OneGameDad

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Posts posted by OneGameDad

  4. Posted · Edited by OneGameDad

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    In our modern world we share everything, at least online. So why not share your secret lair with more than your bunker buddies. Take a tour through your bunker using the built in security system to show off how you'll survive the apocalypse in style! Prepping has never been so snazzy or social media friendly!

     

    Live from the Bunker is available here. Or download it from the attached file.

     

    This game was created for New Jam City, the Unofficial Waypoint Game Jam in 2017, using Twine.  It's still a work in progress but is functional and completable. More features and storylines will be added in the future.

     

    Future features I'd like to add:

    • Stream Chat functionality,
    • Viewer Icon & Numbers,
    • More Verbs & Events/Endings,
    • Re-Designed Interface, and
    • Sound/Spoken Dialogue.

    live-from-the-bunker.zip

  5. Posted

    This is only the second game I've ever made and I'm working in Twine. I'm trying to use Sugarcube to have more control and to avoid using jQuery. Nothing personal against jQuery I just don't want the added syntax.

     

    But what I'm trying to do is imitate some chat and email function, through simple clicks. Sugarcube is create because it has the Dialog API which can bring up a box. At the same time I want to display a chatbox similar to what's shown here: https://twinery.org/forum/discussion/6617/auto-scroll-group-chat-format

     

    But I'm unclear of how to implement that chat formatting into a dialog box, or if it's even possible. I'm trying to keep my game simple for this jam but I want to learn something and push myself to do more with my limited programming and design skills. My last game just used simple choices to direct the narrative but I wanted more interactivity this time. Any suggestions of how to implement those features would be most helpful and of course you'll get the credit for such.

  9. Posted

    That's an interesting way of looking at it @itsamoose. So my next question would be, do the rules need to be directly related or indirectly related? The example you gave:

    On 2017-5-12 at 8:38 AM, itsamoose said:

    1. Boys like Girls

    2. Girls like Robots

    is directly related. Because rule 2 is affecting something in rule 1. I am assuming that all rules in a video game are either directly related or indirectly related because they're all within the game. 

     

    Also, I think @juv3nal and @TychoCelchuuu were touching upon something else interesting - the player. How much are players an aspect that determines when emergent gameplay arises? My original question was about the game itself, the one created by the designer regardless of the player. But what I infer from their arguments is that there is no separation of the player and the game. The designer can never account for the state of the player and so whether the player is drunk, up really late/early, or doing something else to impose their own rules upon the game. So the game is never a "closed system" in the truest sense of the term because the player's input is always required.

  10. Posted

    12 hours ago, TychoCelchuuu said:

    I don't understand your distinction between "video game" and "physical game." I have never played a video game without interacting with it physically - how would that work? In any case, if it must be a video game, then the button that has to be pressed can be a keyboard button. So for instance "the first person to press the spacebar wins." You say there "needs to be a tracking system of some sort or multiplayer," but I take it multiplayer is there already - you just play the game with multiple people. You could play it single player, also, although that would not be a very interesting game, as there would be little challenge unless you have physical disabilities that prevent you from pressing the spacebar or something similar. I am not sure why you think a tracking system would be necessary.

    Sorry for the confusion, when I said physical game I meant something played in real life like rugby. And of course there are always physical inputs to a video game, other than those few that play themselves... But you point about assuming there's multiplayer already belies your point about one system, pushing a button. Because you right there have two. 

     

    Which gets back to my original question, what is the minimum number of systems required for emergent gameplay? If the only way to express yourself in the game you're proposing is by pressing the button then is there really any emergent gameplay, regardless of whether there is multiplayer? 

     

    I do agree with you @juv3nal that there is more going on than what's coded or seen on screen. However for Diplomacy to work there has to be a means of communication, which itself is a system. A very loose system but one nevertheless. Without it would the game be possible?

  11. Posted

    @TychoCelchuuu no I don't think it's possible for a designer to account for every possibility. But if the only thing a player can do is press a button, as you posited, then there is no emergent gameplay. To jostle to be the first or maneuver as @juv3nal suggested implies there are additional systems such as movement, physics, gravity, etc. if we're talking purely about a video game. If it's a physical game of some sort that's another matter. And to be the first means there needs to be a tracking system of some sort or multiplayer, which takes the game beyond a single system. 

     

    Again, as a physical game it's entirely possible to have a single system allow for emergent gameplay because of the inherent systems of life, i.e. gravity, movement, etc. But video games need that all to be constructed.  

  12. Posted

    16 hours ago, TychoCelchuuu said:

    The minimum number of systems is one. Take for instance the game "be the first person to press this button." Bam, emergent gameplay.

    That's very reductive. Not to say you're wrong. However, isn't the idea that emergent implies going beyond the intent or plan of the designer? If there's a single button to press and you only win by pressing the button then there is no other intent. 

     

    And yes I realize that Wikipedia includes two forms of emergent gameplay - intentional and unintentional. Wikipedia's description talks of giving tools to players to solve problems, which means if a player can only do one thing then there isn't emergent gameplay.

  13. Posted

    17 minutes ago, itsamoose said:

    To put more of a point on the premise, what do you mean by "emergent stories" in this context.  Technically a rocket jump in quake is an emergent story, although a limited one, but I get the feeling this case something particular is being driven at.

    I think you hit the nail on the head with the rocket jump. Some interactions are designed to happen such as the aforementioned ball pushing a button. Whereas those that were not planned but evolved from experimentation such as the rocket jump may be the emergent gameplay/story. Of course with testing some of those things occur and then a designer can implement them in their game. 

     

    So I guess the question should evolve to, when should something be considered emergent gameplay? Is it when the possibility exists but was not part of the designer's original intention? Or is it something else?

  15. Posted

    The talk of emergent gameplay and emergent stories from video games by the Thumbs, Ian Bogost, and plenty of others has got me wondering. What's the minimum number of systems a game needs to allow/create for emergent gameplay/stories? And for that matter, when is something merely a mechanic and something a system? If we take notably games like FarCry 2 or Breath of the Wild, how would you delineate between the various systems are work in them, if at all?

  17. Posted

    I encountered a map bug last night trying to go to my second world. I can't get out of the map now nor is anything else loading. Though I can get to the menus. So I quit the game. Haven't restarted. Has anyone else experience this yet? Right now this may be the thing that gets me to quit this game entirely and return to finish The Witcher 3.

     

    The story so far hasn't grabbed me and instead leaves me with lots of thoughts... but never in the insightful or interesting manner. It really just leaves me questioning why am I playing this.

  18. Posted

    I've taken this beyond books and quit all sorts of media that doesn't do it for me. More often than not what "doesn't do it for me" means poor plotting, stupid or unredeemable main characters or just a bad overall writing. It's in part why I've stopped reviewing books. Then I felt like I had to finish something I really didn't want to read. Now I don't continue things I don't like because I've come to realize there are thousands of other things out there to read that are better and more worth my time and if I'm reading this crap then I'll never get to them. But that doesn't stop me from reading some truly atrocious stuff for the sheer indulgent pleasure of it.

     

    As for the unredeemable main characters, I am fine with them but there has to be something about them to like. This isn't an example of a book, but it's the most recent one that comes to mind. I tried watching Girlboss on Netflix and the main character does nothing for anyone else. She may be entertaining and witty but that isn't enough to make me care. It's everyone else around her who's more rounded, and so I stopped watching after three episodes. Whereas I tried Feed the Beast and the chef main character is very similar in his attitude to that of the main character from Girlboss. But the simple fact that he stopped and made a meal for his partner's kid showed he cared for something beyond just himself.

     

    Are there any books or other media you've experienced where characters are really similar but with a single act made one more reasonable and thus worth continuing with? 

  19. Posted

    integration.thumb.png.11d0cf7703b1e28f7b9a5dc804e0f88a.png

     

    I created my first game the other week and am always looking for feedback. I'm not sure if I'll go through and add any more content.

     

    The game is available on itch.io at: https://onegamedad.itch.io/the-integration-game or on the Interactive Fiction Database at: http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=1m4i78grlj53mtzb

     

    In the Integration Game you'll experience the first interactions any immigrant goes through with the Finnish government. So find out if you qualify for integration courses! Or maybe you're already integrated! Just don't piss off the bureaucrat otherwise you'll have your benefits revoked. And don't ask to learn Swedish, Finland's other national language. EU Migrants, students, refugees, asylum seekers and those coming to Finland to join their partners all experience the integration process to some degree. Few receive support, some don't. This game is not a 100% accurate depiction of the process or the factors determining who gets to take an integration course, merely a demonstration of what immigrants experience. This game was created for 1-bit Clicker Jam by an actual immigrant, in Finland.

     

    For more information about what it's like to integrate in Finland check out the podcast I produced for Kommunförbundet on SoundCloud.

     

  21. Posted

    Hi All,

     

    I'm Greg aka Greg in Helsinki. Occasionally one of my questions is answered on the various podcasts. I'm a new dad and having to come to terms with what that means for my gaming these days. Beyond that I play games, when I get the opportunity to, on the Xbox but also play rugby. And I love to write. My stuff including attempts at games, podcasts and various thoughts can be found at onegamedad.com Looking forward to getting to know you all more and talking about them there video games... since my kid has nothing to contribute on the matter.