Modesty Studios

One of my favorite online video feeds is the Angry Video Game Nerd and Zero Punctution . The former goes the nostalgic route and looks at early games to point out and mock all their flaws. Of which there are many. Zero Punctuation criticizes newer games on some of the same fronts. Some of the complaints are about the difficulty of the game. Old games are Harder in that they're more unforgiving, the programming is buggier, and poor design decisions were made. (Such as the "trial and error" method). I was just reading an article outlining how the Zelda games have gotten "easier". It got me thinking about level of difficulty in games. Audiences This I think is one of the more important factors of designing the difficulty of a game. I mentioned in an earlier blog post , that there are certain preferences and styles of game players. Some that are obsessed with their skills, some looking just to relax and some to play socially. Audiences of mainstream games are chan...

Audio as a part of game design is an often "neglected" part. Usually because it's a low priority to what a game NEEDS to function. A game needs programming and visual interfaces which is why so much effort is put into a game. Audio was not a necessity in a game. For a long time they were just beeps and buzzes. Now that we are in a more sophisticated generation of games, audio plays a larger role or can. There are a few games that rely on audio as part of the game play. What Audio Does When I was working on my master's project, we were almost completely focused on getting graphics and programming in. In my evaluation, I was told that my game needed more audio to feel more complete. And you know what? There is a world of difference between my soundless game and my game with audio. And it was nearly effortless. All we had were some bells and whistles for positive and negative feedback. A click noise for buttons. And some sound loops for background audio. In short here...

In an earlier blog post I discussed various relationship types and how they are handled in stories. Well, I'm mostly taking that same subject but going on a deeper perhaps more philosophical method. And by philosophical method you know I'm going through the 3 loves. Knowing the three loves can help in the understanding of relationships between characters and people. Introduction Now the 3 loves are a very Western Philosophy rooted subject. Being as most of my education in philosophy is western based, I can not vouch for any Eastern or New Age Equivalent. The three loves are: Eros, Philia, and Agape. There are also other philosophic and sociology based love types or styles including: Stoge, Ludus, Pragma, and Mania. In this I will first start with the classic three and make notes on the other styles. Because they're all important when considering love between two characters. Eros Plato was the one who wrote down the philosophy behind the 3 loves. (Based on Socrates teachings...