Fantastic Contraption
by: Colin Northway
http://fantasticcontraption.com/
To round out the first Mechanic series, Passive Control, I'm finishing up with a physics based puzzle game called Fantastic Contraption. Players are given a pink wheel, 5 types of building components and a goal which they must move the pink wheel to. Each level has a set of obstacles between the Pink wheel and its goal which must be overcome by building, you guessed it, Fantastic Contraptions.
The main Pink Wheel starts the game in a light-blue zone, which is also where the player is limited to building their devices. Once they are finished creating, the player hits the start button and the device goes to work navigating the level. Once the Pink Wheel moves inside the goal, the level is completed and the next one is unlocked.
You have 21 different puzzles to complete using as many of the 3 different wheel and 2 different rod components as you need, however the way you connect the pieces makes a huge difference to the functionality of your machine. The rods are used primarily to hold the wheels together but also can be used to modify wheels and build frames. Two of the wheels act as engines spinning clockwise and counter-clockwise, while the third is neutral. Out of these 5 simple pieces, complex machines can be built.
Out of the three games I've tried so far, I like this one the best. Not only did Colin Northway keep this game from becoming too overwhelming by limiting the variety of components available, he created obstacles which are constantly challenging the creativity of the player.
With Fantastic Contraption you have the fun of exploration and discovery that comes with playing The Game of Life but with an actual goal you strive for. The fact that you have to craft these machines using just a few tools gives you a great sense of pride when you finish a level. Colin hits a grand slam with this game and gives up a great example of how to build fun out of a simple idea.
It also doesn't hurt that you can make machines that look crazy as hell!
Colin Northway's website - http://www.colinnorthway.com/
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Gratuitous Space Battles
Gratuitous Space Battles
Created by: Positech Games
http://www.positech.co.uk/gratuitousspacebattles/
The second title in my series is Gratuitous Space Battles developed by Positech Games way back in 2009. Players are given a library of parts and weapons and must build and equip a fleet of space ships on a budget. Along with designing the layout of the ships you must also give them behaviors and priorities so they know how to act without your input in battle. The player creates the fleet, chooses how they behave, deploys them on the battlefield and watches the fun. Victory comes with survival and earns you honor.
WARNING: My summary above may make this game seem easier than its actually going to be. It's described as being like a tower defense game, but that doesn't do it justice. For each battle you play you must revamp your ships changing out the layouts trying to get the most effective unit possible while keeping your budget to a minimum(The less you spend on winning a battle, the more you get as a reward). This makes the game pretty tough and very time consuming.
To make the game REALLY challenging they took away real time control of the units. Instead of telling which ships where to fire mid battle, the player must set priorities for the ships to follow on their own. This behavior mechanic/passive control combo works well as replacement to constant control, however with more variables comes more tweaking post-battle.
This game is invaluable to the hardcore strategist who likes careful planning over quick maneuvering, as long as they have a lot of time on their hands. Each battle will have to be played a few times over to figure out the enemy fleets weaknesses, then a few more times to carefully utilize your ships to gain maximum honor. I only wish I had more time to play this game(or faster than 4x speed in battle). That, I think, is the only drawback about the game. It takes a certain amount of commitment to finish a battle, not including maximizing honor, that can be intimidating for your average player. For those who consider themselves experts at strategy games or who like being seriously challenged, Gratuitous Space Battles is everything you've been looking for. Especially if you can find it for the $10 price that I did.
Created by: Positech Games
http://www.positech.co.uk/gratuitousspacebattles/
The second title in my series is Gratuitous Space Battles developed by Positech Games way back in 2009. Players are given a library of parts and weapons and must build and equip a fleet of space ships on a budget. Along with designing the layout of the ships you must also give them behaviors and priorities so they know how to act without your input in battle. The player creates the fleet, chooses how they behave, deploys them on the battlefield and watches the fun. Victory comes with survival and earns you honor.
WARNING: My summary above may make this game seem easier than its actually going to be. It's described as being like a tower defense game, but that doesn't do it justice. For each battle you play you must revamp your ships changing out the layouts trying to get the most effective unit possible while keeping your budget to a minimum(The less you spend on winning a battle, the more you get as a reward). This makes the game pretty tough and very time consuming.
To make the game REALLY challenging they took away real time control of the units. Instead of telling which ships where to fire mid battle, the player must set priorities for the ships to follow on their own. This behavior mechanic/passive control combo works well as replacement to constant control, however with more variables comes more tweaking post-battle.
This game is invaluable to the hardcore strategist who likes careful planning over quick maneuvering, as long as they have a lot of time on their hands. Each battle will have to be played a few times over to figure out the enemy fleets weaknesses, then a few more times to carefully utilize your ships to gain maximum honor. I only wish I had more time to play this game(or faster than 4x speed in battle). That, I think, is the only drawback about the game. It takes a certain amount of commitment to finish a battle, not including maximizing honor, that can be intimidating for your average player. For those who consider themselves experts at strategy games or who like being seriously challenged, Gratuitous Space Battles is everything you've been looking for. Especially if you can find it for the $10 price that I did.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Conway's Game of Life
Conway's Game of Life
Created by: John Conway
http://www.bitstorm.org/gameoflife/
In 1970, John Conway, a British Mathematician created a program called Life where a simple design created on a grid would come alive and evolve autonomously based on a four simple rules:
Any live cell with fewer than two live neighbours dies, as if caused by underpopulation.
Any live cell with more than three live neighbours dies, as if by overcrowding.
Any live cell with two or three live neighbours lives on to the next generation.
Any dead cell with exactly three live neighbours becomes a live cell.
The player is given a grid of empty cells and creates patterns by activating cells, giving them "life" and setting the stage for the evolutionary pattern dictated by the four rules above. Once the player activates the game it begins evolving autonomously, leaving the player with control only over how fast the next generation is displayed.
While at first I was only interested in seeing what my designs would become, before too long I found myself becoming attached to the small lit up cells. As they moved around the game board, I began thinking of them as actual living beings. I started hoping that the stationary blocks would be visited by the moving "gliders" so they could spread and became sad when that same event lead those blocks to their extinction.
It's interesting to see how a player can become attached to an object by allowing them to influence it, then putting it at risk. Much like a parent with their child you don't want to see the end of it's life cycle. This seems to be a very useful mechanic for getting a player emotionally involved with their creation, but it doesn't seem like one that can be fun on its own.
Tomorrow we'll see how Positech Games handled this problem (if they saw it as one) when I review Gratuitous Space Battles, a game that combines Passive Control with Unit Design and Behavior Modification.
Created by: John Conway
http://www.bitstorm.org/gameoflife/
In 1970, John Conway, a British Mathematician created a program called Life where a simple design created on a grid would come alive and evolve autonomously based on a four simple rules:
Any live cell with fewer than two live neighbours dies, as if caused by underpopulation.
Any live cell with more than three live neighbours dies, as if by overcrowding.
Any live cell with two or three live neighbours lives on to the next generation.
Any dead cell with exactly three live neighbours becomes a live cell.
The player is given a grid of empty cells and creates patterns by activating cells, giving them "life" and setting the stage for the evolutionary pattern dictated by the four rules above. Once the player activates the game it begins evolving autonomously, leaving the player with control only over how fast the next generation is displayed.
While at first I was only interested in seeing what my designs would become, before too long I found myself becoming attached to the small lit up cells. As they moved around the game board, I began thinking of them as actual living beings. I started hoping that the stationary blocks would be visited by the moving "gliders" so they could spread and became sad when that same event lead those blocks to their extinction.
It's interesting to see how a player can become attached to an object by allowing them to influence it, then putting it at risk. Much like a parent with their child you don't want to see the end of it's life cycle. This seems to be a very useful mechanic for getting a player emotionally involved with their creation, but it doesn't seem like one that can be fun on its own.
Tomorrow we'll see how Positech Games handled this problem (if they saw it as one) when I review Gratuitous Space Battles, a game that combines Passive Control with Unit Design and Behavior Modification.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Mechanic of the week 0.1
Mechanic of the Week
If you haven't read the Opening of my blog, the Mechanic of the Week is a series which explores different game mechanics and how they are used in various title and genres in an effort to understand its utility. Each week for three weeks I'll play and write about my experiences with that mechanic and at the end of the three weeks, I'll make a small experimental game implementing what I've learned. By doing this I can expand my knowledge of the subject as well as build a resource for other designers to use in their own research.
Week 1
Passive Control - I'll explore games in which the player affects the game world/units but does not have complete control over them. As an example, my first entry will be John Conway's Game of Life, where the player sets the initial environment, but then resigns control once the game starts.
I'm counting any game that was designed with periods of time where players are unable to have an affect on the world and play continues. Some suggestions I've heard already have been Robot Rally, Gratuitous Space Battles and MindRover and I'd love to hear any others you might have.
Week 1
Passive Control - I'll explore games in which the player affects the game world/units but does not have complete control over them. As an example, my first entry will be John Conway's Game of Life, where the player sets the initial environment, but then resigns control once the game starts.
I'm counting any game that was designed with periods of time where players are unable to have an affect on the world and play continues. Some suggestions I've heard already have been Robot Rally, Gratuitous Space Battles and MindRover and I'd love to hear any others you might have.
First!
So this is my first attempt at keeping a personal blog, so hopefully I don't screw it up too bad. I'm using Blogger just for the moment until I can get my website, PeopleGames.org, off the ground and running again, then I'll move all the posts and essays over to there.
Until that time you can come here to find all things PeopleGames. Such as:
News: My opinion and perspective on current Game Industry news and Events.
100 games in 100 days: In an attempt to get myself more familiar with the state of the industry I'm going to play 100 games over the next 100 work days and post my opinions
Mechanic Write-up: Each week I am going to use a particular Game Mechanic as a theme to the games that I play. At the end of the week I'll write up a post talking about the mechanics, how they were used and what they could be useful for otherwise. At the end of the month I will try to lash all the mechanics together and create a small game that will be posted online for free.
Thanks for stopping in and keep checking back regularly to see how my adventure is going, and hopefully I will have my main site up and running again shortly.
If you have any ideas or suggestions send them along to JohSpell [at] Gmail [dot] com.
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