grep ‐‐week 49

The theme this week is: building momentum.

“As developers try to tell stories beyond the theme of ‘survival’, they’re bucking up against an increasingly archaic central mechanic.” –Lucy O’Brien

Are guns in video games holding the medium back?
@ign
Another story following the themes I pointed out in grep –week 47.  Many journalists and developers seem to be on the same page about the potential (and perhaps the need) for games to evolve, but publishers have spent decades marginalizing the market to the point where you have to wonder if it’s economically feasible at this point.

Watch Dogs 2 Would Be Better Without Guns
@gameinformer
Whoa now — two bro gamer mainstream video game press outlets penning anti-gun pieces in the same week?  Maybe there’s hope after all… until you read the comments section — did you know that if you don’t like committing simulated murder in a video game, then you are outside of the mainstream?  This doesn’t help my belief that AAA has jumped the shark and will never be able to make games for anyone other than niche bro gamers (you know, ‘mainstream’).

Don’t ignore the trolls
@gamesindustry
Why does the video game community so regularly threaten people’s lives?  Is there any other community where this happens so often?  No?  Ok then.

“I think the people of the 22nd century will mock our astonishment at pointing a cursor at a 3D representation of a human and watching them go ragdoll.” –Frank Cifaldi

No Man’s Sky cleared in false advertising investigation
@engadget
I imagine this is the first sort of legal ruling involving procedural content.  Hopefully the internet can finally turn the page on this story, especially with the apparent new massive content update that just dropped, but it remains to be seen how long ‘procedural’ remains a dirty word in the press.

Do game characters need emotions?
@theguardian
“The commercial industry has had no immediate use for these fascinating innovations.”  Obviously a matter of perspective, and this is the accepted perspective of the publishers that define our industry.  But as I’ve been saying, I suspect that the future of games may require investment in emotional technologies, and not just violence, if we want to stay (or become) relevant.

Moon Hunters & Procedural Space
@gamasutra
YAMHA — yet another Moon Hunters article.  Why haven’t I bought this game yet?  It looks great.  Oh right, cuz I’m playing…

Review: Starbound
@pcpowerplay
Starbound!  Minecraft in space!  (ignore the tone of the article I linked, which was clearly written by a jaded early access player who should’ve waited until v1.0 was released.)  I love this game.  I’m starting to wonder how much of the content like villages, castles, etc. are canned or if they are all truly procedural.  The wildlife is procgen, which is neat.  One thing the game definitely gets right is the feel of exploring a vast procedural space.  In Minecraft you know the world is nearly infinite, but mostly in an academic sense.  In practice (at least on every server I’ve ever played on) you are mostly limited to the area around where you first spawned, and maybe sometimes someone feels frisky and tries to build a highway through hell to some other area far away.  Starbound puts a restriction on the size of each planet, which paradoxically enhances the feel of exploration.  Choosing a new planet to land on feels like opening a birthday present every time.  Maybe this will wear off eventually, but I’m 30 hours in and I’ve yet to even orbit most of the star types let alone land on all of the planet types, so I doubt it.

On the generation of procedural organs
@gamasutra
Procedurally generated monster organs.  Yup.

The Definitive Interview With Ed Boon
@gameinformer
Lastly I have to include this fantastic interview with Ed Boon.  Did you know Steve Ritchie was the ‘FINISH HIM!’ voice??

I remember asking him, which was kind of dumb at the time, “Do people program pinball machines?” –Ed Boon