All posts by Rahil

Creativity Derives from Nothing

30 April 2013 by Rahil

Disclaimer: This thought is probably ripped from Jon Stokes.

Creativity. Creating something. How does one create something? Well, it’s easy to create something like something else, just copy, but that’s not very creative. I think the amount of creativity could be measured by how dissimilar it is to everything else, and is probably how fine art is judged. How does one create something like nothing else? How does on achieve pure creativity?

Creativity starts with nothing.

But starting with nothing is limitless. There has to be a beginning.

One method to help the creation process is by adding a contraint. First, a medium. Then, perhaps something is chosen arbitrarily: a word, a subject, an object, or out of inspiration: a thought, an image, a feeling. The rest is creativity. For example, game jams and similar events work well because there are contraints: the game medium, a theme, and time. The space between the single word theme and a complete game is filled by creativity. The constraint adds direction, and in the context of game jams, it enforces it, forcing one to create something.

If the resulting creation isn’t very creative, then perhaps the creative process was affected by one’s experience with the medium. Consuming media does not always affect creativity positively. A person who has vast knowledge in fine art does not make one more creative than one who does not. The consumption of art may affect the person negatively, as the person may be more inclined to create something like something they really like, or copy.

A recurring thought I’ve had: If one lived in humanly sustainable vacuum, a world where there is very little, that person would be extremely creative.

In the past, I stayed up late nights, consumed lots of media, avoided normal life activities, replacing them with films. As a result, I spoiled myself with fine art. For example, I wanted to create films with social realism, in a contemporary foreign setting, with long takes, and other characteristics I liked in art films. I also wanted to avoid things I disliked in pop films. Although I have taste, I like and dislike certains things, I don’t think it positively affected my creativity. Perhaps I now know what I want to make and what I don’t want to make, but avoiding the consumption of films altogether I wouldn’t have to avoid anything, and I wouldn’t be copying anyone, and it would have resulted in a better creation.

Now, after consuming very little media while travelling, then glancing at media, I find everything extremely uncreative in every aspect. I wonder why anyone would make such a thing. Of course, I know this because I consumed a lot of media in the past, I know what exists, but still, I feel a huge difference in the amount of creativity of media.

Consumption is a necessity in life. Travelling is a form of consumption. Instead of consuming art, I think it’s better to consume life. Explore places, eat something new, cook something new, play with friends, tend to family, explore people’s minds, create relationships, deepen relationships, create something with others, consume something with others, talk to people, observe nature, try a new job, try a new hobby, learn a new language. Live life, then create something from it. Perhaps these are the greatest derivatives of creativity: personal experiences.

In order to achieve pure creativity, one must remind oneself to do the following: starve oneself from art (at least the medium), start from nothing (or something minute), and live life. Then, create something from it.

Leave a comment | Categories: Art, Personal

Using Scribblenauts as a Teaching Device

18 April 2013 by Rahil

A family friend of mine in India has been using my iPad to use Facebook for the past two days. He’s in high school. I think he’s got the gist of Facebook, which is better than his Google skills and his concept of the internet. In the past, I let him play a few games on it. Just now, I showed him Scribblenauts Remix. It was an interesting experience.

He doesn’t know English well and his spelling is very poor. I didn’t know this until he spelled boy “boiii” and ball “bol”. I had play with him: to teach him how to play, to translate the goal of each level, to talk about how to solve each level, to help spell out his solutions, and to help deal with the poor game interactions. Although I was guiding him through the game, there was a constant stream of new content: a new English word (axe, ladder), a new object (masquerade mask), a new concept (evolution, extinction events). In parallel, there was a constant stream of learning taking place. The game naturally brought up discussions about the new content, mistranslations, and puzzle solutions. Playing this game turned out to be a really fun teaching experience.

I think this game makes for an awesome teaching device. I totally recommend playing it with any child or foreign teenager, or anyone who wants to learn some English vocabulary! Super Scribblenauts and Scribblenauts Unlimited add adjectives to the game, making it an even better English learning device.

Leave a comment | Categories: Education, Game Development, Games

An analysis of a playtest on kids and thoughts about designing games for a large audience

26 February 2013 by Rahil

I let my family’s domestic worker family’s son in India and his friend play some iPad games: Fingle, Shot Shot Shoot, SpellTower, and Singing Fingers. It turned out to be a really interesting experiment.

Despite them being a little uncreative, they enjoyed all of the games. The only problem was I had to guide them a bit on learning how to play each game. I would say they enjoyed the games in the following order: Fingle, Shot Shot Shoot, Singing Fingers, SpellTower.

Fingle, by far, was a winner. They quickly learned (with guidance, and the constant enforcement of the using one hand rule) and said, “this would be fun to play with a girl”. Still, the two male kids enjoyed playing. They laughed at the sound of moaning after accomplishing a level. I feel the game worked because it doesn’t require much creativity from them. There is a clear goal, and they do it.

Shot Shot Shoot was fun. When I played against either one of them, I won 90% of the time because they just didn’t have the capacity for building a strategy. When they played each other, they were reckless. They cared about winning, but there was little to no learning going on.

Singing fingers was short lived. After I taught them the mechanics of Singing Fingers by demonstration “helooooo”, they mimicked me and said “hellooooo” and then nearly closed it. I then showed them that they could make sounds of different pitches and play them in a tune or simultaneously. Then they got excited. Still, that only extended the gameplay another two minutes for them.

SpellTower went pretty well too, but I think they just lacked English vocabulary. That and puzzle games just aren’t fun. Okay, this is a personal bias. I don’t play puzzle games. Some people love Tetris, Lumines, and Super Puzzle Fighter; My brain turns off while playing them. I’ll consider this game as disqualified.

What happened?
Without a goal, some people will stop playing and move on to something else. Maybe they lack attention, don’t care, or just aren’t curious enough. In order for a game to be popular, the idea has to click within the first minute, or else they’ll move on to something else.

This is a problem. Hugely popular social network games tackled this by adding hand-holding tutorials in the form of dialog boxes. Independent game designers emerged and said tutorial are stupid and that the player should learn by playing. I imagine the direct contrast to those old social network games is Shadow of the Colossus. That game nearly has no directions. It asks the player to figure out what to do, by, well, playing!

None of the games I playtested were learned by the players by themselves. I allowed time for each game, but none of them captured their attention long enough. They simply asked what they should do. Sometimes they touched anything that resembled “Okay” until they came to a screen had enough things moving to resemble a game screen (was this conditioned by social network games?). Once there, they touched a few times, gave up, and closed the game.

Sure, teaching people how to play defeats the purpose of play, but should a line be drawn between the curious, patient, and intelligent people from the rest or should game designers strive to teach everyone?

Even after I taught the kids the basis of each game they struggled to progress in each one. No strategy was created in Shot Shot Shoot and no creativity existed in Singing Fingers. Fingle however was played until they had to leave.

What does this mean?
I think this playtest kinda revived mechanical games for me. Fingle is amazing, simply for its mechanics. Once the basics are learned, the players know how to play the game entirely. New mechanics are not progressively added, so the players are not constantly learning, and so a constant tutorial is not needed. You put the solid white block in the dashed white outline (another sexual metaphor?). Progress is shown through levels rather than mechanics. Sure, there wasn’t major thinking or learning going on, but they had fun. Mechanically-heavy digital games, like the board games that precede it have a universal audience. That’s kinda powerful.

Leave a comment | Categories: Game Development, Games

Travel: Tips, Resources, and a Checklist

01 February 2013 by Rahil

Introduction

This post is an ongoing list of travel tips, resources, and a pre-travel checklist. It was written because a friend asked for some tips and my response turned out to be very long, so long that I felt the effort belonged to a more permanent, more public place, like this blog.

Obligatory disclaimer: somethings written here are subjective and it’s up to you to extract whatever you can from it. Actually, you should just stop researching and just go!

Checklist

I hate packing, but gladly, very little is necessary.

smartphone – It’s nearly everything one needs to travel. It’s a map, (Google maps), a compass, an internet browser, a camera, a video camera, a hotspot, an alarm clock, an e-book reader, and more.
check passport expiration date
check visa
call or use internet to inform debit and credit card companies of travels so that they do not block the card upon foreign transactions
check driver’s license expiration date
check international driver’s license expiration date
download and install everything you need (internet is going to suck)
composition book
notes application
inform embassy of travels through Smart Traveller Enrollment Program (STEP)
– it sends current news through e-mail about the areas you are travelling to
otc stomach medicine (Pepto-Bismal)
mosquito spray
sun screen
become an EU citizen
– able to live and work in 28 countries?

Pro-tips

Pros only.

Don’t reserve accommodation.
Don’t buy ongoing or return flights. Kinda risky? Can buy a “ghost” ticket.
Don’t bring more than one backpack and daypack.

Visas

Oh if only every country handled this the same. Some countries have weird stipulations: Thailand allows 30 days by air, but only 15 by land. Also, make sure the visa is stamped upon entry and exit. Laos duped me; Luckily, I didn’t have any cash to give them and they let me out.

Travel.State.Gov – for U.S. citizens, choose country, check the entry / exit requirements section
Visa requirements for United States citizens Wikipedia article – easy to view, but may not be updated

Country specific:
Taiwan – a post that explains how ARCs, work permits, and visas work

Working holiday visas:
Wikipedia article
– US does not participate in this
– “There are opportunities for US citizens to work in Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea under similar bilateral programs, however.”

Transportation

Air Travel

I used a combination of Kayak and Skyscanner. Skyscanner will find some funky cheap domestic flights that Kayak will miss. If the trip is short you may not need to book in advance to get a good rate. Flights through small airlines can be surprisingly cheap, like $20 flights to the Philippines through Cebu Pacific from nearby countries. I should give Hipmunk another try.

Motorcycle

I’d recommend riding a bike anywhere road conditions are somewhat decent. Motorcycles are the best form of transportation. No need to follow bus and train schedules, not limited to the developed towns public transportation goes; Swerve into random villages; Few things feel better than being on a motorcycle. If you can, buy a bike, make an overland trip, and sell it at the end.

Make sure to get an international driver’s permit with a motorcycle stamp. It could be helpful to just get one without a motorcycle license. I was able to rent motorcycles throughout SE Asia with just a normal vehicle driver’s license, and sometimes just a passport.

Accommodation

I used hostelbookers and hostelworld for more popular places. I never had to reserve a hostel, even during travelling season. Great hostels can make a huge difference. It could mean having helpful and knowledgable staff members, meeting interesting travelers, integrating with local people, having a lower chance of items being stolen. Hostels are an experience of their own. I’ve had really memorable times in them.

hostelbookers – no fee for reservation, more technical user interface
hostelworld – charges fee for reservation, better user interface
tripadvisor – more than just hostels
hostels – just hostels, really

Couchsurfing

Although it can serve as accommodation, it’s about meeting people and culture exchange, therefore it deserves it’s own category.

I couchsurfed a few times in Taiwan and loved it. I usually don’t feel like planning anything and want to wander about. Living through someone else is one the laziest and thus my favorite way to travel. It just requires some time ahead to communicate and set dates. If you have the time to plan, I highly recommend it.

Work

Oh so much to do. Just choose and go!

Volunteering and Work Exchange

I highly recommend this too. Travelling too fast is detrimental to social life, unless you’re able to control yourself and Skype with friends and family at home frequently. Living in one place, developing relationships. It’s just good.

I also didn’t want to tie myself to an ESL gig for 6 months or a year, so instead I found an English teaching position on helpx for two weeks, which turned into two months.

Both sites are about the same. You can see helpx posts without paying. Workaway requires you to pay before seeing.

helpx
workaway

WWOOF – limited to organic farming

English as a Second Language (ESL)

Teaching English is a financially safe and logistically easy way to live in another country. A lot of people do this. Although safe and easy, it’s a real job that takes time and effort, 30-40+ hours a week. I believe you should try to do what you want. Be bold. Never compromise for financial safety.

Wikipedia article

Communication

The cheapest route is to just use an online service. If people need to contact you on demand, get a local or international SIM card, which should have free incoming calls. Of course, a GSM phone is needed.

Google Voice – voice over IP service. I ported my number to it before travelling, but I believe they give out free numbers too. My number is from the US, so I am able to use it to call US to US for free. Costs $20 to port my number. It worked with Verizon. About $0.02/minute to mobile devices in other countries. [todo: can I call my Google Voice number from a foreign phone, and relay a call?]
Talkatone – an iPhone app to make calls through Google Voice
Skype – free voice over IP service including video and instant messaging
Facetime – also free voice over IP service including video?
Prepaid SIM cards – can be really cheap, has free incoming call
– Taiwan
– Thailand
– DTAC – $20 per month for unlimited 3G data which I heavily tethered. It was amazing.
International SIM cards – World SIM, OneSimCard, TravelSim. I haven’t tried these, but it seems enticing for an all-in-one solution.
– India
– Airtel – I bought the 3GB then unlimited plan, tethered it a few times, and still haven’t used it up. It’s fast. I don’t know how slow it will become once I use up the 3GB.

Finance

I’m broke. You probably shouldn’t listen to me here.

Purchases

Use a credit card without foreign transaction fees when possible. If not, use cash. Avoid Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) — When a merchant asks to convert to your currency, say no, charge in the current currency you’re purchasing from.

Visa and mastercard exchange rates are much lower than banks, and much much lower than airports and hotels. 0.15% to 1.00% according to Visa’s website.

Credit card rewards programs are gibberish. I calculated that a 2% cash-back card trumps most travel cards, and it’s more convenient.

Withdrawals

Check the foreign transaction fee on your debit or ATM cards. Call your company, ask them if they can waive it during your trip. If not, try to get one without a fee. It’s usually 1%, 2%, 3%, or $5. Smaller banks have better rates.

Currency exchange rates:
Google
Visa
MasterCard

Vaccinations

Call your physician and use health insurance. Call your local public health department and use health insurance. Travel clinics should be the last choice, as they are the most expensive and often do not use health insurance.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention country list – contains routine and regional recommended vaccinations

Antimalarials

For long-term, the intake any antimalarials will likely display side effects. Taking none and avoiding mosquito bites seems like the best option. It’s not worth the side effects or money. It’s possibly overblown by overly cautious Westerners and drug companies. Besides, it’s curable.

For short-term, Atovaquone / Proguanil seems like the best option. Can use Cholorquine in areas where mosquitos are not resistant to it.

I’m not sure if it’s okay to change medicine.

Chloroquine:
Cheap. Low side effects, and family uses it without problems. Resisted in many areas.

Atovaquone/Proguanil (Malarone, Malanil):
Expensive ($4/daily pill). Low side effects. Difficult to find in non-industrialized countries.

Doxycycline:
Cheap. Tetracyclines are a general antibiotic which works against several diseases. Might be causing me digestion problems.

Mefloquine:
Kinda scary to me, as it has psychological and neurological side effects. The local doctor prescribed me this, but I’ll likely cancel it.

references:

http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/travelers/drugs.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimalarial_medication

http://www.doctortravel.ca/index.php?page=malaria

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/india.htm

My experience:
I took one before going to North Thailand, and I don’t recommend it. I don’t think it’s worth, in side effects and cost, taking any anti-malarial for long-term travelling.

I started taking Doxycycline once I knew I was going to bike through northwest Thailand. The medicine had few side effects and was noted as a helpful general antibiotic. It was causing indigestion and heartburn by the time I got to India. I think it was also screwing up my taste.

My family take Choloquine, and they say that they never had problems with it. It didn’t make sense to take that medicine either as the mosquitos in India are resistant to it.

Travel Resources

There’s a lot of guides, but remember to use it as just that: a guide. Choose your own path.

Wikitravel – This is an amazing resource, and it’s free
Travel.State.Gov – Important stuff
Triposo – I met someone who travelled with just this. It’s only for iOS and Android. I believe it gathers information from free sources like Wikitravel.
tripadvisor – I never used this
Lonely Planet – I used a book for Laos, it’s extremely convenient. The real book is far more convenient than the PDF versions. I think they’re worth it.
UNESCO World Heritage list
random guide books found at hostel book exchange bookcases
hostel staff
travelers
local people
no one

scraps, don’t look!

- house sitting
– trustedhousesitters (free)
– mindmyhouse ($20 annual)
– housecarers
– US only
– housekeeper’s gazette

- temporary housing and cultural exchange
– Couchsurfing
– BeWelcome
– Servas
– UN supported, oldest
– meh
– GlobalFreeloaders
– Hospitality Network
– Tripping

– Resources:
– http://gizmodo.com/5830251/how-to-couchsurf-and-not-get-killed

- work exchange
– Help Exchange (helpx), Workaway
– help and host
– no results for the countries I’m interested in
– http://www.moreofit.com/similar-to/www.workaway.info/Top_10_Sites_Like_Workaway/
– Caretaker’s Gazzette
– seems US heavy, and tourist parts of the carribean and central america
– work4travel
– seems tourist heavy

- farming
– WWOOF
– http://www.organicvolunteers.com
– Grow Food

- organization list
– http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/work/volunteer/index.shtml

- job/organization search engine
– idealist
– great source of organizations
– anyworkanywhere
– weak database

- organizations
– rotary
– a club, very cult personality ish
– interexchange
-http://www.interexchange.org/working-abroad/teaching-program/opportunities-available
– found through idealist
– http://www.nvda-asiapacific.org
– seems nice, mostly rural development
– http://nice1.sakura.ne.jp/e/wc_japan_e/wcj_e.html

- ESL in Asia
– tealit – Taiwan
– esldewey – Taiwan
– eslcafe – mostly Asia
– Jet Programme – Japan
– a lot more links
– http://www.esljobfeed.com ?
– http://www.eslemployment.com ?

– conclusion:
– Large chain schools have mixed reviews, as expected. It’s best to move first, find locations nearby, check it out yourself, then compare and decide. Don’t plan the whole thing before going.

– resources:
– http://www.keepingpaceinjapan.com/2010/01/better-know-language-school-gaba.html
– GABA is bad, try berlitz

comparison of ESL teaching in countries:
– http://eslteacherinkorea.blogspot.com/2010/05/korea-vs-taiwan-vs-japan-vs-hong-kong.html
– http://busyteacher.org/4791-top-5-countries-with-best-esl-salaries.html
– http://www.teflasia.com
– http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/work/esl/articles/bestplacesteachenglishasia.shtml

order: Taiwan == Korea > Japan. HK?

- housing
– http://www.jobmonkey.com/teaching/asia/html/short_stay.html
– cheap places to stay in japan
– http://www.tli.com.tw/EN/student_service/student_service.asp?ID=5

- other sites
– escape artist
– trashy site and content

banking:

- PayPal supports many countries including Taiwan, Korea, and Japan
– need to apply for a Taiwanese bank to store money in
– withdrawing from Taiwanese bank uses a poor exchange rate
- for large amounts, use wire transfer
- visa and mastercard exchange rates are much lower than banks, and much much lower than airports and hotels. .15 to 1% according to Visa’s website.
- be aware of credit card benefits
– http://www.mastercard.us/card-benefits.html
– http://usa.visa.com/personal/visa-signature/benefits/index.jsp

withdraw:
- my Wells Fargo debit card has a $5 flat fee, upto $2000 daily limit on ATM card, and ATM owner/operator may have seperate fee
– use at any visa or or any of the interbank networks on the back of the card — plus (visa), cirrus (mastercard), nyce (u.s. only), start (u.s. only)
– ATM locator, http://visa.via.infonow.net/locator/global/ResultsDisplayAction.do?uid=X574124-1343592848-ac130103
- ATM card with 1% fee, usually a small limit
– credit unions and small banks, large banks often charge more
– some online banks reimburse the visa/MC fee, or charge nothing

- do not use credit cards for cash advance
– my Capital One card has a “3% of cash advance; not less than $10″, but the 25% interest charge begins immediately, there is no grace period
– okay if you can pay it off the next day, might be good for small amounts

deposit:
- ask employer to pay through paypal, online banking, or direct deposit to US bank
- get Taiwanese bank and use wire transfer

accomodation:
hostel club
– not popular enough

Aggregate websites

http://www.hostelz.com

– aggregates top four sites
– do not need to book through hostels to write a review
– don’t see all of the reviews…?
Travellerspoint
– aggregates both

volunteering:

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/

– great articles

http://www.goworldtravel.com/volunteer-vacations-travel/

– organization list

http://www.nvda-asiapacific.org/5photoAlbum.html

– seems nice
HandsOn – more for people with jobs that want to fit volunteering during their off-times
Red Cross – medical would be interesting!

Leave a comment | Categories: Specific Guides, Travel

Universalism in Art

27 May 2012 by Rahil

I recently saw an elderly person perform stand-up comedy and it triggered the thought of universalism in art.

Humor from elderly people is almost always universal from my experience. Everyone probably has a humorous uncle that’s able to make the whole family laugh.

I personally wouldn’t ever want to create something targeted to a specific audience. For example, I wouldn’t want to create an movie based on a manga, which is likely targeted at the Japanese and Otaku population. I’d want to create a Miyazaki film. I don’t even think of anime when Miyazaki comes to mind. Yet, Miyazaki’s films possess many common characteristics of anime. Why? Because his work is universal; It’s able to reach to everyone.

This thought reminds me of when Jenova Chen mentioned wanting to create an experience that is as universal as Miyazaki.

Another example of universalism in art is Pokemon. Pokemon do not conform to any culture. They are creatures, quite different from real animals, having somewhat unique names (maybe they mean something in Japanese?). My mom doesn’t know anything about the show but when she hears “pikachu” in Ash’s pikachu’s voice, she associates it with the pokemon in her mind. That’s powerful. I believe the reason Pokemon was a success is because it is universal.

The same goes for many Disney films, and other things often revered by the public — The Godfather, Shawshank Redemption, Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Marvin Gaye, etc.

Universalism is achieved by avoiding references, cliches, and things that would limit the audience.

A digression
Hmm. Perhaps a method to create something universal is to figure out how to introduce something innovative to the broadest audience. Finding something specific in the world that you think is beautiful, and trying to show it to the world by making it more accessible.

Yeah. That sounds like the virtue of commercial art. Fine art doesn’t care for everyone else. It’s a little more pretentious.

I guess it’s a choice. Should one strive to create something universal (commercial) or not (fine)? I guess that’s up to the artist. Sometime’s it’s nice to have positive feedback from the public, instead of that 1% who actually understand the importance of those things in museums.

Leave a comment | Categories: Art, Personal, Uncategorized

Designing Educational Games: The Indie Way

30 April 2012 by Rahil

Contents

The Pitches

I attended the VINCI / Sid the Science Kid hackathon. It turned out to be a startup pitch event for developing an educational game using a VINCI tablet.

After I poorly pitched my game, I had a burning thought, the reason I had to write this post: I felt that the design behind technology in education is poor because of the designer’s approach and money.

I imagine when a typical educational game designer thinks of a game, they constrain the game to the limits of what they perceive a kid can do. Thus resulting in worthless passive games (think film with buttons).

I believe that if I was a kid and given any educational game from today, I would have played the game for 5 minutes and trashed it. I would have deemed that the game lacked value. Yep, even as a kid I had values.

Educational game designers could take few points from the current independent game scene. Indie game designers strive to let the player learn to play the game by playing the game, without a tutorial. Indie game designers also try to make a game as accessible as possible, so even a person who hasn’t been conditioned to a similar game can play.

I think one approach to this is to take a complex system and try to simplify the interface as much as possible, without losing the core functions. My game is essentially a simplified music composition application. What else can be simplified? How about other creative endeavors: writing a book, making a film, choreographing a dance, designing a house, designing a game. How about occupations: forensic scientist, nurse, documentarian, journalist, photographer.

The other problem is sadly money. If money already greatly influences the American education system, then it surely affects technology in education. The existence of a poorly marketed two-day $80,000 prize startup pitch event perfectly demonstrates the influence.

The end result: an indie game developer rants and another terrible educational game is funded.

The Pitches

I pitched two ideas, one with a team and one without.

The team pitch development started with many great ideas but became something monstrous and out of scope. Still, I don’t regret teaming up. I feel that having a team enforces the result product to be more accessible. My personal pitch is clearly a product of my personality, and likely only works for my kind.

My personal pitch was for a game in which the player draws to create music. The x-axis is time and y-axis is pitch. The game has pre-defined sounds it can recognize and indicates the player once found. For example, if the player draws a stick figure, the game recognizes and indicates the vertical line used for the body as a clap sound. The clap sound is now marked as discovered under a list of sounds. Perhaps there’s a sound below that for applause (with a play button beside it to play it). Now, since the player knows how to create a clapping sound, he may intuitively draw multiple vertical lines to create an applause sound. In the process, the player will learn how the game works and go on to try to mimic the other sounds listed.

The possible features are exactly those of any professional music making program. Colors (different instruments), sound recording, save composition function, etc. I imagine the core sounds would progress: make a crescendo, a decrescendo, a siren sound (wave), jingle bells (without pitch), jingle bells (with pitch).

I doubt my game will be chosen. It requires too much development time; It’s not feasible. The judges likely feel it’s too complex for a 5 year old. Yet, of all of the pitches, the only game I’d actually want to develop is my own.

UPDATE:
The team I was on won, but the misrepresentation of the prizes and the misorganization of the development process steered me away.

Leave a comment | Categories: Game Development, Games | Tags: educational games, independent games, pitch, San Francisco, startup, startup pitch, startup pitch event

RGBRGBRGB

31 March 2012 by Rahil

Play the game.

This is my entry Experimental Gameplay March 2012. The theme is economy. It is the result of developing a game without thinking about the core game mechanic first. It is a complete failure.

Controls:
Player 1/Player 2 – description

A/’ – Red
S/; – Green
D/L – Blue
F/K – hold and press RGB to direct military to retreat, halt, and attack
G/J – hold and press RGB to tell workers to get a specific resource (by default it auto-gathers)

Finger mapping:
Player 1, use right hand
Player 2, use left hand

Player 2′s controls mirrors Player 1

A/’ – index finger
S/; – middle finger
D/L – ring finger
F/K – little finger
G/J – little finger

How to play:
It’s just a simple real-time strategy game, except you play with a keyboard. Blue units gather resources, green do nothing as of now [supposed to research/upgrade], red can attack.

Other Notes:
As of now battles are sad due to lack of solid objects and pathfinding. Also, there is no win condition.

Post thoughts:

What was envisioned:
1000s of units, flocking, simple yet competitive gameplay (think Hokra), precise controls (think QWOP), color-collar workers (and a statement against classism), resource renewal (and a statement against resource consumption), map based off of image, able to upload map (MS paint is now a map editor!), large resolution to zoom in and out.

Why it didn’t work:
Decreasing the amount of player input increases the amount of AI programming. Competitive games require more balancing and tuning than non-competitive games. Multiplayer on the the same screen isn’t as fun because it lacks fog of war.

Also, I felt like crap while making this. It was forced. It just didn’t feel right.

Future:
I feel like a game could be created with these initial ideas, but I can’t bare to look at it again.

Leave a comment | Categories: Game Development, Games, Uncategorized | Tags: flashpunk, real-time strategy, rts

What makes a game meaningful and how innovative mechanics aren’t enough

25 March 2012 by Rahil

During the production of my first few game prototypes [September-November 2011], I was inspired to create games with new game mechanics. But now as I am creating this month’s EGP game, novel game mechanics are not enough for me. It’s not enough to motivate me to continue creating.

I am now gearing towards Jenova Chen’s philosophy. Making a game that causes the player to feel a certain way.

Thinking about film for a second, as films have greatly influenced me, I cannot think of an experimental film that greatly affected me. The films that the were meaningful to me, that influenced me, were ones that made me feel differently. [Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind did come to mind]

I can’t name many games that directly express a feeling. Most current great games have a novel game mechanic and fit the secondary art (story, graphics, music) around it [in good taste] to express the feeling: Ico (care), Shadow of the Collosus (epicness), Braid (enigmatic). Few games have a more direct approach: Dys4ia (frustration) [IMO, amazing], …But That Was [Yesterday] (sadness) and Between (lots!). Okay it seems now I’m just naming some of my favorite games. But perhaps that’s the reason they are my favorite. They were meaningful because they made me feel a certain way. They moved me.

Isn’t that the core of art, an expression of feeling?

What place do purely mechanical games such as (glancing at IGF) Spelunky, Antichamber, Beat Sneak Bandit, The Floor is Jelly, even the mechanically genius Storyteller have? In order for it to be meaningful to me, will these games have be fully developed, realized, harness an emotion for it to have a pronounced affect on me? [Botanicula did make me smile]

I think so. I don’t even care about most of those game as of now.

If Braid did not have the story, graphics, level design, and music that it did, would it have been great? I don’t think so. It would have just been another puzzle game with cool new mechanics. A forgotten IGF winner for best design. A squander.

The importance of “finishing your game” is reiterated. And by finish, it is implied to develop the game until every aspect is fully thought out, until you’ve spent years of your life creating something, something that somehow your life now depends on, in hope that it will be equally appreciated by others as it is to you.

Leave a comment | Categories: Game Development, Games, Personal | Tags: art game, emotional games

List of Game Ideas

15 March 2012 by Rahil

Somewhat experimental
Games based off of an input device:
iPad:
- Controlling an amoeba, heavy use of physics? Imagine flinging part of the amoeba outward to try to move it. Would have to play with it.

- The game of horse. One player creates the gesture, the second player must match it.

- When a player touches, a line connects each touch, allowing the player to create shapes. A simple game would be to let a variety of shaped objects fly by, and the goal would be for the player to try to accurately encapsulate the shape. Imagine a shape that has 10 vertices!

- A Mario Party / WarioWare like game. A bunch of mini games in which players compete or cooperate. Example game: drag the [single] coin to your corner. This may cause physical roughness. I haven’t played BUTTON, but it seems like I’m thinking of old ideas. =/

Games based off of feelings:
- A romantic game. I mean Wong Kar-Wai shit. Atmospheric. Poetic. Now with interactivity!
- A game that captures city loneliness. Hmm…

Games based off of a new game mechanic:
- A game in which you can move portions of an entire level, a room. When rooms are connected, the objects inside them can traverse through each room. Eh, difficult to explain in writing…

- 3D folding. See Fault Line by Nitrome for 2D version. Further thinking and exploration required.

- A two player game in which the players’ screens contradict each other (think Between by Jason Rohrer). The game could start out with the players’ screens matching (to condition the players what’s normal), then introduce differences. For example, the one player could be helping the other by feeding him cake, but on the other player’s screen it is shown as poison, and is only noticed through interaction.

- A game in which players play one at a time in order to create a story. Can even use an existing story making game. Hmmmm, I remember playing this on paper before…

- A slightly different idea. A game in which players play one at a time in order. The current player can see all of the past players actions. Each player goes through an avatar creation screen to create an avatar. The current player’s avatar interacts with a main character at some point in time, a memory. The choices the players make influence the main characters path. Will the players cause the main character to defeat the enemy, wonder aimlessly, or cause suicide? Players should be able to see past play-throughs of the game.

- A 2D game with multiple layers. The player must traverse the layers, complete actions within them, which combined, solves the puzzle.

- A game which uses microphone input to move a character around, which also emits sound waves. Think Metal Gear Solid. The player quietly says “up”, and the character moves up whilst emitting a small sound wave. A guard gets closer, the player panics and says “up” with a louder volume, the character moves up and emits an even larger sound wave. The sound wave mechanics can be explored. There could be items within the game that affect the sound waves in different ways: block it entirely, reduce the size, increase the size, rebound, invert. Could even make the game 3D. Devil Tuning Fork? So Pretty. Based off of an old prototype. Note to self: MAKE THIS HAPPEN. 2D, likely.

Non-experimental
Games that would be fun to make and play (party games?):
- A multiplayer game that requires the teamwork of 4 players. Each player has a certain occupation or skill.
- A one versus all multiplayer game. Any genre. For example, if it were a platformer, have 3 lakitus and one player

Games that are minutely different so that I can finish a game without killing myself:
- An auto-runner game, but in which you have to manipulate the obstacles

Games that could do well with a minimalist approach:
- The Settlers like game. Or make on that works.
- A real-time strategy game. A simplified Company of Heroes. Arena matches. 3 vs 3 units, 5 vs 5 units.

Games that express a statement:
- Occupy Wall Street – A game that simulate OWS. Top down, think Risk (board game), for each area of New York. The player can allocate protesters to each area. There would have been statistics for number of protesters, peacefulness, arrests, deaths, impact on the economy, etc. The main point was to show the player that peaceful protests do not work, only violence brings the attention of the public to make any useful change. Yeah, lame.

- Corporate Workplace – Eh, I had an idea, but this is overdone.

- Impact of Human Resource Consumption – Might make this for EGP 3/12. Mechanics should be similar to a Settlers game, or a god game, so it’ll be interesting enough to program.

Leave a comment | Categories: Game Development, Games, Uncategorized | Tags: artistic statement, creative process, feelings, game mechanic

Ridiculous Vending

14 March 2012 by Rahil

This is my half-assed entry for Experimental Gameplay Project March 2012. The theme is Economy. It’s an analog game! I’ll make a digital game soon…

Rules:

Each player (vendor) is given a set of n blank cards. N being the number of players or 5 at a minimum.
Each player draws a single item and duplicates it on all of their cards. Example items: A spaceship, Obama, a Macbook Pro, Excalibur, an empty tin can.
Each player writes the value of their item on the card. Example values: 1, 1 million, 1/3, 1283, $1.99, pie.
Each player keeps 5 cards in hand and discards the rest. (This is done so that players can evenly distribute their cards when they get eliminated)
The player with the highest valued item begins the first turn (barter).
Turn: The current player must barter with another player. The number of cards exchanged must be equal on both sides. Example barter: “I’ll trade 1 spaceship, 2 Obamas, and a Macbook Pro for 3 empty tin cans!”. The players exchange cards. The other player must now respond with the new total value of his goods within a time limit [5 seconds]. If the other player succeeds, the game continues. If the other player fails, the player is eliminated and must evenly distribute their cards among the remaining players.
If a round completes, the time limit decreases by [1 second]. The time limit resets to the default value once a player is eliminated.
The game continues until 2 players are left. In order for the final player to win, one player must fail a barter and the other player must succeed during the next barter.

Optional Rules:
Players must role-play as a vendor. Example vendors: the merchant from Resident Evil 4, Crazy Dave from Plants vs Zombies, an ambiguous Middle Eastern vendor.

WARNING:
This game has not been play-tested.

How this came about:
I actually wanted to make a game in Unity but my windows partition had insufficient space, so I started thinking about analog games and new media. The main idea was written during public transport. I worked it out a little more on a composition book. That’s it.

Leave a comment | Categories: Game Development, Games | Tags: analog game, big game, math game, physical game

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