Game Developer Store Shelves? You Might Be Able to Consider —Brandon Sheffield Is BPA Approved

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Game Developer Store Shelves? You Might Be Able to Consider —Brandon Sheffield Is BPA Approved >> POSTMORTEM MIDWAY'S JOHN WOO PRESENTS STRANGLEHOLD JANUARY 2008 THE LEADING GAME INDUSTRY MAGAZINE >> 2007 FRONT LINE AWARDS >> GDC '08 PREVIEW THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST WE WILL TELL YOU TOOLS OF THE YEAR WHAT'S IMPORTANT! THINKING WITHPORTALS DEVELOPING VALVE'S NEW IP Display Until February 15, 2008 Using Autodeskodesk® HumanIK® middle-middle- Autodesk® ware, Ubisoftoft MotionBuilder™ grounded ththee software enabled assassin inn his In Assassin’s Creed, th the assassin to 12 centuryy boots Ubisoft used and his run-time-time ® ® fl uidly jump Autodesk 3ds Max environment.nt. software to create from rooftops to a hero character so cobblestone real you can almost streets with ease. feel the coarseness of his tunic. HOW UBISOFT GAVE AN ASSASSIN HIS SOUL. autodesk.com/Games IImmagge cocouru tteesyy of Ubiisofft Autodesk, MotionBuilder, HumanIK and 3ds Max are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. © 2007 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. []CONTENTS JANUARY 2008 VOLUME 15, NUMBER 1 FEATURES 7 THINKING WITH PORTALS From the game's university-created roots through to its ORANGE BOX-ed release, PORTAL was an exercise in creativity. Here, three members of the eight-person team come together to discuss Valve's iterative playtesting process, the power of simple storytelling, and clever ways to present new ideas to a mass-market audience. By Kim Swift, Erik Wolpaw, and Jeep Barnett 15 GDC 2008 EDITORS' PREVIEW 7 Want to know what we really think about this year's GDC? Of course you do! This is your chance to scoop up our hot knowledge and insights into the rapidly-approaching conference. Editors from our multiple publications come together to weigh in on 32 what's hot and what's not. 15 By Brandon Sheffield, Jeffrey Fleming, Christian Nutt, Jill Duffy, and Leigh Alexander POSTMORTEM 23 2007 FRONT LINE AWARDS It's been a year of consolidation for some, and 32 MIDWAY GAMES' STRANGLEHOLD growth for others, but nothing changes the STRANGLEHLOLD was an attempt to take the best elements of John Woo's importance of tools in game development. 23 famous films, and translate them into the video game world. Between Here, we honor the best and brightest tools project scope changes and difficulties with unfinished tools, the team of 2007, and enter one indispensible tool into managed to create a title that's nothing if not an interactive John Woo the Hall of Fame. movie—here's how. By Jeffrey Fleming By Brian Eddy DEPARTMENTS COLUMNS 2 GAME PLAN By Brandon Sheffield 44 THE INNER PRODUCT By Mick West [PROGRAMMING] New Year's Fears Relational Databases 4 HEADS UP DISPLAY 72 BUSINESS LEVEL By Scott D. Nelson [BUSINESS] Activision/Vivendi merger, new ESA appointment, and ESRB rating Going Independent statistics by console 48 PIXEL PUSHER By Steve Theodore [ART] 40 TOOL BOX By Tom Carroll, Thomas Grové, and Amir Ebrahimi Custom Tools Unity Technologies' Unity 2.1 52 AURAL FIXATION By Rob Bridgett [SOUND] Post-Production Audio 51 GAME SHUI By Noah Falstein [DESIGN] Orange Box, Gold Star COVER ART: MOBY FRANCKE AND THE PORTAL TEAM WWW.GDMAG.COM 1 []GAME PLAN www.gdmag.com CMP Media, 600 Harrison St., 6th Fl., San Francisco, CA 94107 t: 415.947.6000 f: 415.947.6090 CMP Media, 600 Harrison St., 6th Fl., SanSUBSCRIPTION Francisco, SERVICES CA 94107 t: 415.947.6000 f: 415.947.6090 t:FOR 415.947.6000 INFORMATION, f: ORDER415.947.6090 QUESTIONS, AND ADDRESS CHANGES t: 800.250.2429 f: 847.763.9606 e: [email protected] SUBSCRIPTION SERVICESSERVICES EDITORIAL FOREDITORIAL INFORMATION, ORDER ORDER QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS, AND AND ADDRESS ADDRESS CHANGES CHANGES EDITOR-IN-CHIEF EDITOR-IN-CHIEFt: 800.250.2429 f: f: 847.763.9606 847.763.9606 e: e:[email protected]@halldata.com Simon Carless [email protected] EDITORIALMANAGING EDITOR NEW YEAR'S PUBLISHERJill Duffy [email protected] Simon Carless [email protected] FEATURESSimon Carless EDITOR [email protected]@gdmag.com SENIORMANAGINGBrandon EDITOR Sheffield EDITOR [email protected] Jill Duffy [email protected]@gdmag.com ARTBrandonJill DIRECTOR Duffy Sheffield [email protected] [email protected] FEARS SENIORCliff Scorso CONTRIBUTINGEDITOR [email protected] EDITOR Brandon Sheffield [email protected]@gdmag.com CONTRIBUTINGJillBrandon Duffy Sheffield [email protected] EDITORS [email protected] ARTJesse DIRECTOR Harlin [email protected] CliffNoah Scorso Falstein [email protected]@gdmag.com [email protected] ASSISTANTCONTRIBUTINGSteve Theodore PRODUCTION EDITORSEDITORS [email protected] EDITOR JeffreyJesseMick West Harlin Fleming [email protected] [email protected]@gdmag.com CONSOLIDATION SCARES THE CRAP OUT OF ME, downloadable games as a corollary to direct-to- Noah Falstein [email protected] CONTRIBUTINGADVISORYNoah Falstein BOARD EDITORS [email protected] but it’s running rampant through our industry. DVD movies. With movies of lower-budget, it's JesseSteve TheodoreHarlin [email protected] [email protected]@gdmag.com MickHal Barwood West [email protected] Designer-at-Large Some of these companies seem to be getting so the luck of the draw and who you know that gets NoahEllenMick Guon WestFalstein Beeman [email protected] [email protected] Microsoft ADVISORY BOARD bloated that I wonder how they even operate. It’s you in theatres or simply on a disc. But in games, ADVISORYSteveBrad Bulkley Theodore BOARD Neversoft [email protected] MickHalClinton Barwood West Keith [email protected] High Designer-at-LargeDesigner-at-Large Moon Studios funny how it’s often the execs at large publishers if you've got a small budget it's pretty unlikely ADVISORYRyanEllen LesserGuon BOARD Beeman Harmonix MicrosoftMicrosoft Brad Bulkley Neversoft who talk the most about making games more that you're going to get any kind of traditional HalMarkBrad Barwood DeLouraBulkley Designer-at-LargeNeversoftUbisoft EllenClinton Guon Keith Beeman HighHigh MoonMoon Microsoft Studios Studios like movies, or at least more successful than marketing or retail treatment. But DVD sales ADVERTISINGBradRyan Bulkley Lesser SALES HarmonixNeversoftHarmonix ADVERTISINGMark DeLoura SALES Ubisoft them—and yet these are the very entities that have overtaken box office sales, and so too will DIRECTORClintonMark DeLoura Keith OF SALES High Ubisoft Moon Studios RyanSteve LesserMcGill e: [email protected] t: 415.947.6217 are moving further and further away from the downloadable sales overtake retail. So perhaps ADVERTISING SALES GLOBALADVERTISINGMark DeLoura SALES SALESMANAGER, Ubisoft RECRUITMENT & EDUCATION Hollywood studio system, which is composed the era of the indie is at hand? DIRECTOR-Aaron Murawski OF SALESSALES e: [email protected] t: 415.947.6227 DIRECTORSteve McGill OF SALESe: [email protected] t: 415.947.6217 mostly of freelance agents, production houses, ADVERTISINGSR.Steve EVENTS McGill ACCOUNT SALES e: [email protected] MANAGER, SOUTHWEST t: 415.947.6217 MEDIAGLOBALJasmin ACCOUNT SALESDavé e: MANAGER,MANAGER,[email protected] MANAGER RECRUITMENT RECRUITMENTt: 415.947.6226 & & EDUCATION EDUCATION and funding groups, and moving more toward a POSTMORTEMS: THE BEST POLICY GLOBALAaron Murawski SALES MANAGER, e: [email protected] RECRUITMENT & t:EDUCATION 415.947.6227 SR.JohnAaron ACCOUNT Watson Murawski MANAGER, e: [email protected] e: [email protected] EAST COAST, EUROPEt: 415.947.6224 &t: EASTERN 415.947.6227 CANADA factory-style production model. It’s a wonder to And I've also been thinking—can there ever GLOBALSR.Cecily EVENTS Herbst SALES ACCOUNT e:MANAGER,[email protected] MANAGER, RECRUITMENT SOUTHWEST t: 415.947.6215 & EDUCATION SR.Jasmin EVENTS Davé ACCOUNT e: [email protected] MANAGER, SOUTHWESTt: 415.947.6226 be such a thing as a truly honest public MEDIAAaronJasmin ACCOUNT Murawski Davé e: [email protected] e: [email protected]: 415.947.6226t: 415.947.6227 me that original or innovative games ever get SR. ACCOUNT MANAGER, EAST COAST, EUROPE & EASTERN CANADA SALESSR.John ACCOUNT WatsonREPRESENTATIVE, MANAGER, e: [email protected] EASTEDUCATION COAST, &t: EUROPE 415.947.224RECRUITMENT & EASTERN CANADA through this system—at times it seems like it postmortem? I had a conversation with a designer GinaCecily Gross Herbst e: [email protected] e: [email protected]: 415.947.6241 t: 415.947.6215 ADVERTISINGCecily Herbst PRODUCTION e: [email protected] t: 415.947.6215 must have been some sort of grievous error of friend recently, and we came to the conclusion SR.ACCOUNTADVERTISING EVENTS MANAGER, ACCOUNT PRODUCTION WESTERN MANAGER, CANADA, SOUTHWEST INDIA, AUSTRALIA, & ASIA ADVERTISINGMEDIAAmanda ACCOUNT Mae PRODUCTION Miller MANAGER e: [email protected] MANAGER Kevin Chanelt: 785.838.7523 judgement on the part of somebody in the upper that unless the game was made entirely by one JasminJohn Watson Davé e: [email protected] t: 415.947.224 SR.REPRINTSSALES ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE, MANAGER, EAST EDUCATION COAST, &EUROPE RECRUITMENT & EASTERN CANADA echelons, allowing a team to get paid to make person, probably not. While you can say “we Gina Gross e: [email protected] t: 415.947.6241 REPRINTSADVERTISINGCecily Herbst ACCOUNT PRODUCTION MANAGER what they want. After all, that’s how Ralph Baer changed scope too quickly,” you can’t say “So- ACCOUNTMEDIAADVERTISINGCindy ACCOUNTZauss MANAGER, t:PRODUCTION 951.698.1780 MANAGER WESTERN MANAGER e: CANADA,[email protected] Kevin INDIA, Chanel AUSTRALIA, & ASIA AmandaJohn Watson Mae Miller e: [email protected] t: 415.947.224 wound
Recommended publications
  • EA SPORTS Madden NFL 19 Kicks Off Football Season
    August 10, 2018 EA SPORTS Madden NFL 19 Kicks off Football Season Experience the Smoothest and Most Visually Compelling Madden NFL yet REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) launched EA SPORTS Madden NFL 19 on Origin for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. This year's game delivers all-new animation and some of the smoothest gameplay ever with the introduction of Real Player Motion (RPM) Tech, along with Franchise mode enhancements that allow players to solidify their strategy and build their own NFL dynasty. The new features don't end there, as Madden Ultimate Team also offers new challenges and opportunities, while fans hoping to catch up with the lives of Devin Wade and Colt Cruise can discover the conclusion of their stories in Longshot: Homecoming. Last but not least, the Madden NFL franchise returns to PC, bringing with it unlocked frame rates, mouse and keyboard controls and more (see here for details on PC specs and requirements). Bleacher Report praises this year's edition of the game, calling it "A must-own package for fans of the sport," and "The smoothest Madden has ever felt." The world is also celebrating launch with the story of the Greatest Play Call Ever. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180810005075/en/ "This is my favorite time of year, since Madden NFL 19 serves as the unofficial kickoff to football season," said Roy Harvey, Executive Producer on Madden NFL 19. "The team has included many new features to gameplay, Franchise, Ultimate Team and more, all of which I believe our fans will enjoy for countless hours throughout the year." RPM Tech in Madden NFL 19 allows runners and receivers an unprecedented opportunity to make a move and burst into the open field thanks to the new One Cut mechanic, alongside other on-field features like signature player styles and user- controlled celebrations.
    [Show full text]
  • Reality Inspired Games: Expanding the Lens of Games’ Claims to Authenticity
    Reality Inspired Games: Expanding the Lens of Games’ Claims to Authenticity Robyn McMillan, Darshana Jayemanne, Iain Donald School of Design and Informatics, Division of Games and Arts University of Abertay Bell Street, Dundee DD1 1HG +44 1382 308000 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT This paper considers the potentials of contemporary games staking claims to realism through documentary and journalistic techniques as part of a wide-ranging cultural and technological phenomenon– ‘Reality Inspired Games’ or RIGs (Maurin, 2018). We argue that RIGs employ design techniques and strategies of legitimation that are valuable to the reactive development cycles in the indie sector, whilst also being beneficial for academic research and development. Through examining traditional documentary and the concept of Bruzzi’s performative documentary (2006) we highlight how this concept may allow developers to negotiate performativity and authenticity in their videogames. We discuss examples of such games in the realm of indie productions, such as That Dragon, Cancer (2016), This War of Mine (2014), and My Child Lebensborn (2018) and Bury Me, My Love (2017). All of which represent new ground for game design, documentary and journalistic techniques that have influenced our work on the MacMillan project. Keywords Reality Inspired Games, Documentary, Performativity, Indie “Much like photographs, paintings, literature and music are capable of transmitting the full range of the human experience from one human to another, so too can games. Due to their interactivity, games are capable of a higher form of communication, one which actively engages the participant and makes them a part of the experience rather than a passive observer” (Brathwaite & Sharp, 2010, p315).
    [Show full text]
  • Audio Middleware the Essential Link from Studio to Game Design
    AUDIONEXT B Y A LEX A N D E R B R A NDON Audio Middleware The Essential Link From Studio to Game Design hen I first played games such as Pac Man and GameCODA. The same is true of Renderware native audio Asteroids in the early ’80s, I was fascinated. tools. One caveat: Criterion is now owned by Electronic W While others saw a cute, beeping box, I saw Arts. The Renderware site was last updated in 2005, and something to be torn open and explored. How could many developers are scrambling to Unreal 3 due to un- these games create sounds I’d never heard before? Back certainty of Renderware’s future. Pity, it’s a pretty good then, it was transistors, followed by simple, solid-state engine. sound generators programmed with individual memory Streaming is supported, though it is not revealed how registers, machine code and dumb terminals. Now, things it is supported on next-gen consoles. What is nice is you are more complex. We’re no longer at the mercy of 8-bit, can specify whether you want a sound streamed or not or handing a sound to a programmer, and saying, “Put within CAGE Producer. GameCODA also provides the it in.” Today, game audio engineers have just as much ability to create ducking/mixing groups within CAGE. In power to create an exciting soundscape as anyone at code, this can also be taken advantage of using virtual Skywalker Ranch. (Well, okay, maybe not Randy Thom, voice channels. but close, right?) Other than SoundMAX (an older audio engine by But just as a single-channel strip on a Neve or SSL once Analog Devices and Staccato), GameCODA was the first baffled me, sound-bank manipulation can baffle your audio engine I’ve seen that uses matrix technology to average recording engineer.
    [Show full text]
  • L'expérience De Création De Jeux Vidéo En Amateur Travailler Son
    Université de Liège Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres Département Médias, Culture et Communication L’expérience de création de jeux vidéo en amateur Travailler son goût pour l’incertitude Thèse présentée par Pierre-Yves Hurel en vue de l’obtention du titre de Docteur en Information et Communication sous la direction de Christine Servais Année académique 2019-2020 À Anne-Lyse, à notre aventure, à nos traversées, à nos horizons. À Charlotte, à tes cris de l’oie, à tes sourires en coin, à tes découvertes. REMERCIEMENTS Écrire une thèse est un acte pétri d’incertitudes, que l’auteur cherche à maîtriser, cadrer et contrôler. J’ai eu le bonheur d’être particulièrement bien accompagné dans cette pratique du doute. Seul face à mon document, j’étais riche de toutes les discussions qui ont jalonné mes années de doctorat. Je souhaite particulièrement remercier mes interlocuteurs pour leur générosité : - Christine Servais, pour sa direction minutieuse, sa franchise, sa bienveillance, ses conseils et son écoute. - Les membres du jury pour avoir accepté de me livrer leur analyse du présent travail. - Tous les membres du Liège Game Lab pour leur intelligence dans leur participation à notre collectif de recherche, pour leur capacité à échanger de manière constructive et pour leur humour sans égal. Merci au Docteure Barnabé (chercheuse internationale et coauteure de cafés-thèse fondateurs), au Docteure Delbouille (brillante sitôt qu’on l’entend), au Docteur Dupont (titulaire d’un double doctorat en lettres modernes et en élégance), au Docteur Dozo (dont le sens du collectif a tant permis), au futur Docteur Krywicki (prolifique en tout domaine), au futur Docteur Houlmont (dont je ne connais qu’un défaut) et au futur Docteur Bashandy (dont le vécu et les travaux incitent à l’humilité).
    [Show full text]
  • Tie Break Tennis by 01Toys Review by Jr2swiss Nov/04/2004
    Offline Edition Version: Mar/22/2005 14:13 http://reviews.chemicalkungfu.de/ 1 Ah Catsmanga Daioh by taRo Review by BobBorakovitz Nov/03/2004 This is a really nice little game, very polished with excellent graphics and music! The text is in Japanese (or another similar foreign language) but it's easy to understand the menus. The gameplay is simple, you are a little anime girl on the bottom of the screen, your goal is to avoid the many cats that are falling from the sky while collecting tokens that also fall from the sky. For every cat that you avoid you get 1 point, and you get bonus points by collecting the tokens. I love the music, it's a catchy tune, but there's not too many sound effects, however the ones that are there work well and sound great without crackling. The feature in this game that really makes it stand out is the online ranking system! When your game ends you get a screen that has a password and a website to rank yourself among other players! At the time of this writing, my ranking is a dismal #144! Oh well, I'll keep trying! Graphics: 9 Sound: 8 Gameplay: 9 Progress: 10 Gameidea: 6 Replay value: 7 OVERALL RATING: 8.2 2 Air Rage by Taras Young Review by frolik Nov/04/2004 Coded for the 15 days Coding Competition was this little one-shot shootemup where you fly a Boeing 737 that has been armed to the teeth with weapons and are pursued by government jets intent on taking you down.
    [Show full text]
  • Doom: Gráficos Avançados E Atmosfera Sombria
    PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL PROGRAMA DE PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO EM COMUNICAÇÃO SOCIAL TECNOLOGIAS DE CONTATO: OS IMPACTOS DAS PLATAFORMAS DOS JOGOS DIGITAIS NA JOGABILIDADE SOCIAL CHRISTOPHER ROBERT KASTENSMIDT Professora Orientadora: Dra. Magda Rodrigues da Cunha Porto Alegre Dezembro/2011 CHRISTOPHER ROBERT KASTENSMIDT TECNOLOGIAS DE CONTATO: OS IMPACTOS DAS PLATAFORMAS DOS JOGOS DIGITAIS NA JOGABILIDADE SOCIAL Dissertação apresentada como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação Social da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul. Orientadora: Dra. Magda Rodrigues da Cunha PORTO ALEGRE 2011 CHRISTOPHER ROBERT KASTENSMIDT Dados Internacionais de Catalogação na Publicação (CIP) K19t Kastensmidt, Christopher Robert Tecnologias de contato: os impactos das plataformas dos jogos digitais na jogabilidade social. / Christopher Robert Kastensmidt. – Porto Alegre, 2011. 172 p. Dissertação (Mestrado) Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação Social – Faculdade de Comunicação Social, PUCRS. Orientadora: Profa. Dra. Magda Rodrigues da Cunha 1. Comunicação Social. 2. Jogos Digitais. 3. Jogabilidade Social. 4. Jogos Eletrônicos. I. Cunha, Magda Rodrigues da. II. Título. CDD 794.8 Ficha elaborada pela bibliotecária Anamaria Ferreira CRB 10/1494 TECNOLOGIAS DE CONTATO: OS IMPACTOS DAS PLATAFORMAS DOS JOGOS DIGITAIS NA JOGABILIDADE SOCIAL Dissertação apresentada como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação Social
    [Show full text]
  • Game Developers’ Census, the Big Three at E3, and More
    >>PRODUCT REVIEWS PHOTOSHOP CS3 EXTENDED * SPACENAVIGATOR AUGUST 2007 THE LEADING GAME INDUSTRY MAGAZINE >>CASE FOR THE TECH ARTIST >>CODERS MOUTH OFF >>THE INNER PRODUCT HOW AND WHY STUDIOS EXCLUSIVE ROUNDTABLE PAINTING WITH DOMAIN NEED THESE OXYMORONS WITH FIVE PROGRAMMERS SPECIFIC LANGUAGES Using Autodeskodesk® HumanIK® middle-middle- Autodesk® ware, Ubisoftoft MotionBuilder™ grounded ththee software enabled assassin inn his In Assassin’s Creed, th the assassin to 12 centuryy boots Ubisoft used and his run-time-time ® ® fl uidly jump Autodesk 3ds Max environment.nt. software to create from rooftops to a hero character so cobblestone real you can almost streets with ease. feel the coarseness of his tunic. HOW UBISOFT GAVE AN ASSASSIN HIS SOUL. autodesk.com/Games IImmagge cocouru tteesyy of Ubiisofft Autodesk, MotionBuilder, HumanIK and 3ds Max are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. © 2007 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. []CONTENTS AUGUST 2007 VOLUME 14, NUMBER 7 FEATURES 7 PROGRAMMERS’ ROUNDTABLE In this exclusive roundtable interview, five top technophiles discuss what’s right and wrong with game programming these days, from in-house procedures to multi-processor systems to code reuse. With Brad Bulkley, Stuart Denman, Chris Hecker, Clinton Keith, and Bruce Rogers 17 THE CODE/ART DIVIDE: 7 HOW TECHNICAL ARTISTS BRIDGE THE GAP Game studio Volition (THE PUNISHER, SAINTS ROW) makes a case for hiring a few technical artists, their value 22 ranging from time savings to smoother in-house communication. As linchpins, technical artists keep programmers and artists bonded in their mutual POSTMORTEM cause, helping to ensure that each department gets what it needs from the 22 FINAL FANTASY XII other—and within reason according to The twelfth installment in Square Enix’s wildly popular series was developed the project’s schedule.
    [Show full text]
  • Smartphones Games in General
    IT UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN WORK Class code: Name of course: Course manager: Course e-portfolio: Thesis or project title: Supervisor: Full Name: Birthdate (dd/mm-yyyy): E-mail: 1. @itu.dk 2. @itu.dk 3. @itu.dk 4. @itu.dk 5. @itu.dk 6. @itu.dk 7. @itu.dk Andreas Lagerstedt Jasper van’t Veen Lars Lyskjær-Rudbæk Bachelor thesis 2014 IT-University of Copenhagen Supervisor: Miguel Angel Sigart Vila Distributed Game Interfaces Characters: 132758 Project Summary Index The mainstream video game industry has just started implement- ing smart devices into the home gaming environment in the form of “companion apps”. As the question of how this implementation can affect the play experience of videogames is still largely un- answered, this study aims to investigate current companion apps and in turn discuss how to make the inclusion of smart devices in video games meaningful. This has been done by considering the Introduction 2 game and app constellations as parts of one, distributed game in- terface with the aim of creating guidelines for their design. Three games were chosen for the study: Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag, Research question 3 Grand Theft Auto 5 and Battlefield 4. Theory 4 The study has been conducted with an offset in theories con- cerning play as an activity in an enacted experience, types of play Methodology 10 and games, player immersion, affordance, goal-directed design, models for comprehension, game interfaces, distributed user Existing Companion Apps 13 interfaces and the importance of context. This has served as a background for analysing the three games and their “Compan- ion Apps” as distributed game interfaces.
    [Show full text]
  • Luminosity | a Re-Imagining of Twilight | by Alicorn
    Luminosity by Alicorn You don't have to make a hundred mistakes for everything to disintegrate around you. One will do. One wrong risk, one misplaced trust, one careless guess is enough to destroy the one thing you can least afford to lose. But I'd never had any reason to imagine that my disaster would befall me at the time when I was most unexpectedly safe. pg. 1 1. Forks 2. The Cullens 3. The Reveal 4. Matchmaking 5. Vampires 101 6. Edward 7. Souls 8. The Future 9. Witches and Werewolves 10. Coven 11. Volterra 12. Norway 13. Newborn 14. Self-Control 15. Honeymoon 16. Ambition 17. Rachel 18. Clearwater 19. Denali 20. Europe 21. Hybrid 22. Maggie 23. Sue 24. Delivery 25. Expectations 26. Little Witch 27. Scatter 28. Ashes 29. Things Left Behind pg. 2 Forks Here is how I decided to live with my father in Washington. My favorite three questions are, What do I want?, What do I have?, and How can I best use the latter to get the former? Actually, I'm also fond of What kind of person am I?, but that one isn't often directly relevant to decision making on a day-to-day basis. What did I want? I wanted my mother, Renée, to be happy. She was the most important person to me, bar none. I also wanted her around, but when I honestly evaluated my priorities, it was more important that she be happy. If, implausibly, I had to choose between Renée being happy on Mars, and Renée being miserable living with me as she always had - I wouldn't be thrilled about it.
    [Show full text]
  • Llega La Quinta Temporada De Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare®
    Llega la Quinta Temporada de Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® Activision ha querido convocar al jugador de fútbol Jorge Resurrección, conocido como Koke, a una cita muy especial, coincidiendo con la llegada de la Temporada 5 a Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare®. El deportista, seguidor de la franquicia desde hace años, ha estado disfrutando del contenido gratuitoCall of Duty: Warzone desde su lanzamiento, el pasado mes de marzo. “La apertura del Acropolis National Arena en esta Quinta Temporada de Call of Duty: Modern Warfare es lo que todos estábamos esperando y, por fin, podemos disfrutarlo”, ha mencionado Koke Resurrección. “Esta vez yo tengo ventaja, ya que conozco los lugares más recónditos de un estadio”, ha comentado el jugador entre risas. “Warzone me ha proporcionado horas de distracción durante el confinamiento y, ahora, lo hará para desconectar de la vuelta a los entrenamientos”. El desarrollador Infinity Ward es el encargado de esta actualización, en la que el mapa de Warzone ampliará su espacio de juego gracias a la apertura del estadio, del interior de la estación de trenes, y a la llegada de un colosal tren de carga que se encuentra en continuo movimiento, y que podrá ser utilizado como base móvil de operaciones. Pero, esto no es todo, los usuarios podrán disfrutar de cuatro nuevos mapas multijugador en el lanzamiento: una nueva experiencia Guerra Terrestre, dos mapas 6v6, y un mapa en el modo Tiroteo, preparado para ofrecer un combate frenético. Naturalmente, estas novedades estarán respaldadas por nuevos modos de juego tanto en el multijugador, como en Warzone, así como por un Pase de Batalla que incluye una gran cantidad de contenido, que podrá obtenerse de forma gratuita.
    [Show full text]
  • Jak Videohry Vyprávějí Příběhy Analýza Aktuálních Klíčových Videoher Hlavního Proudu
    Masarykova univerzita Filozofická fakulta Ústav hudební vědy Teorie interaktivních médií Bc. Jaroslav Kolář Magisterská diplomová práce Jak videohry vyprávějí příběhy Analýza aktuálních klíčových videoher hlavního proudu Vedoucí práce: Mgr. Zuzana Husárová, Ph.D. 2013 1 2 Čestné prohlášení Prohlašuji, že jsem práci vypracoval samostatně. Všechny prameny a literaturu, které jsem při vypracování používal, v práci řádně uvádím. V Brně, 4. ledna 2013 3 Narativní potenciál videoher byl na konci 20. století podceňován nebo zcela přehlížen. Vzhledem k rychlému vývoji na poli videoher je nutné přezkoumat aktuální situaci. Objektem této práce jsou klíčové videohry hlavního proudu vydané mezi lety 2010-2012. Podrobným vnímáním ludické a narativní podstaty vybraných videoher hledá tato práce odpověď na otázku „Jakým způsobem videohry vyprávějí příběhy?“ a to z perspektivy nahlížení na příběhy jako na transmediální fenomény. 4 První kapitola – Úvod ............................................................................................................................. 7 Cíl této práce ....................................................................................................................................... 9 Jak budu postupovat ............................................................................................................................ 9 Druhá kapitola – Uvedení do problematiky .......................................................................................... 10 Sjednocení důležitých pojmů ...........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Game Developer Magazine
    >> INSIDE: 2007 AUSTIN GDC SHOW PROGRAM SEPTEMBER 2007 THE LEADING GAME INDUSTRY MAGAZINE >>SAVE EARLY, SAVE OFTEN >>THE WILL TO FIGHT >>EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW MAKING SAVE SYSTEMS FOR CHANGING GAME STATES HARVEY SMITH ON PLAYERS, NOT DESIGNERS IN PANDEMIC’S SABOTEUR POLITICS IN GAMES POSTMORTEM: PUZZLEINFINITE INTERACTIVE’S QUEST DISPLAY UNTIL OCTOBER 11, 2007 Using Autodeskodesk® HumanIK® middle-middle- Autodesk® ware, Ubisoftoft MotionBuilder™ grounded ththee software enabled assassin inn his In Assassin’s Creed, th the assassin to 12 centuryy boots Ubisoft used and his run-time-time ® ® fl uidly jump Autodesk 3ds Max environment.nt. software to create from rooftops to a hero character so cobblestone real you can almost streets with ease. feel the coarseness of his tunic. HOW UBISOFT GAVE AN ASSASSIN HIS SOUL. autodesk.com/Games IImmagge cocouru tteesyy of Ubiisofft Autodesk, MotionBuilder, HumanIK and 3ds Max are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. © 2007 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. []CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2007 VOLUME 14, NUMBER 8 FEATURES 7 SAVING THE DAY: SAVE SYSTEMS IN GAMES Games are designed by designers, naturally, but they’re not designed for designers. Save systems that intentionally limit the pick up and drop enjoyment of a game unnecessarily mar the player’s experience. This case study of save systems sheds some light on what could be done better. By David Sirlin 13 SABOTEUR: THE WILL TO FIGHT 7 Pandemic’s upcoming title SABOTEUR uses dynamic color changes—from vibrant and full, to black and white film noir—to indicate the state of allied resistance in-game.
    [Show full text]