http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php This is a discussion forum powered by vBulletin. To find out about vBulletin, go to http://www.vbulletin.com/ . en Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:24:44 GMT vBulletin 60 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/images/panglima/misc/rss.jpg http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=67 Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:24:17 GMT So here I am, another I2 Noob posting my first blog. I just posted a bit of a blurb about my love of old games elsewhere so I thought I'd re-post it here as my introduction to the I2 forums.


I've been playing games since the days of the Apple II (The *original* Castle Wolfenstein is still one of my all time faves!) but somehow I still managed to miss some greats along the way. F'rinstance, despite actually selling them and even working at Commodore, I've never sat down just to play a game on a C64. By the time I got the opportunity, the Amiga 500 was around and it wasn't long before I had one of those.

Favourite games? Hmm.. here's some, although there's plenty of others I've enjoyed on each platform:

Apple II:
- Castle Wolfenstein and the sequel Beyond CW (I'm still wanting to do a re-write of those one day) [Apple II]
- Aztec Adventure [Apple II]
- Speedball II [Amiga]
- Deuteros [Amiga]
- Dungeon Master [Amiga]
- Zelda [NES]
- Nintendo Golf [NES]
- Metroid [NES]
- V-Rally (PS1)
- Abe's series (PS1)
- Final Fantasy series (PS1&2)
- Metal Gear Solid series (PS1&2)
- Stellar Wars (Pinball)
- FirePower (Pinball)
... and I'm going blank thinking of more. I'm not going into PC games - where would I stop?

I find emulators to be wonderful for fulfilling my nostalgic tendencies. For those that don't know, there's even pinball machine emulators these days (in 3D too)! Not quite as good as standing in front of the real thing but pretty darn close! I'm even thinking of building my own MAME cabinet. ]]> Malorion http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=67 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=66 Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:49:02 GMT I started with Infinite about a month ago, figured it was time to post. I work in the Engine team, developing all those nice bits of tech the game... I started with Infinite about a month ago, figured it was time to post. I work in the Engine team, developing all those nice bits of tech the game teams can use to make fancy stuff. I am a bit of the tools guru.

So I was having one of those weird dreams last night, my dreams tend to be more hollywood plotline than more abstract dreams that some people have.

I was thinking the dream I had last night could make some whacky game:

I dreamt that I went back to the 80s, I was in some guys body controlling that guys body. The guy in question though, was able to give me feedback take over certain actions. The group I was with was involved in a series of robberies around the area. I wasn't particular happy about it all, and was trying to stop them, but had to keep putting up with the influence of the persons body I was occupying. I ended up not succeeding in stopping the robberies. I ended up dying as part of the dream.

So then the dream changed, I wasn't occupying the same body as before, it was earlier. I am now occupying the body of the team leader of the earlier robberies when he was a child, and now I have to stop the events from occurring later in the piece.

Sounds all Quantum Leapish but maybe with a bit more action, but I'd love a game where you can swap scenarios, time lines, different characters that all start to make up the same story. Kinda like assassins creed but maybe more modern time, something like Life on Mars with guns and violence but unlike Life on Mars you occupy different people. Oh and it must have cool 1970's cars like Life on Mars, that you get to drive around with.

Anyway enough of ramblings and my first post. :) ]]> Maestro http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=66 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=65 Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:46:32 GMT Sweet EVERYBODY CHECK IT OUT ! and in the front page links ... Sweet EVERYBODY CHECK IT OUT !


and in the front page links

http://au.gamespot.com/pages/gamespa...opslot;thumb;4


Hi Mum! ]]> paulbowers77 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=65 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=64 Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:37:02 GMT Wow, 2 days in a row with blog entries, it's a new record for me, don't expect it to keep up, I don't think I can handle the pressure.

The main reason for the post is to do with the episode of Good Game that was on tonight, for those that have watched it there was the brief tour of the I2 office, which pointed out a few people and what their job was.

The problem is they were all wrong..... (except Janeen)

I just thought it was funny, and then I thought, hey lets make a game out of it; So my faithful Blag readers, can you guess the real job titles of the people from the Good Game segment, there might be an eCookie for people who get it right, or perhaps a Raspberry Jetsam Mousse Cake ;) ]]> Si_ http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=64 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=63 Sun, 24 Aug 2008 09:51:19 GMT So I got myself set up on the World of Warcraft beta this weekend, ready to jump into some fresh gameplay mechanics with the new Death Knight class.... So I got myself set up on the World of Warcraft beta this weekend, ready to jump into some fresh gameplay mechanics with the new Death Knight class.

Boy is it different:

My main is a mage, so I don't exactly use a lot of melee attacks, but I have leveled a Warrior to 60 (pre-expansion) and am working on a Druid at the moment. But the Death Knight is completely different, and is really fun to play.

I think a new class is definitely what was needed and starting them off at level 55 is great as the main chunk of levels are already behind you.

To top it off though the starting quests are fantastic, going through a chain of quests which culminate with a massive battle for Lights Hope Chapel, the best part is the starting area changes as you go through the chain.

Its also quite funny to see pretty much nothing but Death Knights roaming around Hellfire Peninsula, I have to wonder though, when this expansion is released how many Death Knights will there be right from the start, my guess is a lot (and they will be joining me ;) )

Its great to see how the game has evolved, and really shows why WoW is the top dog of the MMO market. ]]> Si_ http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=63 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=62 Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:23:57 GMT Anyone at the office can tell you I'm a major DDR addict. Not the 'go to the arcade once every couple of months to play a round' type, but the 'hallucinates scrolling arrows and suffers compulsive leg twitches after a week without it' type. I'm not sure whether it's my DDR wallpaper, the fact I have Stepmania (an open-source DDR emulator for PC) installed at both work and home, or simply the fact I never shut up about it that gives me away, but everyone knows once I get started on the subject I can and will talk for ages about it. And so I thought I'd clear some room in my brain by blogging on the subject.

For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, DDR - Dance Dance Revolution - is a game that first made it's debut in the arcades in 1998 and has since spawned various spin-offs, console editions, and shameless rip-offs. Gameplay consists of stepping on a series of pressure-sensitive pads laid out on a grid in time to the beat of various songs. Think Guitar Hero, but played with your feet instead of your fingers. It's intense, and since it's played by moving a fair portion of your body, it can require a fair bit of stamina too.

My view - speaking as someone who is clearly biased in favor of the game - is that DDR has pretty close to an ideal formula. Gameplay - as in almost all rhythm-action games - is exceedingly simple to understand, but extremely difficult to master. The degree of fitness necessary to play DDR at higher levels is a very rare aspect in video games - it's my experience that even games like Wii Fit aren't anywhere near as taxing as DDR in it's higher difficulties. Indeed, DDR has even been accepted in the US state of West Virginia as part of it's public schools' fitness programs. And the game's audio - obviously a matter of personal taste - but for me at least, the available songs fit in really well to the dance theme as well as just being awesome music to listen to.

Anyway I should probably ease up on my DDR ramblings for now or I'll be going all night long. Besides the fact that I love this game entirely too much, anyone have any other thoughts? ]]> Xono http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=62 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=61 Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:25:43 GMT I figured it's about time I join the rest of the office in making the occasional blog post and confusing everyone with random ramblings. So... my name is Jono and I've been a gameplayer programmer/scripter on Galactrix for a few months now. I might get around to making a post on that subject later, but for now there was something else I wanted to discuss...

The Arcade experience. For a month or two now, I've been visiting my local arcade weekly for a few rounds of DDR (more on that subject later, too). It's fun, pulse-pounding at times and may even be doing something for my fitness. I find though that there's some indefinable quality in the arcade that's lacking in playing games at home, some unique atmosphere. I've given the subject a little thought and have come to the conclusion it can be narrowed down to three things:

Controllers: It's pretty obvious to anyone who's set foot in an arcade, but the games there use exclusively custom controllers. Whether a driver's seat for Daytona, the array of instruments associated with the Bemani games, or simply a control stick and a couple of buttons with more primitive games, all arcade games add a tactile sense to the experience while, on the rare occasion they come paired with a retail game, frequently attach a hefty price tag.

The Senses: Stepping into the arcade can be like sensory overload if you're not ready for it. Flashing lights of a dozen different colours, and the sounds of engines, music, blasters, "oomph's" and "ow's" from fighting games, and the occasional curse from a player all blend together to overwhelm the senses. It can be distracting at the best of times, but I firmly believe an arcade without it wouldn't do very well.

The Social experience: As a hardcore gamer, I feel pretty at home stepping into the arcade, surrounded by other people who love games. Whether you go with friends, attempting to beat each other's scores in Time Crisis or simply attempting to beat each other up in Tekken, or whether you go alone, there's an excellent social experience to be had. Even going alone, as I usually do, I find not knowing whether there's half a dozen people behind you scrutinising your performance adds a degree of excitement, desperation, and occasionally humiliation to your performance. Definitely not a sensation you can easily get at home.

That pretty much sums up all the thoughts I've had on the subject so far. Not all that sophisticated or complex, but the best gameplay experiences are usually the simple ones (just ask the PQ addicts of the world). Anyone else have any other thoughts? ]]> Xono http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=61 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=60 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:07:18 GMT How do you solve a problem like Mynci? Well, you pack her off to nanny in the mountains and send in the jackboots... Oh sorry, I thought you said... How do you solve a problem like Mynci?
Well, you pack her off to nanny in the mountains and send in the jackboots... Oh sorry, I thought you said Maria...

What I'm really trying to ask is, what were the primary issues we faced in establishing the artistic direction of NPA?

Pet License
First and foremost, we were dealing with a licensee. Typically, a licensee has it's own preexisting visual style, usually supported by vigorous guidelines and support material as to how it's various property should appear and be applied to various media.

How was NPA differnt?
Neopets does indeed have a well established universe, and it's own extensive set of 'rules' for the visual application of it's various property. Where it differs however, is that by the it's very nature it tends to revel in a kind of visual eclecticism.
Whether flash games or NPC avatars it presents a huge variety of visual styles and approaches, even within a single presentation. A great example is the host of playable 'Pets' which evok everything from Pokemon (Meerca) to Animae (Acara), Disney (Kougra) or Warner Brothers (Lenny).

Why is this a problem?
Well, it's not exactly a problem but we were looking at a bit of a juggling act... We had to ensure that we didn't wander from the established visual guidelines of the Neopet Mythos, whilst embracing the kind of eclecticism that makes Neopets so popular and broad reaching with it's fans, whilst somehow marrying all that into a single consistent style for the the actual game.

Why is Consistency Important?
Consistency (at least for me) is an important element in any video game.
At it's core, any video game is a 'gameplay experience'. Gameplay is always channeled through some form of visual conduit and it's vitally important that this conduit doesn't distract the player from that gameplay experience.
In a good game, the visuals should in fact enhance that experience. In a great game, that marriage is invisible... Art, game design, engine and code should all work together as a single seamless entity.
From the perspective of the art department it's our job to ensure that all the various visual elements of a game, avatars, GUI, sprites, splash screens etc. not only work together, but work to together in enhancing the non-art elements of the game.

So what did we do to achieve that consistency?
I'll tell you next week... ]]> The Omen http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=60 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=59 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:44:23 GMT Pluto is annoyed at not being a planet any more, to it takes up a baseball bat and start hittin asteroids into the other planets. ... Pluto is annoyed at not being a planet any more, to it takes up a baseball bat and start hittin asteroids into the other planets.

http://www.fun-motion.com/physics-ga...-strikes-back/

It's a great little game, with some good music :D ]]> Charcoal http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=59 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=58 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:10:16 GMT We like to kick lots of ideas around the office. Sometimes we kick them until, like the poor fellow in Clockwork Orange, they lie twisted and... We like to kick lots of ideas around the office. Sometimes we kick them until, like the poor fellow in Clockwork Orange, they lie twisted and bleeding on the ground with Singing in the Rain playing cheerily off to one side.

For example, the other day I heard some members of the Neopets team discussing the idea of breeding a dolphin with a chimp. Nobody was sure if it would result in a chimp with fins, but if it did, Deanna - the gameplay lead on Neopets - assured everybody that she would be happy to look after it.

Aside from the inappropriate hybridization of wildly diverse species, the most interesting ideas we talk about are naturally ideas for games.

Daniel, our DS Lead on an almost-announced project, asked the other day how we could write Battle Mahjong. It's been spinning around in my head for a few days now and the best way to get stuff like that out seems to be to vomit my thoughts up here in my blog, thus clearing some room in my skull for more important ideas like, oh I don't know... how to make a cocktail that includes beer and raspberry cordial.

After my initial mental images of Battle Mahjong that included two chimps with fins gleefully hurling bone tiles at each other until one of them lost an eye, my brain switched out of idiot mode and into game designer mode - a movement that is usually akin to leaping across a tiny crack in the pavement.

To begin with, there are two different types of Mahjong. There's real Mahjong and then there is the one many of us are probably more familiar with: Mahjong Solitaire. Since real Mahjong is already a competitive game, I'd rather think of how to bastardize the solitaire version into something cool. Since it's a game about matching pairs of tiles and clearing a board, it'd be pretty easy to have each tile type represent some resource or action in the game that either benefited you or harmed your opponent. Because it is naturally turn-based, and could be comparitive in effect rather than destructive (think compare final scores, rather than do actual damage), I think it could be easily adapted to greater than 2 players or even for cooperative play.

Anyway, it sounds cool to me. So if anybody reads this and thinks it sounds cool too, please write the game, because Daniel and I would both like to play it.

If it's good, we'll even send you one of our chimps with fins.

Cheers

-Steve ]]> SteveFawkner http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=58 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=57 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:24:26 GMT what does one say? , workin hard........ exciting stuff... I dunno any comments . lets give this dialogue ball a kick in the .... ball? what does one say? , workin hard........
exciting stuff... I dunno any comments . lets give this dialogue ball a kick in the .... ball? ]]> paulbowers77 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=57 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=56 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:03:54 GMT I watched something today called the Top 10 OMGWTF moments in gaming (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36111.html) It was interesting because I... I watched something today called the Top 10 OMGWTF moments in gaming

It was interesting because I had a WTF moment myself the other day:

I recently picked up Ninja Gaiden II, it's quite frankly one of the most violent games I've played (and to be honest the violence factor makes up for the lack of story and clunky controls).

There may be some spoilers ahead if you don't want what little story the game seems to have spoiled then you might not want to continue.

I just fought the boss guy of the Bad ninja clan (whatever they are called) and they got their hands on the demon statue thingy that my clan was supposed to protect (and a great job they were doing with apparently 2 people to do it)

The game cuts straight to a semi ruined New York, and I was expecting to get attacked by more bad ninjas, when i got attacked by a pack of dogs; wielding swords.........

Yes, sword wielding dogs. The only thing i could think of was WTF, why would any sane person put sword wielding dogs into a game. and why could they seemingly fight with the skill of the other ninjas that I'd come across.

I'm kinda worried as to what the rest of the game will bring. But that alone would be near the top of my list of stupidest things in games.

So for the few people that read this, what are your biggest WTF moments in games? ]]> Si_ http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=56 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=55 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:26:56 GMT BLOG BLOG BLOG BLOG! finally got round to sorting out my password etc stay tuned for september when i might have something intersting to say ;) BLOG BLOG BLOG BLOG!

finally got round to sorting out my password etc

stay tuned for september when i might have something intersting to say ;) ]]> paulbowers77 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=55 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=54 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 06:42:50 GMT So... what is Neopets?

Well, if you've never heard of Neopets, and your workplace firewall has blocked both Wikipedia and www.neopets.com, I'll give you a brief rundown...

'Neopets' is the online home of a persistent world, in which you create and care for, one of 50+ customisable, fully equipable 'Neopets' and embark on adventures across the virtual fantasy world of Neopia.

The site has been running since 1999 and provides all the usual MMORPG swag with avatar creation, evolving storylines, quests, economy, community, PVP, and importantly... gaming... but that is just the tip of the Neopet tail, expanding beyond the .com into an industry all of it's own... soon to include Neopets: Puzzle Adventure!

Now, I'm an older 'hard core' gamer (whatever that is), hand twitching atop a warm X360 controller, but as we started down the NPA journey and were consequently drawn into the world of Neopets, I was pleasantly surprised by two things...
Firstly, that anyone, regardless of age or experience can jump straight into a veritable cornucopia of instantly playable games and secondly, how involved and engaging the history and back story of Neopia was.

Many people are justifiably happy playing the games stand alone, but the real fun for me was in the various story arcs and quests that led to the creation and evolution of Neopia itself. As a developer we had unique access to comprehensive guides detailing the history, geography and personalities of Neopia and as an avid table top roleplayer that was what piqued my interest as a starting point for how we would visualise NPA.

But more on that next post... Meanwhile, I suggest you check your friendly neighborhood search engine if you want any more info on Neopets. ]]> The Omen http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=54 http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=53 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:47:08 GMT I'm really lazy on posting sometimes, you may have already seen the photos that Charcoal posted from Friday night.

I got some shots too, from after the main Warioware games when we were playing Bungee Buddies

Aaron (Charcoal) doing the Discard form


One of the 2 person poses in Warioware (Aaron and Andrew)


Aaron and Johno after a decent game of Bungee Buddies doing their pose


And again


Aaron after playing by himself, doing the 2 person pose



Edit: Pics should be working now ]]> Si_ http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/blog.php?b=53