Dualhammers

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Posts posted by Dualhammers


  1. Something I think is more important than the physics simulation unto itself is the ability to return an object back to its proper place—even if, when you first picked it up, it was not yet in its proper place. This allows (although does not force) the player to treat the environment as an actual home, and not simply a physics sandbox, which is a really important quality that many larger-budget games make no attempt to facilitate mechanically.

    This simple mechanic struck me more than a great many things. This is almost never mechanically simulated and yet it felt completely normal after the first time I was prompted to do so. It had a kind of narrative and environmental sense to it that made the mechanic itself blend into the background. It also prompted some reactions to my interference with the environment that I don't think I've ever felt in a video game before. When I didn't put stuff back I felt bad, as though I was actually making work for someone else to put everything back. It also made me painfully self-conscious when I rifled through a cabinet or shelf to find something I may have not been suppose to find. I quickly replaced things to cover my tracks.


  2. Gone Home is basically the same. Your only means of interacting with the world is by pick up and spinning about realistic physics objects. Fullbright obviously spent a lot of time and effort ensuring that their objects have a heft to them and collided believably. This ensures the interaction the player has the world is satisfying and grounded.

    Never once while playing Gone Home did I feel as though the quality of the physics simulation of the objects had any bearing on my ability to see the world as satisfying and grounded. I'd be interested to hear if they actually did spend a lot of time on this it was handled so proficiently that I never thought about it. That being said, my guess is no. I imagine the storytelling took up way more time than creating a satisfying physics simulation.


  3.  Personally, I love real books. The sense of intellectual space one can generate when surrounded by a well-read library has always been infatuating for me. The only thing I've ever struggled with is my incredibly poor penmanship makes taking the notes I so often wish to take somewhat cumbersome and dangerous if my block lettering overlaps the printed text. Current eBooks still struggle with note-taking, and like others have mentioned it is difficult to make a connection with the object the way you do with a physical book. I personally think this makes an argument for the fact that even though we traditionally consider books a text-only medium visuals play a definite role. The space, color, and shape of a book all provide it a sense of individuality that disappears in a kindle.

    So why get an eBook?

    I've been thinking a lot recently about the ethics of physical books as a way of navigating this problem. They cost us trees, they take up valuable space, and they don't allow for the freedom of information that a socially annotated book does. I've found it amazingly insightful to peer inside the mind of other readers when loading the social notes for The Sun Also Rises on my Kindle. Can we argue that sharing our insights is a moral good? Perhaps.

    I will be the first to admit I have a chip on my shoulder when it comes to books. I had to donate a 2,000-book library when I discovered I was too poor to move it across the country with me.

     


  4. I've just recently started playing Dota2 on my own and my interest was piqued where I heard there might be a thumbs build. Is there any way for me to get in on this?


  5. I've learned more about video games and their nature as both artistic medium and an economic product from listening to other people than I ever had simply thinking on my own. When Sean mentioned Amir Rao I immediately wanted to listen in on that conversation. 


    @Sean: Has Amir ever done an interview or an essay where he has elaborated his ideas on the industry?