Ever Heard of OC Remix?

            An indeterminate amount of time ago (either a year or almost a year) I wrote something on music in games. I’ve always wanted to try and make music, but I didn’t own any instruments or tools. I have a free version of FL Studio 12, but I don’t quite have a grasp on the program. I’m not exactly a music expert, but I can at least show you a site I found that has several artists making their own songs.

            OCRemix. It’s a website that hosts free remixes of popular video game soundtracks. I’ll just quote them right here: “OverClocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation and promotion of video game music as an art form. Its primary focus is ocremix.org, a website featuring thousands of free fan arrangements, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans.”

            It’s quite amazing what a group of artists can do with the things they love. All of their tracks are free for personal use, but there may be some rules for using their music for commercial or for-profit purposes. They also have their own YouTube channel that hosts many of their best tracks. Even if you aren’t into video game soundtracks, please look into what these people do. I’ll just leave a link to one of my favorites from them so far. 

Game Devs, Let's Players, and the Future of Gaming

I have a theory: big game companies are a little scared to experiment with new ideas because they don’t know if they are guaranteed to work. It’s becoming more and more expensive to make games every day, so understandably, taking a gamble on an idea that sounds good and might work is frightening. What if the idea fails? Then the game won’t make any money and the company might just go bankrupt. This mostly applies to mainstream titles, but can apply to indie games as well.

However, I have noticed something. These unusual games that I have never heard of that are experimental, very short, and free to play. Most of these games come from GameJolt and I see several lets players such as Markiplier play them. They either enjoy the game or they hate it. But they all have one thing in common: they have one main mechanic and they focus the game all around that. These games can be seen as little experiments and tests being freely given by game developers who may or may not be affiliated with a studio or company. The great thing about these kinds of games is that they are not too difficult to make provided one has basic knowledge of utilizing an engine, coding, planning out an idea, and creating simple art assets.

Now picture this: a lead game designer working for a company that is struggling with ideas and they see one of these games being played by a lets player. The game displays a strange and new mechanic they have never seen before. Now they get the idea in their head to pitch this to their company, but to make it bigger and more fleshed out. They also come into contact with the creators of the game and ask for their assistance. Next thing you know the creators have a contract with the company, the lead designer has an idea that they have seen work, the company works hard to make it bigger and better, and the game is released to the public. The gaming community reacts positively to the game and it becomes critically acclaimed as one of the most entertaining games of recent years.

This is not a guaranteed scenario, but it is ideal. You have this idea you want to try, but you don’t have the skill level or co-workers or even time to make it the perfect game you want. All you have is enough to make one level that displays one mechanic and the players absolutely love it. Then a lets player picks it up and gives their feedback which gives it free publicity and gets even more players interested. That then draws the attention of someone with the power and resources to make that original idea a reality.

What I’m saying is if you have an idea you want to try, don’t fret if you can’t make it the great masterpiece you want it to be. Just make it big enough to draw attention. As for the developers of larger companies, look at these games and what they do. They might just give you an excellent idea that is practically guaranteed to work.

Sequels v. Prequels

            First off, why do we even have sequels? The first game was fun enough, right? We have additional entries into these games (or movies and books) because the gameplay could be expanded upon. Most sequels in video games improve upon the mechanics of the predecessor. Maybe they introduce a new ability, more characters with their own playstyles, or possibly new stages that play out unlike anything seen in the last title. This is why it’s a good idea that when you make a game, put in just enough features for the player to handle and if any other ideas show up, maybe save them for a future installment.

            Sequels can also be seen as a second chance to right the mistakes made in the original. Perhaps the story had weak structure, maybe platforming was a bad idea, or quite possibly having one hit deaths made things way too difficult. In addition to improving mechanics, sequels can fill in those pesky plot holes that showed up in the last game. Your hero broke through the walls of the fortress and shut down the power, but in the end credits it looks operational. What gives? You can make up an excuse like “They had an emergency backup switch.” This may not always work, but you can always plan out a story that intentionally leaves a few plot points out so that the story can continue.

            Prequels are virtually the same thing, but the story takes place before the original. This is only necessary if a character is in need of an origin story that is possibly too big to fit in one game. However, this doesn’t mean that the game can be a little worse than the original. It still needs to improve on things that went wrong. In the case of a prequel, you can try experimenting with new and unusual mechanics to see how they work. Players may or may not enjoy them, but it’s a good way to test something out to see if it works in a future installment. And if it doesn’t work out, now the players have a reason why this mechanic wasn’t in the original or the sequel.

            There are a few wrong ways about making additional games in the same franchise, though. The biggest mistake is padding content. A sequel or prequel should not be a carbon copy of the original with additional levels. It shouldn’t be gimmicky, either. Coloring your guns doesn’t amount to much. Making a sequel and focusing on just the story can be just as bad. “Oh, we’re just continuing where we left off.” Fine, you can do that, but at least throw some new stuff in there. Otherwise, it’s just an expansion pack that features more content and no new features.

            But when do you need to make a sequel? When do you need to stop expanding on the original game idea? I honestly couldn’t tell you. If your first game works fine, but has some flaws, a sequel can make it stronger. If the sequel is perfect, but fans love the IP, consider a prequel or another game genre that takes place in the same universe. Several developers have made tons of games on just one IP (Mario comes to mind) and they stick to the same basic mechanic that made the game work. They just add so much more with each title to keep it interesting and relevant. The only thing that suffers is the story. It becomes much harder to keep track of and players have to look at wikis to research all the lore or else play each of the ninety-nine titles in the franchise.

I feel like games are under more pressure than movies and books combined because the people want the experience of playing more than watching or reading. With movies, a set story plays out and it starts and ends when it wants to. The same goes with books. There is a start and an end to the series and hardly ever goes beyond five books. With games, we will constantly ask the developers when the next Half-Life game is releasing or if an older game like Legend of Dragoon will ever get an additional title to explain the unexplained. For the developers, just consider all ideas for a particular game and if it gets too big, cut it down to something more manageable and include the extra, still usable stuff in another installment. For players, the motto is simply “It’s done when it’s done.” But really, Legend of Dragoon could use a prequel. I would like to know what the Dragon Campaign was really all about.