Comments on: Now That’s Why I Love A Best 2008 Ever! June

By: EyeMessiah

EyeMessiah — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 19:19:43 +0000

Re: Exploration, Fun and Function

The most fun I have ever had exploring was one last-ditch effort at enjoying WoW by running a Bot. Re-discovering zones in a whole new way while prospecting for good spots to run the bot was surprisingly magical because the pretty views were suddenly meaningful by virtue of the fact that the extensive logistical concerns involved in running the bot optimally (and non-antisocially) gave the terrain features functional meaning. That sounds dry on paper, but for me it suddenly made the WoW environments seem fascinating and very much more “Real”.

I think there is a definite tension in a lot of discussions of providing a exploration experience in games because people worry that exploration for explorations sake might not be enough for many gamers. The solution is simple imho; make the terrain meaningful i.e. make it part of the game mechanics. How much fun would a fantasy SP game where you are a scout for an army be? You move ahead of the front line unexplored enemy territory and pick out safe routes, identify defensible locations for the troops to camp and stage ambushes & battles. It need not even have any actual combat in it, just stealthing around, surveying and returning to the battle group to make your recommendations. I’d preorder that game now if someone would make it!

Anyway my point is that in the real world explorers of old were generally roaming about for some kind of reason and although I am sure they derived a lot of pleasure from being the first of their kind to take in the nice views the activity itself was made meaningful by the practical concerns they were satisfying (securing resources, plotting troop movements, scoping out regions for new places to colonise e.t.c.) and these imho are the sort of considerations that would really make an exploration game “work”.

By: Dreamhacker

Dreamhacker — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 14:33:39 +0000

Oh, there is crime (mostly petty thefts) at Dreamhack. Just not a lot. Mice and keyboards live dangerously, but the people who go there sit in groups of friends, so they can usually look out for each others stuff.

I want to visit DH some time. The only thing that has hindered me so far is this thing called Broadband.

By: tentacleraep

tentacleraep — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:08:05 +0000

You really need to come to DreamHack next year, its awesome!

By: Jim Rossignol

Jim Rossignol — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 08:44:04 +0000

I’ll take a look at that, thanks.

By: Viperion

Viperion — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 08:24:06 +0000

Reading the exploration piece again makes me wonder, Jim, if you’ve played Transcendence, and what you think of it? If you haven’t, I guess the best way to describe it is sort of a rouge-like Elite, but with more story-line. It’s freeware, with continuing development, an extensible architecture, and solid, simple but deep gameplay. I don’t recall ever seeing anything on it on big game sites, and it’s a mature, highly polished game. It is to me almost the perfect game in concept, and while not perfectly executed, very well done.

By: Ben Abraham

Ben Abraham — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:39:56 +0000

I liked limbo of the lost. And by liked it I mean I loved the internet detectivery it inspired and the hilarious coverage. Is it getting a sequel anytime soon?

By: Dorian Cornelius Jasper

Dorian Cornelius Jasper — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 00:08:24 +0000

DMC4 PC is the definitive version. If you like this kind of game.

…

And I do.

By: jonfitt

jonfitt — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:20:24 +0000

@hydra9:
Yeah I couldn’t find any website for Alex himself, just old Noctis IV stuff. I hope he’s still working on it somewhere.
I vaguely remember seeing a game like this with much better graphics possibly in a PCGamer somewhere. Could be imagining it though.

By: hydra9

hydra9 — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:44:46 +0000

@jonfitt:
If you can get to grips with it, Noctis is a pretty amazing exploration game… for a while. And the 320×240 graphics have a unique style to them that, when you see them in motion, manages to evoke a real feeling of ‘being there’ via grainy lo-tech suit-cam vision.

In the end, it becomes rather too aimless and repetitive though. Plus some of the planets are *really* garishly coloured.

And Noctis V is becoming the indie version of Duke Nukem Forever…

By: jonfitt

jonfitt — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:10:50 +0000

If you’re looking for exploration, have you tried Noctis IV?
http://anywherebb.com/
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/17541

It sounds great, but I don’t think I could overcome the 320×240 graphics.

Roll on Noctis V

By: subedii

subedii — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:17:50 +0000

Ahem, ANYWAY, DMC4 really was a great game on the PC, and anyone even partly interested should try it. The demo is fairly short, but if you try to get through say, the three Frosts without taking a single hit, you might begin to understand why it’s so fun. Even if you can’t manage it, just trying will give you a rough idea of what the game’s all about.

I’d never played a DMC game until it came out, and even I’ve just finished going through a “Hell or Hell” run. I never expected to put so much time into it, but it’s one of the few games where running through on the harder difficulty levels was still fun.

What I really appreciate is them going the extra mile with the PC port and including “Legendary Dark Knight” mode to take advantage of the extra available processing power. It’s the kind of enemy density that they WANTED to put on the consoles but simply couldn’t achieve without dropping the framerate below 60. In LDK mode, where you’d ordinarily face off against 5-6 foes maximum at any one time, you’re literally fighting through screen filling WAVES of monsters. It’s awesome.

By: Pantsman

Pantsman — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:05:06 +0000

Also, I forgot to mention how amazed I was that LotL got good reviews from adventure game enthusiast sites. What does that say about them, and about the genre? That’s a discussion I’d be interested to see you RPS guys get into.