I just realized something, i love bad games now!

Game Play & Game Design
#21

Im a bit suprised that this thread has recieved so much replies, when i first posted it it didn’t get that much attention.
Another thing that i am a bit suprised over is that whenever people talk about bad or good games, graphics is always a major topic of discussion. Graphics plays a very minor role in determening whether a game is fun or not. At least it does for me. An example: Far cry 2 = eye candy but really, really boring and repetitive gameplay. no offence toward the guys that liked it, but for me it just wasn’t fun playing. As you all know, the main objective with a game is to be fun.

On-topic: Far cry 2 learned me that one should not design traveling in an open world so that you are intercepted by armed rebels every 2 mins and constantly have to fight for your life while searching for new vehicles.

#22

For the record, I was totally joking.

While I appreciate good graphics, they certainly aren’t deal makers/breakers for me. I think the reason everyone here is talking about them is because, as programmers, graphics are typically what define a “high production value” game. We don’t worry about the engineering because we’ve got it covered, but graphics are always on our minds. How can we get people to play our games with our crappy programmer graphics? Or how can we find an artist?

#23

I had the feeling you were not serious with your 3d crysis graphics statement Eli XD

I may have prestented my point a bit wierd though, what i meant is that many factors govern wether a game is successfull or unsuccessful, but only the graphics part gets discussed.

#24

let’s stop talking about graphics for now, and assume, hypothetically, that the graphics on every game out there are equal.

now, let’s compare say, Doom 1 and 2 with doom3. The mapping in Doom 1 and was much better than in doom 3, even though you couldn’t have balconies or room over room. Id just started sucking at mapping.

character design complements mapping. For example, in BLOOD, I ended up in a kitchen sink, with a fat guy throwing cleavers and spitting green gunk at me, disembodied hands were crawling around, trying to choke me, and there’s this big firebreathing dog running around. crazy gameplay is FUN! also, in blood, if you hit a zombie just right, its head flies off. you can then kick it like a soccer ball, and it trails blood as it goes flying. very entertaining. people also like gibbing things.

weapon design is also a part of a good game. Weird ones are very nice. take the flaregun from blood for example. it’s entertaining lighting people on fire.Also, don’t require reloading. even though the shotgun in Doom couldn’t hold 100 shells in real life, the fact that you don’t have to reload allows constant carnage.

next is how the game actually works. FPS games are mostly “kill everything” games. minecraft is a wierd mix of FPS and survival, with the twist that you make everything you use.

#25

God “blood” was a great game. “I LIVE AGAIN!!!”

so many memories. Serial port 1on1 gaming during laptop class, back when teachers didnt know how to use computers, good times.

#26

yeah it is. just thought of something: several great games are totally weird. Just look at Earthworm Jim! The idea for Mario is totally outlandish. i mean, take goombas for instance, and those talking mushrooms. Super Smash Bros Brawl was a VERY strange experience. you wonder what they were on when they created Kirby’s special attack.

#27

I wonder if that has anything to do with early games being marketed towards children, as the characters have a vey picture story book feel, and the jokes tend towards slapstick and potty humour. Modern games tend to be more seriouos. Even the indie creative games tend towards a specific stylistic feel or even sometimes trippy.

#28

From what I’ve seen indie games seems to try new things and new gameplay more, and make more changes than the big companies that risk a lot of money.

#29

One of my personal favorite shooters was NOLF.

So many cool ideas and maps. Sure it hat some frustrations (maps you had to sneak through) but I’d play it again if I ever got my hands on it.

#30

Oh man, i loved NOLF and NOLF2! The humour in them was so awesome! My favorite map were the one in NOLF1 where you attack a marroco hotel full of guys with little red hats and sunglasses xD

Thumbs up for great games being totally weird! Lots of games that are very twisted have also been very successful. Litttle big planet is one game that pops up into my mind when i think of weird and twisted successful games. The fun of it doesn’t lie in killing things like traditional fps’s. Rather it’s about being creative. Same thing with minecraft. Sure, killing creepers is fun, but the charm in minecraft lies in building.

I spent some time analyzing the games i bought a while ago. What i found out is that by adding companions in a very dull and boring game, you can make it fun. The game i discovered this in was beowulf the game. Man that was a horrible game without the thanes. The combat system sucked and it was too easy. But with a couple of thanes folowing you, taking orders from you and heping you in battle, it got fun. Im not saying Beowulf is a great game, cuz it’s not! But it got better by adding companions.

#31

“Good graphics” can either mean “technically impressive” or “artistically pleasing”.

Doom was technically very impressive. There was brightness per sector and also some distance based brightness falloff. Pretty cool stuff. Surely helped them to create some atmosphere.

And artistically… well, they used clay models and photos of (more or less modified) toy weapons and whatever. This was kinda experimental stuff back then. The result looks pretty good and consistent, I’d say. Even if the clay models turned out to be a mistake. According to them they became pretty brittle under the “stage lighting” and were annoying to work with.

I played Doom recently on my Wiz (some Korean handheld thingy). It’s still fun.

I also play Quake1 (using ezQuake as client) every once in a while. Starting the game, beating the first episode, and exiting the game takes less than 7.5 minutes (~2 songs). I really like that. I also really really like the speed and the “special moves” which allow you to gain even more speed (circle strafe jumps, bunny hopping, wall hugging, using ramps…).

I really wish modern first person shooters were more like this.

Painkiller was somewhat close, but the movement was dumbed down and simplified. They shouldn’t have done that.

#32

giving my bot teammates orders in unreal tournament did give me a better experience.