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Game Replay Value (part 2)

There isn't exactly a magic formula for creating an addictive game, especially because people are all so different. Genre is one mitigating factor that prevents any one game from mobilizing the interest of all gamers. But when I think about some of the games I find myself playing a lot over a long span of time, I do think there are some key factors that increase replay value. One of these is simple: skill. A game that allows progress but requires skill to earn rewards or victories is going to keep players trying to improve. Most games require some amount of skill, but think about how many you've played that just about anyone with an average amount gaming savvy could solve. These games give you an experience you were part of, but didn't really require much of you. Often, we don't even bother to finish games like this because they start to feel like a chore and we don't feel we had much of an impact on the outcome.

Game Replay Value (part 1)

What keeps you coming back to play the same game, over and over? These days, there are so many different games available, with brand new games releasing on a weekly basis. This feeds into our fast-paced, almost Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) lifestyles, where it's rare that anything can hold our interest for very long before we move on to the next thing. I have a backlog of games, some which I haven't tried yet and others I'd like to get back to, but of course it's hard to find the time. Yet there are a few games that I do keep returning to, over and over again, even at the expense of trying new games. What is it about these particular games that keeps me coming back for more?

AI Unhindered by Paradigms (part 5)

If AI's like DeepMind AlphaGo are already seeing things in ways we can't comprehend, we may be too slow to recognize their true impact on our society until after they have been integrated into it. We will no doubt see some amazing things from AI's in our future, and because of that amazement, we might make the mistake of allowing AI to have too much influence over our lives. There could be a day where human decisions no longer impact our way of life, replaced by the reasoning of an AI considered to be far superior in intellect. The human race has gone down this path before, with rulers convincing their subjects that they are gods and their decrees are divine, with entire civilizations following blindly. Even in modern times, people look to the government and its leaders to solve all our problems for us, and allow them to make decisions we should be making for ourselves, such as how to raise our children or how many children to have (China). Throughout history, leaders and others working in the government have thought they are smarter and know what's better for people than the people themselves. Imagine a world where the dictates of an AI are what we follow not only because of a mandate, but because we simply can't comprehend its supposedly superior “intellect?” We're at a crucial turning point in history right now. What we decide about AI today will determine what AI will be able to decide for us tomorrow.

AI Unhindered by Paradigms (part 4)

An AI unhindered by human bias could also become a dangerous and horrifying monster. Concepts of "right" and "wrong" mean nothing to an AI, and morality is unlikely to be a consideration in any of its calculations. Even if such things are programmed in, a free-thinking AI may decide to override such considerations. As an example, Google has been working on self-driving cars. The AI program in your car might decide during a traffic accident that--to save the lives of several others--your life must be sacrificed for the greater good and therefore it steers your car in a way that avoids harming others but kills you in the process. More may have survived the accident overall, but you're dead. How many of you would willingly get in a car like this and trust your life to an AI? While we certainly don't want others to die because of us, our sense of self-preservation is a concept an AI might not consider or won't necessarily prioritize over other considerations.

AI Unhindered by Paradigms (part 3)

Considering that the DeepMind AlphaGo AI is so unhindered by conventional thought and wisdom related to the game "Go," what does this entail for other instances of AI use in our world? There will likely be a mixture of results, good and bad. On one hand, we may see a Renaissance in technology and advancement in other areas as well. Things that politicians and elected officials have been unable to solve may suddenly have groundbreaking alternatives. For example, what if an AI was given the task of solving the healthcare problem or solving the mess with our tax code? It's possible that the AI could examine these situations and design groundbreaking alternatives, shattering our paradigms simply because it was unhindered by them and was able to reach conclusions we never could have thought of because of our societal biases. But, being unhindered by our way of thinking also opens up another, terrifying likelihood...

AI Unhindered by Paradigms (part 2)

Several years ago Google's AI, known as DeepMind, learned to play the strategic game "Go" and beat the world champion Go player. The AI program called "AlphaGo" has since been playing against itself, developing moves and strategies that expert Go players are still trying to understand. The moves this AI has been making have been described as totally alien, as if knowledge from the far future has been dropped on earth, much of which is still being analyzed as experts are attempting to comprehend it. The AI is doing things that Go players have never done, even doing things that they thought were bad moves or mistakes yet turned out to be brilliant in the end. Sometimes even its opening moves are so confounding that players and analysts have given up trying to understand it--it's so bizarre and seemingly senseless. Yet the AI continues to win...

AI Unhindered by Paradigms (part 1)

Artificial Intelligence is going to be a very big part of our future. There are very serious concerns about how we humans will handle and limit AI in our world, such as its use in the military and in other areas where human decision-making and morality is vital. However, the development of AI brings about other concerns and considerations. A danger and also a possible benefit to AI is that it is completely unbound by bias, traditions, expectations, and paradigms. AI is already thinking in ways that are alien to us and in some instances, beyond our comprehension. What are the implications for our future with such a radical shift in thinking?

VR Report: Arizona Sunshine (part 2)

There's still more to mention about the Arizona Sunshine VR game, and most of it is positive. I really liked being able to pick up and manipulate most objects in the environment. If there's an abandoned car, you can open each door and trunk to see if there's anything useful, like gun ammo or...tennis balls? Most objects in the game can be picked up and thrown, though other than grenades, I've not found much of a use for throwing a can of beans or a bottle of soda. One thing I really liked was the freedom to manipulate my environment; at one point in the game, a horde of zombies comes looking for me, and after dying to the horde a few times, I finally managed to survive them all by ducking inside a sheriff's office while leaving the door slightly ajar. From inside, I could pop the head of any zombie that wandered in front of the opening, especially those that decided to get curious and amble through the door. You can carry up to 4 firearms in your holsters, and you can attack with a gun in each hand-- reloading isn't hard unless you're panicked because you somehow ended up in the center of a zombie mosh pit. I've so far managed to deliver over 100 zombie headshots, but I will say that it can be a challenge because of the occasional glitchy occurrence brought on by holding your gun (controller) in front of your eye (which blocks the VR headset.) Still, it's possible, but in a frantic situation where you don't have time for precision, I recommend shooting out their legs. The game environment is rather expansive so far, and the variety of locals is keeping me intrigued—last night, I finally escaped the Lost Dutchman's mine. Let me say this: a single flashlight in a pitch-dark mine is the perfect recipe for zombie horror! Arizona Sunshine was on sale for $20, and I have really been enjoying my first free-roaming survival-shooter!

VR Report: Arizona Sunshine

I wasn't planning to get this game because: 1) I'm so sick of zombie games, 2) I'm tired of wave-shooters for VR, and 3) I grew up in Arizona and I hate the desert. Considering all that, I still liked this game, surprisingly. The reason I bought it was because I read that it has free movement, and I wanted to see if I could develop some “VR legs” in preparation for the free-roaming option in the upcoming Skyrim VR. Some VR games have made me sick because of the movement, so I've been worried I can't enjoy free-roaming VR. A lot of developers are opting for teleportation instead of free-roaming, but I really hate that choice and hope that it's only included as an option in VR games, not as a mandatory setting. Thankfully in Arizona Sunshine, you have both options, and I chose free-movement. I was happily surprised that it didn't bother me at all! I think the slower walking speed is what made a difference, because I did feel a little queasy after using the run buttons a few times. The way movement is handled in this game worked extremely well for me: when you press X on either move-controller, the direction you move that controller is the direction your character moves. For instance, if I want to strafe left, I can hold X on the controller and point my left hand to the left while aiming my gun with my right hand. To be honest, though, with so many zombies coming at me, I pointed behind me to step backwards a lot and eventually just turned around and ran, despite the slight VR nausea induced. Maybe it's because I have things on the “normal” difficulty setting, but this game should be called Arizona Sunshine: I Expect You to Die. More details tomorrow...

VR Report: Fated

The second VR game I tried last week was Fated: The Silent Oath. This takes place in a cartoonesque but beautiful environment where you are a Norseman named Ulfer. You've been granted a second chance at life, but the deal with the gods was that you've lost your voice. This actually sets up an interesting mechanic where you can communicate with those around you by nodding or shaking your head—there's something about being directly involved in their dialogue that was really immersive. The game involved a number of different mini-games that were seamlessly incorporated into a very involving tale: follow people (it's slow enough free movement that I didn't get nauseous), go hunting with a bow and arrow, steer horses along a mountainside at high speed during an avalanche while being attacked by something chilling and gigantic, navigate caves and time your movements to avoid deadly traps and pitfalls, and even manipulate a few ancient puzzles to make progress. These games naturally dissolve into the narrative, and the beauty of the experience and the emotions of the characters you travel with are much deeper than you'd expect. More than a few moments in the game had me stopping to simply observe, and the crawl through a small tunnel infested with spiders will be quite unnerving for the arachnophobic and claustrophobic. The only downside to Fated was that it takes just 1 hour to play through, there isn't a lot of reply value, and isn't very challenging, but supposedly this is only the first chapter and there's more to come. For $5, the price was perfect.

VR Report: I Expect You To Die

I'll start with the first game I downloaded and played during Sony's VR sale last week: “I Expect You to Die.” This game takes place in a first-person setting where you and your floating hands begin, sitting at a desk in a 1960-70's era briefing room. You're a spy, and you must load some projector film to learn about your mission, where you are told that you will probably die while trying to complete the mission. The game feels like a fusion between the early James Bond films and Get Smart, with sticks of dynamite wired to a timer, champagne and cigars, and laser defenses that can cut you in half. You must manipulate objects around you to solve the puzzle/situation that you are in. For instance, your first mission begins with you seated inside a car that is inside a cargo plane. Your mission is to get the car out of the plane, mid-flight, and hope that the car's parachute system will deploy. As you look around the car, you'll find clues. You need to try different objects out and manipulate them with your hands to make progress: find the ignition key to turn on the car and once the car is on, roll down the window to grab a screwdriver outside, which you can use to unscrew a panel on the car and find a compartment with a knife, which you'll need to cut the wires of the bomb that you discover in the glove-box! This is just an example of the kinds of things you'll be doing, but it's a ton of fun and yes...you will die as you try different things through trial-and-error. One added bonus is that between missions, you accumulate some of the items you've found during missions, so you can play with them without consequence in the briefing room. I enjoyed putting dynamite by a row of books, blowing it up from a distance with my gun, and then tossing a lit lighter at a plant to turn the briefing room into a blazing inferno, all while having a glass a champagne, which I shattered against a wall after drinking. For $10, this game is definitely worth it, but from what I've seen with the trophies, there only seems to be 4 missions total? Hopefully there will be expansions later.

VR Report

It's been a while since I've written anything about Virtual Reality, but I've been active with it, and have been watching for any new pieces of VR news. In the past, I've given a very positive review to the tower-defense game Ancient Amuletor and to the team game Star Trek: Bridge Crew. I've been trying to keep my library of VR games diverse so that I can experience different game styles, especially when there are way too many VR games that are now known as “wave based shooters.” With only a month away for Skyrim VR's release, I figured now was a good time to talk about some of the other VR games and experiences I've been enjoying. Last week, Sony had a VR game sale, so I purchased three different games: Fated ($5), I Expect You to Die ($10), and Arizona Sunshine ($20). I've had a lot of fun, and wanted to share some of my observations with you, if you've been considering getting a VR headset or already have one and are thinking about new games to try...

Writing a Mission Story-Arc (part 5)

I hope you've enjoyed a little insider's view of the upcoming mission, tentatively titled Operation: Broken Citadel. Thus far, I've been busy working on the maps for this mission, because as I've been writing it, I've been finding it necessary to have a clear and precise vision of the area where the first part of the mission takes place. Not only will this mission have a number of map pages, but there will also be a variety of map icons to use for various environmental events and situations. This is all shaping up to be an exciting, action-packed mission, coupled with compelling intrigue and character interaction along the way. Stay tuned for a few future updates over the next month, and a battle report after it is first played over the Thanksgiving weekend!

Writing a Mission Story-Arc (part 4)

I have written a tag-along NPC before in a mission called "The Seeds Of Chaos." In Broken Citadel, I'm planning to have two potential tag-along NPC's that will be somewhat at odds with each-other. They will have various roles towards the success of the mission, but because the mission itself was not officially assigned through the team's Operations Sergeant, there will be some gray areas regarding how to proceed. Players will have to make choices to prioritize their own mission goals and parameters as they go, and they will have to consider the different goals and methods recommended by the two tag-along NPC's. They must also do all this under the pressure of a persistent threat and looming time constraints.

Writing a Mission Story-Arc (part 3)

I do plan to have a couple returning NPC characters from Void Hunter, but prior knowledge of these characters is not necessary to enjoy the encounters with them. The behavior of these characters will be rather open-ended, depending on how the players left things with them in Void Hunter or how they react to them as new players. This sounds like a lot of extra writing to sort through, but it isn't; like other missions I've written, the character's motives, goals, and personality will be outlined, and it is up to the GM to act out that NPC accordingly. There will be some interesting moral dilemmas posed through these NPC's, too, because they have very different agendas.

Writing a Mission Story-Arc (part 2)

I'm writing the new mission, Broken Citadel, as both a sequel and a stand-alone mission. If players have already completed Void Hunter, Broken Citadel will pick up exactly where their characters left off. However, if a new group of players are jumping into Broken Citadel without prior knowledge of the events in Void Hunter, it will still be a simple transition for those players. They will hear about the crucial events of Void Hunter through NPC's gossiping about what another team of agents did on the Void Hunter mission, and they will learn more details from an NPC character encounter near the beginning of the Broken Citadel mission. This character will shed light on events for both new players and Void Hunter veterans.

Writing a Mission Story-Arc (part 1)

A few months ago I ran a poll to find out what people were most interested in seeing next for Solar Echoes. The highest percentage of votes was for an overarching story across multiple missions. You may not have known it back when it released in July, but Operation: Void Hunter was the first installment of a larger story. Part 2 of that story is now underway, and it is currently titled Operation: Broken Citadel, planned for release around Thanksgiving. The very first gamers that will get to try the mission will be gamers at the Chessiecon convention over Thanksgiving weekend. But what if those gamers aren't familiar with the events in Operation: Void Hunter?

The Versatile GM (part 4)

Sometimes a GM will encounter individual players that can change the tone of the game for the group. This is sometimes related to that player having a different style preference than the other gamers in the group, or it can be due to personality differences. In cases like this, the GM may have to adjust the game slightly to include something for everyone. If that player is too extreme in his preference or approach as compared with the rest of the group, the GM might need to have a side discussion with that player and see if a compromise can be reached. In other instances, a player might just be too sophisticated or too immature for the rest of the group. If this is the case, the GM can challenge that player or the group to help “manage” each other. I've seen a young child playing the game with a group of adults, and the adults worked to guide the young player, even making up stories to fool the young player into behaving a particular way. It can be a fun experience if you have the right make-up of personalities, but if an ongoing conflict persists, it might be time to ask a player to join a different group that would be more suited for their playstyle. In the end, the goal is for everyone to have fun playing an RPG and to walk away with great memories of the experience. The GM needs to stay versatile and creative in order to make an RPG fun for the players!

The Versatile GM (part 3)

Some role-playing gamers would rather spend hours in discussion planning every move carefully, arguing over the best possible approach until everyone has a very specific role to execute at a very specific time. Paralysis-by-analysis can certainly slow the progression of a game, but it is the GM's job to discern whether his players are spending so much time planning because that is what they enjoy, or because the GM has left things too vague or has failed to provide proper incentives. If a gaming group is spending too much time planning and seems reluctant to take action, the GM can prompt players to act by creating time-sensitive situations. Another technique a GM can use is the call for certain skill checks from his players, revealing information to them if they successfully use their skills. For example, the “Resourcefulness” skill in Solar Echoes is a rather open-ended skill that can serve as a gateway for GM hints to the players. Not sure what to do here? Succeed at a Resourcefulness check, and suddenly your character “realizes” that he can utilize a particular environmental advantage, an object, or something else to help achieve goals.

The Versatile GM (part 2)

One type of RPG gaming group is the combat-shy crowd; I've run games for groups like this and they prefer to focus on the role-playing aspect of the game so much that they will actively seek to avoid every possible combat encounter. As a GM, it is important to adjust the scenario to involve more dialogue-intensive situations where the threat of combat looms but can be circumvented through clever wordplay. These types of players are interested in story and character development, so the GM needs to be a good story-teller and an entertaining actor, in addition to being skilled at improvising. However, another type of gaming group is the combat-hungry crowd, where the players would much rather enter battle than try talking it out. The GM will need to keep dialogue and narrative sections short for players like this, and move from one action scene to the next in order to keep the attention and interest of the players. If a GM prefers a different type of gaming style than his players and has trouble adjusting, then it might be time to consider finding a new gaming group with similar preferences to the GM.

The Versatile GM (part 1)

If you are a Game Master (GM) and play RPG's with others, you probably have experienced a few different types of gaming groups. There are different styles of GMing necessary for each type of group, and if the players are going to have fun, it is up to the GM to figure out how to adjust to and manage the players. If a GM doesn't know his players' preferred gaming style, conflict and boredom can derail a gaming session quickly. The GM has to be extremely flexible and be ready to wear a variety of “hats” in order to accommodate the preferences of his gaming group. It is likely that conflict will arise if a player's style is not being considered, because a player's boredom often results in that player becoming a volatile maverick in the gaming session. A bored player might try to “spice things up” by random acts of destruction or by having his character behave in an overly aggressive or inappropriate way. However, entire groups of players sometimes enjoy being incredibly destructive in a scenario—it may not be the result of player boredom. If this is the case, the GM has two options: he can either shift his focus to providing over-the-top combat opportunities as if the players are in a Michael Bay movie, or he can try to discipline his players with dire consequences in the game for their crazy behavior with the hope of getting them refocused and back on track. Ultimately, though, the GM should prioritize player fun over his desire to follow his plans for the adventure—otherwise, there might not be any players around for the next gaming session.

Solar Echoes on Discord!

Solar Echoes now has a live chat channel! Discord instant invite link: https://discord.gg/XHppUH