Random happenings and unlikely situations

One thing i hate when i'm playing a game is being lost; this isn't because i dislike exploration, but because it's not always easy to tell what the player can and cannot interact with. Because of this fact, exploration and problem solving are sometimes difficult to tackle. It seems that lately some games have taken a rather overzealous approach toward combating this problem. So much so that i think Zack Hiwiller's interpretation of Mario: 2010 might not be too far off...

That said this post isn't really about the fine line between lending the player a helping hand and taking the player by the hand. Instead it's about questioning the opposite scenario: what would a game that embraces random happenings and unlikely situations be like?

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Boss fights... ಠ_ಠ

Difficulty is a very difficult thing to tune; especially for a developer who, by the end of the project, has played their game to death and back again. And though some games have difficulty problems throughout the entire game, most games (that i finish) only let this problem show a select few times. During boss fights.

Boss fights, by their very nature, should be epic. When i finish one i want to feel great, like i've defeated my nemesis. I want to feel like i've overcome great odds to beat a foe whose pure strength was greater than mine, but whose mind obviously wasn't. I don't want to feel like i just beat i small child wearing full plate. And i certainly don't want to feel like i got lucky on my 5th or 6th try. I want to die.... but only one time!

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Windows Phone 7

My cell contract expired recently, so i've been looking at phones for the last couple weeks. After researching all the new options, i decided it was finally time for me to get a smart phone. Right about this time i also started thinking about mobile game development; and after looking at iOS4, Android 2.2 and Windows Phone 7 i've found that (as far as development is concerned) i'm most excited about WP7.

I'll try to keep this short.

I'm excited about WP7 for two main reasons:

1. XNA -- If you've ever looked into XBLA development, you've probably heard of XNA; it's a framework built on top of Visual C# that simplifies development for Xbox 360, Windows, Zune and now Windows Phone 7.
2. Brand new marketplace -- While lack of backwards compatibility might not be ideal for users, it's potentially great for developers. Put an application on an Android or iPhone and you're competing with thousands upon thousands of other apps. Simply put WP7 gives developers heightened visibility with less direct competition.

My solar system

I found a pretty interesting flash solar system simulator recently called My Solar System. It's hosted by the University of Colorado and supports up to 4 objects at a time. Perhaps i'm a bit burnt out from some of the more epic battles in Shining Force, but playing around with masses and velocities has got me thinking about why i'm actually having fun playing around with mass and velocity!

Warning: i've always been a sucker for simulations that involve creating stuff, so if you have never enjoyed things like building houses in The Sims or coasters in Roller Coaster Tycoon.... you might find the rest of this post very lame.

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Lag by design

I listened to a program on NPR's Krulwich on Science podcast recently that i thought was pretty interesting. The program, entitled The Secret Advantage Of Being Short, discussed  research going on that suggests different people experience the world with different lag which is tied (in some ways) to your height!

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