Posts by Izuno

  • anyone else having crash problems with HL2 Episode 1?

    Quote from Fletch

    Hehe, I updated my ATI drivers about a week ago and then it took me 2 hours to free my computer from the evil which is ATI's interface. I miss the days of non-memory hog software.

    Uh...yeah forgot to mention that. What a pain in the ass, but HL2 ep1 runs great. I thought I had done the "driver only" option, too...

  • Half-Life 2: Episode 1

    SPOILER

    Notice the sound design in the end battle with the strider? They sound like this odd bio-mechanical war machine, which sort of gives it a lost puppy type of feel, except it certainly isn't friendly. That said, the way it moves (and sounds) kind of makes it feel like it was playing with you.

    Anyway, the sound there added a lot to the creepiness factor of that battle. A+

  • An Inconvenient Truth

    I suppose this could go in Political Forum...but figured just post here anyway.

    I saw An Inconvenient Truth this weekend. As a documentary, I liked it. And this is clearly not the same Al Gore as the "You. Are. Hearing. Me. Talk." guy who ran for president in 2000. I suppose this will fall into a debate about global warming, and whether real or not, I personally think we should just get away from polluting forms of energy because they sure make Los Angeles a stinky, smoggy place to live. Yes, my girlfriend drives a Prius! :roll:

    Anyway, liberal or conservative, tree hugger or seal clubber, go see this movie when it comes out in your area and let us know what you thought.

    My opinion: documentary of the year...and worthy of discussion for best picture.

  • Best Sniper levels from a "fixed" position

    Hey guys, need some help that I think should be easy for us in our collective knowledge.

    I am doing some game design consulting on an interesting game project. This is not for a retail game, nor for an entire game, just a prototype level for a contained idea. The client has commissioned a game developer to make a game design where there are 2 kinds of players:

    1) players in a relatively fixed position (like a confined rooftop) overlooking a large battle area. these players have sniper weapons and long range portable rockets. They must help safeguard friendly vehicles navigating through a hostile area by sniping and destroying enemies and enemy vehicles.

    2) players in a drivable vehicle down a confined path (almost like a rail shooter) where they can shoot enemies and enemy vehicles with small arms or a vehcile mounted weapon. (A lot like the movie Black Hawk Down.)

    I am looking for reference material in video games, mainly PC games, that feature the above 2 kind of gameplay. I need to provide them with a list of games and specific levels where either of the above 2 types of gameplay, or close proxies, are featured. Any suggestions? I have listed just a few from off the top of my head:

    Confined Sniper gameplay

    - Call of Duty 2, The Silo (silotown)

    - Call of Duty 2, Comrade Sniper (downtown_sniper)

    - Medal of Honor Allied Assault, Level 5.3 "The Bridge"

    - Good suggestions?

    near-railshooter gameplay:

    - uh...about a zillion from CoD and MoH games.

    - Good suggestions?

    Thanks for your help!

  • FPS/RTS

    If you will recall, after Doom every new first person shooter was dubbed "a Doom clone" but really, Doom was the massmarket birth of the FPS. And then for GTA, how many "GTA clones" have their been? GTA3 was really a new genre of game.

    Of course that's one perspective. Usually when a new game does something well and original, it is often imitated to the point where it may become a new genre. I don't think FPS/RTS is there yet, though.

    Why do I feel like we've had this conversation before?

  • Half-Life 2: Episode 1

    Played about an hour last night. The opening section reminds me a lot of HL1, only with better puzzles and obviously more interactivity between characters.

    I do feel that Alyx narrates a little too much, but I'm affraid it is a function of the medium. Still, her interactions with Dog are priceless.

    Can't wait to play more this weekend!

  • PS3 discussion update

    Quote from ReNo

    Innovation isn't a sure fire path to market glory though - plenty of more innovative games bomb while plenty of "me too!" titles earn their developer's a packet. It's easy to see why developers are so often tempted to tackle the established genres that they have a guaranteed market for (provided their product isn't shit). It's going to be really interesting to see what happens with the Wii, which is really the cmost obvious and drastic example of gaming innovation in a long long time. Will it really draw in hoardes of newcomers as so many expect, or will it just be something new for those already interested in gaming to play with?

    When I say "innovation" i mean the entire package from idea to consumer purchase, not just developmoent of a new gameplay type or something.

    If a developer creates a new technology that at the time absolutely thrills everyone like GeoMod in Red Faction, it only becomes an "innovation" if it attracts consumers and spawns new gameplay in other games etc that further attracts gamers.

    The Wii controller innovation, yes...time will till if it is a true innovation or will fall by the side of Virtual Boy from the early 90's.

  • PS3 discussion update

    Excellent post, Fletch.

    Quote

    So far no industry has been destroyed by it's used market. They just have to adapt. But nobody likes to adapt their business model, especially when they're on top. Subconsciously it strikes people as defeat. It's perfectly natural to protect ones turf. Maybe Sony's DRM is their version of adapting, and maybe it will work. Maybe the industry will adapt by choosing to regulate used-game sales like the car industry has. Either way, I'm hopeful that the industry will adapt, because something bad is on the horizon. When production costs all of a sudden explode in proportion to market demand, it's usually a sign that the bubble is about to burst.

    With the increasing cost to produce games, how can the industry increase the amount of revenue flowing back into developers? Yeah yeah, this is the question everyone always discusses. A few obvious answers we should all know by now:

    1) Better managed production processes

    2) Better toolsets that speed up tedious processes and minimize rework.

    3) Consolidation However there is a risk of too much consolidation causing all games to look and feel and play the same.

    4) Increase sales from

    - existing gamers buy more product

    - existing gamers stay in the market for longer (keep buying and playing into 40's, 50's etc..until death)

    - nongamers of all ages start buying and playing

    The real answer to #4 is to innovate. New genres with new appeal will draw in more people who've never played games before. On new consoles like 360 and upcoming PS3, I don't expect there to be huge innovation in early generation games, as usual for each cycle. Once the hardware price drops, you get non gamers interested in buying the hardware because of an innovative new game that appeals to them.

    I really think it's going to happen this generation, but not until later in the cycle, say in two to three years when the hw prices have dropped enough and the core install base is large enough. I am hoping some of the kick ass graphics and eye candy will help polish some really innovative gameplay types that aren't based purely on violence or conquering etc that get all these non gamers out there to start choosing interactive entertainment over seeing another shitty movie or watching CSI:Cleveland or CSI:Albany or whatever shows are on by then.

    Back to the rental issue and Sony...I don't think the games industry is going to collapse. There is too much demand for interactive entertainment and too many minds struggling to innovate the industry to not produce a breakthrough at some point.

    One thing to keep in mind, for hot new games, how easy is it to find them used a week after release? Because game sales are so hit driven, sales curves of big products tend to match movie opening curves. Most sales occur in the first month, sometimes two weeks, and then steadily drop. Really good games are often not sold back to EB or GS simply because they are that good. It's the shitty games that get recycled more. But I don't have the latest and greatest data on that, and I think it warrants knowing more information to have a meaningful discussion here.

    I do agree that overall, game developers work their assess off and often don't get the appreciation or financial compensation they always deserve, and the rental market is sort of a thorn in the game developer's side.

    Still, we have to appreciate consumer demand. When a game ships, not everyone who would want to play it has enough personal demand to buy it at full price. I think the existance of the rental and other markets is a reflection of that overall demand like any other industry as Fletch points out above. How do we increase the demand/value factor for consumers? By having better overall product. I'm not saying that the existing games don't have a lot of greatness in them, it's just the overall value of product as a whole simply don't offer enough appeal yet to have a mass market explosion in sales.

    Innovation. Innovation. Innovation.

  • PS3 discussion update

    another interesting development:

    http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?optio ... 6&Itemid=2

    My gut's telling me that Sony won't do this.

    But the bigger question is around controlling the way content is purchased and used. Think of it it this way, if you make a song, you'd like to be paid everytime someone listens to it. Everywhere. That's not really possible given our infrastructure. Same witih movies or TV programs.

    It's an issue of revenue capture.

    For games, how can a developer/puslisher/console manufacturer capture revenues for content? Further, what is fair to all sides? As always, this relates to who gets what? Every time someone experiences a game for the first time, I'm sure Sony would like to capture revenue. Traditionally this has meant when a sole gamer buys, plays, and owns a copy of the game. Today that's getting very blurred with all the different distribution models (rental vs purchased copy vs public LAN vs playing at a friends house vs borrowing).

    Consumers might cry out that this is gouging, but i think the reality is more subtle. The reality is that people put different value on playing different games. For many die hard Halo fans, getting Halo2 the moment it came out was critical, so they waited in line and paid full price. To other people, it was not as valuable so they waited a few days...etc...to the point where other people waited till Halo2 went down in price or they could borrow or rent etc. Sony seems to be saying "no, we think that if you want to play it, you gotta pay on our terms and on our timeline, not yours." This is sort of similar to the logic that "people will save up their money to buy the PS3 because it's just so damn awesome."

    In the end this feels a little arrogant on Sony's part. Everything about the PS3 and Sony's strategy has this arrogant flavor about it. X360's "flavor" has been more open, while Wii's is downright inviting.

    The question is, will the different parts of the gamer market buy into Sony's attitude? Only if the content is there. Hence we wait... :roll: