Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=559https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3056GAMEPLAY: The second time around, I tried out Normal mode a bit (Twin Stick and Double Play modes would have been awkward with just the keyboard). I found Normal mode a lot more difficult because you have to be facing in the direction you shoot, and if you want to turn, you have to stop shooting for a little while. Also, my keyboard control is still kind of shaky. After that I went back to Mouse mode. I had several games that were about par for the course, but on the last game I played before writing this, I did much better. I had realised that since shooting in Mouse mode is easy, the important part where most of my attention needs to be is controlling the boat. With that in mind, I got past the first boss without losing a life, and breezed through waves of enemies before my game finally ended a little after the second boss (which I hadn't previously beaten). That last game, I definitely experienced flow. I think this had to do with the fast, but not uniform, pace - there are often small breathers in between groups of enemies, and easy groups mixed in with the hard ones. Another thing is that the controls are pretty intuitive. Also, as I previously mentioned, as one keeps playing, the game gradually gets harder. Some aspects also seem to be randomized, so that while there isn't a lot of intellectual work involved, it never gets completely mindless. Rather, in order to play well, you really need to focus. So far no two games have been the same. I had a blast playing this game, though it was very intense and I was often unable to play more than two or three games in a row. After that last game, I was shaking, so I just sat back and watched the replay. DESIGN: Rather than making the game set in stone, the designer allowed many things to change from game to game, including the difficulty - gradually one starts to see new kinds of missiles with different movement patterns, as well as bigger or more ships that weren't there the first time through. This has the effect of making the game very replayable, and of preventing players from memorizing how to get through a given section of the gameworld. Another thing is the movement. Rather than scrolling continuously, the screen scrolls as the player move forward/up (but not back/down). The player can move in two dimensions within the boundaries of the screen as well, and the ship turns as they do so. If the player does no move up the screen, the enemies begin to descend to meet them, and it's also possible for the small enemy ships to push the player around. The movement confines the player to the intended goals of the game. The graphics on this game are also very interesting. They look very flat at first glance - overlapping green or blue squares for land and sea, solid-colored ships and missiles with outlines around them - but there's some use of perspective, so that some structures look different depending on their position relative to the camera. About the only thing I would change about the game would be to increase the contrast - it's sometimes a little hard to tell what's going on. I might also recolor the player's ship - it's only a little bigger and a little differently colored than some of the enemy missiles, so sometimes I find myself getting distracted and getting in trouble.Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:20:13 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3056&iddiary=5817https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3056SUMMARY: Gunroar is a vertically scrolling 2D shooter in the style of a space shooter, but the player controls a boat. There are four modes - Normal, in which the player controls one boat with the keyboard or a joystick, Mouse, in which the player uses the mouse and the keyboard, Double Play, in which the player has two boats, and Twin Stick, in which the player uses two joysticks or the keyboard to control the boat and turret separately. There is no real story - just shoot anything that moves. The game tracks the highest score for each mode and records a replay of the last game played. GAMEPLAY: I stuck to Mouse mode for this first session. At first I found the controls a little confusing. Though the readme informed me that in Mouse mode, the mouse controls the gun turret while the keyboard controls the ship, I kept expecting the ship to follow the mouse, so I died pretty quickly at first. Once I got a hang of the controls and started to be able to made sense of the mess of bullets and ships on the screen, I really started to enjoy myself. The music is energetic, and speeds up as the action does, slowing down or stopping when no enemies are present. The graphics are simple, but kind of cool-looking in a stylized way. Collision detection seems pretty forgiving, or else I'm sure I would have died much more frequently than I did. There seems to be a certain amount of depth to the game - I started to see different types of missiles appear after I'd played several times and was starting to get higher scores. In general it's not too hard to get some ways in, especially using the mouse, because that makes shooting easy. You have the choice of using either a narrow or broad spread of missiles, and there are bits of land that stop them (as well as stopping the ship). But of course the land stops enemy missiles as well. The one time it did get really hard was a while after the first boss, in an area where there were suddenly quite a few enemies. Most of them were the smallest, easiest to destroy type, but not all. Another thing I liked, and I think this is a pretty common feature of the genre though I have little experience with it, was that it moved pretty quickly. I could play for a few minutes, feel like I'd gotten somewhere, and then I'd die and I could go off and do something else if I wanted - not that I always wanted.Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:18:18 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3056&iddiary=5720https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2726GAMEPLAY: This time I tried several of the stages again. I had a bit more success this time, finding another couple of stars, but still failed many times (enough to have to go back to the start screen more than once), which was frustrating. I began to feel that I wasn't getting good enough fast enough. Part of the problem was that I went into the game not so much wanting to win or relax or have fun, but play for a set amount of time. Also I think that the atmosphere (the game lab at the library) contributed to this mindset, which is very different from the one in which I approached Super Mario Bros. Deluxe back in the day. However, I experienced that same frustration back then, which is what kept me from ever beating the game. Several times I raced down another sort of slide against a penguin. I would catch up quickly, but lose control and plummet over the side. After a while I changed my goal to just reaching the bottom intact, but wasn't able to accomplish it. DESIGN: One of the most interesting aspects of the design, to me, was the way in which the game funnels the player down a specific path to the goal. In spite of the apparently fairly open 3D environment, there seem to be one or two ways to reach each goal. The game does this by limiting Mario's movement options - he can run or walk on flat surfaces or slight slopes, slide down steep slopes, jump a limited height, swim (but only hold his breath a limited time), and fall. Then there are obstacles that Mario cannot surmount, and thus must work around. In one level, for instance, the player has to get Mario to a floating island. There are a couple of cannons on the level, and by getting into one of them, I was able to shoot Mario to the island. In this way, the player's options are not really very much greater than they were in the earlier 2D games, though they seem to be. The danger, of course, is making it difficult to tell what is a useable route and which was is the destination. The levels are relatively small, which limits this problem. It was also possible to play the game in a variety of orders and replay stages multiple times. Some doors were locked, but beyond that, no set story order was established.Thu, 21 Feb 2008 01:07:07 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2726&iddiary=5302https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2726SUMMARY: Super Mario 64 is an early 3D platformer for the Nintendo 64, the first 3D installment in the Mario series. It was groudbreaking in that it showed what a good 3D platformer could do more than any previous game. GAMEPLAY: Having never played Super Mario 64 before, I spent the first few minutes figuring out the controls. Then I explored the castle a bit and got a bit lost. I ran into a lot of walls and railings. The first few stages I tried I screwed up pretty badly, repeatedly falling down the same pit and such. I began to get really frustrated - the basic controls seem a lot harder than the main other game I'd played from the series, Super Mario Brothers Deluxe for the Gameboy Color. The main issue of course was the 3D, which makes it a lot harder to tell where one will land, though fortunately the collision detection is pretty forgiving (you don't have to land perfectly on a mushroom to smoosh it). After that I played through a section in which you slide down a big ramp, collecting coins, until you get to the star at the bottom. I enjoyed that so much I played it twice. I have to say that sliding is one of my favorite things about this game in general. Later, I tried a stage where I mostly got lost and couldn't figure out where to go, though it was nicer to not die as much. Eventually I did get through, finding the star, but it was not entirely obvious to me what I was supposed to do - another change partly thanks to the 3D. In the room with me were some quiet people (at first) then some people loudly playing a multiplayer game, which contributed to my annoyance.Wed, 20 Feb 2008 18:49:51 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2726&iddiary=5125https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2552First off, I had technical difficulties submitting the first log, so there was a bit of a delay. GAMEPLAY: I got a bit farther in the game. I got to the point where I was impatient with my reading skills (or rather, lack thereof) and would just glance at the speech bubbles before going on. Also, I turned off the music for a while, because it got really annoying. I turned it back on for the battle, though. A little more background. Angelic Layer is set in (more or less) modern-day Tokyo, but an alternate reality where Anglic Layer is a super-popular high-tech toy. It involves putting on a headset to control a doll to fight other dolls. The main character is a young girl just getting into it. I found it a bit frustrating, since it took me a while to figure out the controls for the battle... moving the character, the doll, was easy, but the attack and defense controls are odd, and I couldn't fully understand the instructions. DESIGN: This game is very very linear. The player is, at least thus far, confined strictly to the bounds of the anime's story. It's pleasant enough, and it means that even with my poor Japanese I can still follow the plot, but it's a bit frustrating. It is a common choice for licensed titles, though. The battle system is odd. I can't say I've ever seen anything exactly like it. Superficially, it does resemble Megaman Battle Network, as I said in the previous entry, in that it takes place on a similar 3x6 grid and is loosely turn-based, but the attack system is different. The doll, Hikaru, only has fairly short-range martial-arts type attacks, but she (?) has a pretty free range of movement. When you attack, a bar comes up on the bottom with an indication of what key to press, and it moves sideways. When it reaches a marker on the screen, you're supposed to press the button. If your timing is good enough, you make an attack. The guard system is similar - depending on what button you press, you can either try to guard or escape (oddly, written in English) and avoid some (perhaps all) damage. Also, if you screw up, your "concentration" score goes down, but I have yet to see this affect play, and it goes up again fairly quickly. You can win a battle either by reducing your opponent's health to nothing, or by knocking them out of the battle arena (the "Layer") which you do by hitting them with a strong attack while they stand on the edge. I'd have to say the battle system is the most innovative part of the game. It somewhat resembles the various rhythm games (of which I know Dance Dance Revolution the best), but has to disadvatage that the button presses are not in time to the music. I may start to like it better as I continue to play, but for now it seems a bit awkward... it definitely doesn't have the draw of a game like DDR. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:57:49.)Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:55:00 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2552&iddiary=4879https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2552SUMMARY: Kidou Tenshi Angelic Layer is a Japanese RPG based on the Angelic Layer animated series, though that in turn was based on a comic book. The game incorporates elements from the show, such as video and audio clips. Otherwise, it uses a super-deformed isometric visual style, similar to that found in many older Japanese RPGs. There is a combat mode that seems reminiscent of the Megaman NT Warrior/Rockman.exe games, though I'm not sure which came first. GAMEPLAY: I was eager to play this game finally after years of fandom and inability to find it. I played by myself in a quiet room (although a cat was moving in and out). The only sound was the game's music, which is rather repetitive and tinny, typical of a GBA game. The sound quality on the occasional clips of the voice actors is surprisingly good, though such clips are few and far between. Honestly, I haven't experienced much gameplay yet. So far I've gone through a good bit of the first episode plot, but it's been slow going, since my Japanese is not really up to the task. Maybe this was a bad choice of game, in that way. The controls are easy thus far. The main downside is the font, which is really hard to read. It has a lot to do with the GBA's low resolution, but the kanji (Chinese characters) are nearly unreadable, and give me a bit of a headache. Otherwise, it's kind of fun playing though the plot of one of my favorite comic books.Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:36:23 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2552&iddiary=4864https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1961GAMEPLAY This time I played with a friend of mine, who was much more experienced. There were also other people in the game lab, but they were quiet. We played versus mode with two computer characters. I tried playing as several characters as did she, and we played around with different color schemes and AI skill levels. I found it a much more frustrating experience, because the opponents were more difficult and I really still suck. We didn't do any real smack talk but instead talked about other stuff whenever we had the concentration to spare. The conversation once took an awkward turn when I was playing as Kirby and mentioned "swallowing" other characters. I found it difficult to follow what was going on onscreen, especially with some of the alternate color costumes - at one point three of the four characters were brown. Also, since I was playing against a real person, I felt more competitive, so that I wasn't okay with losing anymore. The degree of randomness in the results also decreased with a human opponent and smarter AI. DESIGN The gameworld in Super Smash Brothers is very colorful and cartoony. This is appropriate both to the characters, most of which are cartoony themselves, and to the console, which was a pretty early one for 3D visuals. The attacks and sounds also carry out this aesthetic. The only real exception I noticed to the visual theme is Samus and her arena, which are darker and more blocky. It doesn't feel particularly jarring, but it is an irritating arena, with the acid (I think) that rises to cover it and will damage any character caught in it. This brings me to the level design. Levels are themed based on the original source of the characters, and each has its own challenges. All of them are effectively two-dimensional, no matter what they look like, and all have multiple levels, usually with platforms to jump on (some of them even move). A couple of the levels are very narrow, and the risk of falling off is greater. This can be either irritating or fun, depending on one's skill level and attitude towards losing. After each battle, the game displays a screen showing who won - the winning character is displayed larger than the rest, and the other characters are also sized according to rank. This is followed by a text ranking screen with score breakdown, but in my opinion the first of the two screens is a more motivating reward, since it's very direct. This might be something to incorporate into the game I'll make with my partner this quarter - a visual reward.Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:08:57 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1961&iddiary=4088https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1961SUMMARY Super Smash Brothers is a mainly multiplayer game in which one controls a well-known Nintendo character, such as Link, Kirby, or Mario, in a brawl against up to three other player. There is a single-player campaign of sorts, in which one fights a series of battles against the computer, culminating in a battle against a giant hand. It involves both skill and luck, due to the many powerful items that appear on each stage. GAMEPLAY I hadn't played this game before today, although I played its sequel for the Gamecube with a group of friends once. Today I played through the single-player mode. I realized early on that it was kind of a bad idea to play a game like Super Smash Brothers by myself, but the single-player mode was surprisingly fun, largely because of the luck involved and the frantic pace. It has no real story, but each enemy is found in a themed stage. I was alone in the game lab playing this game, which felt a little odd at first - I remembered a lot of smack talk from the time I played its sequel - but the recorded crowd noises helped a lot. On one of the later stages I was playing as Pikachu and the crowd chanted his name, which was really cool. I found myself joining in. I only played as two of the characters, Link and Pikachu. I found their slow movements across the screen (they walk, not run) frustrating, and at first I found it very hard to control their jumps, which are much faster. Fortunately the game lets you play any stage over an unlimited number of times. I ended up playing about an hour and twenty minutes to get to the end of the single-player mode. Next time I mean to play the versus mode.Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:35:16 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1961&iddiary=3839https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1680GAMEPLAY This time I played for something like 45 minutes. It was a more frustrating experience than the first. I spent most of the time walking... and walking... and walking... I was still a little lost for a while, and the setting was starting to all look the same. In short, the novelty had worn off. I just wanted to get to more plot, but mostly I found bits and pieces. Then too, I began to hear the same bits of dialogue from multiple characters. Most of them have the same things to say about the Sith. Also, it was getting a bit harder. Eventually I got into another area... and immediately got killed. I could probably have avoided it, but by that time I was kind of frustrated, so I quit for the day. This time I was playing alone, and it was kind of a different experience. I mean, there were fewer distractions, but I found myself taking it too seriously. On the plus side, one of the major characters is shaping up into quite the interesting fellow. He has a troubled past, and it was interesting talking with him and trying to get him to tell. I also flirted with him. I'm playing a female character, and I wonder if he would flirt with a male... DESIGN My impression is that especially when this came out, it was rare to find a game where one could be a villain, especially one with as many options as this one. Even this early in the game, the number of possible choices is staggering - in every significant dialogue there tend to be about three options. Sometimes it's good, evil, and somewhere in between, others it's confrontational, submissive, and noncommittal/diplomatic. It must have been a huge task to write and record all the material for this game, though I don't know how long it is. Even so, there's a high degree of repetition. This game suffers from the same problem as most of its genre - a large percentage of play time is downtime, getting from point A to point B or figuring out what to do next. Also certain areas look mostly the same as each other, such as the various corridors on the ship in the beginning, or the two Upper City sections. There are a certain number of interesting decorations and such, but few small objects, and the same textures appear on most buildings, though I do like the curvy architecture. An interesting thing this game does is that it raises issues around trust. You don't know much about your character or your companion, and he frequently points this out. A lot of the characters you interact with are not entirely on the up and up. The setting contributes to the tone as well - it's a technologically advanced city that's clean on the surface, but under enemy control. Rumors of dangerous gangs and rebels below abound, and the visitors are restless about the blockade that keeps them there.Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:29:58 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1680&iddiary=3423https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1680SUMMARY: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is an RPG set in the Star Wars Universe, long before The Phantom Menace, while the republic is still strong and the Sith are just starting to conquer Republic Worlds. You control any character in your party, including one, a human, that you create, in and out of battle. Battles are in real-time, but mostly automatic. One of the selling points of the game is that it is fairly open-ended - you can choose to be either good or evil. GAMEPLAY: I didn't take the game too seriously, in part because someone was playing Katamari Damacy in the background, and that music is infectious, though after a while it began to conflict with KOTOR's own music. The named characters, aside from the main character, have voices, and I found the acting a little over the top. It wasn't enough to detract from the game, but the effect was comedic, and not always intentionally so. Also, the characters are very long-winded, especially the aliens, and this grates on my nerves sometimes. I find the alien languages ludicrous. So far the story hasn't been too complicated, but I've already seen opportunities to choose the dark or light side, such as choosing whether or not to beat up a group of drunks on the side of the road, and if I should rescue an old man from a sort of mob boss come to collect on a loan. I'm not all that attached to the characters yet, thoough. The controls are pretty straightforward, and the tutorial is pretty thorough (to the point of redundancy, though you can skip a lot of it). It is nicely integrated into the game, which I liked. However, I would have liked battles to be less automatic and more dependent on player input. What can I say, I like button-mashing. So far, after a little over an hour of play, I like this game, in spite or perhaps because of the comedic moments.Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:19:57 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1680&iddiary=3403