Sadly, I missed the initial screening of La Decima Vittma, and still need to view it. From what I have been told by others, it is a movie centering around assassination within a dystopian future, with a "hunter" and "victim", the hunter being told to kill the victim, but the victim equally allowed to kill the hunter, all of which is legal within this future.
Having not heard of this film before, I did not know what to initially think about what I heard of it, but as it's been explained to me more and more, I am very much interested in actually watching it, and with easter holidays coming up, can hopefully find some time to fit it in then.
Friday, 28 March 2014
Trip to the British Museum
Earlier in the school year we took a trip up to London to visit the British Museum, where we had a chance to look at some of the aspects of ancient board games.
Sadly, I did not get any pictures of items based on the topic at hand, but I managed to still gain a lot of insight from what I viewed. The game pieces we viewed were beautiful, and in amazing condition considering their age, and the boards we viewed were filled with detail, amazingly carved and cut. It's viewing things like that that make me truly appreciate what those of previous eras have done for us in terms of technology. While I did find interest in the board games and pieces, the entire trip to the British Museum was highly enjoyable, with many interesting exhibits on display, such as the Japanese display they had, showing their advancement over hundreds of years.
Wandering from exhibit to exhibit, attempting to take in everything possible from every age and culture, it did get a little bit overwhelming, which is why I do regret not getting more pictures whilst there, as a decent portion has slipped from memory at the moment. I definitely plan on going again at some point in the near future.
Wandering from exhibit to exhibit, attempting to take in everything possible from every age and culture, it did get a little bit overwhelming, which is why I do regret not getting more pictures whilst there, as a decent portion has slipped from memory at the moment. I definitely plan on going again at some point in the near future.
Tweaking Ancient Games: Duodecim Scripta
For my ancient board game iteration, I chose to take Duodecim Scripta, the Roman board game, and make changes to it, specifically combat, as I found the original combat somewhat dull and uninteresting, also slightly unbalanced, due to the fact that only stacks of equal size could take one another.
For my first iteration of the game, I wanted to tackle the the stacks, and the issues I held with the mechanic. To do this, I simply changed the rules to allow smaller stacks of units to attack larger stacks, sacrificing themselves to remove an equal amount of units from a stack. My initial findings with this iteration was that while the game length increased, due to combat being easier on either side, the gameplay speed also increased, with players feeling as if they have more options. These were more-or-less the results I was looking for, so proceeded positively to the next iteration.
With the second iteration, to expand more on combat, I decided to bring dice rolls into combat with a smaller stack vs larger stack. Should a smaller stack attack a larger stack, they roll a dice for each attacker. Results of 1 or 2 resulted to the loss of an attacker, 3 or 4 a re-roll, 5 or 6 leading to both an attacker and defender being lost. This mechanic change meant that whilst smaller stacks could attack larger stacks, the outcome would rarely to never be the same every time. I also tried to balance it out so that smaller stacks would inevitably have to pay for combat against larger stacks, but still allowed a player to try and slow the advance of a large stack.
The third iteration was an attempt to expand more on the rules of the second iteration, while still keeping the balance of risk vs reward for smaller stacks vs larger stacks. To do this, I kept the dice mechanic, but expanded more on the rolls. 1 ends combat, with all attacking units being removed. 2 would result in an attacker being removed, 3 or 4 still resulting in a re-roll. 5 would simply remove a defender, while a 6 removed a defender, and gave the attacker an extra roll. I did this because, while an extra dice roll seems like a big deal in combat, there's always the possibility that combat will immediately end and result in a loss. Taking into account that this change to dice could result in both attackers and defenders surviving, I decided to have it so any losing attackers would be placed in the square behind the surviving defenders. This means that smaller stacks can take chances to still push forward, possibly damaging the opponent whilst doing so.
As I went through my iterations, I found that players enjoyed the combat a lot more, as they felt they interacted with it that much more, even though it was only through dice rolls, it also gave them a lot more strategic options. To counter this, there was an increase in chance within the game, that players found to balance it nicely. The length also increased as I went through the iterations, but at the same time the play speed also increased, as players felt that had many more options available to them.
Well, this was an outline of my iterations to Duodecim Scripta. Overall, I'm happy with how my iterations turned out, and found the process gave me a good insight into iterating games in general. I've learnt a lot more than I thought I would of from the assessment, and the design documentation that followed, and am very pleased with what we were set to do, and how I accomplished my goals.
For my first iteration of the game, I wanted to tackle the the stacks, and the issues I held with the mechanic. To do this, I simply changed the rules to allow smaller stacks of units to attack larger stacks, sacrificing themselves to remove an equal amount of units from a stack. My initial findings with this iteration was that while the game length increased, due to combat being easier on either side, the gameplay speed also increased, with players feeling as if they have more options. These were more-or-less the results I was looking for, so proceeded positively to the next iteration.
With the second iteration, to expand more on combat, I decided to bring dice rolls into combat with a smaller stack vs larger stack. Should a smaller stack attack a larger stack, they roll a dice for each attacker. Results of 1 or 2 resulted to the loss of an attacker, 3 or 4 a re-roll, 5 or 6 leading to both an attacker and defender being lost. This mechanic change meant that whilst smaller stacks could attack larger stacks, the outcome would rarely to never be the same every time. I also tried to balance it out so that smaller stacks would inevitably have to pay for combat against larger stacks, but still allowed a player to try and slow the advance of a large stack.
The third iteration was an attempt to expand more on the rules of the second iteration, while still keeping the balance of risk vs reward for smaller stacks vs larger stacks. To do this, I kept the dice mechanic, but expanded more on the rolls. 1 ends combat, with all attacking units being removed. 2 would result in an attacker being removed, 3 or 4 still resulting in a re-roll. 5 would simply remove a defender, while a 6 removed a defender, and gave the attacker an extra roll. I did this because, while an extra dice roll seems like a big deal in combat, there's always the possibility that combat will immediately end and result in a loss. Taking into account that this change to dice could result in both attackers and defenders surviving, I decided to have it so any losing attackers would be placed in the square behind the surviving defenders. This means that smaller stacks can take chances to still push forward, possibly damaging the opponent whilst doing so.
As I went through my iterations, I found that players enjoyed the combat a lot more, as they felt they interacted with it that much more, even though it was only through dice rolls, it also gave them a lot more strategic options. To counter this, there was an increase in chance within the game, that players found to balance it nicely. The length also increased as I went through the iterations, but at the same time the play speed also increased, as players felt that had many more options available to them.
Well, this was an outline of my iterations to Duodecim Scripta. Overall, I'm happy with how my iterations turned out, and found the process gave me a good insight into iterating games in general. I've learnt a lot more than I thought I would of from the assessment, and the design documentation that followed, and am very pleased with what we were set to do, and how I accomplished my goals.
Thursday, 27 March 2014
Bibliography
Below is the bibliography task set to us, done to Harvard referencing standard.
Pardew., L (2005). Beginning illustration and storyboarding for games. Boston, Mass.: Thomson Course Technology.
Perry, D., (2009) David Perry on game design; A brainstorming toolbox. Boston: Course Technology.
Garfield. R., (2004) Commissioned Game, in; Salen. K and Zimmerman. E., Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. Cambridge, Mass.; London: MIT. pg. 106 - 115.
Costikyan. G., (2008) "I have no Words, and I Must Design" Excerpt, in; Kaufmann. M., The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. Amsterdam; London: Morgan Kaufmann. pg. 31
Poole, S., (1998) Eat Pixels, Suckers. The Guardian, ISSN 02613077, pg. A2
Jukes, P., (1993) The Sonic Boom. New Statesman & Society, Vol. 6, Issue 259, pg. 33
Pardew., L (2005). Beginning illustration and storyboarding for games. Boston, Mass.: Thomson Course Technology.
Perry, D., (2009) David Perry on game design; A brainstorming toolbox. Boston: Course Technology.
Garfield. R., (2004) Commissioned Game, in; Salen. K and Zimmerman. E., Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. Cambridge, Mass.; London: MIT. pg. 106 - 115.
Costikyan. G., (2008) "I have no Words, and I Must Design" Excerpt, in; Kaufmann. M., The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. Amsterdam; London: Morgan Kaufmann. pg. 31
Poole, S., (1998) Eat Pixels, Suckers. The Guardian, ISSN 02613077, pg. A2
Jukes, P., (1993) The Sonic Boom. New Statesman & Society, Vol. 6, Issue 259, pg. 33
Thursday, 13 March 2014
Remediation
Remediation - The use of a media in another media, argued to be a defining characteristic of new age media. A spectrum of levels.
Immediacy - Media that aspire to a condition of transparency. Aims to make views forget they are perceiving media.
Hypermediacy - Artefacts that are aware of and wish to display their own constructed nature. Call attention to their nature constantly.
Remediation can refer to a whole range of conventions which are ways of doing things.
Once a convention is established and proved successful, it is often employed by other media.
Technology change can overtake cultural change - This is why adapting successful convention to new media makes sense.
Putting content from one media into another may radically change our relationship to that content and open up whole new possibilities.
The following are my notes from the movie "Run Lola Run"
Overall though, this was a perfect example of remediation, and thoroughly enjoyed the movie in itself.
Immediacy - Media that aspire to a condition of transparency. Aims to make views forget they are perceiving media.
Hypermediacy - Artefacts that are aware of and wish to display their own constructed nature. Call attention to their nature constantly.
Remediation can refer to a whole range of conventions which are ways of doing things.
Once a convention is established and proved successful, it is often employed by other media.
Technology change can overtake cultural change - This is why adapting successful convention to new media makes sense.
Putting content from one media into another may radically change our relationship to that content and open up whole new possibilities.
The following are my notes from the movie "Run Lola Run"
- Starts with a cut to an animated intro
- Cuts to an animated beginning every sequence
- Lots of cuts during scenes
- Emphasis on time
- Displays the inter-personal relationships of supporting characters
- Shows flashes of minor characters futures, as determined by Lola's action/s
- The film is actually done three times over, with her actions, and the perceived consequences, changing each time
- Has a 'power' - a high-pitched scream able to shatter glass and shake objects violently
- Has her goal - Get 100,000 Euros in 20 minutes
Overall though, this was a perfect example of remediation, and thoroughly enjoyed the movie in itself.
Notes for "Games Britannia" Episode Three: Joystick Generation
Dungeons and Dragons - Created in the 70's, helped pave the way for video games, RPGs in particular.
1975 - Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson form Games Workshop
Sinclair - Paved the way for home computers
Elite - One of the earliest '3D' games, in 1984.
I personally thought this game sounded amazing, and now need to try and get a hold of it for my spectrum.
Black & White - Created by Peter Molyneux, revered as one of the original "god" games. So begins the climb of Molyneux's ego..
90's - Tomb Raider is created. This was a game where players suddenly cared about the character, Lara Croft. They felt responsible for her and her actions, due to the humanisation that made players actually connect and feel for the character. The popularity of polygon tits sky-rockets.
Wipeout - A futuristic racing game known for changing racing games, with it's smooth, fluent controls, and a feel of extreme speed constantly, players quickly took to this game.
Rockstar - British based company known for their crazy amounts of detail in their open sandbox action-RPGs. Brought Grand Theft Auto to the world, and primarily to a generation that had been brought up with movies by the likes of Quentin Tarantino.
LittleBig Planet - Allowed players a great deal of level customisation, that could then be shared on a global scale. Helped really kick off player-created content both made and published in-game.
World of Warcraft - Part of, and one of the largest players of, the MMO and social gaming movement. Attracted more players than any other MMO to date.
MUDs - Multi-user dungeons - The original MMO, a text based RPG that functioned basically as a chat room with heavy RPG emphasis.
Sadly, I found this Games Britannia to be the least informative out of the three, as this covered a lot of topics that I have either done personal research into before, or have played myself. There were at times that I felt they made assumptions and speculated on various areas a bit too much, making it feel less informative and more someone giving their opinion.
Gave me a bit more insight into early DnD and the Sinclair though, which I did like, as I never really looked into classic DnD, and still need to properly try out the Sinclair I have kicking about my loft.
1975 - Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson form Games Workshop
Sinclair - Paved the way for home computers
Elite - One of the earliest '3D' games, in 1984.
I personally thought this game sounded amazing, and now need to try and get a hold of it for my spectrum.
Black & White - Created by Peter Molyneux, revered as one of the original "god" games. So begins the climb of Molyneux's ego..
90's - Tomb Raider is created. This was a game where players suddenly cared about the character, Lara Croft. They felt responsible for her and her actions, due to the humanisation that made players actually connect and feel for the character. The popularity of polygon tits sky-rockets.
Wipeout - A futuristic racing game known for changing racing games, with it's smooth, fluent controls, and a feel of extreme speed constantly, players quickly took to this game.
Rockstar - British based company known for their crazy amounts of detail in their open sandbox action-RPGs. Brought Grand Theft Auto to the world, and primarily to a generation that had been brought up with movies by the likes of Quentin Tarantino.
LittleBig Planet - Allowed players a great deal of level customisation, that could then be shared on a global scale. Helped really kick off player-created content both made and published in-game.
World of Warcraft - Part of, and one of the largest players of, the MMO and social gaming movement. Attracted more players than any other MMO to date.
MUDs - Multi-user dungeons - The original MMO, a text based RPG that functioned basically as a chat room with heavy RPG emphasis.
Sadly, I found this Games Britannia to be the least informative out of the three, as this covered a lot of topics that I have either done personal research into before, or have played myself. There were at times that I felt they made assumptions and speculated on various areas a bit too much, making it feel less informative and more someone giving their opinion.
Gave me a bit more insight into early DnD and the Sinclair though, which I did like, as I never really looked into classic DnD, and still need to properly try out the Sinclair I have kicking about my loft.
Thursday, 14 November 2013
Notes for "Gaming Britannia" Episode Two: Monopolies and Mergers
Chequered Game of Life – Gave choice to players – sold during
Civil War to soldiers – First travel game
Pank a squith (Unsure on spelling) – suffragettes vs
politicians – Early 20th Century
Brer Fox an’ Brer Rabbit – Early monopoly – Based around
land tax and ownership
Elizabeth Magie Phillips – Designer of Brer – also made The
Landlords Game – Players enjoyed monopolising and bankrupting other players –
Hombrew version based on Atlanta turned into Monopoly – London based board was
created
Brer and Landlords Game was originally based on wealth redistribution,
the message was flipped with monopoly
The original appeals of Monopoly was the localisation,
negotiation and trade. Originally tested at MIT
Monopoly maps in WWII made with maps built in, compasses, to
help PoWs escape camps. Pushes people to inner savagery due to the
psychological effects of the game
Cluedo – most successful British board game. Luck/Skill and
competitiveness
Reverend Green cut from US vesion – man of cloth couldn’t
be suspect. Board games picked up after WWII
Scrabble – first of its kind. Then came TV, along with game
shows. The next step was Trivial Pursuit
Kensington – form a hexagon = win
80’s – Video Games
Dungeons and Dragons – First RPG – mixed war games with
board games
War on Terror – Radical British Boardgame – “Liberate” the
world – Putting morals to question
This episode gave a lot more insight into the development of board games in the 20th century, which really brings to light how a lot of todays' board games came to be. Interestingly, I also think that Brer Fox an' Brer Rabbit, and The Landlord's Game are really good insights into human nature, proving that people prefer to look out for themselves, and will push people down if it means they succeed. Very comparable to communism vs capitalism in my opinion, showing how while the redistribution of wealth is a great goal, due to people wanting to outdo others, they push others down, making money for their own game on it.
This episode gave a lot more insight into the development of board games in the 20th century, which really brings to light how a lot of todays' board games came to be. Interestingly, I also think that Brer Fox an' Brer Rabbit, and The Landlord's Game are really good insights into human nature, proving that people prefer to look out for themselves, and will push people down if it means they succeed. Very comparable to communism vs capitalism in my opinion, showing how while the redistribution of wealth is a great goal, due to people wanting to outdo others, they push others down, making money for their own game on it.
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