Gaming Articles

OnTheBounce · Post by **OnTheBounce** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 3:52 am

I was surfing around on imdb.com and found a link to a game developer's website on one of the message boards. The author has a section for articles and from those I read he has both a mouthful as well as worthwhile things to say.

Jonas Kyratzes' Game Design Articles

Here's a small snippet from his article on "Making Games for a Different Target Audience":

Forget those people who are too braindead or uneducated to understand our games.

There are also articles on the deterioration of NPCs and Realism and Logic in gaming.

I figured this might be food for thought/discussion for some of you.

Cheers,

OTB

Alphawulf · Post by **Alphawulf** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 3:55 am

Here
http://gamedev.net/dict/
you can contribute your own content to the sight, it also has some very good articles in it.

(The dictionary entry for Hybrid Camera System, I contributed that) I'm so cool

but I did not contribute the sorry 2 sentence entry for Fallout's definition

But I think the opposite is true NPCs, logic, and realism will become ever more prevalent, Half-Life 2 stresses all of these.

Ernesto · Post by **Ernesto** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 4:44 am

Damn right.

This guy is better than I expected.

Alphawulf · Post by **Alphawulf** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 4:45 am

Yah the articles are to the point.

Raymondo · Post by **Raymondo** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 4:52 am

http://www.gamedev.net/reference/

This is all the infomation you'll need or at least I think

Well I know it has shit loads of infomations I should know I've been reading it for 3days now.

Alphawulf · Post by **Alphawulf** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 4:54 am

Yah Gamedev relies on it's community for educational and insightful articles and thoughts, just like the DAC Forums do...

Ernesto · Post by **Ernesto** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 5:02 am

Like all forums, I assume.

Raymondo · Post by **Raymondo** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 5:05 am

Alphawulf wrote:Yah Gamedev relies on it's community for educational and insightful articles and thoughts, just like the DAC Forums do...

Hey at least they give you good info like how to start your own company, find a publisher and how to design a game.

Ernesto · Post by **Ernesto** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 5:06 am

Emote raises eyebrow.

Very cool. I should check that out.

Alphawulf · Post by **Alphawulf** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 5:07 am

Yah I wasn't being sarcastic, gamedev is one of my favorite websites. Although the website looks a little bit too homemade...well it is hosted by Geocities.

OnTheBounce · Post by **OnTheBounce** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 5:40 am

Speaking of NPCs, JK had this to say:

the Fallout games, on the other hand, a lot of the information you got was useful and could be used later. Thus, the NPCs felt real (and you actually had to read what they said, intead of browsing through the text).

Alphawulf wrote:But I think the opposite is true NPCs, logic, and realism will become ever more prevalent, Half-Life 2 stresses all of these.

I actually find the idea of realistic gaming disturbing. While I do think that games need to have their own logic (i.e. internal consistency) I would think that people would get an overdose of reality just living. Games serve much the same purpose as plays, movies and books: they allow us to deal with issues in life in a cathartic way. Life is full of loose ends, and -- excepting for the final curtain call (note to the obtuse: death) -- we seldom get to see things tied up as quickly in "RL" as in dramatic art. Time and space are contracted and expanded as necessary to deal w/the issue at hand and provide a sort of safety valve.

Basically I think in the final analysis it comes down to, "If you want realism...go out and LIVE!" Gaming, on the other hand, allows for the same benefits as drama, but you also get to play a role, which isn't something that most of get to do, unless we're part of an acting troop.

The issues of NPCs, though, I find more disturbing. Maybe I'll get into that some other time, though.

OTB

Doyle · Post by **Doyle** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 5:43 am

I think there's a market for realistic games that allow people to do things they don't normally get to do. Sims, if you will, although this could include things like that America's Army FPS. It still allows you to escape, but just into a different realistic setting.

Raymondo · Post by **Raymondo** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 5:54 am

Mr. Green wrote:Emote raises eyebrow.

Very cool. I should check that out.

Yeah their cool but most of them make publishers sound so evil and make the Gaming Industry sound like a stab-in-the-back-game.