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Patreon Newsletter - January 2016
🕑 Added 2016-01-31 16:30:43 +0000 UTC You guys. You guys! I've been absolutely overwhelmed by your generosity this month - and it couldn't have come at a better time. My Mac died mid-way through January and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make good on my obligations - but here I am, with a working computer and two GMT videos finished and online. Phew!Post Script
Let's kick things off with a look back at this month's episodes
Anatomy of a Side Quest: Beyond the Beef
I came up with the idea for this episode - breaking down a quest's permutations to see how it offers opportunities for role playing - while playing Fallout 4. But after a little testing and research, it became obvious - this ain't the right game for it.
Fallout 4's quests are often very linear, and the lack of skill checks and the weird new perk system give you little choice in how you tackle a mission.
Looking online, it became clear that the game I was actually looking for is Fallout: New Vegas - a game I didn't really like when it first came out. I hadn't played many WRPGs back then, and went in purely because I enjoyed Fallout 3, and found a game that went on and on and on with the talking and the chatting and the yapping. Yeesh!
But I dunno, I picked it up again (found a copy for £5 - I spend your patronage wisely!), took it for what it was - a game where shooting was always the least interesting choice - and became utterly engrossed. I'm still playing it now.
Anyway, as for making the video: no, I didn't play New Vegas five times. I researched what skills were needed for Beyond the Beef and made (and upgraded) a jack-of-all-trades character that would be able to handle all the different paths (with the judicious use of those skill-raising magazines).
Then it was a case of saving outside the Ultra Lux, doing the quest one way, reload the save, do it another, and so on.
Initially the video was going to just explain all the different choices you could make at each step like a monster flow chart but it was boring and confusing. So I decided to break it down into five quite different playthroughs. There are even more options than this, but you get the picture.
Anyway, a fun episode to make and it got a good response - including a tweet from Obsidian and the quest's designer Eric Fenstermaker. That's always a thrill.
This video hit on a bunch of things in my imaginary "mission statement" for GMT:
- To mine existing games for ideas that can be applied to new games.
- To pass on knowledge from super smart designer people.
- To reveal the hidden genius behind your favourite games.
So that was nice. Also the video was a lot of fun to make, and seemed to arrive in a time of Doom hysteria - John Romero just put out a new level (sadly haven't had time to play it yet), and Doom 4 (aka "Doom" - I thought we kicked this habit with "Alone in the Dark" and "Sonic the Hedgehog") is coming soon.
As usual, I had to make a choice of how to represent a classic game. Do I use one of the fancy widescreen versions? Do I run it at a higher resolution? Do I play with a mod like Brutal Doom? Nah - you should know me by now, I try and go for the most iconic and authentic version of the game. The one people will actually associate with Doom.
So that's why you get Doom in all its 320x200 glory, and blown up to 1080p. Pixels so big and sharp you could cut yourself on them - yummy.
Oh, and I kept it to Doom instead of bringing in Doom II, but here's a great forum post on how the enemies in the sequel demand even more advanced tactics and movement. I may have to do an addendum video at some point...
Sneak Peek
So what am I working on next? Well, nothing right now. But I have a bunch of things I'm thinking about so feel free to give thoughts and ideas for any of the below:
Darkest Dungeon is a game that models the mental health of your RPG party members. And it's a lot more nuanced than the sanity systems seen in games like Eternal Darkness and tabletop games like Call of Cthulu.
Have you every played a game that feels like you're controlling humans, instead of faultless heroes? And is it possible to turn mental health into a gameplay system without trivialising it?
In the Twilight Princess remake, you'll be able to touch a Link or Zelda amiibo to your Wii U gamepad to replenish your arrows or hearts. Putting a helpful option on a £11 figure is getting a little close to mobile-style microtransactions, if you ask me! Nintendo previously offered such assistance for free, with things like the Mario super guide.
How have other developers helped you get through the hard parts or eased frustration, without charging. (Such as: MGS V's chicken hat, rewinding time in racing games, and cheats).
I'd really like to do an "Anatomy of a Zelda Dungeon", in the same vein as the New Vegas side quest. I'm just trying to pick the right one - currently, I'm considering a couple dungeons from Skyward Sword.
What's your favourite Zelda dungeon? What separates a good Zelda dungeon from an awesome one?
One thought lingered after making the New Vegas video: talking to people was the most interesting way to finish the quest - but gameplay wise, it's more challenging and dynamic to just shoot everyone.
What gameplay mechanics exist for games that don't involve combat? There are puzzles and traversal - but have you played a game where talking to someone was as tense as being in a firefight with them (I have - but I'll save that for the video!)?
That'll do for now. I shouldn't give away all my ideas! Suffice to say, I've got plenty on my mind, now I just have to decide which episode to focus on.
Mark's Month
January, for me, was a month mostly comprised of Fallout New Vegas, Doom, and trips back and forth to the Apple Store. But I have been cooling off these last few days with The Witness.
I adore this game. As someone who loves puzzle games, prefers organic tutorials, and likes going at my own pace, The Witness really appeals to me. It's also astonishingly pretty, and has a lot of enigmatic stuff that I'm keen to uncover.
I played a little Assassin's Creed Syndicate but, aside from the fab portrayal of Victorian London, it hasn't grabbed me. Plenty to look forward to in February, though: XCOM 2, Firewatch, Project X Zone 2, Fire Emblem Fates, Far Cry Primal, and more. I'm going to be busy...
Also this month I went to the Pocket Gamer Connects expo in London. I met a bunch of GMT viewers, which was fun and super weird. And once again got a chance to play a bunch of upcoming games and give feedback direct to developers in our Big Indie Pitch event.
Reading List
Each month I'll share some videos and articles I've enjoyed. This time...
Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) happened this month. I didn't get a chance to see many runs, but I did watch this utterly bonkers showcase of Stepmania. It looks super human. Here's what the speed runner's buddy said:
It's worth mentioning that these are not memorised. At high levels of play, what you do is build up muscle memory of every basic kind of pattern of notes and you stare at the screen and when you see that pattern you just reflexively hit it when it reaches the top. There's no conscious thought whatsoever.
Also in the world of speed runners, this guy gets interrupted by his buddy while attempting to break the world record speed run for Luigi's Mansion and handles the situation like a pro.
On the opposite end of the speed run spectrum, this demonstration of how a guy can finish a Super Mario 64 level with a "half A press" is the most bonkers thing I've seen in a long time. A tantalising quote:
You're probably wondering what I'm gonna need all this speed for. After all, I do build up speed for 12 hours. But to answer that, we need to talk about parallel universes.
Wut.
In the news, pirates reckon that advances in DRM tech will soon spell an end to video game piracy. That's great, but it's worth remembering that pirates do an incredible (if coincidental) service for game preservation. Long after a game has been forgotten by its publisher, it will still be on the Pirate Bay.
Also, Google built an AI that can play Go and defeat human champions of the game. It does this by learning the best moves from human experts, and then playing thousands of matches against its neural networks to learn the best strategies.
Go is a game of profound complexity. There are 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 possible positions—that’s more than the number of atoms in the universe.
The robot apocalypse just got one step closer.
Also of note: the IGF finalists were announced. If you're interested in the future of games you should endeavour to play the games on the Seumas McNally Grand Prize list, at least. I've tried (and enjoyed) them all except Keep Talking & Nobody Explodes - need to find a willing partner for that one!
In the world of games criticism. Chris Franklin at Errant Signal has a moving and personal reaction to The Beginner's Guide, as he sees a aspects of himself and his past YouTube work in (the fictional) Davey Wreden's breakdown.
Either I'm seeking validation for telling you all what I think about this game, or I'm boiling a human being down to one of his projects? ... Jesus, is this what I've been doing for the last four years? ... I think I'm gonna have to figure out what I'm doing with this show.
Elsewhere, Into the Black is an ode to the simple joy of exploration (and how that can be spoilt by trinkets and achievements).
These guys did the maths to figure out if Skyward Sword's motion controls are broken. And did you know that Bungie's mostly-forgotten beat 'em up Oni has a fervent mod scene? Oh, and this breakdown of how the soundscape works in GTA is interesting.
In the world of film analysis, I liked this analysis of Prisoners, this breakdown of all the homages to cinema in Pixar films, and this essay on composition. As for music, the BBC put out a track-by-track breakdown of David Bowie's Heroes. If you like this sort of thing, make sure you listen to the podcast Song Exploder.
See you next month!
Comments
LostEcho
I am extremely interested in what you do have to say about Zelda dungeons since Zelda is my favorite game franchise ever. So here's my take on it, since you're interested in Skyward Sword dungeons I would like to point out the Ancient Cistern. What makes a Zelda dungeon amazing in my opinion is how it makes you think through its puzzles to advance but also through its hidden signs to uncover what it might have been used for in the past, the history of the dungeon which is never directly given, its hidden lore. I like the Ancient Cistern in the aspect that it shows a golden looking utopia at first, but as you travel the dungeon you uncover the nightmarish underground which looks like hell with zombie like enemies and a significantly harder gameplay sequence compared to the surface. In addition to the dungeon boss which is a golden set of armor possessed by dark matter, it suggests that this place might have been once a prosperous place guarded by this automaton but when this very guard was corrupted everyone fled and darkness started rising. Maybe the Ancient Cistern is a seal to this hellish place and this seal is weakening, in the image of the Sealing Grounds. Other dungeons that execute this concept well are the Temple of Time in Twilight Princess which ties to the one from Ocarina of Time, and the Shadow Temple from Ocarina of Time which explores the dark history of Hyrule while giving away a unique feeling similar to a horror game. Speaking of horror games, I'd like to talk about your other question: "There are puzzles and traversal - but have you played a game where talking to someone was as tense as being in a firefight with them (I have - but I'll save that for the video!)?", horror games I played typically do that, the game I'm thinking of is Corpse Party: Blood Covered - Repeated Fear. In this game, the menace of loosing someone of the cast is constantly present, some of them will die no matter what others won't but some of them can die if you get caught in certain chase sequences in the game or if you neglect exploring a room or if a ghost talks to you and you make it angry, which makes the player feel tension constantly throughout the game in fear of doing something wrong and be greeted with a game over which is basically an atrocious alternative ending which the game calls "Wrong End", or worse you could find yourself in a dead end because you missed something and you can't finish the game and have to restart the chapter, which happened to me and it filled me with desperation honestly because there was no way to go forward, until I checked a walkthrough. Another game that nails this is Shin Megami Tensei IV, in which you have to recruit demons in fight by persuading them and more often than not, you find yourself deep in a dungeon with low hp and resources, several of your demons dead and the only way to get out of this is negotiate with the enemy demon in order for him to join you and survive, which leads to pretty stressful moments. Finally about mental health, if I recall correctly, the ending in Corpse Party would differ according to how well the cast gets along with each other and the player has a hand in this. What I am sure of though is in the game Ib *spoilers alert*, the main antagonist is part of the player party for most of the game and depending on how much she's friends with the main character the ending would be good or bad. And an important sequence in the measuring of this "friendship" is this: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quS2jNzbN4A." rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quS2jNzbN4A.</a> If Garry fails to get out of the room it wouldn't have a direct consequence but the ending would most definitely be a bad ending, in which Garry dies if I recall correctly. So this is what I have to say about the elements you suggested, I know this comment was pretty long but you got me really hooked here, , I hope what I had to say was helpful. Hoping for a great month and great videos and keep up the wonderful work Mark!
Laurence
For your question about mental health and gameplay, I think the Clock Tower series is a good starting point. In its spin-off, Haunting Ground, stalkers will chase Fiona (the main character) around the castle she's trapped in and while she has her dog hewie to help her defend herself as well as a few moves, ultimately she can never kill any of them outside of a "boss fight" (for lack of a better term), meaning she always has to outrun her pursuer and hide to survive. This isn't an unusual idea, but what makes Haunting Ground unique is that its core mechanic is a panic system around which most of the game's design revolves. When chased by a stalker, Fiona will become more and more nervous and if she takes enough damage or encounters one of the game's other "stressors", she enters panic mode. During panic mode, the screen becomes black and white, Fiona can be heard breathing heavily and screaming, the screen pulses in rhythm with the sound of her heartbeat and it's very hard to control where she runs. If Fiona takes damage in full panic mode, it's game over. Outside of a cutscene the only ways to know that a chase is about to start are by listening to audio cues such a Hewie growling, footsteps or the soundtrack fading out. Of course sometimes the soundtrack will just fade out by itself, just to make you a little more on edge because why not. So, instead of only being scared when pursued, the player is on edge at all times. To keep Fiona alive, they need to keep her sane first and foremost, especially since an attack could come from almost anywhere and anytime. When Fiona hides, it's not guaranteed that the stalker will not find her. If a stalker happens to find Fiona while she's hiding, it will not longer be possible for her to use that hiding spot in the future without being found by the stalker right away. This creates the illusion of a time limit the player has to explore a section before reaching the main objective and moving on as they start to run out of hiding spots. That's scary. The skill and determination to find Fiona when she's in hiding partially depends on the stalker's personality, which forces the player to be quicker on their feet as they get know the enemy and adapt their survival strategies. That's also scary. There are also lots of other stress factors that I won't get into here (including traps and an item that can make the Fiona deaf, nothing less), but basically this game is trying really hard to scare the player (it is a survival horror game after all), which in turn will change how they play and manage to preserve Fiona's sanity. So there you go, I'm sorry if this comment a bit long but I think it's a really good example of how a game deals with sanity without trivializing it!
Gordon Freischlad
(AAak pressing enter keeps sending my response instead of letting me start a new line and paragraph) Day9 also mentions the frustration and learning leads to Flow which is one of the most amazxing parts of action oriented gameplay. Anyway looking forward what you have to say, Mark!
Gordon Freischlad
I am excited to hear your thoughts about easing frustration through difficult parts. I watch a streamer called Day9 and he has spoken at length on frustration being one of his favorite parts of video games. The persistence needed for success drives the learning making the success feel that much better and the feeling of improvement is great too. Sometimes playing through an RPG that doesn't have gameplay difficulty increasing throughout the game doesn't feel very great towards the end because you just have powerful gear/spells/etc. Feeling powerful is nice, but I think feeling smart or skilled feels better. Day9 also mentions
Gordon Freischlad
I absolutely adore Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. My tip is to find 2-4 other people to play with instead of just one. It behaves a lot more like a tabletop game than most games due to it's asymmetry. I had the pleasure of playing this at PAX South last weekend with the guy who has THE youtube video(<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BhHkvHcUfo)" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BhHkvHcUfo)</a> that went viral on reddit and other places, popularizing the game.
XanderHD
Thanks for the newsletter!
Martin Baláž
I would love to see a video about Darkest Dungeon or The Witness, with some analysis about why these games work so well. Thanks for January videos and keep up the good work!
