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| Matrix Blog Link » /matrix/blog.asp/61942/132 |   CanadaDave (303) Mar 04, 2007 - 08:36 am
| Agree 100% - honestly, you're kind of making my point for me.
Immersive and intuitive controls put people into the game, and eliminate the detachment from the on-screen character. If you make the person believe they're doing the action that is making the onscreen character do its thing, then the person will more readily identify with the character - and will be more inclined to become a part of the game.
Overly complex controls preclude people from forming that attachment. The only people who benefit (or, at least, don't mind) complex controls are hard-core gamers, who would have already played the game anyway.
You want to expand the chorus of gamers. You do that with - among other things - intuitive controls that ease the learning curve up front. Flag this | Edit this post |
| Matrix Blog Link » /matrix/blog.asp/61942/132 | CanadaDave (303) Mar 03, 2007 - 06:50 am » Edited on Mar 03, 2007 - 01:13 pm
| Why, you young whippersnap-
Heh. Nice job, XTS. I was actually waiting far longer than I'd thought for a posting like that. Why... in my day, we'd have been all over the geezer who was trying to alter our games like that.
Rather than go through the posting and argue each point, let me just summarize with a few things:
1) Making the controls more intuitive does not equal dumbing down gameplay. I loathe games that are simple walkthroughs, and basic AIs are a personal pet peeve. Games themselves need to be challenging, but the controls don't need to be a portion of that.
2) You've invested enormous amounts of time into learning the controls. Nice job - happy for ya. :) However - it doesn't have to be that way. You like it that way because it gives you an edge over people like me - again, due to the experience you have with your controls, you benefit.
I'd whup you on a game controlled with a Coleco controller. Those things were really odd beasts - a knob at the end of a stick with two opposing buttons and a numeric keypad. But I could dance through that controller like nobody's business. Doesn't make the controller better, or me a better gamer.
I'm separating controls from gameplay. You should, too.
Better controllers mean more freedom for developers to play the games - but that freedom doesn't need to come at the cost of the controls being counter-intuitive.
And that's my point. :)
Appreciate the comment. The downvote was kinda silly, though - after all, the point of an editorial is to spark debate... right? ;) Flag this | Edit this post |
| Cluster Shout Box Link » /matrix/cluster.asp/11 | CanadaDave (303) Mar 02, 2007 - 09:55 am
| All good, WallShadows. No blood, no foul. :)
Love the ninja-loot reference, btw. Nice to see it work outside of an MMO game... I think that officially bridges the gap between MMO and real life. :)
Since it worked for a guy earlier in the message listing, I'll be the first to say it:
If you really feel like you need to make it up to me, you can go and vote my article a 10... ;) Flag this | Edit this post |
| Cluster Shout Box Link » /matrix/cluster.asp/11 | CanadaDave (303) Mar 02, 2007 - 06:04 am
| I agree with the others.
I was actually there around 2000-2001, when it was still called "Thresh's Firing Squad". :) I had three regular sites visited around then - Tom's Hardware (didn't even have its own domain at the time - was sysdoc.pair.com), Sharky Extreme, and here.
The site actually started up in December of 1998, for those of us keeping score...
Points to anyone who has been around that long. ;) Flag this | Edit this post |
| Matrix Blog Link » /matrix/blog.asp/17874/205 | CanadaDave (303) Mar 01, 2007 - 07:13 am
| I agree with OldFriend. Good topic for an article, but the grammar is rough.
My personal pet peeve - apostrophe "s" means ownership. If you're talking about "multiple CPUs", you don't need an apostrophe - if you want to talk about the "CPU's serial number", then you do.... :) Flag this | Edit this post |
| Cluster Shout Box Link » /matrix/cluster.asp/11 | CanadaDave (303) Mar 01, 2007 - 05:04 am
| Honestly, there were one or two entries which I'd say I suspected of that in Round 1.. it's unfortunate, but I take solace in the fact that if I do manage to make Round 2, there will be some softer ones mixed in with the really strong ones that legitimately made the cut.
Regardless, it wasn't many - like I said, one or two out of 15.
Take it as a compliment - the higher vote count people have more downvoters to offset the scores they got legitimately. :) Flag this | Edit this post |
| Matrix Blog Link » /matrix/blog.asp/62677/193 | CanadaDave (303) Feb 28, 2007 - 02:34 pm
| | I don't want to be a grammar Nazi, but you've got a few nitpicky little things - "...stupid AI behavior are not limited to FPS games" - that should be cleaned up a bit. I liked the topic, though. Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=14493 | CanadaDave (303) Feb 28, 2007 - 05:43 am
| Thanks for the review, guys. You're right about the use of parentheses - I'm going to use them once more in this note, and then I'll do my best to swear them off for good.
Rework of the article was mostly due to a suggestion by GX-Alan, urging me to take the suggestions to heart. After getting over some of the initial indignation at someone actually not thinking I had written the most magnificent article they'd ever seen, I looked it over... the editors were completely right. The core idea seemed well-received, so I decided to overhaul instead of throwing away.
This time around, the review seemed basically favourable (note the use of the "U" to gain favour with my countryman), but... the numbers will tell the tale in a couple of days. :) I hope I haven't received the Kiss of Death again, by an editor mentioning the "next round" to me in his review. ;) Flag this | Edit this post |
| Matrix Blog Link » /matrix/blog.asp/61942/132 | CanadaDave (303) Feb 27, 2007 - 05:55 am
| Agreed - very good points.
That's the tricky part - the improvement needs to happen without sacrificing the quality and challenge of the game.
As was said above, you'll never be able to use a pistol to control an army (even though Patton had some success with that) - and you won't ever use a Wiimote to be the CEO of a multinational conglomerate. There is, however, a lot of room for improvement, and I think that is what is necessary for games to keep up.
Food for thought - some guys are big RTS people, and love the micromanagement associated with harvesting, etc. Some guys are FPS people. The controls should be different for those two people - but why can't it be the same game? Certainly, there's room for ladder rankings of generals (RTS) and front-line soldiers (FPS) - each with its own specific controls. There have been attempts at this sort of thing (more rudimentary) in the past - see Myth for an early example of this - but that has enormous potential, if some of the obvious challenges can be overcome. Flag this | Edit this post |
| Cluster Shout Box Link » /matrix/cluster.asp/11 | CanadaDave (303) Feb 23, 2007 - 06:36 pm
| Yep - the same sort of thing happened in round 2.
Don't forget that the editors can (presumably) see who voted what and for whom. Equally, they have a vested interest in seeing the good articles move on... I think, in most cases, that will cancel itself out. Flag this | Edit this post |
| Matrix Blog Link » /matrix/blog.asp/61942/132 | CanadaDave (303) Feb 23, 2007 - 03:49 pm
| Very good points, all, SFTheWolf.
The basic rebuttal is that yes - being the general of an army is simply more complex than what a simple thing can do (ie. you can't control an entire army with a paintball gun).
The argument isn't at all that controls should always be simple and single-function - rather, there is enormous opportunity to exploit the natural tendency humans have towards trying simple things, and through those things, we have a conduit to enter into an entirely new generation of gaming, accessible to far more people than is presently the case.
Nicely worded response. :) Flag this | Edit this post |
| Matrix Blog Link » /matrix/blog.asp/61942/132 | CanadaDave (303) Feb 23, 2007 - 03:41 pm
| Well, then, thanks for not voting - it doesn't appear that I need any more "1" votes. :)
I appreciate the comment, though - thanks for taking the time to read. I'll be sure to check out your article as well. Flag this | Edit this post |
| Matrix Blog Link » /matrix/blog.asp/61942/132 | CanadaDave (303) Feb 23, 2007 - 03:38 pm
| Thanks for the compliments, Dan and QMak. :)
Actually, you're right about the controllers and the havoc they're playing on peoples' wrists... I hadn't even considered that.
dave
PS - *ANYONE* who plays music through their headphones on Live needs to get fragged, IMO. :) Flag this | Edit this post |
| Matrix Blog Link » /matrix/blog.asp/61942/132 | CanadaDave (303) Feb 23, 2007 - 12:15 pm » Edited on Feb 23, 2007 - 12:18 pm
| Man.. I love the downvoting. Good times. :) I've decided that I'm no longer going to look at what keeps happening to my rating, and just focus on the comments. :)
Anyhow - thanks for the comments and compliments - I really appreciate it.
As for Street Fighter being easy - well, it is and it isn't. To jump, punch and kick - yep, no problems. But how INTUITIVE, really, is "back-back-forward-punch"? :)
You're (HeavyStorm and ItchyEves) both right - experience wins the day. No question about it. Early frustration, however, kills the experience for people. That is exactly why we have a "beginner" skill level... if every game was as hard as it could possibly be right out of the box, people would get frustrated and quit. If you take the frustration out of the controls, then you open up the gaming scene to a wider variety of gamer - once you've done that, you're improving the social aspect of gaming, and you sell a heckuvalot more games as a result. Flag this | Edit this post |
| Matrix Blog Link » /matrix/blog.asp/61942/132 | CanadaDave (303) Feb 23, 2007 - 08:27 am » Edited on Feb 23, 2007 - 08:30 am
| You're right, of course - but look at my Poker example. Once you've learned the *rules* of Poker, you can sit at a table and play. You'll lose 80 out of 100 times to a good player, but you can have fun doing it (and, in the case of Poker, often win on a chance factor).
In the RTS example, look at Paintball. *ANYONE* can pick up a Paintball gun and play. An experienced guy will beat you, but you'll have a blast doing it, and the frustration won't be that you couldn't work the gun.
You need to eliminate the "stupid controls!" factor from games to make the next step. DDR, Guitar Hero and the Wii all do that to some degree. Flag this | Edit this post |
| Matrix Blog Link » /matrix/blog.asp/61942/132 | CanadaDave (303) Feb 23, 2007 - 06:00 am
| Heh - yep... with a 5 year old in the house, we have no shortage of Strawberry Shortcake (and Barbie, and Bratz, and Disney, and...) stuff in the house.
It's more like a "Strawberry Shortcake after drinking whiskey all night, then waking up covered in her own vomit" smell - but yes, they do put it on everything. :) Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=14386 | CanadaDave (303) Feb 20, 2007 - 09:34 am » Edited on Feb 20, 2007 - 09:57 am
| Ahhhh - that explains a lot.
I wasn't aware that the voting from the judges was a "100" or "0" vote. I thought each judge would have rated each article as a percentage, and then those percentages would have been totalled.
I'll be back for the 2nd attempt - I'm debating between redoing the existing article (the idea seemed basically favorable to the judges, but needed cleaning up) or doing something totally new. If I resubmit the existing article using the suggestions incorporated, am I likely to be marked down by the judges for not showing more creativity? I'm sort of inclined to go with an idea that seemed to be generally well received by the judges, but not at a cost of getting slapped for not being more diverse... know what I mean? Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=14386 | CanadaDave (303) Feb 19, 2007 - 06:30 pm
| Congratulations to those who made it to the 2nd round.
Is it possible to get the matrix (no pun intended) of the scores we received? I'd done pretty well on the mid-round evaluation (Brandon's "This could be posted on the site as-is... you deserve a spot in the second round"), and by my own count, I was in 9th in the user ratings, and 9th in terms of # of votes cast.
Please don't mistake that as whining - I'm just surprised, and I'm trying to figure out where I'd gone wrong.
Again - congratulations to those who did make it to the next round. There were some *excellent* entries. Flag this | Edit this post |
| Cluster Shout Box Link » /matrix/cluster.asp/3 | CanadaDave (303) Feb 15, 2007 - 05:38 am
| Right - and to add to what DanT said:
There's the second "heat" of round one, too - if you want, you can submit for the first day of the second heat, and drive the page views... Flag this | Edit this post |
| Matrix Blog Link » /matrix/blog.asp/61942/67 | CanadaDave (303) Feb 09, 2007 - 11:14 am
| Heh - good point, lgdevil. :) And thanks for the rating - I appreciate it.
I suppose the issue is less my inability to relate to today's games, but rather to show what games *could* be. Retro games don't sell because they're "better" - they sell because they are "easier to learn". It's sad (okay, fine - it's hilarious, I admit it) to watch a non-gamer pick up the X-Box controller and try to play Halo at a party - they invariably end up with their gun pointed at the floor, running in circles.
Not to sound like a fanboy (especially because I don't own a Nintendo product past the 64 - I do own an X-Box, though), but if you hand them the Wii-Mote and put in bowling or tennis, they'll play for an hour after 2 minutes of learning, and have a blast doing it.
That's (by definition) a modern game which is finally starting to scratch the surface of the subject I'm referring to.
Food for thought, for the younger of you reading this: If your mom and dad actually *liked* what you were doing in your room for hours on end (no, I mean video games)... wouldn't you think they'd be way cooler about it? Flag this | Edit this post |
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