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I want a new game.
Something I haven't played before.
I don't mean a new game to buy, I mean I want someone out there, a developer somewhere, to use that knotted cord of cells in his skull to be original and create something new.
It can't be that hard, we have a limitless imagination and can dream of other worlds and conjure gods.
So why then, can I get a racing game, a fighting game, or a jumpy about collecting things game?
There's a game called Rez, doesn't interest me but at least it's something new.
Same with Parappa the Rappa, it was odd but totally different.
I don't want to guide some large-breasted Indiana Jones wannabe around some dusty levels for no point.
I don't want to have a fighting game where different characters beat the tar out of each other.
Is it just me?
Am I the only one that stares at the shelves and sees loads and loads of game boxes, but only about 4 different types of game within?
Sure, the graphics are different, but it's the same bloody thing over and over.
Wolfenstein & Medal of Honour are good games.
But they're the same as Half-Life, which is the same as Doom.
GTA3 is a good game, but it's the same as Driver and the same as Target Renegade.
Sure, it looks better and stuff but it's the same clunky, wheezing ideas being trotted out time and time again.
Ecco The Dolphin.
Not my sort of game (I think) but at least it's different.
Same with Microsoft Train Simulator - I can't think why anyone would want to buy that (I got it gratis, as a joke from some punk here), but it's a break from the norm.
So why is it so hard for developers to think outside the box?
"People buy these sorts of games, they sell"
Well hey Activision/whoever, if all you serve is one food then of course people are going to eat it, because they don't have any choice.
Give us the chance to experience something new, it may work or it may not, but for chrissakes, put some effort into it would you?
Stop vomiting up the same old ideas but putting shinier game engines on it and counting the cash.
And we can do our part as consumners - just don't buy the games you know are the same old stuff.
Film License games.
They always bring 'em out and they always, always suck.
So who buys them?
Stop buying and the developers will start having to think.
Say what you like about Black and White (and sometimes I hate it, other times I love it), but it was a new game, a new style and totally original stuff for you to play around with.
Doesn't matter if you liked it or not, it was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise fetid dungeon of samey titles all vying for your hard-earned.
But what am I saying, you're all creaming for Metal Gear Solid 2.
Yeah, it looks nice.
Yeah, you can hide in lockers but it's exactly the same as before, there is nothing different here. It's just newer.
Something I haven't played before.
I don't mean a new game to buy, I mean I want someone out there, a developer somewhere, to use that knotted cord of cells in his skull to be original and create something new.
It can't be that hard, we have a limitless imagination and can dream of other worlds and conjure gods.
So why then, can I get a racing game, a fighting game, or a jumpy about collecting things game?
There's a game called Rez, doesn't interest me but at least it's something new.
Same with Parappa the Rappa, it was odd but totally different.
I don't want to guide some large-breasted Indiana Jones wannabe around some dusty levels for no point.
I don't want to have a fighting game where different characters beat the tar out of each other.
Is it just me?
Am I the only one that stares at the shelves and sees loads and loads of game boxes, but only about 4 different types of game within?
Sure, the graphics are different, but it's the same bloody thing over and over.
Wolfenstein & Medal of Honour are good games.
But they're the same as Half-Life, which is the same as Doom.
GTA3 is a good game, but it's the same as Driver and the same as Target Renegade.
Sure, it looks better and stuff but it's the same clunky, wheezing ideas being trotted out time and time again.
Ecco The Dolphin.
Not my sort of game (I think) but at least it's different.
Same with Microsoft Train Simulator - I can't think why anyone would want to buy that (I got it gratis, as a joke from some punk here), but it's a break from the norm.
So why is it so hard for developers to think outside the box?
"People buy these sorts of games, they sell"
Well hey Activision/whoever, if all you serve is one food then of course people are going to eat it, because they don't have any choice.
Give us the chance to experience something new, it may work or it may not, but for chrissakes, put some effort into it would you?
Stop vomiting up the same old ideas but putting shinier game engines on it and counting the cash.
And we can do our part as consumners - just don't buy the games you know are the same old stuff.
Film License games.
They always bring 'em out and they always, always suck.
So who buys them?
Stop buying and the developers will start having to think.
Say what you like about Black and White (and sometimes I hate it, other times I love it), but it was a new game, a new style and totally original stuff for you to play around with.
Doesn't matter if you liked it or not, it was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise fetid dungeon of samey titles all vying for your hard-earned.
But what am I saying, you're all creaming for Metal Gear Solid 2.
Yeah, it looks nice.
Yeah, you can hide in lockers but it's exactly the same as before, there is nothing different here. It's just newer.
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Don't know if any of you have seen the banner but ROCK MANAGER is coming out soon.
Always thought it was a good game to make and they finally did, tiny bit of originality maybe?
No? Okay then.
Always thought it was a good game to make and they finally did, tiny bit of originality maybe?
No? Okay then.
Games I think try to do something a bit different:
Black and White - Raise a monkey and teach it to throw it's waste at children, eat women and stamp on houses. Top.
Ecco The Dolphin - Swim about and..well..be a dolphin.
Just something original.
Parappa The Rappa rocked, and now you have all manner of "hit button in time with screen" games.
I saw a preview of a game on a PS2 mag disc, a Japanese game that looked fantastic and totally unique.
You play an actor on a Power-Rangers type tv show.
Each week is a new episode, and you have to solve the plot, defeat the enemies and entertain the audience with your antics.
You get ratings on the show at the end, saying what the viewers liked and what they didn't etc and you have to try and last the entire season.
You create your character, name him etc and see highlights from the show when it's finished.
The Sims
Original when it came out, control the life of a person from the smallest detail, choose their house, decorate it, get them a job, choose a partner for them.
Just little sparks of originality in what I feel is an overly samey world.
And to those wonderful, helpful "Why don't you come up with one then?" comments, I do. Except they're called scripts not games.
If I did that, then I would be a game designer, not a writer/drummer.
Or something.
I was supposed to be at Jury Service today but they released us early.
And they may release me totally tomorrow.
And I rehearse tonight for a gig on Saturday, but there's no point mentioning it because none of you pikeys will come.
Hello! Good feelings for all!
Black and White - Raise a monkey and teach it to throw it's waste at children, eat women and stamp on houses. Top.
Ecco The Dolphin - Swim about and..well..be a dolphin.
Just something original.
Parappa The Rappa rocked, and now you have all manner of "hit button in time with screen" games.
I saw a preview of a game on a PS2 mag disc, a Japanese game that looked fantastic and totally unique.
You play an actor on a Power-Rangers type tv show.
Each week is a new episode, and you have to solve the plot, defeat the enemies and entertain the audience with your antics.
You get ratings on the show at the end, saying what the viewers liked and what they didn't etc and you have to try and last the entire season.
You create your character, name him etc and see highlights from the show when it's finished.
The Sims
Original when it came out, control the life of a person from the smallest detail, choose their house, decorate it, get them a job, choose a partner for them.
Just little sparks of originality in what I feel is an overly samey world.
And to those wonderful, helpful "Why don't you come up with one then?" comments, I do. Except they're called scripts not games.
If I did that, then I would be a game designer, not a writer/drummer.
Or something.
I was supposed to be at Jury Service today but they released us early.
And they may release me totally tomorrow.
And I rehearse tonight for a gig on Saturday, but there's no point mentioning it because none of you pikeys will come.
Hello! Good feelings for all!
Grix Thraves wrote:
I think I was supposed to do about 100 questions on Pure Maths 3, [which used to be part of your Pure Maths 2]
If that name was giving to Maths in Scotland 'people' would say:
" Pure Pure Maths 2 "
I think I was supposed to do about 100 questions on Pure Maths 3, [which used to be part of your Pure Maths 2]
If that name was giving to Maths in Scotland 'people' would say:
" Pure Pure Maths 2 "
I'll tell you what another problem is, old ideas don't get revisited.
Back in the days of the Spectrum there were some great concepts for games, but given that they were on the Spectrum they were more than a little limited.
Rather than now trying to incorporate these ideas there seems to be a feeling of "Tried that, didn't work."
Back in the days of the Spectrum there were some great concepts for games, but given that they were on the Spectrum they were more than a little limited.
Rather than now trying to incorporate these ideas there seems to be a feeling of "Tried that, didn't work."
Your Honour wrote:
"But what about something like Deus Ex?"
I know for a fact that Warren Spector, Deus Ex head designer, has once said:
"If you want to tell a story, write books, and make films. Not games."
While I don't totally agree with that, it does at least show you how he goes about making his games.
So it wasn't:
"I've got this great story to tell, what's the best way of doing it?"
Although, everynow and again, that does make a great game. I'd like to think that's how Skies of Arcadia got made...
But not ALL games should be made that way. That's not what games are.
"Hmm, let's mix the FPS and RPG genres, and make a game."
That's probably how Deus Ex came about, actually. If you look at it, before Deus Ex, there were no real first person shooters where you really had to think, or manage anything. That's probably what started that off.
Perhaps that is "X, with a twist!"... but it was such a big twist in Deus Ex, that it really did end up as a great game.
"Let's do an FPS but a bit different."
No, that's how all the Blood's and the SiN's get made. SiN isn't that bad, actually. Brain dead fun.
"I want an RPG, but one that's a lot more action orientated"
Hmmm... good point on that one... but then that goes back to the FPS. Do you see an action game as a FPS? In this case, it's the only real way. But remember, Elite was an RPG, and very much action based. And that was years back.
Personally, I feel it's nice to take hints from all three. Sometimes it's "Wouldn't it be cool if...", another time it could be "I want to make this game, it's got a great setting and plot... we could really capture people in it..." and others would be "I wonder why nobody has made this before?"
If you stick down one route, you could never truly have creative freedom.
"But what about something like Deus Ex?"
I know for a fact that Warren Spector, Deus Ex head designer, has once said:
"If you want to tell a story, write books, and make films. Not games."
While I don't totally agree with that, it does at least show you how he goes about making his games.
So it wasn't:
"I've got this great story to tell, what's the best way of doing it?"
Although, everynow and again, that does make a great game. I'd like to think that's how Skies of Arcadia got made...
But not ALL games should be made that way. That's not what games are.
"Hmm, let's mix the FPS and RPG genres, and make a game."
That's probably how Deus Ex came about, actually. If you look at it, before Deus Ex, there were no real first person shooters where you really had to think, or manage anything. That's probably what started that off.
Perhaps that is "X, with a twist!"... but it was such a big twist in Deus Ex, that it really did end up as a great game.
"Let's do an FPS but a bit different."
No, that's how all the Blood's and the SiN's get made. SiN isn't that bad, actually. Brain dead fun.
"I want an RPG, but one that's a lot more action orientated"
Hmmm... good point on that one... but then that goes back to the FPS. Do you see an action game as a FPS? In this case, it's the only real way. But remember, Elite was an RPG, and very much action based. And that was years back.
Personally, I feel it's nice to take hints from all three. Sometimes it's "Wouldn't it be cool if...", another time it could be "I want to make this game, it's got a great setting and plot... we could really capture people in it..." and others would be "I wonder why nobody has made this before?"
If you stick down one route, you could never truly have creative freedom.
Fair. Point taken.
But what about something like Deus Ex?
Did they say:
"Hmm, let's mix the FPS and RPG genres, and make a game."
Or did they think:
"Let's do an FPS but a bit different."
Or did they think:
"I want an RPG, but one that's a lot more action orientated"
Or, finally:
"I've got this great story to tell, what's the best way of doing it?"
Which, do you feel, is that best way of going about the creation of a game?
But what about something like Deus Ex?
Did they say:
"Hmm, let's mix the FPS and RPG genres, and make a game."
Or did they think:
"Let's do an FPS but a bit different."
Or did they think:
"I want an RPG, but one that's a lot more action orientated"
Or, finally:
"I've got this great story to tell, what's the best way of doing it?"
Which, do you feel, is that best way of going about the creation of a game?
I think I was supposed to do about 100 questions on Pure Maths 3, [which used to be part of your Pure Maths 2], and I would say what stuff is in it, but I honestly can't remember. I was doing it last week... christ, and they expect me to be judged by an hour of my life?
Few days later and I'll have forgotten it all.
Few days later and I'll have forgotten it all.
Your Honour wrote:
"Could you explain what you did mean then? I think I got the wrong end of the stick."
Basically:
Take the thought process behind Space Invaders.
"I want to shoot down aliens... hey, that's a good idea. This shooting game, where these aliens come down at you, and you've got to shoot them before they reach you... we could have this cool music that gets faster and faster as they come down... and... we could put in buildings too, to make it look like they're attacking earth."
Compared to Fifa 2003.
"Graphics are looking a bit dodgy. We'll update them, put in a "trick learning" mode... and... err... can we update the player names? Good."
"Could you explain what you did mean then? I think I got the wrong end of the stick."
Basically:
Take the thought process behind Space Invaders.
"I want to shoot down aliens... hey, that's a good idea. This shooting game, where these aliens come down at you, and you've got to shoot them before they reach you... we could have this cool music that gets faster and faster as they come down... and... we could put in buildings too, to make it look like they're attacking earth."
Compared to Fifa 2003.
"Graphics are looking a bit dodgy. We'll update them, put in a "trick learning" mode... and... err... can we update the player names? Good."
Grix Thraves wrote:
> Ah, agree with YH.
Hmmm, you sound suprised by that....
:-D
> Ah, agree with YH.
Hmmm, you sound suprised by that....
:-D
Grix Thraves wrote:
...
Yup. I don't want to miss maths.
...
No, can't miss maths, I'd be lost without using Standard Deviation in my everyday life.
...
Yup. I don't want to miss maths.
...
No, can't miss maths, I'd be lost without using Standard Deviation in my everyday life.
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