Fractal Mario Game

So, Greg and I haven’t really had much time to meet yet, so in terms of character and level design, we have a lot to discuss. What we do know is that we want a Mario style side scrolling pixel environment. I made a quick mock up of a possible pixel environment.

Spin and Stare

A game of spinning and staring. WOW-EE.

A 4 player game.

To play, players require two objects to balance on their heads and an oddly specific set of spinning benches.

Players split into teams of two; two players to each bench. One player will sit on the bench’s axis and balance the object on their head. The other player will position themselves at the other end of the bench and turn the bench until somebody has lost the game. Generally, both “pushers” should be pushing in the same manner for fairness (i.e. sitting and pushing with feet or standing and pushing with hands).

As the pusher spins the bench, the sitter must continually turn their body so that they are always making eye contact with the other sitter while also balancing the object on their head. A sitter loses when they break eye contact or whenever the object falls off of their head.

 

This game went through several iterations before we finally came to the finalized rules. Another version of the game required the sitter to stand on the axis as the bench spun, and the stander could not make a full 360 turn or break eye contact. However, due to the nature of the benches, this was deemed a bit too dangerous for the quick assignment.

Another type of game we designed around the benches included a “pose-off” style of game. We all liked the idea of holding a completely still pose on the axis of the bench as the bench spun slowly, turning ourselves into a sort of mannequin and making the game more “performance” based. The game we created out of this idea was Ninja, Pirate, Hooker. In a style very similar to Rock, Paper, Scissors, the player had to choose between one of the three characters to win. Pirate beats Ninja (because of their sword skills), Ninja beats Hooker (because they can’t fall for their seduction), and Hooker beats Pirate (better hooks. And tits). As the players were slowly spun on the bench, they would strike a pose resembling one of the three characters, and whenever they are turned to face each other they reveal who they are and the winner is decided.

But because this game was so close to Rock, Paper, Scissors, we decided to better develop Spin and Stare.

Learning To Love You More Assignment #41: Document your bald spot

 

I’ve had this bald spot on my scalp for, I’m assuming, my whole life. I remember whenever I was a little girl, being in my downstairs bathroom with my mom and grandma when they noticed this on my head. It felt weird, so we looked through my hair and found this little empty patch. It became a source of obsession that I still haven’t gotten over. I used to pluck out the hairs around it, scratch at it, dig into it with my nails, rub it furiously, press down into it. I still do a lot of these things today, and whenever I get stressed out or am arbitrarily playing with my hair, I find myself obsessing with this one spot.

 

I recently noticed that this spot also serves as a dent in my scalp. If you touch from my forehead and back onto that spot, you’ll notice that this patch of skin is kind of sunken in quite a bit.

 

I hate this thing. When I was a kid I used to think it was a scab and there was actually a bunch of hair growing underneath it, and I just had to pick away at all the tough outer skin. That probably made it worse.

 

I’ll admit, as I’m typing this I’m also scratching at this thing. I hate it.

Best Games Fest Review

My experience at the best games fest was pretty interesting. When I first arrived at the site, it looked….nothing like I expected. The community space that the event took place on did not really scream “community” at first glance. I was judging everything before I even started playing.

The games themselves, however, made me not want to leave the event. Now, I’m not really sure if that’s due to the games themselves, or the people playing them and the environment created by everyone’s “alternative gaming” presence, but I still did have a lot of fun.

The first game I played was called Turtle…something. I personally think it should have been called Ninja Turtle, due to it’s similarities to the game Ninja and its inclusion of turtle game pieces. In a fashion similar to the hand-slappy-ness of ninja, the players must use only one hand to slap a turtle out of other players’ hands, while simultaneously balancing a small turtle toy in their own other hand. Unlike Ninja, however, the players are allowed to roam around, in a style more like the Joust game we played in class. The game was much more fast paced than joust, which allowed for a gameplay more like swordplay (I even had a standoff where I really felt like I was sword fighting). The only issue I saw with the game was that some players decided to hide and run away while everyone else killed each other so that they could survive until the end. And even if the player wasn’t trying to hide, I found myself avoiding everyone whenever people got into their own little standoffs. The gameplay mostly went very smoothly, however, and I enjoyed it a lot.

 

The second game that I played, and my favorite out of all of them, was a game called You Win (I believe that was the name…). With a passive style of gameplay, the player is given a card with a goal that they must attempt to achieve without letting any other players know. Once the goal is achieved, they pop several party poppers that correspond to the amount listed on their goal card. I played this game HOURS after I left the event. I really enjoyed the passive gameplay that allowed players to insert this game into their daily routine, or even into the other games they were playing. You can win at any time, and confusing the people around you who aren’t playing is one of my favorite parts of the game. I think a game like this would be really fun to bring to large scale events, like concerts or conventions.

Average Hexagon

 

I played Super Hexagon in order to lose at certain points in the game. Whenever I first began this project, I attempted to lose the game on only whole numbered times (x:00 seconds). This strategy required me to look at both the game itself and the timer up in the corner, forcing me to focus on two things at once. However, due to the rhythmic nature of the game, I only managed to win on a whole number 6 times out of the hundreds (possibly thousands, who knows) times I played the game.

So, I opted for a slightly different approach. Rather than only losing at specific times, I decided to lose at every “obstacle” that appears in the game to see the different times that the game actually forces you to lose at. I played every level, and attempted to hit the first 10 blocks that appear on screen (I only played if the level didn’t change rhythmic patterns, which added about half an hour extra in time). This time, rather than focusing on the clock, I had to pay attention to the obstacles much more than I usually do while playing the game, and count them at the same time.

What I discovered is that this approach was much more headache inducing than any way I’ve ever played Super Hexagon before. The zen-like focused state that you achieve while playing bullet-hell style games was completely lost, and my vision even ended up getting a bit weird after about 15 minutes. Throbbing headache soon followed.

Along with the obvious mistake of losing count, one of my biggest problems was that I actually kept losing track of the fact that I was trying to lose, and I would end up missing the obstacle that I was trying to hit for that round. And, while you totally lose track of time when you play Super Hexagon the normal way, this hour and a half long experience felt like an eternity.

I’m gonna stick to playing Super Hexagon the usual way.