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In this month's episode of Divercast Shimmy, Andrew (Crayyon) and Dannylv100 talk about what is important to us in games. Graphics, Gameplay or Story? We talk about what games we feel were successful in merging gameplay and story as well as what games were more successful in storytelling than gameplay.
Time to sit back, relax and dive into Divercast!
Games Discussed in this episode: Call of Duty: Advanced warfare, Call of Duty : World At War, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1&2 , Bayonetta, Mass Effect 1&2, Monument Valley, Lost Odyssey, Hatred, Spec Ops: The Line, Borderlands, Destiny, Gears of War, Bioshock: Infinite
Shimi_Rank1's Iphone Game Corner: Shimi recommends, Monument Valley!
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In this episode of Diver-cast Shimmy, Andrew and Danny talk about the horror movies and games they played as kids. They talk about nightmares, fears and everything in between. So kick back relax and light a jack-o-lantern, it is time for Divercast!
Spoilers!: Cabin in The Woods (2012), Shutter (2004/2008), Frankenweenie (2012)
If you are a big fan of Horror movies I recommend checking out Monster Madness by James Rolfe aka The Angry Video Game Nerd.
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In this episode of Diver-cast, I talk about what I would like to see in the next Gears of War game. I talk about Co-Op, multiplayer and where I would set the Gears 4 campaign.
I also discuss my issues with the previous games and how to improve them. There are a few spoilers in this podcast, so if you haven't played Gears 1 to Judgement, you may have some story elements spoiled.
Do you have any suggestions for Gears of War 4? Well the game is still a few years away, which means you have plenty of time to make suggestions. If you have any suggestion that you would like to share, please feel free to tweet them to me or leave a comment on the blog. I will add them to a list that I will post here on my blog.
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Welcome to the first installment of Freeze-E Frosty's - Developer Commentary. In this video series I will go behind the scenes of Freeze-E Frosty and share with you my design process.
Further Notes: Level 1
- The main menu was originally part of the third level but was discarded. Toward the end of development it was salvaged and turned into the main menu.
- There are almost one hundred dynamic lights in the first half of the level. Once the player reaches the second floor (where the workstation is) there is a trigger that completely deletes all of the lights. This was done to keep the frame rate from dipping lower than 30fps. - We were lucky enough to record all of the voice over work in a professional studio with talented audio personnel. We did two 4 hour sessions to record all the voice work. - This level went through many iterations before we went wit this design. This design was sketched by myself while I was stuck in traffic heading home one day.
In this episode of Diver-cast, Brian Shimamoto and Andrew Brumder join Juan Valencia and I as we discuss what the most disappointing game from our childhood and adult life.
We talk about what made these games disappointing. Brian want's realism in his sports games, Juan breakdowns one of the biggest games of the last console generation and Andrew relives the horror of Fester's Quest.
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- Danny Q
@Dannylv100
In this Episode Juan Valencia (aka juanitudev1) and I talk about why we love Dead Space 1 and 2. We talk about weapons, characters and what moments stuck out to us as gamers and developers.
Juan claims that Dead Space 2 has the best intro to a game ever and I mention why my fear of ghosts is a rational one. Please join us for our second podcast.
Note: Heavy Spoilers for Dead Space 1 & 2. We talk about how both games start and end.
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Follow us on Tumblr, IndieDB, Twitter, Mixcloud,Soundcloud Battle For Dominance The layout for the boss fight was very simple. This level would just be a long corridor where the player can walk toward their goal. With each phase of the boss fight the player would be once again cut off from their goal. The player must overcome the boss by utilizing Froty's freeze gloves and dash ability. The programming for the boss battle took nearly 11 weeks of work. I had to bet the boss battle phases worked out, the third phase was cut, added back and altered at least 3 times before we settled on what you see in the game. I had the distinct honor of not only designing the boss battle from scratch, but I also spent a week and a half of development time play testing and bug fixing back to back for days on end. Level Goals and Objectives
Mission Difficulty This level is a straight forward boss fight. The player must use their freeze gloves to freeze the pipes above the T-rex to cause them to burst, shooting steam at the T-rex and causing him harm. The boss fight is broken up into 3 phases and after the fourth phase is complete the player must go into the shutoff valve room and save the day. Once that is completed the game ends.
Level 3 - Boss Battle / Shutoff Valve Room Sideview This is the conclusion of the game. Here is where we have the showdown between Frosty and the popsicle T-Rex. After the epic battle the player reaches their destination of the shutoff valve room. Level 3 - Entrance As soon as the player walks past the stairs an event takes place. Steam bursts from a pipe and blocks the door. The player can only move to the right and can not return from where they came. As they move right they come across and injured NPC laying on the ground. At this point we pause the players movement because it is critical that the player listens to what the NPC has to say. The NPC reveals crucial information on how to defeat the boss. The player is told to use the Freeze Gloves to freeze the red hot pipes that hang overhead. The pipe is red, it flashes and it has a sparkle particle on it to grab the attention of the player. Level 3 - Boss Battle Phase 1 As soon as the player enters the first phase of the boss fight they activate a checkpoint. This event triggers the T-Rex to enter the area, destroying the walkway and trapping the player between two busted steam pipes. The pipe above the T-Rex flashes red and has a sparkle particle over, this signals to the player that it needs to be shot at with the freeze gloves. Every time the player makes contact with the pipe it makes a low metallic ding. When the player fires the Freeze Gloves at the T-Rex he flashes until he completely freezes. Once he is frozen he remains frozen for five seconds giving the player time to target the steam pipe. Once the player defeats the boss, he will retreat. The Steam that was blocking the player is now gone and they can keep moving toward the shutoff valve room. Level 3 - Boss Battle Phase 2 The second phase begins with the the player activating two events. The player is locked in by steam as the T-Rex emerges from underneath the walkway. You battle the boss in a similar fashion to the first phase. You dodge the attacks and freeze the pipe over his head. Once the boss is defeated the next event is triggered, a large pipe crashes down allowing the player to cross to the other side. Level 3 - Intro to Phase 3 After the second phase the player keeps moving forward. They will walk through a health vent that will heal them back to full health. As they walk down toward the steps leading to the shutoff valve room, a large pipe will come crashing down destroy the walkway behind the player. The steps the player walks down will also come crashing down once the boss appears for the start of phase 3. Level 3 - Boss Battle Phase 3 As the third phase begins the player will activate the next checkpoint. If the player dies in this phase he will be respawned on the left platform next to where the stairs used to be. As the Rex makes its entrance it will walk to the center platform and destroy the middle platform of the catwalk. If the player is on the middle platform they will fall down to the chocolate river below and die. During this phase the boss has 5 different types of attacks. With every roar the T-Rex does he will cause icicles to rain down on the player. The T-Rex also has stomp and roar combo which showers the player with many icicles. At this phase of the boss fight the Rex is invulnerable and can not be frozen. The key to defeating the boss is in freezing the ice cream sandwiches that hang overhead. Once they are frozen they will break, dropping the heavy steel pipes onto the steam pipes below. Once the pipes fall it triggers the ending sequence, Steam begins to douse the Rex melting it. The platform that was obscured by steam is now reset and the steam is removed. With this the player can now move forward to the Shut off valve room. Level 3 - Shutoff Valve Room and Ending After the boss is defeated the player continues on their path and will be contacted via their walkie talkie to go to the shut off valve room. As they walk toward the door they will enter a workstation with a worker NPC inside. We call this NPC the "soda engineer" he is the one that contacted the player over the walkie talkie when they first arrived. Once inside the engineer will tell the player to turn off the shutoff valve. To the far right of the room the player will see a valve continuously spinning out of control. It has a sparkle effect to it to help alert the player that it can be frozen. With the valve frozen the final cut scene is triggered. Level 3 - Boss Battle - Danny Q @Dannylv100 Open up the Vault!
I put together a collection of some of the talks I watched online, for free from the GDC vault website. I wanted to share my list of what I found to be the most informative, interesting and educational talks from the GDC 2014 vault. I present to you my GDC 2014 video roundup!
Ellie: Buddy AI in The Last of Us by Max Dychoff
It is no secret that I am a huge fan of The Last of Us, and this talk by Max Dychoff is an interesting look at how they designed and implemented the character of Ellie into the game.
This is a great watch for anyone that wants to work with Ai Programming and design, or for anyone who likes Ellie. Creating Bioshock Infinite's Elizabeth by Shawn Robertson
Shawn Robertson goes into detail over the start and finish of how Elizabeth was constructed, from sketches to a fully realized character in the final game. I highly recommend this video to anyone who wants to be an animator in the game industry.
Why Is Gone Home a Game? by Steve Gaynor
Gone Home was one of those games that took me by surprise. I went into it completely blind and it amazed me. In this talk Steve Gaynor discusses the process of putting this game together.
A lot of people talk about the story elements and characters, but I have to say I really loved the setting. I personally wish that he discusses the importance of music in Gone Home . Nothing like reading your sister's diary while punk rock softly plays in the background to take me back to the early 90's.
Note: Steve Gaynor also has a radical podcast called Tone Control. You should definitely check it out.
The Art of The Witness by Luis Antonio
This is a really cool look at the process of the Art Direction The Witness has gone through. I was really impressed to see just how much thought has gone into the overall presentation and aesthetics.
If you like environmental art, this talk is right up your alley. Luis Antonio goes over the process of how the team at Thekla Inc went about creating a visually striking world by removing clutter and noise to create simple yet visually rich objects. #1ReasonToBe by
Brenda Romero, Lauren Scott, Colleen Macklin, Anna Kipnis, Deirdra Kiai, Leigh Alexander and Laralyn McWilliams
If you come to this talk with an open mind I think you will most definitely walk away with something,. I would like to think that I am aware of the things that go on in the industry but this talk made me realize that things are not perfect they way they are, that things can still be improved.
This talk also enforced my belief that diversity is key to strengthening our industry as a whole. Which means more representation of minorities in games and as developers/creators. Anitchamber: An Overnight Success, Seven Years in the Making and Antichamber: Three Years of Hardcore Iteration by Alexander Bruce
These two talks were amazing. In his first talk Alexander Bruce goes over the journey of creating Antichamber, and he doesn't hold back. As an indie myself, I found a lot of what he discussed to resonate with me.
In his second talk he talks about the intensive iteration and design Antichamber went through before it's release. I was pretty much blown away at the complexity of the design behind the game. Alexander really maximized the results he got from every play test to expertly polish Antichamber. I played Antichamber back when it was still known as Hazard. I downloaded the demo from the UDK site. After seeing these talks I added it to my list of "Games I Need to Play". SCALE and the Ethics of Kickstarter by Steve Swink
If you're thinking about or are in the process of putting together a Kickstarter, this video is probably essential viewing.
Steve Swink shares his Kickstarter experience and breaks down the ups and downs of running a successful kickstarter campaign. If you want to launch a kickstarter, please watch this video.
- Danny Q
@Dannylv100 Diving Deeper into the Factory After the layout for the first level was underway I began construction of the second. I knew that this level had to be quite a change visually and tonally from the first. The first level was bright and inviting, this level was going to be dark and a bit hostile. I took inspiration from Super Mario Bros. for the NES. World 1-1 was a bright happy place that was above ground. However, as soon as you get to world 1-2 the Mushroom Kingdom was no longer so inviting. And that was the tone I was attempting to convey with this level. Level Goals and Objectives
Mission Difficulty Level 2 is where the difficulty begins to ramp up slowly. The player will have to use everything they learned from the previous level in order to progress. The player faces a series of platforming sections and simple puzzle solving.
Level 2 -Side View Level 2 is where the gloves come off a bit. Players will now have to face an array of challenges that will test their abilities and reflexes. This levels also builds up to the final confrontation with the T-Rex from the previous level. Level 2 - Forklift Area Once the player reaches the bottom of the elevator shaft they may catch a glimpse of their boss attempting to talk to them through a TV. Before the player gets a chance to hear what the boss is trying to say, the monitor explodes. The player can't go left so as they must continue on their journey by heading to the right. As the player moves toward the right they will encounter the first health vent of the game. The health vent will heal the player gradually as they stand in its healing breeze. Once the player gets near a large fan they are contacted by the Boss via the walkie talkie on their hip. The first obstacle they face will be a large fan is blowing air that is so powerful that the player can not get though. The solution to this puzzle is to freeze the fan blades causing it to fall apart. In the forklift area the player must jump up and down on the steel crates to reach the catwalk overhead. Inside the workstation we can overhear some NPC characters talking. If the player continues forward they will set off an event where the T-Rex will appear and eat an NPC in the background. Now that the boss can no longer reach the player with his TV monitor he will use the walkie talkier on Frosty's hip. The Boss will tell the player over the walkie talkie to get to the shutoff valve room. This is the player's ultimate goal, reaching this area will end the game and result in a victory for the player. The boss will act as a sort of guide for the player. He will dispense directions/tips/hints through the walkie talkie and will help the player get to their ultimate goal.
At the very top of the vents is the first checkpoint of level 2. This checkpoint is implemented in this are because the vents will have few spots where the player can die, frequent checkpoints will prevent the player from becoming frustrated. Level 2 - Vents Part. 1 Now that the player has reached the checkpoint they encounter the first real danger, a icicle pit. There is a small sign on the inside of the vents that will remind the player to use their dash ability. Dashing is the only option because the vents do not give the player enough space to jump. After the spike pit we encounter the second danger of this level, Falling Icicles. With some careful maneuvers the player can avoid being hit by the icicles altogether and continue on their journey to safety. The last thing the player will encounter is a running man NPC inside one of the vents overhead. The player then drops down into the next section of vents. Level 2 - Vents Part. 2 Once the player is in the new area they will have to dash over another spike pit and avoid another group of falling icicles. This area has two checkpoints very close to each other because the risk of dying is very high is this section. As the player nears the broken steam pipe area there is a group of NPCs below him. Once the player is able to make it past the steam and event occurs. One of the NPCs in the vent below the player loses his grip and slams into a wall of icicles. He is impaled on the wall as the player drops down to the second checkpoint in this area. The second checkpoint in this area is near a large icicle pit. Level 2 -The Cookie Crumbler This is one of the trickiest area in the game. As you enter this room, the Boss will tell the player to find a way out. When the player reaches the center platform under the health vent they will be told to find "Tim's Office". There is a large Kill zone volume underneath the center platform. If the player were to fall inside it would send him back to the checkpoint at the start of this section, outside of the vent on the wall.. If the player were to stand on either of the platforms going up or down they will be taken into a kill zone volume. Level 2 - Air Vents and B-team Commandos Staging Area This area of the factory is all about moving the player along quickly. This is achieved by having the player walk into an air vent. The vents will quickly propel the player into the staging area with very little trouble. The staging area has a brief interaction with some NPCs (The B-team Commandos). Once the player engages them they will be treated to a brief cut scene. After the cut scene the player walks through the door and the level ends. - Danny Q @Dannylv100 Back in Action
In true "In Defense of" fashion I will talk about why I believe Resident Evil 5 is not as bad as some people think. A few points I am going to go over is A.i, gameplay mechanics and tone. Ai Companion vs Ai Partner
From my experience, I never really saw a problem with the A.I. When I played RE5 solo I just made sure to equip Sheva with a few good weapons and some healing items. I knew that I couldn't rely on her to completely wipe out enemies but Sheva was more than ready to help distract a boss, stun an enemy and heal me when I was injured. When you play with the A.I partner on you just have to take the lead. I understand that Ashley is not supposed to be a soldier. She is just a normal person that can't defend herself. Sheva on the other hand is a BSAA agent. When I played RE4 I didn't think less of it for having Ashley, that wasn't a negative aspect of the game. The same goes for when I played RE5. Having an A.i partner wasn't a hindrance to me or my experience playing through the game. When it comes down to it, I just can't really see a reason why people would just completely hate the campagin. So you have to walk around with an A.i. that can at times be mildy frustrating. The same thing happened in RE4. If anything having your A.i. companion help you in battle is a plus. Gameplay: 4 vs 5 Shots Fired! Ammo, not so scarce One of the things people would associate with the survival horror genre is a lack of ammunition. Resident Evil 4 never left you completely dry. Through all of my playthroughs I found that I was always handed out just the right amount of ammo, I never found myself high and dry. I remember watching a friend of mine play RE4. He was only using his pistol, despite having 45 shotgun shells, 20 sniper bullets and 100 TMP bullets. He just used the pistol. He kept playing RE4 as if he was playing RE1! As if ammo was a problem. It drove me crazy! If you were reckless with your bullets/accuracy you would be in a world of hurt but for the most of the game the only gun that was ever hurting for ammo was the magnum! Bullets for the pistols and TMP were plentiful and the shotgun had a decent amount sprinkled about. This, to me meant that RE4 was moving into a more action oriented direction. Ammo isn't abundant but it can easily be found inside of crates/barrels/chests and off of the corpses of defeated enemies. RE5 has the same melee combat that RE4 had. You could fire a bullet into the leg of an enemy and cause him to fall to a single knee, when this happens they are open to a melee attack that will usually defeat them. A smart player can conserve a lot of ammo this way. Resident Evil 5 kind of operates in the same way. You do need to play smart, but you are rarely in a low ammo scenario. During my play through I did run low or out of ammo during some of the more challenging boss fights, but this was a rare scenario.
This mechanic adds a layer to the Co-Op gameplay that other Co-Op games just simply do not have. Having to split ammo, weapons and health items adds a meta-game that makes the game a much deeper and engaging experience. One thing that both games do an excellent job of doing is introducing different variety of enemy types. Different creatures and monsters require different approaches and certain weapons are best suited to deal with certain enemy types. So if a player was foolish enough to burn through all of their shotgun shells they might find themselves quickly overwhelmed by crowds of enemies. If a player used up all their sniper ammo taking out lesser enemies, the mini-bosses will quickly make them regret that. Different enemy types are plentiful in both games and they make the player vary up their strategy and approach.
No time for Quick Time Another complaint people had with RE5 was it's use of QTE. RE4 was my first time being introduced to QTEs and at the time I thought they were brilliant! I mean, you could never put the controller down during a cut scene anymore! Well when RE5 was coming out QTEs had already overstayed their welcome and a lot of people were getting tired of them.
* Video of Leon escaping the giant statue was uploaded by youtube user Pizza-Hero. In fact, there is a sequence in RE4 which has Leon running away from a giant robotic(?) statue as a bridge collapses. I didn't think anything of it at the time but in retrospect, what?
The QTEs aren't intrusive. If an enemy grabs you you shake the left joystick...which is the same joystick that you use to walk/move. It isn't a three button combination or some other nonsense. To keep this section simple. Quick Time Events are present in both games. Resident Evil 5 does it no better and no worse than what RE4 has established. The bar was set and RE5 made not attempt to improve on it. Tone - Survival Horror vs "Tense Action" People seem to categorize Resident Evil 4 into the “Survival Horror” genre. As I mentioned before I never felt like this made a lot of sense. You had access to weapons, either by constantly discovering them or by simply purchasing them from your friendly local merchant(s?). You have a decent supply of ammo and for the first time ever in a Resident Evil game you're not fighting the controls. Personally, I always hated the controls to the first few games. I felt that the games have a forced horror element because the controls were so bad. I mean, you try to run from and you begin to spin in place....Some people might not agree with me but I always felt that poor controls were not and should never be considered an element for a horror game.
Note: I just wanted to mention that Resident Evil 5 has an excellent DLC that plays more like a traditional survival horror game. On the hard difficulties the enemies are nearly impossible to defeat and you must solve puzzles and survive in a mansion that is a recreation of the Spencer mansion from Resident Evil 1. Level Design If we were to look at the design of the level known as Public Assembly we can find lots of tight corridors and bottlenecks. These are not here by mistake, they are meant to be there so the enemies can swarm and surround the player to apply the pressure. So how tight are these corridors? I went back and played RE5 and found that the narrowest of these corridors to be about 2 character sizes in width (I was using Chris BSAA costume). Now, compare this to a game like Gears of War where most stair ways, door ways, hallways are spaced to be 3 to 4 character sizes wide (mostly to support the combat) or bigger. Tight corridors in combination with enemies that swarm or block your path (enemies such as the Reaper, Executioner act as living blockades that force a retreat) really bring that tension home. No Longer the Black Sheep Resident Evil 5 will always be one of my favorite games. I came to the conclusion that the game isn't just a simple rehashing of it's predecessor, it is a natural evolution to the series. From it's enemy designs, game mechanics and gameplay this game was a step in the right direction, despite some of it's flaws. - Danny Q @Dannylv100 |
Dannylv100 I am an Indie Game and Level designer, Consultant and host of Divercast. Popular Podcast Episodes:
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