A unique blog about game design and development, by a 40yo professional game sculptor.

Mindsay hasn't been bad to me, but I'm moving to my own server, so I can do neat things like serve my games directly to you.

My new page is http://thomr.eochu.com

Thanks for reading!

As part of moving, my wife and I need to call various businesses and organizations, to transfer utility services, or talk to the police about the break-in we had just before we left the old house.

We can't.  Well, we have been successful, after navigating voicemail mazes, long hold times, and clueless Indian call centers.  But it's so difficult to do something simple, and it's SO annoying talking to a computer.  "Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink". That's how I feel.  We have all this new tech to make our lives easier and better, and instead it's become a barrier to communication and solutions.

AT&T is currently at the top of the "worst" list.  We couldn't even call the local Cingular store; we had to go there in person to talk to a human.  When I tried to call, the voicemail maze eventually dumped me to a call center in Canada, which couldn't help me reach the store either.

Grrr...

As my friends and family know, I've moved across America in the last few days.  I'm happily settled in a new house, so it's back to work!  But I wanted to talk about my trip. 

From the highway, America is Eden.  Smooth, fast roads winding thru beautiful countryside, punctuated by brightly-lit gas stations with clean restrooms.  And even though gas costs more than ever, you get the sense that (if you have a car) you can travel somewhere new and start a new life far away.  Of course, your mileage may vary, pun intended, and poor folks tend to ride the bus, which offers a completely different perspective.  Still, I wonder if a trucker's life on the road offers continual feelings of wonder and patriotism, or if it's all just a another town to them.

I went to buy a few things at the store, and was nearly run over by a pushy taxi driver.  He was delivering an old lady to the store so she could do her shopping.  Presumably, once she was done, she'd call, wait, and another taxi would come to charge her an arm and leg to take her back home.

Which gave me a great idea for a small business, one perfectly suited for a young person with a new drivers license.  Why not provide a transportation service to and from the store, undercutting the taxi cost?  When I was young, I'd have to drive my grandmother to the store all the time.  Imagine getting paid for it?

It would be local driving, only short distances, because you could "base" your business with one or two grocery stores.  You'd start by advertising IN and around the grocery store.  Use google maps to plan flyer campaigns for the surrounding neighborhood. Use your cellphone to coordinate with your clients.  If the old lady doesn't have a cell phone, let her borrow your extra one while she's in the store.  If you have to wait, use your book or your DS.

If you get too many client, hire your friends, and grow the business!  Happy summer!

I've been doing a lot of thinking and fiddling about systems games.  However, there's nothing like a good discussion with peers to break me out into exciting territory.  So it was with my phone conversation with Bruce today.

We discussed how systems games seem to be (at root) little people games, how the basic mechanic is little people pathing, moving, getting, and dropping.  I pointed out that Rollercoaster Tycoon is a systems game with little people, and they do these four things, but that game also has a creativity subgame, where you build kenetic sculptures (rollercoasters) that interact with the little people mechanic.  I then pointed out how Mike identified this; he talked about how several loosely-coupled game systems, operating concurrently, could greatly expand the "answer space" of the game.  Bruce pointed out that RTycoon also had a landscaping creativity subgame, and he found it tremendously compelling.

Then I started talking about time dilation, that aspect of fun games that makes you look up and notice that time seems to pass quicker ("Wow, I played for 4 hours? I need to get some sleep!!").  Dwarf Fortress has it, as does many systems games, and I was hoping to find an ur-mechanic that  encapsulated time dilation.  Bruce and I discussed it, and I pointed out that the time dilation I've experienced seems to associate with the micro-level of the game, not the macro-level.  It's the fiddly bits, not the level goals, that cause time dilation.

Then I hit upon a theory!  Time dilation (caused by a systems game) is not about building the system, but about optimizing the system.  It's the tweaking, not the building.  In other words,  time dilation doesn't kick in until a system is up and running, and you're trying to expand/adjust that system.  I'm eager to test this theory; a fishing fleet simulator might be just the ticket.

Getting back to the loosely coupled systems idea, Bruce pointed out different games that use it.  This led me to the tentative conclusion that systems games can possibly integrate almost any sort of sub-game, as long as 1) it runs concurrently, and 2) somehow links with and effects other sub-games.  I immediately thought of a top-scrolling shooter, where your ship is powered by little hamsters running to and fro.

I'm a huge Rush fan (the Canadian band, not the radio blowhard), so I've just bought and listened to their new album, "Snakes and Arrows".

It's definitely more of the same; Rush stopped trying to prove anything to anyone decades ago.

Pros: All of Peart's educated, smart, thoughtful lyrics are there.  All three musicians still practically define "precision".  The album is cohesive, with a central theme, and powerful visuals to accompany each song.

Cons: It's a dark theme, full of laments for the state of the world.  Songs of hope aren't about breaking through, but about weathering the storm and keeping your head up.  Oh, and Rush still has a strong allergy to hooks.

I don't know how I feel about it yet, I just bought it.

I've been playing and enjoying Disgaea 2 on the PS2.  It's a turn-based, grid-based, number-crunching blast.  And it takes a neat game design mechanic to extremes.

We're all familiar with CRPG conventions, where characters have 6 stats (hlth,str,dex,int, etc.)  and then we get a +6 sword, which usually means +6 points to your character's damage while the sword is wielded.  The Disgaea system simply makes characters, monsters, and EVERY item in the game have the same set of stats.  Your character might be defined as (12, 9, 17, 11, 11, 11).  You wield a sword that is defined as (0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 0).  So your adjusted stats, while wielding the sword, are simple the sum of the stats (you plus the sword), or (12, 9, 20, 11, 11, 11).

Not only is this system simple to understand, but it opens up lots of complexity (just what the player wants).  It's trivial to "fuse" items together.  Combat calculations are written once; no special cases for hitting a wall instead of a  monster.  On top of that, Disgaea goes crazy.  Do you want to upgrade your sword?  Level it, just like you would level yourself.  Do you have a magical stick of gum?  Wield it, for extra magic.  Or fuse it with a trash can and a bone wand. Or sacrifice it to your god.  Or sell it back to the shop.

So, if you don't want to traverse 50 random dungeons just to level up your helm, stay away from Disgaea 2.  But if number-crunching turn-based CRPGs are your thing, play it.

Anyone interested in the promise of the PS3's Cell processor should take a look at
Lair at GameTrailers

This game LOOKS great, and seems to be the all-important 'next-gen' title that Sony needs.

I would dearly love to pass on my love of programming games, my burning desire to code them.  But my niece and nephews have their own courses in life.  None of them seem to have that internal flame to code.  The youngest plays games every waking moment, and wants to be "just like his uncle".  Except that when I was his age, I was coding in my room by myself, and he only writes code when I'm holding his hand.

Of course he's not me, and my only real worry is that I'll lead him away from his real path in life, resulting in years of frustration and self-doubt.  I guess I now know how a parent feels, knowing that a child can do anything, but also knowing that they must find what they do best for themselves.

I just finished watching all 26 episodes of .Hack//Roots.  This is the latest anime series based on the Bandi multi-media franchise, .Hack .  I can express how I feel about the show succinctly.

It was a total mess.  No continuity, no resolution, no comprehensability.  It starts as a team story, as the five members of the Twilight Brigade search for the fabled Key of Twilight.  QUICKLY, the fellowship is broken, leaving us to follow the two LEAST-interesting members as they flail about in angst.  New characters show up, drop out, and interact with no rhyme or reason.  At the end, only two story threads manage to resolve, in unfulfilling ways.  Everything else is left hanging.

Now, .Hack is SUPPOSED to be a multi-media experience.  Bandai wants me to read the books, play the games, and trawl the websites.  I get that, and I'm still disappointed.  It's also possible that the value in .Hack//Roots (which isn't the 'roots' of anything, by the way) lies in the treatment of real MMORPG concepts, like player-killing and Real Money Trading.  If so, I'm not the target audience, since I'm well beyond the rather basic treatment they give these concepts.

Ultimately, I'm disappointed because the first five episodes promise a sense of wonder and mystery that is dropped like a hot rock in the rest of the series.  I kept watching for it to come back; it never did.  Grrr.