Critical-Casts Episode 3: Trigon B-Side

February 22nd, 2013

The other week, I joined Richard Terrell and a few of his mates on the b-side recording of his third Critical-Casts podcast. The final cut was put online yesterday, so go ahead and check it out. Like the previous shows, Richard did a great job at putting this one together, and I had a great time being a part of it. Having just come off crunch time on my book, coupled with Chinese New Year commitments, I was pretty exhausted going into the recording. I wake up about half-way through though, so it’s not all bad. I’m thinking of writing up a few comments on what we discussed, but it seems like I’ll need to do a bit of research first, so that might take a while. In the meantime, be sure to have a listen and leave Richard any comments on his site.

The blog’s been a bit quiet this week cause I’ve been relaxing a bit more, working on a few longer posts, and doing a ton of research. It seems like some of my notes are turning into their own mini-projects, so we’ll have to see where that gets me. By the way, if you like the Wipeout series, you should totally check out Hellfire_WZ’s YouTube channel. This guy has done hours worth of tutorials, tournament matches, and documentaries on the series. I’ve been watching his stuff for the past few days and learnt a whole bunch. I would recommend Wipeout HD Fury – The Basics, Wipeout – Circuits from Hell, and Wipeout – Through the Ages – The Weapons.

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And Now For a Return to Your Regular Viewing Schedule

February 9th, 2013

After 2 years of full-time work on top of my regular full-time job and personal commitments, I’ve finally completed my book, Rethinking Games Criticism: An Analysis of Wario Land 4. What was originally meant to be a 120-page warm-up for a full-sized book on Metroid Prime turned out to be a part-critique, part-game-design-text-book, 450-paged behemoth. Yet despite the gradual change in direction, I kept the planned 6-month crunch going for 2 years. While the final push has worn me out a bit, I’m keen to just get on with what’s next as it’s been a year since I’ve written any new material. I have a bunch of upcoming projects that I’ve been stewing over for far too long. I’m not exactly sure which one I’ll start first, so I’ll probably just catch up on my backlog of game design notes—starting with the stuff I can pump out quickly—and see where that takes me. I’m guessing most of this copy will come out on the blog, while other parts will go into the projects. I also have a few posts on writing, editing, and the book itself that will come out over time. So, in whichever form you see it in, expect stuff on:

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, Red Steel 2, Metroid: Other M, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Wario Land 3, Wario Land Shake Dimension, Star Ocean: Second Evolution, Wipeout Pulse, Bookworm, Critter Crunch, Kid Icarus, Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles, Resident Evil 4, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Shining Force, Braid, DK: King of Swing, Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor, Cut the Rope, Burnout Revenge, Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel, Zelda: 4 Swords Adventures (comments on my Twitter), Harvest Moon, Vanquish, Halo Legends (comments on my Twitter), Uncharted 2, deep reading and the internet, concept albums, player manipulation, and asynchronous multiplayer design in the classroom.

If you’ve got any ideas on any of these topics or games, then I’d be happy to trade thoughts. You can hit me up on email or IM through the following channels:

I haven’t gotten around to chasing up any publishing leads, the past 2 and a half months have been solely dedicated to finishing the final edit. Once I have something concrete to announce, rest assure that I will.

Thanks for your support and patience,

Daniel

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Progress Report: A Name and a Contents Page!

November 4th, 2012

Given the book’s constant delays—remember when it was meant to be finished last Christmas?—I’ve been feeling reluctant to post any updates. Alas, it’s time for me to swallow my shame.

After the last edit in July, I spent the following two and a half months doing what I think is the third or fourth edit. I’m not exactly sure, I lost count a few months ago. What I can say with certainty though is that I’m finally satisfied with the copy. I just need to give it a final proof-read and make a few small adjustments to punctuation and it’ll be ready for print.

At the moment, I’m more than a third of the way through the reference images and video. I expect that to last another 2 weeks or so. After which I will begin putting the images, links and text together into its final form. I’m hopeful of hearing a response back from a publisher in the next month or so. If I don’t get picked up, I’ll probably just go ahead with self-publishing. Yes, I will be offering a print version and have been optimising the images and reference material to suit the format. I’m not going to take a stab at a release date this time. Just know that I’ve been spending a ridiculous amount of time on it and it should be done in due time.

Today I want to share 2 things with you. The name of the book and the contents page. The book will be called Rethinking Games Criticism: An Analysis of Wario Land 4. It is as much game design text book as it is a piece on Wario Land 4 and a critique of current serious games writing. As for the contents page, please find it below:

 

Rethinking Games Criticism: An Analysis of Wario Land 4

 

Thanks

Copyright

Preface

 

Introduction

What is Wario Land 4?

How to Read This Book

Online Reference

A Few Words on Style

 

Need To Know

Game Elements

Wario

Mechanics

Transformations and Navigation

Level Elements

Essential Elements

Regular Elements

Exclusive Elements

Threats

Enemies

Rewards

Coins, Crystals, Diamonds and Treasures

Game Structure

Level, Hub and System Structure

Other

User Interface

 

Digging Deeper

Mechanics Analysis

Why Jump, Attack and Traversal?

Mechanics, Function and Minimum Difference

The Dominant Mechanics

Attack and Dash Attack Comparison

Dash Attack – Accessibility Diminishing Power

Attack – Power Flavouring Play

Fake Momentum and Step Acceleration

Controller Input~Mechanical Output

Nuance and the Hierarchy of Power

Game Dynamics

Game Dynamics Introduction

Enemies and Interplay

Interplay Analysis

Enemies as Static Game Elements

Psychology and Engagement

Principles of Engagement

Selectable and Scalable Difficulty

Health and Hearts Introduction

Rewards, Punishment and Psychology

Narrative

Premise and Interaction Set in Context

Game Ideas

Counterpoint

Examples of Counterpoint

Suspension

Room Suspension

Visual/Audio

Conveying Information Through Form

The 2D Perspective and The Illusion of Depth

Bounding Boxes, Camera, ACTION!

Music Observations

Design Philosophies

Game as Teacher

The Game Design Style Guide

Additional Essays

Through the Lens of Interaction + Association + Cognition and Application

Designing for Freedom Within Linearity

 

Level Analysis

Essays on Levels

Folded Level Design

Rooms, Doors and Considerations

Skills and Challenge Types

Transformations and the Level Design Tool Box

Restricted-to-Freer Practice

Levels

Level Analysis Introduction

Entry Passage: Hall of Hieroglyphs

Emerald Passage: Palm Tree Paradise

Emerald Passage: Wildflower Fields

Emerald Passage: Mystic Lake

Emerald Passage: Monsoon Jungle

Ruby Passage: The Curious Factory

Ruby Passage: The Toxic Landfill

Ruby Passage: 40 Below Fridge

Ruby Passage: Pinball Zone

Topaz Passage: Toy Block Tower

Topaz Passage: The Big Board

Topaz Passage: Doodle Woods

Topaz Passage: Domino Row

Sapphire Passage: Crescent Moon Village

Sapphire Passage: Arabian Night

Sapphire Passage: Fiery Cavern

Sapphire Passage: Hotel Horror

Golden Passage

Purple Pipe Puzzle Rooms

Bosses

Passage Themes

Mini-Games

 

Topical Essays

Wario Land – An Evolutionary History

From Odd to Off-Kilter – The Transition into WarioWare

From 8 to 16 bits in a Year and a Half – Wario Land 3 to 4

The Cutting Room Floor – Beta Vs. Final Game

Wario – A Personality Profile

Mario and Wario – A Character Comparison

Loose Ends

Credits

 

Glossary

 

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