The Studies & Reviews of a Game Development Student

So for the final week of homework for this class we were required to look at a game called “Dwarf Fortress”. Ill be talking about this game during this post and you can find the game download on Bay12 Game’s Website if you want to play it yourself.

How far did I get into the game?

I barely got anywhere. Even just setting up the menu and starting the game was difficult for me. I tried some of the recommended mods but couldn’t get anywhere important even then. I had barely gotten started when all the symbols and flashing lights became too much for me and I couldn’t continue. However I did manage to get a Star Wars Jawa Mod working which was kinda fun for the Star Wars nerd that I am.

What exactly did I manage to do?

Ok so I know i got the Jawa mod working. I got the game started and started moving people I think. I made some buildings maybe?? The whole game kinda seemed like one big cluster of who knows what in my opinion. I didn’t understand much at all. Now I’m sure with practice and learning the game I would understand it more. I’m sure there are people out there that can blitz the game. I however, didn’t get very far to my understanding. It definitely doesn’t seem like a game I could understand or play without dedicating a lot of time to it.

What was fun and what wasn’t?

So first, the UI and controls were awful. I couldn’t understand half the stuff that was going on. The controls didn’t make sense to me. The screen was clustered and very distracting. I think too much was simply going on for my feeble mind to comprehend. However, some of the narrative and other things I did manage to figure out were astounding. If a player was to put in the time and effort, this would be an amazing game.

Overall opinion and would I play it outside homework?

So I guess to give a truthful and accurate opinion of the game we have to split it into two sections. Starting the game and playing with experience.

New players who have no idea how to play will have no clue what is going on. Its clustered, distracting and overall clunky with bad controls.

However experienced players who understand whatever is going on will unlock the exciting narrative and underground events that push this game forward.

From my little experience I don’t know if i would play it again. If i could find the time then maybe I’ll dive back in and learn DF. But for now I’ll have to pass.

If you want to learn more however, do go check the Kotaku review of DF. It explains it rather well compared to me and I’m sure they definitely got further into it. Two paragraphs from them easily some up the experience of DF.

“Dwarf Fortress is a brilliant game, but it will make you work to find that out. It’s a game that loves its complicated world and the adventures it offers players, even when the odds of winning are slim. It rewards you for putting yourself in a sticky situation—a goblin siege, a forgotten beast with deadly breath, too many cats making your frames per second drop to the single digits — by gifting you a story you can tell for life. It hides grand narrative arcs deep in its code for you to discover.

But Dwarf Fortress is also clunky, obtuse, and complicated. It’s so easy to get lost in the details that you don’t even know where to start. Does the game start at world creation, where you enter the specifics that will define your play session and which generates a vast, unique history you might never see? Is the meat of the game the fortress building itself, the endless economies to juggle and moods to manage? Should you spend time in Adventure Mode, where you can take a character out on a quest in one of the worlds you’ve created, or in Legends Mode, which allows you to explore the records of such a world?“

You can find their review here.

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/05/dwarf-fortress-the-kotaku-review/

Thanks again guys

-T.S

This week we were told to read an article talking about procedural generation in games and discuss what procedural generation is and its applications.

So first what is “Procedural Generation”?

“In video games, it is used to automatically create large amounts of content in a game. Depending on the implementation, advantages of procedural generation can include smaller file sizes, larger amounts of content, and randomness for less predictable gameplay.“

Essentially this means that instead of the developer having the map out every single level and landscape, the game will develop what is needed somewhat randomly after the game is run. Now this process isn’t completely random. It does have a procedure. Hence the name “Procedural”. These procedures will define how content fits together in the game world. For example. Enemy spawns in Diablo 3. If these were completely random a lvl 3 player could encounter a lvl 20 enemy in the generated dungeons. This of course would unbalance the game.

Its Applications

Lets keep talking about Diablo 3 to keep things simple. In D3, procedural generation would be used to design and place the dungeons the player can enter. After entering it would then design the enemy spawns and loot drops from said enemies. It would also be used to designate the players daily bounties after you finish the game. If something has a somewhat randomness to it, it is generally procedural generated. Other games and examples would include

• Minecraft – The terrain and village placement
• Borderlands Series – Weapon Drops
• Diablo, Enter The Gungeon, City of Brass – Map and loot is generated

I’m sure you can think of many more.

Methods of Generation

I would put the methods into two categories

First we have the good ol’ “Complete Randomness”. Now this doesn’t sound too bad. Every play through will be super different. You can get awesome loot and its fun and chaotic. Sounds fun on paper. But if a game is completely randomly generated we will definitely see some issues. Lets imagine a simple dungeon crawler. You walk into a new room and the game generates the room.

• How big is the room?
• How many enemies?
• Any treasure? Traps?

These are just some things the game has to think about. The problem with random generation is that we could get a giant room with a single weak goblin or a tiny room that crams 10 boss lvl enemies into it. The goblin could drop the best weapon in the game and the bosses could drop nothing at all. This is the problems with random generation. Its too chaotic and unpredictable. The player will become frustrated as one level is too easy and the next impossible.

The next and more balanced method is called Guided Generation. This would mean the game still applies some form of randomness within limits. Good examples of this would be Diablo 3 as said before. Back to talking about our player entering the room. Now the room will:

• Place a random amount of enemies within maybe 2 to 3 lvls of the player
• Compare room size to those enemies or vice versa
• Reward the player with loot depending on the enemies killed

This is a much more balanced system for the player and will make the game a lot more stable and fun.

Seeds and Set Pieces

Some games use what we call seeds and set pieces to help balance out the game. First lets talk about Seeds

Seeds are a code we can place in that tells the Random Number Generator what sequence it should place everything in. Look at Minecraft. One of the biggest parts of making a new world in the “world seed”. Some players will of course just enter random words or numbers but this seed actually tells the game to put everything in a certain place. Now I am probably explaining this awfully but this means that if 2 people enter the same seed in the world generator then they will both be spawned in identical worlds. This is a way for players to replay an experience they really enjoyed.

Now of course certain things will still be randomly generated. Things like enemy spawns etc but all the minerals, villages and more will be placed in the same spot every time.

Now lets talk about set pieces. Set pieces are content that are pre-generated by the developer or game. Back to Diablo 3, the game is heavily played in procedural generated dungeons etc but what about the narrative boss fights. These boss fights are set pieces. Set pieces are essential for narrative plot points and story elements. We don’t want to be fighting the final boss of the game early or be fighting a chicken in his place.

Overall Procedural Generation is an amazing process and tool for game development. It gives a game immense replay ability and can save developers a lot of work. I know a lot of the games I’ve enjoyed over my life use this method.

Thanks Again

-T.S

So before we address what was said in the title we need to know what the difference between Diegetic and Non-Diegetic. When a character, a song, sound or image exists within the game world, we say that it is diegetic: it belongs to the universe of the character. Otherwise, if this element exists only in the player’s world, at the other side of the wall, we call it non-diegetic.

Different games will use diegesis differently but the games that use it well use it to add to the games and narrative immersion. Lets talk about a couple examples.

• Doom 2016 and Borderlands don’t show the UI/HUD until the player character receive a certain item (Doom – The Doomslayers Helmet/Armour, Borderlands – The Echo Device). These are both examples of diegetic elements as they are used by the in game character and exist within the game verse.

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• The Fallout Series uses “The Pip-Boy”. A wrist mounted device that the player character uses to access their vitals and inventory.

A game that explores both diegetic and non-diegetic elements really well would be Blizzards “Overwatch”. Below is a picture of one of the characters weapons. This would be Mei’s snow launcher.

In this screenshot we can clearly see the Overwatch UI. Mei’s health is displayed in the bottom left, her abilities and ammo in the bottom right and ultimate charge in the center. These are examples of the non-diegetic elements as we as players know Mei cannot see these things but we can use them to keep track of our stats. Now we are going to specifically look at her ammo count. We can clearly see that currently Mei’s weapon is at 150/200 ammo thanks to the number on the UI. But if you also pay attention to her weapon, you can see a glass canister filled with blue liquid on the back and a small tank with a level meter on the right side of her gun. These are the diegetic elements as they both deplete as the ammo of Mei’s weapon does. These are what Mei would be using to keep track of her ammo. While most players overlook these little details nowadays, if Blizzard didn’t do this and someone noticed Mei’s gun stayed full, the immersion of Overwatch just wouldn’t exist.

However of course diegetic elements are not always good. Some don’t feel necessary or can feel like they are tedious and in the way. A prime example that stands out for me is the fairly new “Animal Crossing: New Horizons”. Me and my friends have been playing a lot of this in our spare time but most of us have one issue in common, the inventory > crafting system. Now in ACNH a player can have as much as they want stored in their house and up to 40 items in their pockets (once the upgrades are purchased). This itself is not a bad system and adds to the story telling of the game. However, the player must be carrying whatever materials are necessary to craft an object in their pockets even if the crafting bench is in the players house. Now of course this does add to the story telling of the game verse but we personally have all found this a little tedious. Realistically if we are crafting in our house it would make sense that we have access to all the stuff stored there. But if we have to have the materials in our pockets it requires us to go through and store stuff we are already holding (for example tools), grab the materials out of storage, place them in our pockets, craft our item, put the excess material back in storage and finally grab our tools back out. Of course this isn’t always an issue but it happens a fair amount if you play like me and like to carry spare tools in case one breaks. When this does happen, the player is forced to enter 3 or 4 extra menus and even more if they need to check what materials they need if they don’t remember the recipe. It feels over tedious and could have easily been solved by letting the player use the stored materials while crafting inside their house.

Overall diegesis is something all developers need to consider in the development of a game but if used well, the game will always feel more immersive, authentic and all round fun.

Thanks Again

-T.S

So this week is simple. I’ll be looking over the social impacts and stereotypes of game culture and the word “gamer”. We got asked a question in class that I’ve never really thought about until know but it has made me think a lot.

“Do you find the term “gamer” useful? Dated? Destructive? Positive? And do you feel like you identify with the gaming culture?”

To answer this, first i want to answer a couple different questions. What is a gamer? Well, Googles definition is “a person who plays video games or participates in role-playing games.” I believe a gamer could be anyone who takes time out of there day to enjoy a game of some kind. They don’t need to be hardcore professionals or “sweaty nerds”. I know for fact if I’m not working I play some casual games or draw or ready the next Dungeon and Dragons session for my players (not that they ever schedule properly and play). Now let me guess. A lot of people just went “HES A NEEEEEEERD”. Lets take that mentality and discuss the stereotypes around the words “nerd” and “gamer”.

Stereotypes About The Culture

The word “Gamer” is a fairly new stereotype. When it first emerged people always saw them as lonely, fat, sweaty etc. It was a hugely incorrect stereotype. This caused major issues for many people. Especially kids in school. Myself being one. I was constantly bullied and ridiculed for liking games (especially DnD). These days the word gamer is more widely accepted. Kids are getting more and more into physical and video games. Of course this comes with issues. The whole FORTNITE debacle that happened when it launched. But I don’t want to be here for hours so I’m only going to give a quick example to why the stereotypes around “gamers and gaming culture” are wrong. An online casino posted a picture after “a study showed” how gamer would turn out in the future. This is the result

Obviously this caused some huge backlash.

Another occasion was specifically around Dungeons and Dragons. With DND on the rise again a man on social media decided to have a poke at DND players and also try to show off. Now famous actor Joe Manganiello wasn’t going to stand for that. This was the response.

For people who don’t know, Joe Manganiellio is well known for being “one of the sexiest men alive” according to multiple articles. He plays one of the characters in the movie Magic Mike as well being cast as Deathstroke for the DCEU. And for a throwback to all the comic fans, he plays the bully Flash Thompson in the Toby Macguire Spiderman Trilogy. Manganiellio is an avid DND player, even guest staring on the famous Critical Role DND Twitch channel. He has shown his place in the fight against the stereotypes surrounding games multiple times and even shares posts of him and his friends playing DND as well as many other things.

Back on topic. This does all lead back to my original opinion. In the wrong context the term “gamer” can be destructive, hurtful and many other things. But in the right context such as Manganiellio and his friends, it shows the gaming community to be a positive thriving family. Of course the negativity will still be there and some people will always aim to show the community in a bad light.

Do I Identify or Engage in the Gaming Culture/Community

I’ve never really thought about this until recently when we were asked in class. I guess my answer is a yes. Would I go around talking about how I am a hardcore gamer? No definitely not. I’m just personally not like that. But I do spend a fair bit of my free time playing games, whether they be physical or digital. Games are a big part of my life and I feel like they always will be. They were my escape from my rough childhood and now they help me escape work for a little while. Games have always affected my life and I’m sure they will continue just like they have others.

I MADE IT TO CLASS THIS WEEK GUYS. My foot was sore still but I made it. And I’m glad I did. This week we spent the 3 hours going over the intricate and wild history of video games. From the original game that is Spacewar! to the Golden Age Arcade Games like Space Invaders and PAC-Man to the crash and burn that was ET and then to games we know and love today. It was interesting to learn what i didn’t already know and I didn’t realize I was missing so much.

The History of our Favourite Bandicoot and how he made Naughty Dog famous.

Now if I say Naughty Dog, what do you think. I can guarantee it was one of 4 things. Uncharted, The Last Of Us, Jak & Daxter or (my personal favourite) Crash Bandicoot. Well did you know Crash help put Naughty Dog on the map.

I’m sure most people know Crash Bandicoot. Our favourite lovable and goofy Bandicoot who is always up to no good and saving the world from the crazy Dr. Cortex and Evil Uka Uka.

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Back in the 1990s Naughty Dog was little more than a couple of developers with hearts full of hope and eyes full of dreams. They had just released Way of the Warrior and decided they would now try their luck on platformers. specifically 3D platformers. Just to remind everyone. This was the same time as launches such as Super Mario 64. One of Nintendo’s biggest successes back then. They spent countless hours developing the the game and then approached Sony Computer Entertainment with a short two minute trailer. And Sony ate it up. Executives loved it. They loved it so much they even put in motion a plan to set Crash as the mascot for PlayStation. This basically became cemented when the first Crash game released to a tremendous success even just a month after the release of Super Mario 64. With that Crash became the flagship for PlayStation and Naughty Dog.

Crash proceeded to get two sequels and a racing spin off made by Naughty Dog and countless more by multiple developers over the next ten years. His latest titles being “Nsane Trilogy” & “Crash Team Racing”. Both of these are remasters of his older games. His List of games is enormous but ill do my best to list all of them now.

• Crash Bandicoot – Sept 1996 – Developer: Naughty Dog
• Crash 2: Cortex Strikes Back – Oct 1997 – Developer: Naughty Dog
• Crash 3: Warped – Oct 1998 – Developer: Naughty Dog
• Crash Team Racing – Sept 1999 – Developer: Naughty Dog
• Crash Bash – Nov 2000 – Developer: Eurocom Entertainment Software and Cerny Games
• Crash: Wrath of Cortex – Oct 2001 – Developer: Traveller’s Tales
• Crash: Nitro Kart – Nov 2003 – Developer: Vicarious Visions
• Crash: Twinsanity – Sept 2004 – Developer: Vicarious Visions Oxford Studio
• Crash: Tag Team Racing – Oct 2005 – Developer: Radical Entertainment
• Crash Of The Titans – Oct 2004 – Developer: Radical entertainment
• Crash Boom Bang: – Jul 2006 – Developer: Dimps
• Crash: Mind Over Mutant – Oct 2008 – Developer: Radical Entertainment
• Crash: N. Sane Trilogy – June 2017 – Developer: Vicarious Visions
• Crash: Team Racing Nitro-Fueled – June 2019 – Beenox

This is just the games we would consider main canon. He also has many spin offs, cameos and cancelled games.

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Crash cemented Naughty Dog in gaming history and a lifetime partnership with Sony. Now they are releasing huge hits such as Last of Us and Uncharted. And with Last of Us 2 around the corner, Naughty Dogs fan base and expectations are higher than ever.

To me, Crash Bandicoot and Naughty Dog will always have a place in video game history.

-T.Styles

So I missed class again. My foot is still sore but I moved yesterday (Sunday 8th March). If i had to miss class again I can at least keep up with this. Now onto the show.

Cultural Appropriation In Video Games

So this is a bit of a touchy topic but we can all agree it is something that needs to be constantly addressed. I will put it out in the open now. I don’t have any Indigenous/Native heritage as far as I know. I’m a white Australian with a little bit of Italian in me. So I don’t really have a lot experience in this field. Alas this is still an issue that must be addressed. Just please remember when reading this I am talking about games I have played as well as articles about the subject online. I don’t wish or want any issues to be bought up from my lonesome post that I have to write for uni. I’m here to address why cultural appropriation is not intentional 99% of the time but also how game developers could go about it respectfully.

Getting right into it, lets talk about some games that have received attention due to cultural appropriation. To list a few we have Overwatch, Horizon Zero Dawn and Far Cry 3. But the main one we will be talking about is Horizon Zero Dawn.

During this post I will be heavily referring to

“What We Talk About, When We Don’t Talk About Natives” by Dia Garcia (Feb 28 2017)

View at Medium.com

So I highly suggest reading through this before reading through this. Its a quick read that brings up crucial points in this topic.

Horizon Zero Dawn is an action RPG released on 28 Feb 2017 by Guerilla Games. I myself have only just started the game. So far its nothing game changing but still exciting and fun. I’ve already found myself compelled by the story and interested in most of the characters. The enemy designs that i have encountered so far are just astounding and one of mt favourite things in the game. All this however doesn’t mean the game is without flaws.

The game was fairly highly praised and received a lot of positive reviews on release, Dia does bring up some very crucial points on the games vocabulary and character design. In this article she does criticize players for not picking up on the use of certain words in particular as well as the games developers for using said words (Quote below)

“In the past week leading up to the launch of Guerrilla Game’s Horizon: Zero Dawn, I’ve read several thousand words about it. And now on the eve of its launch, I’ve read several thousand more.

Most of those words repeat, but none so glaringly as these:

Tribal.

Primitive.

Braves.

Savage.

But in all those thousands of words, those dozens of instances of that particular list, no one calls them into question. Not a single review makes mention of the historical usage of those words, or the tropes reflected in Horizon that caused the writers to use them without hesitancy. And that’s a problem”

While Dia does bring up solid points in her article and this quote in particular, I’m sure Guerilla Games never meant any offense to anyone’s culture or background. However they definitely could have handle it better.

During an interview with Mike Diver (Article Writer for Vice) John Gonzales (narrative Director for Horizon Zero Dawn) said “Our decision was based on ‘brave’ not being a ‘hot button’ term.” Now of course this wasn’t the only quote from him but it is one that brings up a fair bit of controversy.

However the full quote was

“The vocabulary was certainly discussed during the creative process, in terms of wanting to make sure we were sensitive to the cultural concerns of our audience,” he told me. “We weren’t looking for inspiration from one particular group, and we cast the net widely to look at cultures, tribal cultures, around the world, and also throughout history. That’s why a lot of the people talk about the Nora as being like Vikings, or why there are visual elements reminiscent of Celtic pictographs. So, inspiration came from a lot of different places.“

“Talking about the term ‘brave’—with that in particular, our research into it was that it was not a term that would seem to be offensive. We were trying to find a term that would combine the capabilities of a warrior and the capabilities of a hunter. It was a term that [we felt] was not derogatory, as we came across some terms that were definitely slurs against Native Americans and other groups throughout history. And so, our decision was based on ‘brave’ not being a ‘hot button’ term.”

These quotes can be found in Mike Divers Article “Horizon Zero Dawn Writer Responds to Criticism of Native American Appropriation” – 4th Feb

Now before everyone flames Dia or Guerilla Games, neither party ever wanted an argument out of this. Dia states directly that her article isn’t a call out just more a plea. “This is not a call-out. It’s a plea to try just a little harder. Because I know you can do it.” Both parties in this aren’t necessarily doing anything wrong intentionally. I’m sure Guerilla didn’t mean any offense and Dia has every right to bring up her points being Native American herself but also just as a human being.

Even with all this Horizon Zero Dawn so far is an amazing game and i would highly recommend you all try it. Topics like this shouldn’t turn everyone off a game.

Before I finish this week I just want to talk about one of my favourite people and personal idol in the gaming industry is John Romero. I was only properly introduced to him recently bu he is the co-founder of id software. The studio that bought us Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake. He is of Mexican, Yaqui and Cherokee heritage so that was just an excuse to jam in a little fun fact about him in my blog.

Thanks again

-T.Styles

So I missed this weeks class as well due to more house inspections and I nearly broke my foot which is fun. I don’t know much about what my class did exercise wise but I’ll update here if i find out more. I do know they discussed the title above though.

Why I Think We Need Subjectivity In Games Criticism.

I’m sure that every person you talk to who is even remotely interested in video games has read a game review before. Whether this is before buying a game, in their spare time or because they are thinking of writing their own. I personally read reviews before buying a game I might be interested in.

We can boil game reviews into two general categories. Objective and Subjective. Objective reviews are more about what a game can and should offer gameplay wise. Reviewing sites like IGN and Kotaku usually have VERY objective criticism in their reviews, this is the main reason I generally steer clear of most of their reviews. Now I’m not saying their reviews are bad but I know I learn more about a game and can base a better opinion on a game if I read the more subjective reviews such as Steam comments and game forums etc. Subjective reviews are more based on a players experience, which I think is the most important thing in a game. Now of course each player is going to have a different experience. So as I said I’m here to explain why we need more subjectivity in game reviews and explain why every players experience will be different. I will be using one of the highest praised games of the current generation in this post. Red Dead Redemption 2. I will keep it spoiler free when it comes to the games story but if you are behind on some of the games mechanics and multiplayer you may want to stop here. THIS IS YOUR SPOILER WARNING!!!!!

So first we have to talk about probably the most important thing when it comes to any sort of game in existence. The players experience and enjoyment. Now of course this is going to wildly differ from person to person but that is a good thing. That means that reviews can accommodate to almost every type of player. The only downside being that some reviews wont cover certain aspects that a new player is looking for.

To talk more about this lets dive into some of the types of players.

Now a games community can generally be split into 4 types of players. Killers, Achievers, Explorers and Socializers.

• Killers are the people in games who cause mayhem, hunt other players and destroy other players resources. A sub genre of killers are the people we call trolls as they can take enjoyment out of making others players lives miserable. In Red Dead 2 these players will go online and kill you for your loot, stop your missions and complete them themselves or just tie you up and carry you round over and over.
• Socializers are generally the opposite. Now they still seek interaction with other players but these are the people that will often approach you for trades and relationships. They just want to make new friends and play the game with other players. In Red Dead 2 these are the people who will go online invite you to their gang for missions, invite you to friendly shooting competitions etc.
• Achievers are out to complete every quest, side quest, achievement and even their own little challenges they set upon them self. In Red Dead 2 these players might enjoy the offline story more than the online play but will usually set out to complete both types of play.
• Explorers are the players out to see every inch the game has to offer. This might include every part of the map, meeting every NPC and sometimes even every game mechanic. These players can also often be achievers. In Red Dead 2 these players will more often than not stay offline in the story but there will always be exceptions who go into the online with a tight group of friends or solo.

So of course a players experience will completely rely on what type of player they are. These are just the four general categories of player types and anyone can fit into more than one. I know I fit into multiple. I’d classify myself into the explorers category myself. But this is even open to change. For example when I play with a group I find I turn into a killer amongst my friends because I know we all treat this behavior as fun amongst us. However I would never do this to random players online in an open world game like Red Dead 2.

Acknowledging all this. A review written by an explorer isn’t going to appeal to a killer. An explorer doesn’t want to kill other players or get killed just trotting around on their horse with their friends.

Look at it this way. If i had to write an objective review about Red Dead I would talk about the gun play, core system (health etc), and how all that feels. But if I was given the opportunity to give a subjective review of the game I could talk about how much I loved the story, gun play, NPC interactions, character development, how i became attached to almost every character, missions, environment and just how stunning the whole game looked. I can describe my personal experience as a player in this fantastic world.

Subjective reviews are just necessary for today’s expectations of games. Do you agree?

-T.Styles

I know that my class explored game spaces, stories and maybe also genres but I’m afraid I missed this week due to house inspections as I am currently looking for a new place to live. Alas the homework continues and must be done.

Ludonarrative Dissonance

So this week the biggest subject of discussion is a games ludonarrative dissonance. Now forgive me if I’m wrong but from what I have read this term essentially means the conflict between the narrative told by the games story itself and then the narrative told by the gameplay. Before I talk about the review itself for this week I’ll give my personal thoughts on this.

So to me, gameplay has always mattered first. If the game plays awful than even a good narrative can’t save it. But good gameplay can save a bad narrative. Now ludonarrative dissonance (now that I know what it is) has never been too much of an issue. Two games however do stand out to me. This would be Tomb Raider (2013) and Marvels Spider-Man (2018).

To keep it short and sweet Tomb Raiders story explores Lara as she just begins adventuring with unique events such as the first time she kills someone, the first she handles a gun etc. But gameplay wise an experienced player will suddenly turn Lara into a gun slinging super soldier. These two different narratives obviously clash immensely.

Spider-Man is slightly different. While the gameplay and narrative are actually presented identically (enemies hit with realistic damage etc). However the game fails to put a sense of urgency onto some of the story missions. For example there is a mission at one point when Doctor Octavius calls Peter back to the lab in a rush (It is implied you are supposed to go there instantly) but I did side missions and found collectables for about 3 in game days and when I finally got around to the mission it was as if I was there straight away after he called me. Of course this doesn’t bother most players because most would rather to be able to do that mission in their own time than be forced to go there when they are in the middle of doing another objective.

These were just some things I picked up on when learning what the term ludonarrative dissonance actually meant. THESE ARE NOT COMPLAINTS. I personally enjoyed both these games a lot. Now onto the review.

Clint Hocking’s Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock

Now looking strictly at this subject in conjunction with Hockings post about Bioshock. This personally is a tough subject for me to talk about and review as I personally haven’t played Bioshock. I would definitely suggest going and reading the original critique by Hocking first. It can be found here.

https://clicknothing.typepad.com/click_nothing/2007/10/ludonarrative-d.html

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From what I understand Bioshock heavily explores ‘Randian Objectivism’. This is the idea that whatever helps you get ahead is morally the correct choice. The biggest example of this being the characters called ‘little sisters’. This mindset would bring you to believe that harvesting these little sisters to gain more Adam (the games upgrade points) is the choice to make instead of saving them. This however can of course conflict with the players emotions as you are basically condemning these little girls to death.

Now as Hocking points out, narratively we are given no choice but to help this character called Atlas to progress later in the game. This completely opposes the Randian way of thinking and the only reason we are given is because the story tells us to.

Personally I can see why this is disturbing for some players. But me personally, I am not bothered and I don’t think I really ever will be unless it is done drastically badly.

What do you think of what Hocking says? Are you bothered by any of this?

-T.Styles

Ok so honestly I am doing this really late so I don’t remember much about the lesson. I’ve been so busy with trying to move and pack and everything has just been flying past. So yeah. This lesson sum up might be kinda small. The only thing i really remember right now is our noughts and crosses activity. We each had to come up with a different version of noughts and crosses that could be played by more than one person. None of us had a perfect game but my idea was the most promising. From here we adapted my idea and made a fully functioning game. That’s about all I remember.

Reviewing a Review

So this weeks homework and main part of the blog is to read a article off the site Critical Distance. I will be looking at the article “Pokemon Sword and Shield Is Secretly About Climate Change And Weezing Is Here To Prove It”. Link below if you want to read it yourself. Spoilers ahead for the story so be warned.

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/01/pokmon-sword-and-shield-is-secretly-about-climate-changeand-my-weezings-are-here-to-prove-it/

So I will try and keep this brief. The article actually has a lot of good points. While the whole game may not secretly about climate change a lot of the stories elements and Pokemon changes do definitely support the idea. The first point for this argument is Weezing.

“One Pokémon I’ve been collecting is Weezing. In previous versions, it was a noxious cloud of smoke. But the new version adds an important detail to show where the smoke comes from. And while they may look like or a top hat to some, Weezing’s new form looks a lot like a smokestack to me. And it took on that form not because it hit the weed too hard but because of pollution”.

This quote here does bring up a good point. The new Galar Weezing is very much similar to the smokestack of a factory. Even its description in the Pokedex mentions the past pollution of the region.

This describes what happened on Earth pretty well if you ask me. Fossil Fuel companies dumping more carbon pollution than we thought possible into our atmosphere using giant factories etc.

The next piece of evidence being the pokemon Corsola. When Corsola first emerged it was a happy, bright pink and colourful piece of Coral that was Rock and Water type. Now it wears one of the saddest faces I’ve ever seen, is grey and white and is a Ghost type and is called “Cursola“. This can definitely be a hint to the coral reefs of the world that are meeting the same fate and dying because of climate change.

The article also makes not of the backstory of the region and other notes but I don’t know if i have enough information to input there.

After all of this I have to say I can see the articles point of view. Do I think the whole game is secretly about climate change. Probably not. But there is no denying the small hints and messages that the game is suggesting. But as any Pokemon fan knows, Pokemon is a series that isn’t knew to putting cryptic and horrifying messages in its lore and history. Even if that is not what they intended it is a good and important message to be putting into one of gaming’s most recognizable franchises.

Thats all from me this week. What do you think about all of this? don’t forget to read the article yourself for all the details.

-T.Styles

The first week can only be described relaxed. Whether it was just because it was the first week or the fact that only 2 of the 4 of us attended due to flooding i couldn’t say. We spent the first 30 minutes of the lesson talking about our own D&D adventures and a unique store that my fellow student found on a kick starter he backed while the teacher tried to fix the enrollments on plato (JMCs online system). From there we talked about how video games fit into society and how we each see them as their own unique medium and art form. Then we picked a game each and read and wrote our own reviews about the game of choice. I can only assume next week will have more “action” to write about.

My Interest In Game Development?

My biggest interest in game development when I was child was always the ability to write my own stories, forge my own worlds, build my own cities, bring my characters to life. Because of this, ever since I was a child sharing that PS2 with my little brother 1 hour each at a time I wanted to be a concept artist/designer. Of course throughout the years I did drift away from this idea now and again but always ended up returning to design for games and maybe even comics.

Since joining JMC Academy however the 3D design and development classes have been the most enjoyable experience of my life. I am attending every possible 3D course I can. This is where I see my future in game development and animation going. To list a few possible 3D departments in design there are:

• Environmental Modelling & World Building
• Character Modelling
• Prop Design & Modelling
• Character Animation & Rigging
• Etc

So of course I still want to design and write my own stories but bringing characters and worlds to life in a 3D environment is definitely the path I see my career taking.

What Do I Care For In A Game?

The most important thing I look for in a game is of course the ability to enjoy myself. Whether this be in a competitive scene or just mucking about with or without friends. This is closely followed by a satisfying game play loop that suits the game story, style, music etc. For example, Ubisofts Rainbow Six Siege is a game that me and my friends can jump into and play competitively as a well oiled team or muck around in performing stupid yet fun tactics and messing with each other. While the story is a little bland as unreliable, the game play and mechanics suit it perfectly. This boils down to its realistic tactics, unique operators, destructible/realistic maps and very unique and well fitting shooting mechanics.

Another game that is completely different but also fills these criteria is Stardew Valley. The simple movement and tool mechanics mixed with memorable music and pixel art all blends together perfectly making the game enjoyable, memorable and able to completely make me lose track of time.

The other games that that have lately been checking these boxes include:

• The FromSoftware trilogy (Dark Souls 1-3, Bloodborne, Sekiro)
• Titanfall 2
• The Borderlands Series
• Grand Theft Auto V
• League of Legends
• Enter The Gungeon
• Dead Cells
• Apex Legends
• And so, so much more

What Is My Favourite Game

Asking me my to name favourite is almost impossible. The answer to this question changes from day to day. Instead i can possibly give you the answer to my current the game I am currently playing most and that would Enter the Gungeon. Enter the Gungeon or Gungeon for short is a roguelike, bullet hell dungeon crawler developed by Dodge Roll and published by Devolver Digital.

Gungeons pixel art style, upbeat yet eerie music, array of random and quirky weapons and unique characters and bosses make for an epic journey of limitless replay ability. I think the thing that makes this my top game at the moment is fact the every time you delve into the dungeon below you start a completely different journey. The rooms rearrange every time on every floor. The bosses reset from their pool depending on the floor you are on. Chests and weapons randomise and new enemies spawn. While Gungeon is not online multiplayer, it is 2 player on the same screen. You can invite a friend in and both of you will work together to conquer every boss and dungeon floor together.

The story to Gungeon is never actually fully explained to the player. You know that you are entering to find “The Gun that Kills the Past” and that it lies beyond the final boss on floor 5. It is implied that each of the four playable characters is after the gun for their own reasons but it is up to the player to work out the rest of the story through interactions with NPC’s you rescue as you explore. I feel that this adds onto the unique experience of the game as each person can interpret the story as they play until they eventually conquer the dungeon and find the gun.

Update: I have since finished the game as the convict character. It turns out that each character has multiple endings. Retrieving the gun that kills the past is only the simplest ending and doesn’t explain much at all abut the characters motivations. There are other objectives you must finish in the dungeon as well as beating the final boss on floor 5. This adds even more repeatability to the game.

After hearing all this I hope i have convinced you to at least look into this amazing and hilarious game. But if my fanboy rambling wasn’t enough feel free to check out some reviews I will post below.

IGN Review – Posted: 5 Apr 2016 11:00 pm Updated: 3 May 2017 4:59 am – https://au.ign.com/articles/2016/04/05/enter-the-gungeon-review

Meta Critic Review – https://www.metacritic.com/game/switch/enter-the-gungeon

Enter The Gungeon was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, and PlayStation 4 on April 5, 2016, on Xbox One on April 5, 2017, as well as on Nintendo Switch on December 14, 2017. I myself own it on PS4 where I have finished game as the convict as mentioned above as well as recently buying on switch so I can play it on the go.

I’m still very new to this whole blogging thing but thanks for reading. I hope you’ll be keeping up to date with my weekly updates and I keep you entertained.

-T.Styles