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First blog post
This is the post excerpt.
Participation: Part Two
This last half of the semester I have putting a great deal of effort into all my assignments, readings, and projects. However, it is time to check in and reflect on my in-class participation. Preparing for class by watching videos or reviewing articles hasn’t been a issue as I have been strong in this area since the beginning of the semester. The group presentations have been an exciting challenge where I have pushed myself in order to help my different groups. My group for Dark Souls was so knowledgeable, that it was hard to find times to speak up about the more in-depth aspects of the game. Being a noob it was hard to have my voice heard especially on the later in-game content I had not experienced.
I lead the voluntary presentation for the Team Build. We didn’t really practice this presentation. Our Team Build was controversial, so I may have spoken over my group members in a way to direct the many slings and arrows of the audience towards myself. I never expected to have someone walk out of the classroom. That was a first for me. I definitely got a conversation about a meaningful topic started in class that day. Few others in our class can say that. I had hoped to hear from more voices regarding the build. One of the most beneficial voices to the conversational, I believe, walked out of the room.
Got some great feedback about our group project. Was it extra critical due to the controversial nature of the project? Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean it was any less true.
One goal I had set for myself was to become active on twitter. When I wanted to share my I.F. on twitter and was unable to, I wanted to break my phone. The one time I tried to depend on twitter, it nearly lead me to miss a critical deadline. I tried my hand, but I am just no fan of social media. Tech companies suck up any kind of data they can think of and sell our “identity” piece by piece.
tl;dr
Overall, I believe that when it comes to class participation I have earned a solid B+.
Super Trump Man Build
Super Trump Man is a 2D sidescrolling action platformer. The game serves as a parody based off of the 1985 Super Mario Bros released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The player will play as the character Trump, who will embark on a journey to rescue Princess Putin. Like Mario, Trump’s primary method of defeating enemies is jumping. In addition to this, in-game power-ups will be available as the player advances to help enhance game play; a can of Hairspray will grant helmet hair and allow the player to be hit once without dying, similar to a mushroom in Super Mario Bros.; a stack of Money will allow Trump Man to throw balls of money to defeat mobs from a distance; and a Red Hat (Make America Great Again) will grant temporary invincibility. With these skills, Trump will work his way through nine worlds to fight the final boss in Washington D.C. The game is an adventure intent on satirizing the current political shift in American politics.
In order to reach the broadest and fastest growing market (Mobile Games 340), Super Trump Man is intended to be released for mobile devices. By being on mobile devices, players will easily be able to share their high scores, various other statistics, and achievements on social media. By adding a scoring system this will make Super Trump Man a non-zero-sum game (Game Theory 212) which will help to encourage community and competition among players. Super Trump Man is a action game (Game Genre 204) which includes fast paced challenges and will require the player to have a keen eye and quick reflexes.
A wide variety of NPC mobs (NPC 363), inspired by the multitude of people Trump has insulted and stepped on to reach his new position, and mini-bosses (NPC 363), inspired by political rivals and political opposition, must be navigated past or defeated in the same style as Super Mario Bros. Through and overworld map, players will be able to freely choose which levels in the game they complete in order to open up mini-boss fights. After the player defeats a mini-boss the heroic epic style narrative (Plot Types and Interactivity 395-6) of the story will continue to progress.
The use of 8-bit graphics will help to create a retro tone and feel in of the game that pays homage to the original Super Mario Bros. Additionally, this artistic style (Games as Art/Literature 220) provides a deeper level meant to satirize Trump’s calls to take America back to an unspecified time in history when it was great. Super Mario Bros marked a revival of the video game industry following the first “Great Crash” (Game History 210) much as Trump wants to be America’s revival.
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Collaborative Presentations
Morrowind
The Morrowind group started out rough. This game is a first person view role playing game set in a deep and rich lore filled world. Being the first group up, they explored all the possible technical issues that future groups would be likely to encounter. They were excited and engaging the audience as they proceeded. Their slide show was very clean with minimal text and large pictures for the audience to observe. They demonstrated their in-depth knowledge of the game rules and mechanics. Some of the exploits they discussed were very creative in how to advance ones skills and abilities within the game. Other exploits, such as the ones involving console commands, a tool used by the game developers, gave the impression of violating the intended rules of the game to the point where it was borderline cheating. The picture of Morrowind they painted was very detailed. Especially due to the size and scope of the world of which the player is immersed into. The world is full of places to explore and Non-Player Characters to interact with in order to advance multiple different goals. The character creation part of the game demonstration was exceptional at pulling the class of students together. All the time spent creating a class character took away from time being able to be spent actually playing and fully interacting in the game world. Overall, a great presentation and excellent class participation.
Warcraft 3
Warcraft 3 is a Real Time Strategy game set in a feudal time period. This group did a great job talking about the history of the game franchise, including Warcraft and Warcraft 2, as well as other games that took inspiration from Warcraft 3. As this was the third game in the series there was a good deal of lore the group tried to communicate to the audience. The slide show portion of the presentation as clean and minimalist. The in depth discussion of play styles was very engaging. They also demonstrated the mostly linear technology tree that the player uses in order to advance in the game. The real meat of the presentation came from the game demonstration the group created. Instead of playing in real time a video was created from their play experience. This was an ingenious way, as they were able to speed up the real time that passes in the game and were able to demonstrate various various tactic at different levels of game play and execution. The break down of player typology was intriguing. The lack of class participation was disheartening, however, the engaging nature of the video more than compensated for this deficiency. Overall, a great presentation and a most enjoyable game demonstration.
The Stanley Parable
This was truly a unique game among the variety of games presented. This is a first person adventure game with puzzle solving heavily emphasized. As the group heavily emphasized, this game is all about paradoxes and player agency. The narrative of the game being described back to the player, in real time, by a omniscient and untrustworthy narrator. The British accent of the narrator and the style of the humor made the game feel as it had been inspired by The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy. The slide show was very smooth and had uncluttered slides. The text of the slides was small and difficult to read. The demonstration play through of the game was exciting and engaging. The Stanley Parable was a wonderful choice, especially for the class engagement factor. The branching pathways of the narrative were short and allowed the class to make multiply decisions. The narrators voice did become a little overbearing at times. The dry and witty voice of the narrator was exciting at first, but over time one may be annoyed or possibly feel tormented by the disembodied comments. The game certainly allows the player a great deal of freedom in how to proceed forward in the game, or allow the player to go stand in a broom closet and refuse to continue forward. The group also provided some additional history related to the creation of the game. Overall, a eye catching presentation and an unforgettable game demonstration.
Knights of The Old Republic
This group was surprising in how small it was in having only two people. That fact did not diminish from the game nor the presentation. They had excellent team work during both the slide show presentation and the game demonstration. Knights of The Old Republic is a Role Playing Game set in the distant past of the Star Wars universe. The game has a limited variety of playable character classes. The lack of classes is made up for in how the player is able to customize their in game avatar. One area that was focused on was the alignment system which reflects the good and evil decisions that the player makes during the course of their own game experience. The dialogue tree gives the player limited options on how to respond to Non-Player Characters they meet in the game. Additionally quests can be acquired as the player progresses through the main narrative. The group did well by getting the class involved during the character creation aspect of the game demonstration. The game play that the class did get to witness was heavy on dialogue which made the pace of the game experience slow. This further delayed the showcasing of the combat system of the game. Overall, a smooth slide show presentation and a great attempt at the game demonstration.
Limbo
This group presented a narrative driven story, which is very unique and innovative. No text or voices are used to tell the narrative. The silence helps to build on the suspense and tension the player feels. Major themes the groups presented on were Despair and Surrealism. The artistic direction this game choose was incredible as it only used black, white, and a wide range of gray tones to build this two dimensional world. The player is given no instructions and must learn the rules as they play. There are many puzzles throughout the game and from what the group discussed, non two are the same. The mood is mainly interpreted by the player which helps to create a unique narrative. The lack of enemies helps to emphasis the silence experienced throughout the game. On interesting mechanic in the game is where the player falls up and uses the ceiling as playable terrain. This doubles the playable area of the side scrolling map. For the interactive portion of the game demonstration, the group choose a class mate to take the controller in hand and had them play. As the student played the game, died and learned the rules of the game, the class became very engaged. Overall, a artistic slide show presentation and a memorable game demonstration.
Journey
This group picked a very artful game. This translated well to the slide show presentation. This game is not about the destination, but the experience the player gets as they travel. The imagery alone gives the artistic impression immense power. The group also talked about the history of the company that created Journey and how it was inspired by ICO and created other games before like Flow and Flower. The limited text the player encounters helps to create an uncomplicated image of the game and art. The main goal of the game is to reach a far off mountain. There are many achievements in the game to help encourage the replay value of the game. IT is also possible to play with other Player characters that can be encountered in the vast desert. Having a second player helps the single player experience. The soundtrack is award winning. A player can go from feeling helpless at one moment, to feeling invincible the next due to the aesthetics and the game mechanics. The group played a video of their game play experience which worked well as they were able to show a greater amount of the game experience. While there was little interaction related to the game demonstration, the group did well in answering audience questions. All the while they tried there best from spoiling and major plot points of the game. Overall, a beautiful presentation and demonstration.
Before I Forget
This is a link to the article I mentioned in class. I’ll expand on this more, or you can read it yourself.
Participation
Looking over the criteria for participation in class, I would like to claim that I have earned an A grade but that might be more wishful thinking. I believe that all of us in class want an A. Sitting in a chair and being present doesn’t earn an A. My goal is to raise my hand and make my voice heard at least once every time we meet. Either to add my own insight to a particular reading, or to build upon what another student has shared. I prepare before every class and keep a positive attitude. One area I could improve upon would be related to the use of Twitter. I could be missing out on a lot of interesting conversations, as well as adding more to the content of the class if I participated. Since Twitter wasn’t mandatory for the class I didn’t bother signing up.
TL;DR
I feel I have earned a minimum of a B+ for my class participation.
HoL Mapping Chp 21-23
What a great novel! Mapping these last chapters was interesting. The really work now will begin. Combining all the maps into one all encompassing map! A sheet of paper isn’t going to cut it for this last step. Maybe a wall and a variety color pack of sticky notes will do the trick to map it out before transferring it all to a poster board….or two. I see some late nights in my future. I believe my fellow explorers would enjoy my map(s).
I would like to work the schizophrenia aspect of Truant’s character more into my map and game. I need to do some research into schizophrenia and see how viable of an idea that is at this time, or how that would even work.
We are Explorers
After braking into four groups of play style, we entered into our typology categorized as “explorers”. He is a link to collection of videos showing:
Mapping Chapters 16-20 HoL
Starting to feel like Truant in the novel. Anyone else?
I plan on adding color to help the viewers eye. I found myself having to tape another sheet of paper onto my original sheet. I did this because I knew I wouldn’t be able to include any blank space on a single sheet. I think it worked really well, but scanning did become a little difficult. I ended up cutting holes in the paper regarding the missing pages from the reports. Those don’t show at all. I thought about putting a backing where the holes are located, but why bother cutting the page if I did that? To me the best why to represent nothing, was to have nothing; no paper, no ink, just empty space.
Bastion Group
What a fun day! Had a meet up in the MLK library with Dan, Josh, and Max. Josh brought his PS4 and popcorn.
Before we started we agreed to some ground rules: everyone takes a turn, each turn ends after a level is completed, and if they choose to do a weapon challenge they need to limit the number of attempts to get first place.
Our intention was so everyone got to play at least 2 rounds Of game play for us the group to observe as we played thru the story.
Josh
Preferred to use the War Machette, repeater, and any Area of effect special skill. When in Bastion he was very direct running to shop to shop to set equipment and potions. He choose the shard attracting potion and +10 hit points. He left to a new level. He ran/rolled past as many enemies as possible until stopped by a door. He preferred to use range attacks.
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Max
Used the hammer, repeater, and spinning hammer secret attack. Starting out in Bastion he built the lost-and-found and visited shops to set his gear and potions. +33 defense and and the fetching fizz. After entering the next level, he explored, found a shrine, choose Pyth, and after encountering a big ass robot bull boss he ran like a b}%#h.
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Dan
Used the war machette, Bow, and the lure secret skill. He dislikes using the secret skills. Used potions for +10 hit points and to increase critical hit at full health. He rolled everywhere to increase speed. He enjoyed to roll off the edge of the map to hear what the narrator would say. Did the shield trial, attempted it twice and then left. Used melee a lot. Later he changed to a reaper and bow combo.
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Simulating
House of Leaves is a unique post-modern novel and is an especially wonderful interactive narrative. Aarseth’s article Genre Trouble takes an in-depth look at how computer games need to be re-branded as “interactive narratives”. In a time when books are publish on electronic devices, the medium of both gaming and literature are blending and becoming the same. Aarseth claims that all computer games are simulations. If a novel is on an electronic device, does that make it a simulation as well? In the case of House of Leaves, yes.
“In simulations, knowledge and experience is created by the player’s action and strategies, rather than recreated by a writer or a movie maker” (Aarseth). A typical liner novel has the reader, or player, reading lines of text which creates immersion into the narrative of the novel. House of Leaves non-liner story has the reading constantly breaking out of the immersion either by the use of foot notes or the placement of the text on the page. This non-linear style of writing gives the reader/player the option to decided on a strategy of how to read House of Leaves. Do they read everything, the main narrative and the footnotes? Ignore the foot notes and focus on the main narrative? Perhaps they decide to ignore the main narrative and follow the secondary narrative in the footnotes? Reading in these different styles will produce a different simulated experience. Having multiply options in how to read House of Leaves, engrossed readers have the option of reading the novel in a variety of ways, much like how computer games simulations can be replayed. By going back and re-reading for a second time, the knowledge of the first reading is carried over and new details and connections can be found to the reader/player. Knowledge also plays a role in a first reading of House of Leaves. Many sources are provided throughout the novel, but how reliable is the information provided to the reader/player? By researching the epigraphs the player can find discrepancies in the “factual” information and that research can provide a deeper understand of the narrative, or even create more questions about the novel. This non-linear style or reading is a simulated world and allows the player/reader how far they wish to explore.
“When you put a story on top of a simulation, the simulation (or the player) will always have the last word” (Aarseth). While referring to computer games, Aarseth’s point is relevant to House of Leaves as the novel is a simulation. However, the story of House of Leaves is not layered on top of a simulation, it is the simulation. The content of the novel has already been written, but the process of how the reader/player makes connections between pages is their own to interpret. The reader/player may not reach the same conclusion as Danielewski intended, but by engaging the novel (simulation), the player/reader is free to interpret the text as they choose. Why else provide three theories as to why Navidson returned to the House? Providing multiple ideas that the reader/player explore helps to enrich the overall narrative of the simulation.
108Gaming in the 408 