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teach myself Processing.
Happy Holidays to all, and Happy New Years, as well. I’m off to Italy tomorrow for vacation; see you all in 2008.
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Archive for the 'ul' Category
I’ve been working on a game that uses a deck of playing cards, and have been keeping track of a number of simple stats and factoids about the cards during the design process. I thought I’d be nice and share.
There are 52 cards in a deck (not counting Jokers):
- 13 spades (black)
- 13 clubs (black)
- 13 diamonds (red)
- 13 hearts (red)
That means there are 26 black cards and 26 red cards.
Of the 13 cards in each suit:
- 3 are face cards (Jack, Queen, King)
- 10 are number cards (Ace through 10).
In total, a deck of cards contains 12 face cards and 40 number cards.
Counting by color, there are:
- 6 face cards of each color
- 20 number cards of each color.
We can add the values of number cards together to come up with total sums:
- Total sum of each suit: 55
- Total sum of each color: 110
- Total sum overall: 220
Lastly, here’s a good rule to keep in mind:
- If you’re going to leave the country for six months, bring at least one deck of playing cards with you!
I must have six or seven decks back in Pennsylvania. Now I have to go out and buy a French set. Just remember:
- Jack is Valet
- Queen is Dame
- King is Roi
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl take everything I adored about the original Game Boy games… and keep it exactly the same. Same simple visual aesthetic; same synthesized battle cries; same basic battle system; same super-cute creatures and the motivation to “catch them all.”
Nothing’s changed in the latest franchise titles. Instead, more has been added on top of the already-perfect formula. Your pokemans can do more than just battle; they breed, dance, and compete in beauty competitions. The trading is made easier by local wireless connection, and the super-amazing Craigslist-esque Global Trading Station. You’re still out to catch all of them, but now there are more to catch. What’s most amazing, is that all these additions to the formula actually work. I love these games.
The logical next step for the series seems to be a massively multiplayer experience. A lot of people agree on this point. But how would a PokéMMO work? Here’s what I’m seeing:
- The Lo-Fi MMO aesthetic. We don’t need high-poly-counts! Eschew complicated graphics for quick-loading, low-bandwidth, stylized simplicity, similar to the graphics already present in Pokémon games.
- Turn-based battles. In an MMO? Well, yeah. Pokémon’s never been about who can click faster, so why change that now? We’ve limited ourselves to the standards set by WoW and those that preceded it for far too long. But how would turn-based battle work in a Massive game? Well, for starters…
- Battles occur outside of normal game-space. Anytime a player enters a battle, that player is taken to a separate screen, outside of the overworld of the game. The player’s avatar remains in the game-space, but indicates that the player is in battle.
- The first random-encounter MMO. Players walking in particular areas can randomly encounter wild Pokemon, and enter battles. Sensing a pattern here? A lot of these details keep PokéMMO in much the same realm as its single-player ancestors. If it isn’t broke, why fix it? And why go out of our way to make PokéMMO like every other Massive out there?
- Entirely PVP. Every player in the PokéMMO world is a trainer. Players can talk to other trainers, and request battles in 1v1, or 2v2 flavor. Battles are necessary for leveling up pokemans, but players must all consent before fighting. Trainer battles, like all battles, occur outside of the game-space. The avatars of the trainers in battle indicate that those trainers are battling each other.
- Players can watch other players battle. If two or more trainers are battling, other players can see their avatars in the overworld, and have the option to enter a spectator mode to watch the battle in progress. Spectating players can cheer for particular trainers in battles, and this encouragement can have an effect on the match.
Like the Pokémon games, the PokeMMO should practice a clear-cut delineation between the simple world of the characters, and the fantastic battles of the Pokémon. This has always been a conscious separation in the design of the Pokémon games. The simple, squat sprites give way to more stylized representations of both pocket monsters and trainers when a battle commences. This same division should be practiced in the MMO. It encourages players to use their imaginations, and Pokémon has always been about imagination.
The final element of a successful PokéMMO should be an open-endedness in the world and narrative design. “Make your own Pokémon adventure!” the box would say. Allow players to tell their own stories, develop their own teams of devoted Pokémon, and take on the world at their own pace.
Well, it’s a start, anyway. Any other ideas? Am I wrong about this being the first turn-based MMO? The first with random encounters? Am I wrong about everything?
- No instruction necessary: learn as you play; the game won’t eat you alive if you don’t know what you’re doing.
- You only need one hand: most actions are often mapped to the mouse; easier to relax while playing; simple controls also make it less intimidating to newcomers.
- You’re not gonna die if the phone rings: a lot of the action is dependent upon the player, so if you need to walk away for a minute you’re not jeopardizing hours of gameplay.
- If you lose, it’s not the end of the world: little to no chastising for making a mistake; innumerable opportunities to retry a level; no ominous ‘game over’ screens.
- The simplest actions become significant: Match two diamonds and fireworks go off; spell a word and it makes a fireball; nothing keeps a player going like the satisfaction of accomplishment; they’re playing for the bells and whistles.
- You can play for five minutes: …but you never do; “Just one more round…”
