Sometimes I wonder...

Sometimes I wonder what goes through the heads of developers when they are developing games. Don't get me wrong, I love a good old-fashioned challenge. However, there definitely comes a time when a game goes from challenging to downright stupid in 0.2 seconds because the game goes from being able to keep up to be completely unplayable in 0.2 seconds due to mechanics that have not been completely thought out.

What is so difficult about testing your product before releasing it? What is so difficult about balancing opponents, balancing weapons and skills and spells? What is so difficult about maintaining that simple balance between certain defeat and certain win that seems to elude the average developer?

Many people will say "But there are people who are too good who will complain if a game is too easy!" There most certainly are going to be people who are too good and will complain about that. However, the average user is not that high-end gamer with the best equipment and thousands of hours of gameplay experience. The average user plays a couple times a week, has little to no use for advanced mechanics that have steep learning curves, and really just wants to have some FUN.

I like knowing that when I play a game there is a certain chance of failure. I also like knowing that a game is generally not going to let me fail. It shouldn't. I play it because I want something of a challenge in my day-to-day life, but I also play because I want to escape. I want to be the hero that saves the damsel. I want to be the pilot that threads his way through 50 enemy fighter pilots, all while focusing on the enemy base without nary a shot hitting me. I want to live a fantasy of what I wish I could be, not what I am. Sure, I am not a complete and total failure at life, but hell, I am far from some amazing hero who can leap tall buildings in a single bound. When I play a game, I like knowing that maybe somewhere, somehow, I could have possibly been something more than I am, something better, something full of awesome and win.

So, listen up developers. I want a challenge, but I don't want too much of a challenge, just enough to keep me on my toes and away from boredom. I want to think that maybe I can perish in some quest you have given me to undertake, but I want to know that my chances for success are far greater than some lonely peon off the street. I want you to understand that I want to SUCCEED at your game. I want to BEAT it. I want to stand tall and say "That was ME!"

Furious Fists of Fiery Fear

A couple of days ago, a friend of mine asked me if I liked fighting games. I had no real reply for him. I started playing fighting games with the advent of Mortal Kombat, Tekken, and Virtua Fighter. Those days are long since gone, and nowadays fighting games are nearly impossible for me to figure out.

I did enjoy my time playing fighting games. There is just something about adrenaline pounding while you are furiously smashing buttons in the sincere hope that somehow your ability to smash buttons is better than your opponent's ability to smash buttons. In most cases, it is just purely random chance. In some cases, it is not.

I did get a chance to play some more recent fighting games when I worked for Namco at the Pac-Man cafe in Orlando, Florida. Don't try to look it up. It closed three months after I quit, and the world has lost one of the greatest places to visit. Period.

I also had the opportunity to witness live the Tekken 2005 world championships. The top 25 players in the world competing for a shot at $25,000 in cash and bragging rights for a year. I tried playing against one of those guys. My button smashing antics lasted me approximately 0.1 seconds before I was knocked out by "Super Mega Awesome 9876238746234 Hit Omega Complex Devastation Combo 4". Then it was time for round 2, which also ended up being roughly 0.1 seconds and ending with some combo reminiscent of the first one. Needless to say, I stuck to beating up 10-year olds on my breaks from that point on. Real competition made me want to cry, and it was just an arcade game.

The point I am trying to make here is that I do enjoy fighting games. At least somewhat. It is not my favorite genre. I find that button smashing does not leave me much in the way of strategy, and definitely does not require much in the way of brainpower to play, unless you include trying to remember the 847 different combos of moves that every character in every game seem to have. And there are usually 20 of those, plus another 47 secret characters, and 13 more additional hidden characters. They can be fun. They can be enjoyable. But for me, it isn't an all the time thing, although once in a while, having a beer and kicking the snot out of my friends is a fun thing to do.

They always get me with...

These Facebook games always get me. They start me off with this nice little UI, fun little things to do, and lots of cute little animations to make me say "Oh, well that is a nice game." About two days into the game, however, I am left wondering what I was thinking. They all follow the same basic concept: Here is your little plot of land, town space, building, farm, etc. You can gain more area to build in, on, around, etc as you gain more neighbors, friends, etc through invitations to the game. Or you can spend real money on expanding said area. The real money portion would be alright to spend if it weren't so damned expensive, but that is another rant.

The games themselves are not too bad. The concept, at least the first time, was fresh and fun. I played Cafe World for the first time almost a year ago, and I really enjoyed it. I recently got sucked into SocialCity last week. I thought to myself, perhaps they improved upon the UI and the gameplay. However, the game itself is sorely lacking in both gameplay and UI advancements. There is very little to do in the game, especially at the early stages, and it seems that even at the later stages in the game, there is also little to do.

There are quite a few games based on this same idea: Build a town/farm/restaurant/whatever, sell some items at different times based on your level and different contracts/growing times/recipes/whatever, buy new items/equipment/decorations/etc and in general have a jolly good time. This is all well and good, and makes for a decently playable game, but it lacks any kind of substance, and definitely lacks any kind of monetary incentive. I am not paying $1 for 1 in-game dollar. Not when a single item cost 10, 20, 50 or more dollars in the game, and gives little to no reward outside of some small bonus or just is there to look pretty. What is worse is that they have these little buttons all over the UI trying to get you to buy their in-game dollars. ALL OVER THE GOD-DAMNED PLACE!!! If I wanted to buy your in-game money, I would do so. I do so for other games I enjoy, such as HitGrab's Mousehunt (http://apps.facebook.com/mousehunt), and I will for other games that I find to be fun and enjoyable. I won't for games that are just there to try and sucker me for my money, for no other reason than to line their pockets without giving me something in return.

That being said, if anyone is a developer and would like to make one of these types of games, and would like some serious input on creating a game that would be fun for a less casual gamer like myself, please don't hesitate to contact me right here through this blog. I would love to hear from you, and maybe even give you some ideas. Who knows, you may even like some of what I have to say.

Games Games Games

I never could figure out what topic to blog about on a consistent basis. I always switched from one topic to another, without ever settling on anything that really caught my fancy in any particularly spectacular way. I think my main problem is that I always avoided the one thing in my life that I really and truly enjoy most: games. I love games. I love board games. I love card games. I love mind games. I love pen-and-paper role playing games. I love games you play in the car on long trips with your family. I love games you play at the park when you are a kid with no props, no rules and nothing to get in the way but your imagination and that silly thing called dinner. Most of all, I love video games.

Video games are my current passion in life. I love them in pretty much any shape they come. From arcade games to handheld pocket games to console games to computer games, I love them all. And I don't just mean a couple of different types of games. I love all types of genres: FPS, RTS, racing, simulation, action, shmup, puzzle, shooter, adventure, and everything in between.

I am going to dedicate this blog to my passion for games, to my passion for gaming, and to my passion for wanting to become a game programmer. I may throw in bits of the games I am working on. I may throw in bits of the games I play. I may throw in bits of games I think I may one day want to play or games I have read about here or there. I may even throw in bits of the games I dream about in the quietest depths of the night when my brain is working overtime on the best parts of everything that is possible in the realm of everything that could ever be.