Game Overs

     The dreaded Game Over screen. If you have ever played a game with a death animation for your character, chances are after that last live disappeared from the screen, you were greeted with a Game Over screen of some kind. The purpose of this screen is simple: remind the player that they lost the game and taunt them with those bold, yet simple four letter words. And then the game resets to the very beginning. 

 

      In the early years of gaming, this screen was a very common sight. To the casual player, it typically meant literally what the words said: your game is, in fact, over. To the hardcore players, it meant “Try it until you get it right!” I played UN Squadron for the SNES. Flying through all the levels was difficult at first and I saw the Game Over screen numerous times. I remember it perfectly: it's dark out, there is a crashed plane and my pilot is walking away all depressed. I am prompted to continue. I just survived a plane crash. Of course I want to try again. Once those continues ran out, the entire game was reset.

      That is a harsh punishment to someone who wants to play your game. It's like if you succeed in all of your course assignments for that biology class, and then you fail the final exam. You have to repeat the entire class all over again. Why not just let us try that segment again? We passed everything else!

      I know the Game Over screen is meant to discourage players from dying. It teaches them to be careful and to not just rush through the game with reckless abandon. What if that game is Sonic? Where the idea is rushing through everything. You put some obstacles in the way to slow us down and then it becomes tedious. Then when we die, back to square one.

      Certain titles are getting better with handling retries such as Rayman. When you die, you are reset to a checkpoint. Not the entire game nor the entire level. Just the start of that particular section. Braid is arguably too lenient. Any time you die, you can just reset to the exact spot you were when you jumped and misjudged that leap. It works in Braid's case as you have to get things exactly right and a reset to the start of the screen would be infuriating. We as players don't mind trial and error so long as it feels like we're getting somewhere. If I crash a plane, I don't want to start over to where I was 2 hours ago. I want to stay right here and try that ceiling boss again!

      A game can be too easy without a death penalty. If I were practically invincible, then I would just blaze through everything in the game. Knowing that I can't die doesn't give me a very big thrill. Imagine a raid in World of Warcraft. You die in the fight, resurrect on the spot with no one else doing Battle Rezzes, you just have infinite retries. All of the fights would be completed, but they would be the least entertaining aspect of the entire game. Let us know that failure is very real and is a big part of getting better. Without failure, can we truly know what success is?

The Forum is up!

The Forum to discuss the Game Convention/Game Jam is up and a link can be located at the top right of our blog.


To leave you comments all you have to do is register into the forum website. Just create a username, password, and give your email address. You'll then have to re-enter your password and the site will send a activation message to your email. activate your account through your email and you should be able to click on our forum's title and be ready to comment.

Microtransactions

     What are microtransactions? Well, they are these little exchanges players can make in game or through a special store not in game that allows purchasing of game related goods and services. In other words, it's a secret way to sap money from people who don't want to pay for subscriptions! Or just anyone who would like to pay a few dollars to have increased run speed for an hour.

      These microtransactions are most commonly seen in free to play games or low cost iPhone and iPad games. The developers need a source of income to keep their company going and retail alone doesn't always work. Microtransactions are a way to continuously earn money from players even after they have purchased their game. The questions is whether or not this is a good practice.

      I am on the fence on this one. The system can work in the company's favor, but this can sometimes also ruin a player's experience. Let's say I have an offline game that has an in game store. I can opt to buy free passage to other levels if the one I am currently on is too difficult. I can also opt to purchase a suit of armor that makes me invincible and lets me one-shot everything. That sounds amazing! Trouble is, the game becomes way too easy and I am basically paying to win. It's like paying for cheat codes. At least with cheat codes it was fun figuring them out and then using them to make that one fight just a tad bit easier to win. 

 

      Another example: suppose I am playing an online game with an in game store. I can either level through the game and obtain some high end equipment in a matter of 25 days or I can buy the best armor and weapons from the store for a measly $59.99. Not only that, they are exclusive to the store, so the best armor has to be bought in order to fully optimize your character. This is horrible! Players who buy the ultimate equipment have an advantage over everyone else. It is another pay to win situation that makes other players consider quitting. When you know you can't get the very best armor without going through a microtransaction, you tend to just stop playing.

      However, not all transactions are designed to be P2W. Some stores sell only cosmetic items or exclusive pets. To a pet collector with a lot of spare money, this isn't so bad. These pets give no advantage to the player. They are merely just adorable. Cosmetic items usually are that. They just look good. Even still, I don't use the stores so much. I prefer earning my items through gameplay and achievements. If I buy that amazing mount that flies and looks like Crosell from Star Ocean: Til The End of Time, it's just fun for a day. Now that Onyx Netherwing Drake that I spent weeks grinding rep for Netherwing Hold on the other hand was DEFINITELY worth it. I still ride it to this day.

      Some companies such as Turbine (LOTRO) offer a special subscription service that gives players free microtransaction points to use in their store. Yes, it is a sub fee, but compared to buying lots of items in the store with your own money, you would be surprised at how much you could spend within a month, let alone a day! Think of it like this: I either pay $15 a month for 2000 Turbine Points or buy Turbine Points for the store on my own time. Buying the point w/o a sub works well for those who seldom buy, but for frequent buyers, that subscription looks like it might help.

      What I am trying to say is there are good microtransaction practices and there are terrible ones. If you drop a lot of money on a game and it has microtransactions, think before you buy. Can I really beat this game without that overpowered flamethrower? Of course you can! Do I really need that XP Boost? Nah, those drop all over the place. Does that Nurse Akali Skin really look that good? That's a concept art picture, not the in game sprite. It looks very different after you buy it. Any thoughts on microtransactions? Should this be practiced at all or completely done away with?

Animator James Farr

I know many of us are interested in animation and are game majors for that reason alone. So, I recently stumbled upon James Farr, an amazing animator from Tulsa, OK, and thought we, as gamers and animators, would love his videos.

If you want to know more about him or his work, you can visit his official web page here
Tell me what you think about him or his videos in the comments below

Customization

     The freedom to make anything any way you want. That is customization. The most common things in games that are customizable are outfits. Look at League of Legends. They have alternate skins for their Champions. When you apply a new skin, they adopt an entirely new look. That's always fun to me. Changing the appearance of my characters. However, customization isn't limited to just outfits. It can branch to anything!

     Weapons are a pretty common customizable object in shooters. They allow you to attach scopes, add different barrels, use alternate grips, and in some cases fire different ammunition. They sometimes allow alternate skins for the weapons, or at least a decal. 

 

     What about houses? Some games, more specifically MMOs or any game in the Adventure genre, allow players to build their own houses. It's really amazing seeing someone else's house in Minecraft as you can see how much hard work they put into building it. The best customization options give a wide variety of choices. Let's say I build a house in an MMO. I would want to design it in such a way that I stand out from other players. Sure, not many people will actually see it unless they are invited over, but that sense of feeling when you walk in and you think to yourself “This is MY house” is marvelous.

      I do feel, however, that games may not be so open to customization as they used to. Or at least they try, but it feels static and everyone looks the same. Let's say I play a shooter and I have obtained a new assault rifle. I can attach whatever I want to it. But I find out some attachments actually hinder you and other attachments make you better. Then it becomes a min/maxing contest. What's worse is I cannot paint my gun any color. There are skins, but they are pre-made skins and easy to obtain. Chances are, the most attractive skin will be chosen and I won't be the only one running around with a red camouflage AR-15.

      Alright, I try out a game with housing. I can purchase a Small Home for now as everything else is ridiculously out of my spending range. But then I notice everyone has the same model for the Small Home. Sure, the inside may look different with all of the furniture being arranged, but how can I know that unless I am invited inside? On the outside, it looks like everyone has the same suburban home. Painting the outside may not be available at this point in the game, either. I have to earn it through an achievement. 

 

      What I want to say is a wide variety of in-depth customization is great, but at least give players a lot to start with, and then a whole lot more to unlock through playing the game. I also notice that in offline games, you feel free to make it how you like, but in online games, you tend to try and get the most difficult to achieve items to show off. Any of you have thoughts on customization? Let me know in the comments.

Dungeon and Dragons for next meeting

I'm having extreme email problems, so I'm just going to send the information about our next meeting through the blog. comment if you have any suggestions:


Hey guys, it seems like the general consensus for our first meeting of the semester will be next Thursday at 6:30! We'll meet in Brinson 221 and discuss our plans for this semester. Also, I think we should play Dungeon and Dragons to work with game design. Let me know if you want to do anything special for our next meeting and have a good weekend!