Re: QOTW

[laguna@fortress.ourmag.com]

On Wed, 12 Jan 2000, Bob Pendleton wrote:

> What features does a game have to have to make it interesting to write
> it?

Personally, I think the one feature a game should have is that after I
finish writing it, the game should still surprise me. The one reason why I
had stopped writing games a while back and why I restarted on it a bit is
that I feared the inevitable "you wrote it, no more surprises" line of
thought.

But having the game be dynamic and relatively fun with an underlying
philosophy of chaos driving the game makes it fun to play later... if it
has been done right. And that is something that having in a game will make
it more interesting and enjoyable to write.

examples:

[checkers/chess/shogi/(most strategic board games)]

The computer is your opponent and while to a great extent the moves played
were in part programmed by you, the dynamic nature of the game isn't lost
since it is still reacting to you, the user and to its own internal
rulesets.

[RPG's]

These games tend to be a bit canned unless the storyline allows room for
shifting in plot and in concept. Much like reading a book, it involves a
fair deal of seeing more than the words or pictures present to you. But
even that can get boring and old to go through again and again during
coding and debugging. In which case, one might want to consider
restructuring the game a bit. But that isn't to say RPG is not fun. Look
at Rogue/pc-hack/moria/etc. They are all rpg based and are extremely
simple in their overall game concept. But because there is a fair amount
of randomness to it, the game is entertaining to play and to code.


Basically, if from simple code arises complexity in behaviour, the game
stands a good chance of surviving the "experienced the unexpected"
anti-climax of coding a game.


> I'm not asking what makes a game fun to play, I'm asking what makes a
> game fun to write?
> 			Bob P.

Heh.. I think I covered a bit of the unasked portion, Bob. :p But in many
instances, what makes a game fun to play over and over again is also
partly what makes the game fun to code. Since if you are coding it, you
will inevitably be playing the game over and over again to do testing. ^^

Wing.

PS. Not like anyone's been wondering where I've been, but just in case
    some people were curious, been in the process of and still am in the
process of changing jobs. Interestingly enough, Stormfront did get back to
me, but I've been pre-occupied with an administrative job offer up north.
A job which I believe I'm better suited at than game development. ^^;; In
the long run, I think I kinda favoured an expected long-term appointment
over a project based employment. But should things go as planned, I'll be
moving out of the home I've lived with family for over a decade and be
living on my own at an apartment in northern california. Which will be
interesting, challenging, and extremely expensive.

Oh my god! I'm going coorporate! O_O;; *smiles*

For people who weren't really curious, oh well. :) Just another day in the
life of a sysadmin who dreams of being more than a sysadmin.

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