Posts by Beck

  • AAA Design Test (Game / Level )

    Edit - Broke this post a bit - Do spoilers work at the moment?

    Nice of you to share. Since we're on the topic of design tests I thought I'd share the one I did for Codemasters almost 6 years ago. They had me make a race track in Trackmania.

    Here was the brief:

    Using the tools, we would like you to build a fun, interesting, varied and above all accessible track that takes between 1m15s to 1m45s to complete a lap. This track should be set up to support a 3-lap race with checkpoints, and will be assessed in a multiplayer race setting.

    We would also like you to deliver a short explanatory document detailing:

    · How you believe the elements of the track satisfy the brief above

    · What you would do to enhance the track if you had access to more comprehensive tools

    Things to bear in mind:

    · The track should be designed to suit a competitive race, as opposed to a ‘Trials HD’ style challenge

    · The track must be accessible (not for just hardcore driving fans)

    · What are the track landmarks and signposting?

    · What will make your track stand out?

    I'd never used the Trackmania before so spent a day or two learning the tools and then I created a track. I then went beyond the test and did a multiplayer test, got some feedback, made changes and then did further tests for some final feedback.

    I also made a video diary of my progress each day which can be found here:

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    If you check the description in each of the videos I have posted my thoughts and what I plan on doing next etc.


    They were impressed I went the extra mile with the testing, iteration and video blog and it landed me my first job in the industry. Been loving it ever since :)

  • Battlefront 2

    Quote from laminutederire

    19 minutes ago, laminutederire said: Yeah you're right. At least people would have to actually play the game rather than just paying.

    I don't get why they're trying to milk people on 60 euros games anyway... is it due to licensing cost for the SW franchise or are they just greedy, or are video games not profitable anymore on the scale of development needed to develop games of high quality graphically?

    Don't forget a lot of people used to buy Premium on Battlefield games. So people bought the base game for £50 and then bought premium on top for £40 or whatever it was. Now people only need to spend £50 on SWBF2 and they're losing out on that potential £40 so the loot crates are a way they could have made it back.

    I'm sure the Star Wars license is expensive but I'm pretty sure EA sell enough to cover their costs.

  • Battlefront 2

    Quote from laminutederire

    38 minutes ago, laminutederire said: EA should just drop the paying part and the system would be perfectly acceptable.

    Would it though? If people have been playing for longer than you and have cards which make their abilities stronger you'd just instantly be in an unfair match if you're a new player.

    I don't mind loot boxes really so long as everything in it is cosmetic. The second you start giving people drops which improve their stats it pretty much makes your game Pay2Win. Progress in the game shouldn't be behind a RNG or dice roll. I should play a class and unlock things for that class or at least let the players unlock what they want.

    I mean, it's awesome they're doing away with premium/season passes for this game. That was always a big gripe for me in Battlefield games since it split the communities. I know they're going to want to still get that money out of everyone they're losing out on and loot boxes are fine for that. Just don't make it Pay2Win.

  • Hawken

    Super necro here but I wanted to post something about this game after hearing this. Sorry if I've gone too far into the past.

    So the devs posted this to Facebook yesterday:

    Quote

    Quote Pilots, It’s been an incredible journey since the introduction of Hawken on Steam, back in 2014. The game’s success has been largely due to your continuous support. The Hawken community has been the cornerstone of this ever-evolving franchise. After 3 great years, we are shutting down the PC Steam servers to refocus our development efforts. The PC game will officially be removed on January 2, 2018, and all DLC and purchasable content will also be unavailable starting today. It’s been an incredibly rewarding experience working alongside such a dedicated PC player base. Your feedback and support has been invaluable to us, and the team looks forward to creating more great games based on what we’ve learned from you. Thank you all very much for your support! The Hawken Team

    https://www.facebook.com/playhawken/pho…?type=3&theater

    Now, I was never a hardcore fan of this game but I did play it a fair bit and enjoyed it quite a lot early on. Only stopped playing since none of my friends were playing it and you inevitably play whatever your friends play when online. I never followed what went on behind the scenes but it sounds like it's been a rocky ride for the game, changing owners and some bad decisions from management.

    So they're shutting down the servers for PC and removing the game from Steam Jan 2nd 2018.

    This kind of situation always saddens me a little bit because a bit of gaming history is being lost. It's a problem with F2P games I guess but luckily I don't recall many being "lost" for good. But since players don't own the game or anything these things can be taken away from us at the press of a button by the devs/publishers.

    It's a shame that in these situations the source files aren't just released to the community. A lot of people on the Facebook post are calling for that or at least the release of the server files so people can continue to play it. The gaming community are a resourceful bunch and would be more than happy to maintain and even improve or add to the game. Battlefield 2 comes to mind with https://battlelog.co/ where you can download BF2 for free and play it online. It's quite populated!

    Of course, there's always a chance they're going to want to try and sell the IP or at least continue it's support on XBOne/PS4 so I understand why these things don't happen.

    There's also the fact that people have spent money on the game for cosmetic items. These people will have nothing to show for the spent money come Jan 2nd.

    Just wanted to bring it up and maybe get your guys thoughts.

  • What's going on with your life?

    Quote from Minos

    12 hours ago, Minos said: The more I live the more I come to the conclusion that life is indeed one big silly game and that the universe is only having fun with us. But you know what... it makes life fucking interesting no? We never know what's lurking behind the corner. I've come to learn to expect the unexpected any time now.

    We're all pretty much just winging it I feel. None of us have any idea what we're doing :D