Nachimir

Water is really useful for taking down bloodsuckers, it makes the audio of their footsteps really obvious. Totally understand though. The first time I was about to encounter one, the game made everything so ominous that I sat outside the basement it was in thinking "I actually don't want to go in here"

The North By Northwest one is particularly excellent.

Once they have an internet connection, computers are inherently distracting. A few months ago, I caught myself about to pay for wifi on a two hour train journey, then realised that though I needed to keep checking my work email, I had a bunch of offline work to do too. I didn't bother with the wifi and used my phone for work email, and it was a really productive train journey. The extra awkwardness of the mobile interface stopped me from spending any more time than necessary online. I think wrangling internet usage is a huge feat of understanding how you're likely to behave, though a major factor in my getting on top of it, as well as tools like that browser plugin, was years of getting to work from home, slowly becoming familiar with the dread of not having got enough work done.

Same thing happens to me. I used to find myself stuck in a loop with certain sites, from social networking to blogs. A set of them can generate content and links fast enough that by the time I'm done with one round of tabs, another is ready to open up and eat an hour. This Chrome plugin, inspired by the alt text on this XKCD, solved that problem. If I find a site becoming an unproductive time sink, on the list it goes. I also sleep far better if I don't watch stuff on iPlayer/4od/netflix last thing at night, or allow my laptop anywhere near bed. I'm terrible when it comes to discipline on that though, and first thing, it's so tempting to reach for the internet instead of getting ready.

OssK is Parisian. Also lovely Now marketing though… Welcome to the forums.

What's wrong with being French? Eric Chahi is French, and he's a lovely man. Or… do you mean Parisian?

Very interesting, I know that in Proteus, the ambiguity it sometimes has between cause and effect is deliberate. The first time I played it, I found I developed a little ritual of . That's a different discussion though. I think one of the most interesting things about it is that "Skinner Box" is also thrown at social games as an insult. IIRC, rats in Skinner Boxes developed compulsive behaviour once cause and effect between the lever had been demonstrated but later decoupled. I don't think Proteus would do that to anyone because the only rewards it gives are aesthetic; none of it is based around consumables or resources. I've certainly seen facebook games that exploit that kind of thing to create compulsive behaviours though.

Yes, I think it's the kind of term that's easily abused and assumed to be true. Actually, Americans and Europeans react really badly when genuinely confronted with a game on those lines. Here's an interesting thing: At around 13 minutes into this video, Ed Key talks about Proteus as a Skinner Box.

ZT Online is, I think, the archetypal one. As far as I've heard, Western gamers tend to react quite badly to that model, which affronts some cultural sense of fairness we have.

I've always felt underwhelmed by their recordings, but they appear to be amazing live. This version of All You Really Have To Do makes me feel like running around screaming: Brannigan, thanks for the Godspeed link!

Like darthbator, I'd always thought of it as a narratively and mechanically convenient bottomless pocket or something. I'd never thought of things as coming from characters' butts. You may have just ruined videogames for me.

I'd seen that clip before but didn't know what the film was. The IMDB description makes it sound like it'd be fun with alcohol and other people:

Quoted for truth There is nothing curmudgeonly about this. Having a trailer countdown clock reeks of an entirely over the top sense of grandeur for something that will be mulched and make way for the next thing.

I've played through the first fifteen minutes or so. The brutality makes it incredibly uncomfortable to play, but at the same time, the game design makes it incredibly addictive. You don't have health, you get hit and you die. It becomes very satisfying to look at a situation, plan an approach, then carry it out. That part of the game has an extremely quick feedback loop and is very well paced. Level restarts are instant, so just like Trials HD, you have another go, then another, then another. What I've seen of the story is kind of creepy and uncomfortable. It hints at something else going on and your character eventually suffering guilt; or being asked to. Between missions, he visits shops and has friendly chats with shopkeepers, but they all insist on giving him stuff for free.

I was about to reply with yes, but then I realised I'd speed read your post and went back to read it properly. I enjoy books more if I do stop to contemplate, but often, after the halfway point I just power through. That can result in a faint, nagging, weightless feeling that a book is getting away from me. In most books though, a later event or reference to something will correct that.

Excellent. Pretty sure I built an entire Unreal level with "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven" on loop.

Yeah, watching people play it at Eurogamer, I found some immediately got it, others struggled. On my first go, I failed to find out how to make a fire and got eaten in darkness. Basically, you need to: Make an axe, quick as possible. Stockpile food as you find it. Be careful with torches and where you site camp fires. Make sure you have enough logs to feed the fire for your first night.

I'mm not sure on the beefalos, though you need their manure to farm. With most things, they have lairs on the map, and if you leave them they grow. You can also put things like spider eggs down to create them. Farming things seems to be about balancing danger against resources.

Yes, I'll be there. There were tickets left when I posted it, swear!

"You are the Horsebag"

I wouldn't say I was angry, but interfaces like that can make me feel incredibly anxious and frustrated. It's caused by a mixture of shit-ass awkwardness/slowness coupled with some addictive element, like wanting to find out what's next. There have been games I had to evaluate that did this to me too, like you hit what should be the win criteria for a level and find you just have to keep clicking pointlessly, uniformly, for a few more minutes to get there.

Hooray! The RPS/Eurogamer/Indie drinks are on the Saturday. Register here: http://indiegame-the...entbrite.co.uk/

They're lovely! I think you have a good sense of timing.

Jehovah's Witness videos in sign language. Number 22 is childishly hilarious: http://www.jw.org/apps/index.html?option=QrYQFVTrlBBX&selLang=ASL&selPub=732

The map segments in that game are basically the three acts of the story. You get to go back, and by the end of the game have the entire map available to you.