Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Did you cry


Talking about TV series with my brother yesterday, the conversation took an interesting turn. "Have you played The Walking Dead video-", he said, but briefly interrupted by my nod. "This may be weird to you, but I cried at the end", he exclaimed. This created a wonderful discussion over which videogames have made us feel sentimental in the past. Anyhow, as I started to wonder, I felt a nice warm feeling recalling the games I was connected to in such emotional way.

For a moment I got lost into a philosophical journey. In movies it's somewhat easier to cry and generally share or be overcome by certain sentiments/feelings, because the usual behavior we have while experiencing a story is to attempt to relate to it. But with games that's usually different, mostly because we have full (or at least the illusion of such) control over the protagonist's actions, and the protagonist in most cases serves as a vessel of ourselves.

With the creation and the world-wide success of Elite, a significant change to videogames has occurred. An alteration to the rule that a score must determine the skill of the player and the player's involvement to the game must resolve around his/her attempts to get the highest score possible. With Elite we were slowly introduced to something far greater. The probability that games could "just" have a decent storyline instead of a score. And as time passed and technology progressed, it happened. The early nineties were mostly dominated by Adventure Games and RPGs, both primarily focused on gripping story arcs presenting elements such as branches, depth, setting, character development, etc.

Even if the adventure game genre itself  lost part of its sunlight and glory, it helped immensely in paving the way for other genres, that then were mostly focusing on excessive button mashing, to evolve. Action / First Person Shooter franchises such as Max Payne, Metal Gear Solid, System Shock, Half Life, Resident Evil disengaged from the brainless stereotype of exaggerated, rapid frenzy and reckless gameplay to a more delicate, no rather, realistic approach. As storyline became an new element in game design, cinematic elements have been introduced, converting videogames to a new form of art (even though that could be a stretch). An art we can interact with our own ways within the limits that are presented to us (visible and not).

Posted @Gnome's Lair

Saturday, November 22, 2014

According to my data.

AprilSkies is neither a guy nor a girl. April Skies is a song. So get REKT.



All joking aside, Andrea Ferrara is a wondeful italian person of definite masculinity, he's not a she, he's a he. And wuv him. Cause he funny. And weird. And very into game-making.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Samaritan Paradox gets hate, and love, it's all in good spirit.

One of the few times an AGS game is sported on cracked. So, Samaritan Paradox by our very own Andail under Screen7 is featured. On an article. About unreasonable puzzles. In videogames. It beat Castlevania II Tornado. Yay!

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Swedish magazine gives out love for AGS.

 If you can read swedish. According to Lasca who gracefully shared these to us, this is a list of top 30 adventure games. And below follows a review of the Samaritan Paradox.





Friday, November 14, 2014

Final Fantasy IV or is it III or is it 6 ..eh...




That intro still can't be be beat, so perfect in every single way.


You know, someone is cringing at the comments going like " Do you mean Final Fantasy III?", so let's settle this for once, I will call this VI, cause it happened to be the 6th game of the series. I can't remember a single game I've played for the sole reason that it had great music and I actually wanted to hear more of it. I've been influenced musically, stylistically, game-design wise, but most certainly, entirely by this installment in the series.

Dissecting its nowadays considered cult introduction sequence, the very one accompanied by the most memorable tunes ever to grace a game, the attention to detail is miraculous. Slowly helping new and old players realize the setting, and applying strong and firm points of interest by playing around a typical cliche, we're slowly immersed into a world of conflicts. As technology battles magic, deeper connections are created, making it harder to pick a side. Both are justified in their unique ways, engulfing the incredibly complex cast of characters into choices and situations undesired.

Final Fantasy's story alternates around the same perspectives - it's about the end of an era, as much as it is about the beginning of another one. I refuse to tell you anything about the story, dear reader, but I will tell you this: In this part of the saga called Final Fantasy, an important choice was made. A choice that every technological probability of the engine that would sport the game, would be used to its fullest potential. From the very first minutes, the proof is presented to us.

Heavily utilizing Mode 7 functions and tidbits for cinematic and general purposes, even though released almost 20 years ago, the graphical quality of the game still holds up to both sentimental but also historically innovative (for the time being) standard. In case you're wondering what on earth Mode 7 graphic effects are, they're basically various graphical tricks where a two-dimensional image is taken and skewed/distorted in such way that it gives the impression of a third dimension, without that dimension however ever actually existing; thus pseudo-3D.

Now, back to the topic at hand, besides the wonderful protagonist(s), there's Kefka, one of the most notorious videogame villains of all time. Terribly underrated and rather overshadowed by Sephiroth, I strongly believe the latter would a be at best a common lackey under Kefka's rule. The game's opera sequence/cinematic is also what is held most dear by its players, not only for the music but also for the unprecedented and unexpected depth and epicness it provides to the central plot as the story seamlessly peaked.

It's a terrible thing that the majority of the Final Fantasy fanbase was taken over by the luscious prerendered quality of the 3D graphics and the impactful death scene of Iris by Sephiroth, ever-forgetting this masterpiece. If it wasn't for the release of FFVII, this gem would be significantly more appreciated by the mainstream (because the press is doing its best to restore its value). But those who have had the fortune to spend hours upon hours on it, know it deep in their hearts and cherish it. And perhaps secretly wish for a proper remake or a sequel.

Posted @ Gnome's Lair

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Go North (SHAMELESS PLUG)

I decided to make a small game and with the help of Peder Johnsen I made one with full voice acting within an hour. This game has been created within an hour to continue an IRC inside joke between me, nemo, peder, and JimReed.




Poetic, frivolous, forever fallen into the hands of few

DOWNLOAD
DOWNLOAD EXTRA JAVASCRIPT PORT BY D LEGEND, PEDER JOHNSEN


TEAM:
  • Dualnames: Music, Artwork, Coding, Design
  • Peder Johnsen: Port, Design, Mumble
  • Qptain Nemo: Professional Voice Acting
  • JimReed: Went North




Sunday, November 9, 2014

NO.

I've come to accept fate as it came to me, and as it also came to be. I've always wanted to be the face in front of me. Being a programmer it's really hard, especially if you refuse to be a part of game design. People will try so hard themselves to code their own thoughts and concepts. They will not do the same for anything art related (perhaps music). And with this in mind I've tried the hardest I've known to make a standard living out of my efforts. And while Cat Lady and Primordia made lots of money, I've yet to actually live the indie dream, and it's even harder to make it there. It's not a road full of petals and roses, that is certain. However I'm willing to give it one last proper effort - I've been spending this past month refusing to procrastinate. While I could say that I was given my chances, and that this was my short trip to stardom, I refuse to accept this.

No.