@Play 78
One of the little things I've been working on, like, during the long hours when I'm not working on @Play, has lately been a roguelike encyclopedia. Not like Wikipedia, or even the many game specific wikis, this would primarily be a work that would relate, in a way, all the major games to each other. So, for example, an entry on POTIONS would give their general place in roguelikes and roguelike design, then might give more interesting examples from some of the major games. Some other stuff would be in there as well. Some of the entries I figured might look interesting generally, and were entertaining to write at least, so I turned some of them into @Play #78.
Next time... I'm thinking it's been a while since I had a look at the output of 7DRL. There are so many cool and awesome games to come out of that. A couple of years ago I played almost all of the 7DRL games that year and wrote something on all of them for @Play. Unfortunately that ended up taking much too long to finish, so I'm probably only going to focus on highlights this time out.
A collection of John Harris' various columns, articles and other game-related writing.
Showing posts with label atplay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label atplay. Show all posts
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
@Play 77: Rules of roguelike design
@Play #77
It's been over two months since the last column, a state that I blame on general poor spirits, personal projects and (to a degree) the twin scourges of Minecraft and Desktop Dungeons. The next column shouldn't take nearly as long, as it will consist mostly of excerpts of one of those personal projects, an encyclopedia of roguelike games. (Which complete document will probably go for sale on Lulu or Amazon or some such.)
I should note that the title, "The Eight Rules of Roguelike Design," was not my idea. I don't think there are only eight, or as many as eight, or whatever. I have eight listed in the column but I think it's fairly obvious from the introduction that I don't actually consider them particularly hard rules, although if you break one you should know what you're doing, certainly. I intended it as a kind of guide to how these games work to provide interesting game choices. Rogue in particular shows a lot of nuance in that area, which indicates to me that the developers must have spent a lot of time devising it.
It's been over two months since the last column, a state that I blame on general poor spirits, personal projects and (to a degree) the twin scourges of Minecraft and Desktop Dungeons. The next column shouldn't take nearly as long, as it will consist mostly of excerpts of one of those personal projects, an encyclopedia of roguelike games. (Which complete document will probably go for sale on Lulu or Amazon or some such.)
I should note that the title, "The Eight Rules of Roguelike Design," was not my idea. I don't think there are only eight, or as many as eight, or whatever. I have eight listed in the column but I think it's fairly obvious from the introduction that I don't actually consider them particularly hard rules, although if you break one you should know what you're doing, certainly. I intended it as a kind of guide to how these games work to provide interesting game choices. Rogue in particular shows a lot of nuance in that area, which indicates to me that the developers must have spent a lot of time devising it.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
@Play 76: A first rule of roguelike design
@Play 76
When you die in a roguelike, is it your fault? Not always. This column offers the beginning of a framework for determining whether it is or not, by thinking about the game in a way analogous to checkmate in chess. The move that puts you into a situation in which you might die is the bad one.
At the end of the column I mention the possibility that one might formulate a set of laws of roguelike game design. I've so far come up with six of these. They'll be covered in more detail next time.
Posts are still fairly slow. I fell away from gaming for a bit back there, and am working on a new game project at the moment, and I have a final paper to finish, and other things are conspiring against me and my free time too.
When you die in a roguelike, is it your fault? Not always. This column offers the beginning of a framework for determining whether it is or not, by thinking about the game in a way analogous to checkmate in chess. The move that puts you into a situation in which you might die is the bad one.
At the end of the column I mention the possibility that one might formulate a set of laws of roguelike game design. I've so far come up with six of these. They'll be covered in more detail next time.
Posts are still fairly slow. I fell away from gaming for a bit back there, and am working on a new game project at the moment, and I have a final paper to finish, and other things are conspiring against me and my free time too.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
@Play 75: And now, more Dungeon Crawl
@Play 75
Getting us back onto our usual beat, this month-half's column concerns the extra game mode packed into recent versions of Crawl, Dungeon Sprint. It features mostly set, human-constructed levels, and features even tougher opponents than is usual for Dungeon Crawl, but in exchange has 27x greater experience gain. Not only is it a much shorter game than Crawl, but it's great for figuring out strategies that work against advanced opponents without having to risk throwing away a six-hour game just to experiment with tactics to use against, say, demon summoners. Give it a shot!
Getting us back onto our usual beat, this month-half's column concerns the extra game mode packed into recent versions of Crawl, Dungeon Sprint. It features mostly set, human-constructed levels, and features even tougher opponents than is usual for Dungeon Crawl, but in exchange has 27x greater experience gain. Not only is it a much shorter game than Crawl, but it's great for figuring out strategies that work against advanced opponents without having to risk throwing away a six-hour game just to experiment with tactics to use against, say, demon summoners. Give it a shot!
Monday, September 20, 2010
@Play 74: The last time I swear
@Play 74
The second of the two posts about Mayflight is up on GameSetWatch. I hope it hasn't seemed as obnoxiously self-promotional to you guys as it has to me. Additionally, this one is more about implementation algorithms and my wanting to document them somewhere for possible later use than anything else.
I spent three and a half months working on the thing, to the exclusion of almost everything else, and I don't think it's really good enough for all the effort I put into it. That is the great difficulty with the indie gaming sphere: you can work and work and work on something and still have it end up only so-so.
Next time, I absolutely swear, @Play will cover something else. I'm gearing up to write about Dungeon Crawl's new alternate play mode, Dungeon Sprint, which is suitably infuriating.
The second of the two posts about Mayflight is up on GameSetWatch. I hope it hasn't seemed as obnoxiously self-promotional to you guys as it has to me. Additionally, this one is more about implementation algorithms and my wanting to document them somewhere for possible later use than anything else.
I spent three and a half months working on the thing, to the exclusion of almost everything else, and I don't think it's really good enough for all the effort I put into it. That is the great difficulty with the indie gaming sphere: you can work and work and work on something and still have it end up only so-so.
Next time, I absolutely swear, @Play will cover something else. I'm gearing up to write about Dungeon Crawl's new alternate play mode, Dungeon Sprint, which is suitably infuriating.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
@Play 73: Mayflight again
@Play #73, on my own randomly-generated game, Mayflight
Yeah, @Play is back, but it's about the game I've already introduced, which is relevant to roguelikes in both inspiration and implementation detail. In this column I cover the inspiration part of it; in the next, I talk about how it was implemented, which may provide an algorithm or two of interest to roguelike developers. After that we'll be back on the usual beat, so if you're annoyed with all this talk about platformers and such you don't have much longer to wait!
Yeah, @Play is back, but it's about the game I've already introduced, which is relevant to roguelikes in both inspiration and implementation detail. In this column I cover the inspiration part of it; in the next, I talk about how it was implemented, which may provide an algorithm or two of interest to roguelike developers. After that we'll be back on the usual beat, so if you're annoyed with all this talk about platformers and such you don't have much longer to wait!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
@Play 72: Review of Chocobo's Dungeon for Wii
@Play #72: http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2010/05/column_play_chocobos_dungeon_f.php
This is one of the most scathing things I've ever written. I played through seven or eight dungeons of this game in preparation for this article, and read through a FAQ on GameFAQs besides. I did not complete the game, which would have taken many hours and eroded my sanity even further.
The paragraphs on moogles are, if I say so myself, some quality, heartfelt bile.
This is one of the most scathing things I've ever written. I played through seven or eight dungeons of this game in preparation for this article, and read through a FAQ on GameFAQs besides. I did not complete the game, which would have taken many hours and eroded my sanity even further.
The paragraphs on moogles are, if I say so myself, some quality, heartfelt bile.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
@Play 71: What randomization has to offer games
@Play #71
Hello blog. I can talk to you right?
I'm fairly unhappy with this column. A part of me considers some of it fairly nonsensical. I believe it all and stand by the idea, but to express what is a strongly-held belief like it were fact, I don't think that is what @Play should be.
I'm talking, specifically, about the games-as-art section, which seems to me like a version of one of my Metafilter comments. This is part of why it took over a month for this installment to go up. It was hard to write, and I even started over once, but after I had written so much of it it became something I had to go with just to finally be rid of it.
It's possible that people will accept it, maybe even like it, but I don't think I like it myself. I will say this however: it does I think explain why I can't bear to play many "modern" computer games. They are wed strongly to their storytelling, and more and more the kinds of stories they wish to tell make me nauseous.
Next time I should be able to field another review. Those are rather good topics at least. See you then.
Hello blog. I can talk to you right?
I'm fairly unhappy with this column. A part of me considers some of it fairly nonsensical. I believe it all and stand by the idea, but to express what is a strongly-held belief like it were fact, I don't think that is what @Play should be.
I'm talking, specifically, about the games-as-art section, which seems to me like a version of one of my Metafilter comments. This is part of why it took over a month for this installment to go up. It was hard to write, and I even started over once, but after I had written so much of it it became something I had to go with just to finally be rid of it.
It's possible that people will accept it, maybe even like it, but I don't think I like it myself. I will say this however: it does I think explain why I can't bear to play many "modern" computer games. They are wed strongly to their storytelling, and more and more the kinds of stories they wish to tell make me nauseous.
Next time I should be able to field another review. Those are rather good topics at least. See you then.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
@Play 69: Review of Shiren the Wanderer for the Wii
@Play 69
The Wii entry in the Shiren series is a game I really wanted to like, but ultimately it tries to hedge its bets too much with lame JRPG-isms. There were times when I was actually shouting at the screen for the cutscene to end. And we're not talking about cinematic Final Fantasy cutscenes, we're talking about those in which 3D models move artificially around their little stage and have an obnoxious little drama. In 2D it was possible to get away with this, but in 3D it hasn't aged well.
Some of the awesome gameplay from past entries in the series is back, but most reports say that the game doesn't really pick up until you've finished the main quest. 24 hours of play time into it, and I'm still not there.
The Wii entry in the Shiren series is a game I really wanted to like, but ultimately it tries to hedge its bets too much with lame JRPG-isms. There were times when I was actually shouting at the screen for the cutscene to end. And we're not talking about cinematic Final Fantasy cutscenes, we're talking about those in which 3D models move artificially around their little stage and have an obnoxious little drama. In 2D it was possible to get away with this, but in 3D it hasn't aged well.
Some of the awesome gameplay from past entries in the series is back, but most reports say that the game doesn't really pick up until you've finished the main quest. 24 hours of play time into it, and I'm still not there.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
@Play 68: Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup Travel Functions
@Play 68
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup's autoexplore function is a bit shocking, at first glance, to witness, but is really useful for getting through one of Crawl's huge levels fast and making sure you don't miss anything. Well, anything not behind a secret door or in a disconnected part of the level. This article is a little shorter than usual, but still pretty long relative to most of the other things on GameSetWatch.
This is the last Crawlapalooza article, but probably not the last we'll be seeing on Crawl, not by a long shot. The next article will probably be on Shiren Wii, which I'l still playing though. Most people who have played it say that the bonus dungeons in this one are particularly fun, so I feel giving this game a fair shake means getting through all the story dungeons first, which are taking rather some time to complete.
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup's autoexplore function is a bit shocking, at first glance, to witness, but is really useful for getting through one of Crawl's huge levels fast and making sure you don't miss anything. Well, anything not behind a secret door or in a disconnected part of the level. This article is a little shorter than usual, but still pretty long relative to most of the other things on GameSetWatch.
This is the last Crawlapalooza article, but probably not the last we'll be seeing on Crawl, not by a long shot. The next article will probably be on Shiren Wii, which I'l still playing though. Most people who have played it say that the bonus dungeons in this one are particularly fun, so I feel giving this game a fair shake means getting through all the story dungeons first, which are taking rather some time to complete.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Shiren the Wanderer for Wii is out!
It is, and I have ordered my copy off of Amazon. I'm planning to write a review of this as an extra @Play this month, so keep an eye out for it!
@Play 67: Crawlapalooza Part 3, on interesting race/class combinations
@Play 67
The newest @Play describes interesting gameplay concerning five specific race/class Dungeon Crawl combinations: Spriggan Enchanter, Deep Dwarf Paladin, Hill Orc Priest of Beogh, Human Wanderer and Minotaur Chaos Knight of Xom. Each is of varying suitability for play. Although some are easier than others, each has some aspect to their abilities that makes playing them a special experience. Last time I said that the more interesting race/class sets were almost like playing a custom-made roguelike to themselves. This column could be seen as evidence backing up that statement.
The newest @Play describes interesting gameplay concerning five specific race/class Dungeon Crawl combinations: Spriggan Enchanter, Deep Dwarf Paladin, Hill Orc Priest of Beogh, Human Wanderer and Minotaur Chaos Knight of Xom. Each is of varying suitability for play. Although some are easier than others, each has some aspect to their abilities that makes playing them a special experience. Last time I said that the more interesting race/class sets were almost like playing a custom-made roguelike to themselves. This column could be seen as evidence backing up that statement.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
@PLAY 66: Crawlapalooza Part 2, on Skills
The 66th @Play column covered every skill in Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup 0.5.2, and listed applications for each. It can be found at http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2010/02/column_play_crawlapalooza_part_1.php
In the comments, a Crawl dev team member noted that the Divinations spell will go obsolete soon. I note in the column text that Darts is also going away soon. Another commenters noted how the "WowDeath" account at alt.org managed to end three consecutive games in 2007, all on the same day and at experience level 1, from damage done by kicking a wand of wishing; they used a since-fixed Nethack random number generation exploit to ensure finding one of those extremely rare wands on the first dungeon level each game. It just shows what I've always suspected: roguelike gamers are hardcore.
In the comments, a Crawl dev team member noted that the Divinations spell will go obsolete soon. I note in the column text that Darts is also going away soon. Another commenters noted how the "WowDeath" account at alt.org managed to end three consecutive games in 2007, all on the same day and at experience level 1, from damage done by kicking a wand of wishing; they used a since-fixed Nethack random number generation exploit to ensure finding one of those extremely rare wands on the first dungeon level each game. It just shows what I've always suspected: roguelike gamers are hardcore.
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