Below I illustrate systems or concepts I found interesting while playing Conviction.

1. Michael Ironside is Sam Fisher
2. Cover Mechanic and Resource Management.
3. VO, or as the AI like to say “asshole this, asshole that!  Think that will work asshole!  Asshole!  Asshole!”

Michael Ironside is Sam Fisher
Not system or even design related I know. At first I was taken aback and wondering how his arms grew back after that dreadful fall from that mars elevator. I realize his voice is not new to Splinter Cell fans. It was however new to me. His voice acting, coupled with excellently written dialog made Sam’s many cut-scenes and quips quite bearable. To celebrate, for the first time on GToB, I’ve embedded a youtube video. Watch it.

O that’s nice!

Cover Mechanic and Resource Management
Normally I wouldn’t bother covering the basics of the stealth genre. I feel that it is the responsibility of the game studio to create a set of systems that facilitate the switch from stealth game play to action/combat game play to exploration. Being the fifth version of Splinter Cell from Ubisoft Montreal, they’ve had a lot of practice and have done a good job of the systems IMO.

I found the execute mechanic to be an excellent example of the system inter-relation I mentioned above. This specific mechanic is highlighter beginning at 3:22 of the below video. The player can choose to leave “being hidden” to attack the AI, then quickly restore that state using execute. However, to use execute efficiently, the player must observe the AI from stealth. When playing Conviction, you will do this constantly.

Reconnoitering is important. Run and gun is not the name of Conviction.

VO or the Asshole Extravaganza
Ugh. I couldn’t find an example of what I’m referring to here. You’ll know what I mean when you fire up the game.

The enemies are almost constantly spouting the same inane vulgarities. There is some mix up, more then most studios are willing to create. I would have preferred less swearing. It’s comical in a sense. I hear “asshole” about a thousands times throughout the game. That’s ridiculous.

I would challenge you to count each time you hear ass hole during your play through and post it in the comments.

Summary
I really liked Conviction. The story, solid. The environments, solid. The core, solid. Go play it.

Finally!  Wordpress breaths again!  Serves me right for keeping around 2 year old plugins…

Moving on!  I have many updates and plenty of observations, things I like and other GToB none sense!

On with the show!  Below is the list of games I either am currently playing, have played (and beaten) and plan to play in the coming month.

1. Splinter Cell: Conviction – 360 – Beat
2. Civilization 4: Mod Fall from Heaven 2 – PC
3. Super Street Fighter 4 – 360 – zomg awesome
4. Blood Bowl PC: Dark Elf Edition

It’s a wonder I have any time.  I’m sooo excited that I can post again!  Eat it Intertoobs!!!

1. I’m working on a new Things I Like Template.  It will have pictures.  Please keep the mass hysteria to a minimum.
2. I like Dante’s Inferno.  I disliked Darksiders.  *shrug*
3. I participated in a Game Dev MW2 tournament.  Lemme tell you, the guys from Neversoft are really good.
4. I’ve been busy at work on a super secret project that no one can talk about.

WoW Stuff:

1. I switched to Shadow.  I may write a couple shadow guides for the bosses in ICC I’ve dropped.
2. My offspec is holy.  Blizzard did good.
3. I no longer PvP.  Sad Panda.

STO Stuff:

1. I am having a lot of fun with this game.
2. This game is a big change for Cryptic Studios.
3. You can play it in bite sized chunks.
4. They need to fix their UI design.  It blows to put it nicely.
5. They need to fix their player training of the UI.  That blows harder.
6. They need to make more of the episodes open instance, seriously.  This will open up opportunities to create excellent single player content AND encourage people to play together.
7. They need to make the lower tier ships valuable.  I don’t know how to solve this issue but it’s there.  Currently there is no reason to use a lower tier ship once you rank beyond it.

Finally, they need to keep the faith.  They have a GREAT game.  This guy should be banned from posting.  Check out the section of Update 1, he basically invited people to stop paying and playing their game if don’t “get it”. I understand focusing on your core audience that will continue paying for your game.  That’s CCPs model, slowly building up your player base for the long haul.  What I don’t get is why he said it.  Elitist clubs may work in a real social atmosphere or even as focused groups within a games community.  I don’t know if that works as a marketing tool.

That’s all the updates I have for now.  More to come soon!

I could make arrangements to lend them to you if you like.  I have Hot Fuzz, but not Shaun of the Dead . Oh that would be cool if you don’t mind.  I’ve seen parts of SHAUN OF THE DEAD but nothing from HOT FUZZ.

I’ll get Hot Fuzz to you.  We’ll figure out how to get Shaun of the Dead to you as well.

On another note, Daybreakers was interesting.  The ambience and world were setup very nicely.  One of the first times where I actually felt uncomfortable watching the opening silent review of the world.  It was uncomfortable for its setting, not its delivery.

Unfortunately despite the artful representation of the world, the script was poorly written and unfortunately for the actors, poorly directed.  I don’t blame actors if the script and direction sucks unless the actors are horrible, which they aren’t.  It seemed to me that the actors did the best they could do given the script.  Well, this stands for everyone except Ethan Hawke and Sam Neill.  They both did exceptionally well with the script.

On another note, I’m not sure how I feel about FX guys making movies.  First the debacle that was AvP: Requiem and then Daybreakers.   I liked the former enough to shell out enough money to see a non romantic vampire flick.  I refuse to give money back to the AvP franchise unless someone reputable takes the reins again.  I know what you mean, reminds me of the movie SPAWN.

Exactly!  Except for the sound track, Spawn is utterly forgettable.  At least that movie had that going for it.

Of final note, the final action scene was an orgy of blood and body parts… in slow motion.  A complete deviation from the rest of the movies’ tone, which was conversational and a sort of the world will end if we don’t stop it kind of plot.  Sounds like the wanted to shoot their wad for the ending?  Was it like the shoot out in DUSCK TILL DAWN or the SILIENT HILL movie?

Neither.  The context for the final… well… I can’t call it anything except for an orgy(and not spoil anything in the process) is close to neither.  Mainly because not only are you, the audience, a passive participant, but also the characters with whom you have a mild emotional connection to are passively participating as well.  The entire scene is then ignore for the remaining 10 or so minutes of the film without remorse.  No reference, no closure and literally a western inspired ride out into the sunset.

Other then my criticisms, it is worth a watch.  Just one.  Not worth owning.  I would relegate it to NetFlix streaming should you have that service.

Oy, this was supposed to be a short email. *palm face*

I got my copy of MW2 yesterday and the game continues to impress.  I wasn’t under the impression that Infinity Ward was a continuing series based in their MW universe.  Although I don’t think IW delivered MW2 to the same level of critical reception as MW, the game does impress.

The main players of the first installation, if you will, of MW make a come back appearance in MW2 in addition to some new characters.  The russian level, that everyone made such a fuss about, does leave an impact and introduces the call to action.  That pivotal part of every Hero’s Journey where the main character/characters are spurred into action to right the wrongs of the world.

The resolution leaves something to be desired in the same way that the Matrix Reloaded leaves the audience feeling.  You can tell that the events of the presented story are complete but there is much yet to be resolved.

A couple points if you will:

1. The characters still have a level of bad assery about them.  By the third time I saw that ridiculous mohawk on Soap’s head I was over it *snicker*
2. The environments are expansive,  This is in stark contrast to MW.  The levels are bigger and have more in them this time around.
3. Grenade spam was lessened.  The annoyance this time around was the use of flash bangs by the AI
4. Increased variety of guns.  ++ for multiplayer

The campaign is only 4-6 hours long.  Which isn’t bad considering the effort put into the multiplayer aspects of the game.  Perhaps for the first time, you can complete cooperative campaigns in the MW setting.  I’m looking forward to investigating the Special Ops mode.

I was seriously hoping for a airplane special level after the campaign, instead I settled for a museum(huh?) setting showcasing the actors and the settings as the credits scrolled by.  Which confused me since I believe there were credits at the beginning of the game too.  Puzzling.

Other then the above, there isn’t much else to say.  IW delivered a super high quality CoD experience and I look forward to the next installment.  What I would like is that the next time around I am wow’d way more.  There were only three moments that really stood out to me.

1. The snowmobile section.
2. The submarine entrance.
3. The final russian army versus american army with Soap in the middle.

If you haven’t checked it out, go pick it up.  It’s worth the while.  If you don’t remember what happened in MW 1, go ahead and play through it to get back into the story.  You’ll thank me later.

L4D on one hand is an introduction to the cooperative shooter experience known as L4D#.  The balancing is great if limited in content.  This rifle is my rifle, there are many like it but this is my rifle and I’ll have this one rifle until the finale and if I don’t die, I’ll have this rifle until the final finale.  Etc Etc.

That last thought is in high contrast to the pacing and balance of L4D2.  Hordes in L4D were overwhelming is scope.  The AI director throwing 50-100 infected at the survivors at one time!  Different then the various horde structures of L4D2.  The AI director is still there.  The AI director is still “throwing” hordes but they’ll trickle in gradually.  The #s may be the same but I’ll be fighting them longer.

Because the hordes are more spread out, I use more ammunition.  Because L4D2 provides other weapon choices more often then an ammo pile I end up switching weapons rather frequently.  That is a nice touch.

The levels are arranged differently too.  Specifically I find there are fewer long shooting lanes.  There’s always a corner is sight or a bend to go around.  The only further word I can use to describe this is a funnel.  The level design funnels zombies my way.  Oh!  And by the way, “Turn around to hit zombies behind you!”  No shit Sherlock…

Finally and the best aspect of L4D2 excellent delivery: The narrative.  That’s right folks, the story!  Each campaign is closely interwoven, as if it is apart of a larger movie.  Or perhaps a string of hour long HBO mini series.  Spectacular.

On another note, I’ll be picking up Dragon Age: Origins next week.  Feels icky to call out certain aspects of its rating without experiencing the game first hand.  I imagine if the game is half as enjoyable as the flash game, it will be well worth the investment.

Happy Turkey Day folks!

Here are my reactions:

1. Does Sex = adult content?  Will I have the choice to not mate with the women in my party.  Can I just mate with all of them at the same time?
2. Does blood and violence = adult content?
3. What kind of moral choices will I be making?  *eagerly awaiting the response to this one*
4. Will it ultimately matter?  *damn well better.  The choices I made in Mass Effect had little to no effect on the game world.*
5. Is it a matter of killing or not?
6. Will the thoughts and feelings of the inhabitants change by way of my actions?  Or will NPCs just be missing from the world because I killed them?
7. What kind of character can I make?  I already know that I’m apart of an organization that saves the world all the time anyways.  Well, at least I’m not androgynous with blue hair this time.
8. Will the story be as… awesome as Mass Effect?  I liked the beginning intro to the Reaver tech universe and the ending exposition by the former races hologram… that’s about it.

Most importantly, how will the story be told?  Will I have to spend a boring 1-2 hours in the first hub world gathering information and listening to exposition or will I get to make the story as I go?  Which style will Bioware choose?

At least I only have to wait about 2 months to find out!

If the above title is not cryptic, this cake isn’t a lie!

Should you be a PC gamer, a steam player and a fan of the above franchise: Rerollmuch is my player name on steam.  Look me up, TRR will invite you into a match.

Animation Guidelines

Just like any sport, motion and controlling that motion makes or breaks an animation.  Weight control, pose, follow apply to the worlds greatest athletes and also to video game avatars.  For combat, I like to break my combat animation into 3 parts: Start – Impact – End.

Start

The start animation is the character build up.  For WoW, this happens to be the casting animation, for most brawlers this is a low frame count section where the character blends from idle to the initial pose.

IRL, bring your hand over your head and make a fist.  You’ve just completed a start animation.

Impact

Impact is my favorite part of the combat animation sequence.  It mostly deals with the targets reaction, so we’ll deal with that later.  For our purposes, the impact section is the meat that your player understands.  They notice and will describe their favorite animations based on the impact section of the move.

IRL, with your hand in the air, bring your hand from above your head to directly in front of you with your arm follow extended.  The distance between the start and this “impact” point is the impact section of the animation.

End

Ahh!  The end animation, AKA the follow through.  This section is where magic happens.  Transitions from your combat animation to traversal states and other combat moves happen here.  You’ll notice that the end of your combat animation occurs after the impact of the same animation.  This is very important.  Additionally the end section can inform the “power” of the animation.

Example 1:

Repeat IRL sections above, then bring your hand straight back and to your side, keep your feet planted.  You’ll notice that you slow down your arm once it is perpendicular to your body.  Then you gather your arm back to your body.  Because of the speed and motion, your hand travels in a upwards curve towards your side.  Notice how you felt about this RL animation.  Did it feel powerful?  Comedic?  Effective?  Ask yourself if you were watching a video game avatar do this move, what reaction would you expect?

Example 2:

Repeat IRL sections above, exclude example 2.  Instead of bringing your arm perpendicular to your body, cut your right hand(the one above your head) diagonally across your body and step forward with your right foot.  Notice how that felt.  Did it feel powerful?  Comedic?  Effective?  Ask yourself if you were watching a video game avatar do this move, what reaction would you expect?

Summary

This is a very brief, very basic overview of some animation guidelines I’ve learned and stand by.  Next visceral combat post will take a look at a couple combat systems(Sonny 2, EQ2, WoW) and discuss rules established that inform the player experience.

Oh, that isn’t to say there aren’t great games with great narratives out there.  What I’m referring to is the ability for the player to relate directly to the character.  The player doesn’t necessarily have to “experience” the emotional state that the character goes through, that would be silly.  I’m talking about creating Tyler Durden moments for the character and similar experiences for the player.

Fulgrim after dealing a life ending blow to his brother Ferrus Manus realized, in horror, what he had become and the root of his evil.  The corruption of his spirit by outside forces.  His abandonment of his fathers ideals.  His epiphany: he betrays those that depend on him for leadership and protection.

Imagine a moment similar for you.  A moment of illumination when beliefs, practices, ideas and actions of that past have been brought into crisp and clear focus.  You remember them.  That moment sticks with you.  It hangs as a clear divider between what memories happened before and what memories happened after.  These moments keep readers coming back.

As an example, on March 30th, the world of warcraft world blog community witnessed such a moment.  Big Red Kitty reflected in one weekend on his action and the effects on his life.  Details, telling.  The effects heart felt.

How does one create such a moment?  What game mechanics are involved?  What declaration is made to distinguish the old from the new?

What would this kind of mmo look like?