tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11758224.post4864624588626380988..comments2023-09-28T07:23:51.376-07:00Comments on ProjectPerko: Learning from CrackdownCraig Perkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13173752470581218239noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11758224.post-37600927040273372572007-09-20T18:07:00.000-07:002007-09-20T18:07:00.000-07:00Well, that kind of play isn't central to the game....Well, that kind of play isn't central to the game. Being better or worse at "grinding in a circle to open the door" won't actually cost you health or resources. It's just there as a gesture of immersion.<BR/><BR/>The need to do Street Fighter moves in order to kill enemies, on the other hand... (You want to kill the Medusa? Quick! Half-circle forward and high punch!)<BR/><BR/>I personally was not a big fan of God of War specifically because I couldn't beat the enemies fast enough. Normally I'm in no hurry, but in God of War they have several time traps that I always lost by less than a second. Because I can't roll the freaking joystick.<BR/><BR/>For full spite, usually the trap would kill me as I was going through the last long-ass kill animation.Craig Perkohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13173752470581218239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11758224.post-12843124453091872092007-09-20T13:22:00.000-07:002007-09-20T13:22:00.000-07:00In an odd comparison, I felt that way about using ...In an odd comparison, I felt that way about using elevators, lifts or doors in God of War. Instead of just pressing X to activate a lift or door, suddenly you were required to rotate an analog or button mash O. Seems like an awful lot of excessive work for something that worked more simply in other games but it forced participation in elements that most other games didn't even think of and, oddly, it's fun.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11758224.post-90705583748416787832007-09-15T07:23:00.000-07:002007-09-15T07:23:00.000-07:00I've played ALL the Prince of Persias, but I was h...I've played ALL the Prince of Persias, but I was hoping it was pretty clear I was talking about the modern ones. The originals were hard as hell and not at all like I described. The new ones are fun, but they are not open ended like Crackdown.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I'm not arguing that you need to do this to make a game good or fun. I'm simply saying that it's a really efficient way to make a game good and fun.Craig Perkohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13173752470581218239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11758224.post-71969716103163577472007-09-15T00:22:00.000-07:002007-09-15T00:22:00.000-07:00Almost a decade ago I made essentially the same ob...Almost a decade ago I made essentially the same observation about Super Mario 64. Merely tilting the analog stick to make Mario run around is sheer joy, goals aside. A few years later I was saying the same about Prince of Persia: Sands of Time -- were you talking about it, or the original Prince of Persia? In any case, I recommend you check both of those out, if you haven't.<BR/><BR/>This is perhaps the defining feature of the platformer genre, more so than platforms themselves: moving around is the very point of the game. The good ones make the control fun whether or not the goals (usually "go here") are challenging.<BR/><BR/>Bioshock's gameplay focus is definitely elsewhere, and I would argue that the original Prince of Persia (assuming that's what you were talking about) succeeds more a puzzler than as a platformer.<BR/><BR/>A platformer is a pretty specific thing, though, so I'm glad you were able to come up with another format that focuses on the low-level control just as effectively. The fighting game is the other format I can think of where the gameplay is focused so tightly on low-level control, but I've never been able to really get into those so I can't say if any have actually succeeded.<BR/><BR/>I wasn't really writing this with a point in mind, but the emerging point seems to be that making the low-level controls fun is correlated with focusing the gameplay on low-level controls. My guess is that you could in theory make controlling an RTS be just as fun as making Mario run around, but since it just isn't necessary to provide a fun experience, developers haven't focused on it, individually or as a culture.eaoaeueaueohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659784615444475745noreply@blogger.com