitive gaming groups such as MLG are vastly outnumbered by the casual gamer. Casual players are immensely important to gaming, and especially to the developers. A little insight from casual players and a developer can, considering they have everything else needed, be well on their way to making a hit title. Without the casual gamer, gaming would be a highly competitive wasteland of dullness. Let me explain how I can draw this conclusion.

About The Casual Crowd

Trust me on this one; these folks are the most important, and generally speaking, the most numerous. These are the people, like myself, who may or may not be good at the game, but they play when they can and try not to get too serious about how it all goes down. They play the game for the same reason we all first picked up a controller. When you first grabbed a controller and started hitting those buttons, playing that game, be it belonging to the Atari, SNES, N64, Dreamcast, Gamecube, Playstation, Xbox, or Wii, we all did it for one reason; It was fun. Chances are you're part of this casual crowd. Chances are your main focus is always to have fun. If you're not having fun with the game you're playing or the people you're playing with, you find something else to do. I know I do.

Now, let me talk about the other side of the coin. There's this small group of gamers that thinks they are on top of the world. They think game developers (such as Bungie Studios, who is victim to this quite often) just make games and don't really understand the 'real gamer'. This small niche is under the impression that, since they take the games so seriously and can play them with obscene amounts of talent, they should be leading the pack. If you can't compete with them, you're opinion is fairly minute, and you shouldn't really have much say in how games should be created. After all, playing a game well and creating games are the same thing. ... Oh wait, no they aren't! So, let's talk more in depth about these guys and what kind of people they tend to be, more often than not.

The Hardcore/Competitive Gamers

I don't necessarily want to make manufactured blanket statements, but I am a fan of high quality home-made quilts. The competitive gaming community, led specifically by Major League Gaming (MLG) is really turning a lot of players away from online gaming by way of bad attitude. I've seen how the professionals act. The top players of the MLG circuit are pretty cool guys. Sure, they take the game way more seriously than I ever would, but they're well mannered, fairly polite, and don't throw fits. They also rarely claim to know better than the developers. In fact, these guys are so polite, Bungie Studios even brought them in once to help test out a new patch (a fix for the game) to get some feedback on it.

You know all those other MLG wannabes, so to speak? You know, the ones that are generally kids ages 12 to 17 trying to find purpose in their life while they wade through school? Those guys are not following the example of the professionals have laid out. I've no problem with trash talking. It's fun to poke your friends and opponents with cheeky comments and witty retorts. Now, where is the line drawn between playful banter and hurtful insults? Perhaps there's just this large group of players out there that just plain don't have a conscience. Does that voice in the back of your head ever go "Maybe I shouldn't say these things."? After all, you're not anonymous on the internet. What you say can and generally will come back and bite you, whether it be suspension of accounts or, in an extreme example, people have pressed harassment charges against other players. Look, by all means, beat your opponent. Pulverize him, for all I care. Does that give you any right to say things you wouldn't hear in public conversation?

How does this all lead back to MLG? Elitism. The "I'm better than you" attitude that competitive gaming groups (like MLG) encourage. You have to be the best, you have to make sure every one knows your name, you have to ensure that you don't fall behind into the crowds of idiots who play games with no intent of always winning, but instead with an intent to have fun during a game. I might go so far to say that many of the super competitive players have sold their very souls for a high rank on some leaderboard that will be obsolete in the next few years. I'd say the average life of a game is 6 months before people get bored of it, for exceptional games (such as Halo 3), 2 years. But what about 3 years from now?

Nope. It's almost as childish as the time you once cried your eyes out until your mother gave in and bought you that toy you wanted. What was that toy? Oh, you forgot or don't really care anymore? Then why did you scream and cry about so much at the time? I bet your parents aren't too happy at you about that. The Law of Impermanence. Look it up. Maybe a few of you can do some self-realization for a bit and notice that you're just making every one else miserable for some very minuscule personal gain. So let me ask this again; what about 3 years from now? Does any one care that you cussed and screamed your way to the top? Chances are it will do you (and them) much more harm than good. For those who are really playing competitively and receiving money for their efforts, great! You've done what most people can not. Cherish it, and show me that you realize what a fantastic position you're in by being a good role model to all gamers.

Don't get me wrong. I've met quite a few nice, friendly competitive players, but if the competitive community was more mature, as a whole, I would look towards it with a much more positive attitude. Now at this point you either think I'm a jerk, I talk too much, “That fool is owning MLG, hah!” or even more likely, you're wondering what this has to do with Game Developers. Let me get to that.

Game Developers Get Payed to Make Games

That's a funny statement, right? Of course they get paid to make games! Why am I just stating the obvious? Because apparently it's not very obvious. If you don't understand how much this sentence really says, I'll help you out.

Game Developers are paid to do what they do. Why are they, instead of most of you, getting paid to make games? There's a 'walk-through-the-park-best-and-easiest-job-in-the-world' mentality that seems to surround game development. While I'm still learning, and I will claim to be no expert, I can tell you this isn't true. Yes, I think it's the best job in the world, I wouldn't trade it for... Well, the world. However, it's also the single toughest thing I have done in my entire life. I am not exaggerating here; my job is stressful, my job is complicated. I love it, but oftentimes it feels like it is slowing killing me. While it's true, most people do not have to play as many cards as I do (and the other people on the team) since we are currently such a small group, but even single things can be a real burden on your mind.

Circling back to my original point I'm attempting to make; game developers get paid to make games. You don't. Enthusiasm, dedication, and willingness to learn, think, grow, and give suggestions, I encourage greatly from gamers. The real problem, as I see it, is when someone thinks they have a great idea that would fix or improve a game and claim the developers are not listening, too stupid to realize it, or some other poorly founded criticism. Let's look at what the developers have that you don't.

Game Developers Have Experience Making Games

Whether working on their very first title or having worked on many, the game developers are doing one thing the gamers aren't. They are making games. They know how they work, they're designing how they work, and they're testing them constantly, fixing things that are wrong, killing themselves over things that aren't working properly, and just plain dealing with all the pros and cons of game development. I would also like to make a point that testing games is not nearly as fun as playing them. Generally when you test a game in progress, it is full of bugs and not fun. It is work. You're usually crying as to why things aren't working, instead of giggling happily at the fact that you're playing some cool anticipated title no one else gets to play yet. Sure, it has it's moments of pure awesome, but a lot of the time, it truly is work. It's a job. Game developers are not just gamers with a paycheck. They have experience, they have the brains, and they have the tools. They had to work to get where they are. Remember those really funny YouTube ads for Westwood Game Design College?
Here and Here.

This is not game development. Sorry kids. (Special kudos to Wideload Games, who picked up on this and poked some fun at those commercials.) You, as a gamer, and with the luxury of free speech, can say what you want, even if you could not be more wrong. This particular part is not directed at competitive players, but it seems to be a nice trend. It's very similar to an Olympic swimmer trying to help an engineer come up with some super high-tech nano-skin water suit. The Olympic swimmer has no idea how to make it. Sure, he can give suggestions, but the actual design is really up to the engineer. The swimmer can only help test a bit, perhaps give a little feedback. Games are very similar.

To bring a recent example to the table, Bungie Studios has garnered some negative attention from the MLG Community (who uses Bungie's Halo 3 as one of their main competitive titles) and other competitive groups. To summarize as to what and why, Halo 3 has a weapon; The Battle Rifle, with a 3-shot burst. Due to the intentional randomness of the bullet spread, some argue that this detracts from the skill of the game. Bungie listened to the concerns, ran various tests, and came forward with the mathematics behind said bullet spread, and then explained exactly why they can and will not change the bullet spread on the Battle Rifle. Those who claimed to know better than Bungie came forward with their own arguments, more or less disregarding anything that Bungie had said. When Bungie spoke, I knew exactly where they were coming from and why they said what they said. Let me quote the conclusion here, and explain why that is, without boring you with as much information as given in the actual Bungie response [You can see the entire Bungie Response in the first part of this Bungie Weekly Update]:

"Aesthetic similarities aside, the Battle Rifle in Halo 3 is a far different weapon from its Halo 2 predecessor. Despite what segments of the player population believe or want to believe, it is no longer a mid-to-long range killing machine. It is an anti-long range weapon with a focus on mid-range combat that ends up being utilitarian and functional, but not optimal at close range. The reasons for this are obvious – there is no designed one-weapon-to-rule-them-all in Halo 3 and that is a decision made by design to encourage all of the aspects of the sandbox to be used in gameplay.

Much of the fervent debate comes from players who simply want the weapon to perform differently than it was designed to perform. The bullet variation in the Battle Rifle’s three-round bursts is a design choice that further defines the weapon's role in the Halo 3 sandbox."

In making the Halo 3 Battle Rifle's 3 shot burst less random, it takes out the entire piece of gameplay that makes the Battle Rifle unable to shoot an infinite distance accurately. This is by design. if the spread were not random and/or tighter grouping, the gun would no longer play the role it is intended to play by the designers. For some reason, this has flown completely over the heads of self-proclaimed "Pro Gamers" and "Experts". They don't care if it would wreck gameplay, because in their heads, and in concept, their idea would improve the game 100%, no doubt about it. To the sort of people that think they have some great idea, fine. You have a right to it, but the moment you start backing it up with "I'm good at video games", myself and many others could just as easily retort "I'm good at making them." If I was in a really good mood, I might not decide to include the "Have fun playing with your joystick, punk." on the end of it. And I'm one of the nicer guys. No one likes having their job downplayed as some sort of 'anyone can do it' career.

Moving on to the real topic here, why are casual gamers the people myself and many other developers really turn to when looking for suggestions, advice, and feedback? Let's just get my entirely personal opinions out of the way.

I Like Good Attitude

I like anyone who plays and enjoys something I produce. (By I, I really mean myself and/or the studio I'm part of) Those people are automatically on my good list. Then there's the way they express themselves. While Sandswept Studios has yet to really encounter rabid fanboys or super negative 'playa-hatas' (as the kids say), I've always been drawn more to people who are nice. I've always liked the gamers who express their opinions in a kind manner, and usually take the developers benefit of the doubt. When a developer tells you something, he's generally telling you exactly how it is. If he pulls some numbers out, and specific examples as to why things must stay the same, or an idea can't happen, you'd best listen up. I promise they're telling you the truth, even if you think it might be so simple to do, perhaps even as simple as a quick change to a line of code.

To give you some idea of what I mean, if you're unfamiliar, Luke Smith, a writer for Bungie, made fun of a similar concept; “I joke around at the office with coders and artistic types that 'It can’t be that hard, just ctrl-C and then open up H3 and press ctrl-v and then ship it.' These jokes do not amuse them.”

Funny guy, by the way. I really like Luke's sense of humor, and at the same time, his ability to tell people what's what and find information from the other Bungie team to better let the community know how things work, and why things aren't able to be changed so willy-nilly, so to speak.

As in any society, someone with a good attitude is generally listened to a lot more and a lot more intently than someone who is rude, throwing a fit, or just being an all around scrub. (See what I did there? That's MLG slang for a poor player.)

That out of the way, why do developers like the casual crowd? Here's the obvious answer:

There's so many of them! (Target Audience)

Plain and simple: Casual rules. When I refer to competitive players, I don't mean the guys who just like beating their friends, I mean the guys who stop at nothing and I mean nothing, perhaps even something as atrocious as cheating, to beat every one. I am not referring to the casual competitive types that, while they do play for fun, also like to win. I'm really this kind of player. I like to win, but I know when I'm taking it too far and it becomes either less for myself, or less fun for others. If the Competitive players want to have massive games where they go all out, by all means, I hope every developer leaves an outlet for that behavior, but by no means should any developer focus on that crowd. It's just not practical.

Yes, I use Halo a lot as an example, not only because I think Bungie has made some amazing games, but also because the information is easily accessible. To give you an idea of the MLG population in Halo 3, the MLG gametype playlist holds a population hovering around 5-6,000 players. The total online unique users in the Halo 3 population in a given 24 hour period? 700,000. [Source: Bungie.net]

Any one can see from these numbers that the MLG population, however loud and large they want to make themselves feel, they are by no means the standard and they are by no means the majority of players. If population of Casual players is not enough to convince you, let me get into more specific reasons why the casual players are, and will continue, to lead the gaming industry.

Developers are people too! (And usually Casual Players)

First and foremost, game developers are usually game developers because they have not attempted to follow any sort of competitive gaming career. They've been far more interested in the production and creation of games, as opposed to beating every one else at them. Sure, we can see there are some developers who like playing competitively, but it's not really a common thing. They're creating games because they love games. They love having fun, and they love creating more fun for other people. I would go so bold and so far as to say that developers, as a whole, are casual players. They can relate to the casual crowd, and they just want to make exciting stuff.

If any developers read this and disagree, please, I would really appreciate to hear what you have to say about this. Still not agreeing or convinced? Or perhaps you just agree, but I'm such a good writer you want to keep reading? Good one. Crack a smile. You deserve it for a joke like that.

Moving on to the final reason:

People just like a good story... (Or gameplay)

Coming back to what I said much earlier, people play games for fun. They are a form of entertainment. I was a gamer before I was a developer. Why did I play Zelda: A Link To The Past back on the SNES when I was 6 years old? How about Super Mario World? Why do I play Halo? What's the draw of Battlefield? I find them fun. For the same reason you watch a movie or read a book, you play games. To most players, games are more than just a sport, more than just bragging rights. With friends or alone, these games offer an experience. They offer a story. They're offer memories. They offer an adventure.

Those who treat them as sports are really taking away what the developers are trying to give you. Developers are artists, writers and visionaries. Whether they realize it or not, all developers (excluding EA, the evil empire*) are doing one thing, and want to do one thing (aside from making money, of course). They are trying to bring you something unlike anything else; a story never before told, an experience never before felt, a triumph never before won.

They're bringing it to their fans, the people who enjoy it the most, the group who wants to hear it, see it, and feel it. These, my friends, are the casual players. They are numerous and strong, and they will continue to play games for the love of playing games, letting no leaderboard or lack of skill stand between them and their friends, them and their love for all things gaming.

This is why developers will listen to the casual crowd. They are the past, the present, and the future.



*EA makes some great products and I do not at all discourage them from buying out every single company and manufacturing games in a soulless manner.

[Edit: Special compliments to XerxdeeJ over at Tied The Leader, for his article on this similar topic.

Profoundism

Main Entry: blog
Part of Speech: v
Definition: The act in which when talking to oneself in person becomes a bore, one begins talking to themselves on the internet
Example: I have a compulsive need to blog to no one in hopes I become the next Dooce, minus the woman part and hate for all mankind part.
Etymology: shortened form of Lonely
Usage: blog, blogged, blogging v, blogger n

I was told by someone that my blog was 'nothing profound'. Insulted by this, I've decided to make some profound statements. Bear with me, and hold me up if I start to get dizzy.

As you should all know, blogs on the internet are entirely hit or miss. I bet there are sixteen trillion articles on this very subject, all probably a lot more articulate and well thought out than this one. Do I care? (Probably)

A blog must also be updated at least once every other day to keep readers interested. The only times a blog is determined to be widely successful are as follows:
1) The person(s) writing it are famous.
2) The person(s) writing it are suffering from a rare but painful disease. (Cancer, gingivitis, parenthood, etc.)
3) The person(s) writing it are so full of genius that no one can argue with what they say due to lack of knowledge on astro-nuclear-physics. (Is that even a field? See, I don't even know. That's how smart they are.)

So, why would you read my blog? You're probably a close family member, a friend, or one of those guys who finds easy targets, such as game developers who talk too much and like to hear people are excited about their game so they take advantage of them and stalk them every chance they get until a restraining order is set in place. Everyone else knows to steer clear. If you also haven't noticed by this point in my post, I have decided being profound is overrated.

Today we put up a new enemy; the Darkling. You can see that over at the Sandswept Website, if you've not already. (Chances are you've been there if you're reading this...)


Thanks for reading, freaky stalker person.


My next post will be about semi trucks, pine trees and wrenches. I kid you not.

A Blog about Blogs

I've never really liked blogs, you know? Generally speaking, it's someone sitting there telling us about their parents, their kids, their friend, their boyfriend, their girlfriend, or their animal (which may also fall under one of the previous categories, you never know these days!), only they're not really telling us, they're just speaking into a black abyss, hoping someone out there is listening and... .... .. Cough.

But then; there is the cream of the crop. The best of the best. The people who write about other peoples writing habits.

Yes indeed, these are the best blogs on the internet. While you folks are over there blogging about home-made chocolate cake recipes, I'm over here showing every one else that I have nothing else to do other than wonder why you're posting about home-made cake recipes. Sure, who doesn't like cake, but along the same line of thought, how many different cakes can you really make? Strictly speaking, there's only about one way to make chocolate cake. Cake batter, chocolate, meet my friend the blender. If you put anything else in the cake except chocolate, you're not making a Chocolate Cake™.

Of course, this post is not about cake, chocolate or otherwise. And heaven forbid anyone tries to post a comment after this like "The cake is a lie!", because we got the joke too. Thanks for ruining it. I've got good bunch of things to post here over time, and I'm not going to waste it on cake, not even cake made by my own mother. (Well, if you know my mother, that's not saying much...) (Love you, Mom!)

That reminds me. I'm also not going to spend it talking about my personal life... At least not any of the emotional problems, family problems, or the part where I cry myself to sleep every night to the extent that I wake up tasting salt every morning. Speaking of salt, I know this really good cake recipe where a pinch of salt will--- HEY. I see what you're trying to make me do here. Stop it.

I'll probably use this space to write about game development, maybe some advice to people wanting to get into the business, tips, tricks, things you should know. Not that I'm an expert, I'm still in the process of all that, learning new things every day. I also have a thing or two to say about various political things ... And no, I don't care if you think Obama is the black Monkey Jesus and McCain was dug up on an archeological dig in Vietnam, there's more to politics than two candidates personal lives. I mean the big stuff. You know, the stuff that actually matters in the long run.

Just a nice shout out to Dan Paladin and the rest of the Behemoth team; Castle Crashers is coming out August 27th on Xbox Live Arcade, which I am incredibly excited to play, right before PAX '08 starts up. (Which I am attending) Great job, Behemoth! I suggest you grab this game. It's going to be awesome.

Here is a list of more things you will not see in this blog:

• Content
• Cooking Recipes (Human flesh and pie excluded)
• Pictures of Kittens
• A deep insight to my soul and personal life
• Compliments
• Overused Internet Memes
• Sandswept Studios related secrets (Maybe)

Take care, play it safe, and keep checking my blog. Please? :(

It's all the rage.

I've heard this blogging stuff is "in",
From various women and various men.
I suppose I'll start one now-- Oh wait.
It appears I'm just a few years late.

Stick around, I'll write some stuff,
Be it grand, or be it fluff.
I've got only but a few things to say,
Perhaps you'll listen too, someday.

Now to stop this silly rhyme,
the world moves by through passing time,
So my blog will wait, till I see fit,
To tell you what I think of it.

Update 8/12/08:

Hey, if you read this, you gotta comment. That is the rules.* Look it up.



*may be a lie