Status Updates
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Bus Crash
bus that went over the guard rail and into a ditch. No one was
seriously injured.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
What I Learned From Playing...
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword (NDS)
I've been playing Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword on my Nintendo DS for over the past two months. This will sound terrible, but it's the perfect bathroom game. The save points are almost perfectly paced 10 minutes of play time apart. I've thoroughly enjoyed the game and it's been well worth the money. So here are a few things I've learned from playing it.
1. Being a ninja bad ass is cool
This seems pretty self-explanatory, but obviously the point is a bit more profound. The point isn't the obvious, that I want to be a ninja, but rather that this game does an incredible job at making me feel like I'd be a totally badass ninja. I think the game's controls are really core to creating that illusion. In a way, the combat reminds me a lot of the Phantom Hourglass but a bit more engaging. In the Zelda offering, you simply tap on an enemy with the stylus and Link will attack it. I think you can also slash at an enemy, but it's far less reliable and, well, just tapping them is so much easier. Dragon Sword, on the other hand, requires you to slash repeatedly at enemies either vertically, horizontall or diagonally. There are a few combo moves in the game, but this game has created the stylus equivalent of button mashing, stylus frenzy. My DS screen is pretty scratched up as a result of this game.
However, you can perform this slash attack on any enemy on the screen at any time, and Ryu, the game's hero and player's avatar, will deftly step in that direction and perform a well animated and dynamic slashing attack. Through frantic stylus swipes, I'm guiding my katana of death from enemy to enemy in a well-coordinated whirlwind of destruction. I really feel like I know what I'm doing. This is the real point. Player's want to feel powerful and skillful when they play these games, but they can see when the game is playing itself. I really like Dragon Sword because I know when I screw up, the enemies will jump all over me. But through very simple actions, I'm unleashing some real ninja badass.
2. Repetitive actions, even when they're fun, need a fresh twist every once and awhile
I'd have to Dragon Sword falls short here. They try to switch it up with new magic spells, some unlockable moves, a new glowing sword and some explosive tip arrows, but I'm really just swiping the stylus like mad the whole time. I think they could have done some cool things with combinations of vertical and horizontal slashes that would have made the game more interesting. Even the monsters later in the game that start to block more are ultimately defeated by just swiping at them non-stop.
3. I should not play Ninja Gaiden or Ninja Gaiden 2 for the Xbox 360
I loved this game and loved fantasizing that I was this uber cool ninja. I never really could get into the idea of fighting demons all the time. I think I'd prefer uber cool assasins or other ninjas. But playing this game really made me want to play the 360 titles. But then, I made it to a difficult boss battle. I've heard legend of Ninja Gaiden having some freakishly difficult/random boss encounters.
I was ready to throw my DS at one point. I let out many yells and gasps of frustration. My wife was not impressed. No explanation would make her understand my anger with this fiend from the underworld. Of course, I eventually beat the boss and I was happy again.
But this experience reminded me that I'm 30 and not 13. Life is a lot bigger than a silly video game. Video games can be paused. Video games are their own challenge, but they are inconsequential to many other things in life. Video games are games. Simply put.
4. There's nothing wrong with frequent saves.
Some people feel like save points can result in making the game easier, but I think they end up making the game more accessible (especially on the DS). If this game had any fewer save points, I wouldn't have played it for very long. It would have been way to frustrating. Early on, the bosses were the only real challenge besides finding time to play. I would never have made much progress if the save points weren't so well laid out.
When I played Max Payne, I used to save almost every single room. I didn't have a lot of time to play games back then, so I really didn't want to waste alot of time if I made a mistake. I think planning for players to play through an area more than once is stupid. It counts on player's getting a nasty surprise they can't overcome the first time through. This is just poor design and should be avoided.
5. The Nintendo DS is awesome
This game looks incredible and plays so well. The DS is so lite and easy to bring along. It's by far the best portable system ever invented and the sales numbers back that up.
I've been playing Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword on my Nintendo DS for over the past two months. This will sound terrible, but it's the perfect bathroom game. The save points are almost perfectly paced 10 minutes of play time apart. I've thoroughly enjoyed the game and it's been well worth the money. So here are a few things I've learned from playing it.
1. Being a ninja bad ass is cool
This seems pretty self-explanatory, but obviously the point is a bit more profound. The point isn't the obvious, that I want to be a ninja, but rather that this game does an incredible job at making me feel like I'd be a totally badass ninja. I think the game's controls are really core to creating that illusion. In a way, the combat reminds me a lot of the Phantom Hourglass but a bit more engaging. In the Zelda offering, you simply tap on an enemy with the stylus and Link will attack it. I think you can also slash at an enemy, but it's far less reliable and, well, just tapping them is so much easier. Dragon Sword, on the other hand, requires you to slash repeatedly at enemies either vertically, horizontall or diagonally. There are a few combo moves in the game, but this game has created the stylus equivalent of button mashing, stylus frenzy. My DS screen is pretty scratched up as a result of this game.
However, you can perform this slash attack on any enemy on the screen at any time, and Ryu, the game's hero and player's avatar, will deftly step in that direction and perform a well animated and dynamic slashing attack. Through frantic stylus swipes, I'm guiding my katana of death from enemy to enemy in a well-coordinated whirlwind of destruction. I really feel like I know what I'm doing. This is the real point. Player's want to feel powerful and skillful when they play these games, but they can see when the game is playing itself. I really like Dragon Sword because I know when I screw up, the enemies will jump all over me. But through very simple actions, I'm unleashing some real ninja badass.
2. Repetitive actions, even when they're fun, need a fresh twist every once and awhile
I'd have to Dragon Sword falls short here. They try to switch it up with new magic spells, some unlockable moves, a new glowing sword and some explosive tip arrows, but I'm really just swiping the stylus like mad the whole time. I think they could have done some cool things with combinations of vertical and horizontal slashes that would have made the game more interesting. Even the monsters later in the game that start to block more are ultimately defeated by just swiping at them non-stop.
3. I should not play Ninja Gaiden or Ninja Gaiden 2 for the Xbox 360
I loved this game and loved fantasizing that I was this uber cool ninja. I never really could get into the idea of fighting demons all the time. I think I'd prefer uber cool assasins or other ninjas. But playing this game really made me want to play the 360 titles. But then, I made it to a difficult boss battle. I've heard legend of Ninja Gaiden having some freakishly difficult/random boss encounters.
I was ready to throw my DS at one point. I let out many yells and gasps of frustration. My wife was not impressed. No explanation would make her understand my anger with this fiend from the underworld. Of course, I eventually beat the boss and I was happy again.
But this experience reminded me that I'm 30 and not 13. Life is a lot bigger than a silly video game. Video games can be paused. Video games are their own challenge, but they are inconsequential to many other things in life. Video games are games. Simply put.
4. There's nothing wrong with frequent saves.
Some people feel like save points can result in making the game easier, but I think they end up making the game more accessible (especially on the DS). If this game had any fewer save points, I wouldn't have played it for very long. It would have been way to frustrating. Early on, the bosses were the only real challenge besides finding time to play. I would never have made much progress if the save points weren't so well laid out.
When I played Max Payne, I used to save almost every single room. I didn't have a lot of time to play games back then, so I really didn't want to waste alot of time if I made a mistake. I think planning for players to play through an area more than once is stupid. It counts on player's getting a nasty surprise they can't overcome the first time through. This is just poor design and should be avoided.
5. The Nintendo DS is awesome
This game looks incredible and plays so well. The DS is so lite and easy to bring along. It's by far the best portable system ever invented and the sales numbers back that up.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Summer in the Streets
Feels like, "I Am Legend"
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Good day for Apple! Bad day for Dell!
My next goal for the blog was to spend some time capturing footage from COD4, Halo and Frontlines to discuss some of the widely used adhesion and autorotation methods used in console shooters. Just last night I was explaining to someone how fundamentally different shooters are on PC and console because of the controller interface.
Unfortunately, I've had two big distractions. First, this iPhone which I'm posting from right now, has turned out to be one of the sexiest things I've ever owned. I just can't stop toying with it. I'm glad to see that what I view as it's biggest flaw, no push gmail, is widely viewed as a huge miss by google and apple. Clearly, apple wants a bigger stake in the email market.
Secondly, my Dell desktop, on which I would normally capture and write, has been fried. A stereotype-fulfilling tech showed up today and manhandled my computer. The computer was fixed when he left but died later in the day.
So go joy lately for me on the blogging front but hope to get some more momentum and solid content soon.
Brian
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Mobile Blogging!!!
Sweet! Blogging straight from the iphone now. Hopefuly this will mean more posts.
Brian
Monday, August 4, 2008
Infantry Algebra
More Call of Duty 4 transition goodness!
My friend Dave Arata and I were talking about ironsights the other day in the context of all the actions that can occur when in ironsights. What happens when you reload? Go prone? Throw a grenade? If a programmer is going to work on an ironsights system, they are going to need to know all these details.
ACTIONS
Call of Duty 4 is easily the king of modern infantry combat on the modern generation of consoles (modern generation eh? what happened to next generation).
The game has some of the fundamentals that almost any modern infantry shooter would want. As a result, we decided to enumerate all of the actions in Call of Duty 4 we felt were fundamental.
OPERATIONS
So what's the problem at hand? How can we define the relationships between these actions in a way that makes sense? Then, how can we translate those relationships into a language a programmer can work from (and possibly create a finite state machine).
First, we have to think about our basic formula. At any time, one action is in progress while another wants to start. So,
A - The action in progress
B - The action requested
Then, we need to define the different operations that can occur between these two actions.
Affected By
This gives us 5 operations to build our matrix. We can start each action, then iteratively examine and note what happens when we try to do another action. A gameplay programmer can then use this matrix to develop the animation transition systems for our infantry.
Note: If you're really into algebra, you might care to notice that only ignores is commutative. In other words, if A ignores B then B ignores A.
Of course, I've created a matrix of my own, but what would be the fun in giving you everything you need after all? There are a few notable observations though:
My friend Dave Arata and I were talking about ironsights the other day in the context of all the actions that can occur when in ironsights. What happens when you reload? Go prone? Throw a grenade? If a programmer is going to work on an ironsights system, they are going to need to know all these details.
ACTIONS
Call of Duty 4 is easily the king of modern infantry combat on the modern generation of consoles (modern generation eh? what happened to next generation).
The game has some of the fundamentals that almost any modern infantry shooter would want. As a result, we decided to enumerate all of the actions in Call of Duty 4 we felt were fundamental.
- Cook grenade - Pulling the grenade pin but holding it before throwing it
- Throw grenade
- Reload
- Fire
- Aim Down Sight - Players need to actively hold down a button to look down the sights
- Sprint
- Switch Weapon
- Melee
- Jump
- Landing - When the player falls from a suitable height
- Vault - If the game has some type of vaulting system
- Prone
- Prone Move - Moving while prone behaves differently than moving when standing/crouching
- Change Stance
- Climb Ladder
- Moving
- Enter - For vehicles or mounted weapons
OPERATIONS
So what's the problem at hand? How can we define the relationships between these actions in a way that makes sense? Then, how can we translate those relationships into a language a programmer can work from (and possibly create a finite state machine).
First, we have to think about our basic formula. At any time, one action is in progress while another wants to start. So,
A - The action in progress
B - The action requested
Then, we need to define the different operations that can occur between these two actions.
Affected By
- A affected by B
- A and B can occur at the same time, but A will behave differently
- A blocked by B
- If B is in progress, A cannot occur
- A ignores B
- A and B can occur at the same time
- A interrupts B
- A will occur even if B is in progress, B will immediately transition to A
- A queued by B
- If B is in progress, A will occur when B has completed
This gives us 5 operations to build our matrix. We can start each action, then iteratively examine and note what happens when we try to do another action. A gameplay programmer can then use this matrix to develop the animation transition systems for our infantry.
Note: If you're really into algebra, you might care to notice that only ignores is commutative. In other words, if A ignores B then B ignores A.
Of course, I've created a matrix of my own, but what would be the fun in giving you everything you need after all? There are a few notable observations though:
- Change Stance ignores almost everything except Sprint, Vault, Climb Ladder and Enter
- Looking ignores almost everything except it's affected by Aim Down Sights
- Almost everything interrupts Sprint
- Vault blocks almost everything
- Most everything ignores looking and moving
Ironsight Transitions
After spending a bit of time looking at CoD 4's ironsights in the context of single player, I started to pay more attention to the actual transition.
They make a few changes between their From the Hip position to their Aiming Down Sights position.
I think this is a direct result of IW spending a lot of time watching soldier rifle their weapon. Obviously, a solider wouldn't start focusing their vision until the weapon is in their line of sight.
Of course, everything blends linearly between the two positions. The blur is applied gradually. The field of view adjusts throughout the transition. The bullet deviation, represented by the crosshair, gradually decreases/increases while the crosshair fades in/out.
Nailing this transition is critical. I once read that Miyamoto told Retro Studios that if they didn't nail the transition between the ball and first-person in Metroid Prime, then they couldn't do the game. Transitions are key to keeping the player immersed at all times.
If the player believes the transition, they'll believe the entire experience.
They make a few changes between their From the Hip position to their Aiming Down Sights position.
- Animate raising/lowering the gun to the player
- Change the field of view, but blend that change over time
- Increase the depth of field blur on the parts of the gun closer to the player
I think this is a direct result of IW spending a lot of time watching soldier rifle their weapon. Obviously, a solider wouldn't start focusing their vision until the weapon is in their line of sight.
Of course, everything blends linearly between the two positions. The blur is applied gradually. The field of view adjusts throughout the transition. The bullet deviation, represented by the crosshair, gradually decreases/increases while the crosshair fades in/out.
Nailing this transition is critical. I once read that Miyamoto told Retro Studios that if they didn't nail the transition between the ball and first-person in Metroid Prime, then they couldn't do the game. Transitions are key to keeping the player immersed at all times.
If the player believes the transition, they'll believe the entire experience.
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