by Federico Fasce on 31 August 2010
So, me and the other mad people at Urustar (with a little help of our friends) are organizing a GameCamp. It will be the first event of this kind in Italy, so, we’re quite excited. The camp will be held in Riva del Garda, within the BlogFest.
Divided into three different meetings, on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th this September, it will be featuring all the traditional BarCamp stuff (open discussions, talks and a friendly environment) plus some other things we are currently discussing.
For example, we are trying to put up a match of Cruel 2 B Kind, the game of Benevolent Assassination by Jane McGonigal and Ian Bogost. We have already put up an Italian website, and if you have planned to be in Riva del Garda on those days please let us know, feel free to join up and register right now!
I promise, you don’t have to be athletic or follow complex rules to play. In fact, all you have to do is to be kind and have fun!
So, I hope to see you in Riva del Garda!
by Federico Fasce on 23 August 2010
Yep, I tried to attend this month Ludum Dare during the last weekend.
I admit it, I haven’t tried it hard enough. I guess I had too much in my head these days, preparing to get back to work and stuff, and then I lost time.
Thing is, I wasn’t convinced about the concept too. Being the theme “enemies as weapons”, I thought about a game in which you need to avoid those creatures and kick them when hidden in their shell to crash them. Something similar to Pengo, but with shelled animals.
So, I started to code the AI routine for these little critters. I tried something simple: they just walk in a random direction until they find an obstacle (an other animal or the screen border, for now). Plus, every 2 seconds, they have 50% chance of stopping and hiding in their shell. They stop for about three seconds, then start moving again.
That was pretty it. At first, I coded the movement routine for one of the critters. When I tried to add more, the disaster happened. All the critters went bananas, some of them flickering randomly through the screen, some others getting stuck against walls, all of them ignoring the collisions between them. I didn’t have a clue about where the bug was, and the time was running out. So I decided to give up and try again next time, and try it harder, with less distractions.
Still, I am no coder, and sometimes this is pretty hard. But if this helps me to learn something, so be it.
by Federico Fasce on 17 August 2010
So, that’s it.
After having abandoned for a while this tiny little space, I guess I’m back.
Spending some time in Indonesia was totally mind blowing. It is a wonderful country, and I really hope to get back there. Down in Ubud, Bali, I learned how to be less afraid of insects, though I didn’t manage to touch one. I wrote some good concepts there, the places I’ve seen were really inspiring. Let’s see if at least one of the will turn into a game (I have high expectations on this).
Oh, and obviously I made some new friend, which is great, and even helped a pastor celebrate a wedding (long story).
I’m still into Red Dead Redemption. This is one of the best game I’ve played lately, and it’s just H*U*G*E*! Boy, I feel all the times I’m almost finished, and there are still many things to do. And I haven’t event started scratching multiplayer, let alone all the DLCs… Gosh, I feel overwhelmed!
Well, that’s pretty much it for the catch up stuff. Now I’m full of energy and I hope to spend it well and create something good in the coming months. Yay!
by Federico Fasce on 29 April 2010
If Project Natal will be able to maintain its promises (and premises) could be a really interesting platform to work with and get creative. I’m still doubtful, though, if the lack of a physical controller will really improve the experience of the games we know today. More probably, we will see the birth of new genres and new ideas. This is of course developers’ responsibility, and given how risk-averse the industry currently is, Microsoft should look at indies and try to sustain it. I don’t want to see another Wii-like panorama, where the great controller idea is mostly wasted by lazy majors. Oh, and it seems to be a lag problem, which could sensibly limit gameplay.
Today, in Italy, Microsoft is hosting a closed event to present Natal to a selected group of people. As a game designer and as a guy interested in game studies I tried to be a part of it: aside from this blog Invaders’ Den and Flow are both great places to share some deeper thoughts about the project. Unfortunately, people at Microsoft Italia have decided that my presence was not of their interest. Nor it was the presence of other game bloggers. Pity. Obviously at Microsoft they can choose to invite who they want. But it’s strange, at best, seeing that the invited people are not interested in games. Of course, they have high-traffic blogs, no matter the topic. Quality here loses against quantity. Bad move.
by Federico Fasce on 23 April 2010
Probably it’s me. Just me.
I’m playing God of War 3, and don’t misread me, I still think it’s awesome. The art, the refined gameplay, the music. Everything it’s almost perfect.
And yet, I just can’t love it. Exactly like I couldn’t entirely love Mass Effect 2 (which I, for now, abandoned). I’m asking more and more why is that. Why I prefer trying to beat an hi-score – old style – playing Geometry Wars 2 rather than immerse myself into a complex and extremely well-crafted world.
I guess I have two answers for this one. The first is that probably my tastes just don’t match with tech-driven blockbusters, and I’m still more curious about clever ideas, non-obvious paths and wacky visual styles.
The second one is that probably triple A titles, with their huge teams, jaw-dropping budgets, high-end technology and stuff are more and more losing their gameness. They just are too perfect. Too elaborate. And often less gamey than other kind of games. They are cold, in an artificial way.
Or maybe, as I said, it’s just me.
