Comments for Hide&Seek http://www.hideandseek.net Inventing new kinds of play Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:39:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on Dying and living to tell the tale by Jason Seip http://www.hideandseek.net/2012/01/31/dying-and-living-to-tell-the-tale/comment-page-1/#comment-1240 Jason Seip Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:39:07 +0000 http://www.hideandseek.net/?p=2915#comment-1240 This piece brings to mind my experience playing Batman: Arkham Asylum. I didn't truly master (and thus, enjoy) the game's combat system until near the end of my first playthrough, so after finishing I started a new game again. While enjoying my proficiency with the combat, I began to realize that the further I got through the story without dying, the more excited I was to be experiencing it again. The thrill of an interactive narrative that didn't need to make concessions for player failure was something I've rarely experienced (not without it being forced upon me, as in 2008's Prince of Persia). Unfortunately, I did eventually make some mistakes and got myself killed. Afterwards, I felt like a child who let his balloon float away. I continued to play on for a bit, but the energy was gone, and I put the game down. As a game designer myself, I would love to generate that sensation during an initial playthrough: the continual elation of survival and success in an environment that wasn't pandering to such desires. This piece brings to mind my experience playing Batman: Arkham Asylum. I didn’t truly master (and thus, enjoy) the game’s combat system until near the end of my first playthrough, so after finishing I started a new game again.

While enjoying my proficiency with the combat, I began to realize that the further I got through the story without dying, the more excited I was to be experiencing it again. The thrill of an interactive narrative that didn’t need to make concessions for player failure was something I’ve rarely experienced (not without it being forced upon me, as in 2008′s Prince of Persia).

Unfortunately, I did eventually make some mistakes and got myself killed. Afterwards, I felt like a child who let his balloon float away. I continued to play on for a bit, but the energy was gone, and I put the game down.

As a game designer myself, I would love to generate that sensation during an initial playthrough: the continual elation of survival and success in an environment that wasn’t pandering to such desires.

]]> Comment on Dying and living to tell the tale by Matt Thrower http://www.hideandseek.net/2012/01/31/dying-and-living-to-tell-the-tale/comment-page-1/#comment-1239 Matt Thrower Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:54:13 +0000 http://www.hideandseek.net/?p=2915#comment-1239 Thanks for the reply. I was sufficiently inspired by this to blog about it myself: not the first time I've been propelled to write something in response to reading material by Hide & Seek people: http://nohighscores.com/node/1992 Interestingly I have a longer piece on rouge-likes scheduled for the next week or so - might want to check back for that :) Thanks for the reply. I was sufficiently inspired by this to blog about it myself: not the first time I’ve been propelled to write something in response to reading material by Hide & Seek people:

http://nohighscores.com/node/1992

Interestingly I have a longer piece on rouge-likes scheduled for the next week or so – might want to check back for that :)

]]> Comment on Ten, Eleven, Twelve by Seven Straight-Forward Culture Tech Ideas | Digital Derry http://www.hideandseek.net/ten-eleven-twelve/comment-page-1/#comment-1236 Seven Straight-Forward Culture Tech Ideas | Digital Derry Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:52:13 +0000 http://www.hideandseek.net/?page_id=2851#comment-1236 [...] Digital Gaming: And when it comes to games, you could think beyond PCs and x-boxes and imagine what kind of fun people could get up to in real life, augmented by tech. Check this out for some inspiration. [...] [...] Digital Gaming: And when it comes to games, you could think beyond PCs and x-boxes and imagine what kind of fun people could get up to in real life, augmented by tech. Check this out for some inspiration. [...]

]]> Comment on Dying and living to tell the tale by Tom http://www.hideandseek.net/2012/01/31/dying-and-living-to-tell-the-tale/comment-page-1/#comment-1234 Tom Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:20:43 +0000 http://www.hideandseek.net/?p=2915#comment-1234 Matt - quite! It was a talk for a non-gaming audience, and unusually, I went down the route of mainstream narrative-based games. But Rogue was my first experience of dying as mechanic, and there's a decent amount to be said about From's <i>Souls</i> games. And, of course, I've <a href="http://www.hideandseek.net/2011/04/01/rogue-on-the-sofa/" rel="nofollow">previously written about Roguelikes here.</a> Matt – quite! It was a talk for a non-gaming audience, and unusually, I went down the route of mainstream narrative-based games. But Rogue was my first experience of dying as mechanic, and there’s a decent amount to be said about From’s Souls games. And, of course, I’ve previously written about Roguelikes here.

]]> Comment on Dying and living to tell the tale by Matt Thrower http://www.hideandseek.net/2012/01/31/dying-and-living-to-tell-the-tale/comment-page-1/#comment-1229 Matt Thrower Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:53:57 +0000 http://www.hideandseek.net/?p=2915#comment-1229 Two words: rogue like. Two words: rogue like.

]]> Comment on Unreliable interfaces, performance and play by Dean Vipond http://www.hideandseek.net/2012/01/22/unreliable-interfaces-performance-and-play/comment-page-1/#comment-1221 Dean Vipond Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:26:59 +0000 http://www.hideandseek.net/?p=2902#comment-1221 Interesting post. I'm sure the serendipity that imperfection allows, or even the *potential* for serendipity, really compounds a game experience. I would read plenty of people bemoaning the vehicle handling in Grand Theft Auto, for example. For me, he fact that the vehicles bounced around like crazy, and took corners terribly made the game so much better. When you're being tailed by a legion of cops through a city, the knowledge that your worryingly smoking car may completely miss the turning you needed to make, and plough down a hill into the middle of a busy freeway… the very potential of that is thrilling. If I were in complete mastery of my vehicle, failure would only be down to my lack of skill, and not due to some random event, brought on by (thankfully) unreliable controls. Interesting post. I’m sure the serendipity that imperfection allows, or even the *potential* for serendipity, really compounds a game experience.

I would read plenty of people bemoaning the vehicle handling in Grand Theft Auto, for example. For me, he fact that the vehicles bounced around like crazy, and took corners terribly made the game so much better. When you’re being tailed by a legion of cops through a city, the knowledge that your worryingly smoking car may completely miss the turning you needed to make, and plough down a hill into the middle of a busy freeway… the very potential of that is thrilling.

If I were in complete mastery of my vehicle, failure would only be down to my lack of skill, and not due to some random event, brought on by (thankfully) unreliable controls.

]]> Comment on Unreliable interfaces, performance and play by George Buckenham http://www.hideandseek.net/2012/01/22/unreliable-interfaces-performance-and-play/comment-page-1/#comment-1220 George Buckenham Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:31:49 +0000 http://www.hideandseek.net/?p=2902#comment-1220 Fantastic stuff. What's interesting about Doug's stuff is that by leaving stuff unspecified, and by having broken interfaces, it makes the players take on some of the responsibility for making the game. It becomes more about the players than the game. Monkey See, Monkey Mime is a great example of this. The algorithm for whether you followed well or not could be totally broken - what's fun is trying to copy the other persons movements, not the computer. It's an excuse for getting into the play state, not prescriptive. Fantastic stuff.

What’s interesting about Doug’s stuff is that by leaving stuff unspecified, and by having broken interfaces, it makes the players take on some of the responsibility for making the game. It becomes more about the players than the game.

Monkey See, Monkey Mime is a great example of this. The algorithm for whether you followed well or not could be totally broken – what’s fun is trying to copy the other persons movements, not the computer. It’s an excuse for getting into the play state, not prescriptive.

]]> Comment on The New Year Games: what was all that about, then? by janine http://www.hideandseek.net/2012/01/19/the-new-year-games-what-was-all-that-about-then/comment-page-1/#comment-1219 janine Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:35:46 +0000 http://www.hideandseek.net/?p=2859#comment-1219 Brilliant! Brilliant!

]]> Comment on The New Year Games: what was all that about, then? by Infovore » Links for January 19th http://www.hideandseek.net/2012/01/19/the-new-year-games-what-was-all-that-about-then/comment-page-1/#comment-1218 Infovore » Links for January 19th Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:01:20 +0000 http://www.hideandseek.net/?p=2859#comment-1218 [...] The New Year Games: what was all that about, then? | Hide&Seek – Inventing new kinds of pl... "When I started writing this post, I didn’t have a conclusion in mind, but now that I’ve got to the end, the thing I want us to remember next time is just that: all the scales matter. Every part is important. The two days Sarah and Brian spent moving small pieces of vinyl, Ivan’s 4am printing-and-cutting, FOUND’s jumping-up-and-down to see if crowd movement broke their tech, last-minute shopping trips for slightly larger balls, all the things. Worry about it all. Fix everything." Lovely write-up from Holly of the big thing we did in Edinburgh. Also: good about the nature of the huge, and good about the nature of work. Worry about it all. Fix everything. (tags: newyeargames hideandseek hollygramazio work games fixeverything polish ) [...] [...] The New Year Games: what was all that about, then? | Hide&Seek – Inventing new kinds of pl… "When I started writing this post, I didn’t have a conclusion in mind, but now that I’ve got to the end, the thing I want us to remember next time is just that: all the scales matter. Every part is important. The two days Sarah and Brian spent moving small pieces of vinyl, Ivan’s 4am printing-and-cutting, FOUND’s jumping-up-and-down to see if crowd movement broke their tech, last-minute shopping trips for slightly larger balls, all the things. Worry about it all. Fix everything." Lovely write-up from Holly of the big thing we did in Edinburgh. Also: good about the nature of the huge, and good about the nature of work. Worry about it all. Fix everything. (tags: newyeargames hideandseek hollygramazio work games fixeverything polish ) [...]

]]> Comment on The New Year Games: what was all that about, then? by A V Dean http://www.hideandseek.net/2012/01/19/the-new-year-games-what-was-all-that-about-then/comment-page-1/#comment-1216 A V Dean Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:42:58 +0000 http://www.hideandseek.net/?p=2859#comment-1216 Excellent write-up. I previously had seen pictures of this all but didn't really 'get' it, and now feel rather dismayed that I didn't happen to be in Scotland at the time. Well done to the writer and well done to everyone involved in doing the whole shebang / event. Excellent write-up. I previously had seen pictures of this all but didn’t really ‘get’ it, and now feel rather dismayed that I didn’t happen to be in Scotland at the time. Well done to the writer and well done to everyone involved in doing the whole shebang / event.

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