Alright, have you played the demo or the mod?
What?! You haven't even tried them yet? *Sigh* Go do that...
http://www.stanleyparable.com/ - Free Demo
http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-stanley-parable/ - Free mod (Requires Half-life 2)
Okay, have you tried at least one of them yet? What did you think? Did you like it?
I didn't like it... the ending to the mod sucked...
Um... how many endings? Go play the mod again...
I didn't like it... the humor's not for me...
Then you probably shouldn't get the full game. And stop reading here. You're done.
I loved it! Especially the one ending where...
Excellent. You understand the basic concept. I won't spoil it any further, but here's what the main game has: It's an HD remake of the original mod. If you played the mod, you basically played a good amount of the game so far. And yes, I still think the full game is excellent.
Well, wait... I just played the game for free, then? Why should I buy it?
Because of everything the full game has that the mod didn't! There's quite a few extras, mostly hidden away as Easter Eggs, extended dialogue in areas, extra branching paths, and just a general feel of a well-polished game. This game makes awesome use of Valve's current Source engine (specifically the engine for Portal 2) and it feels like a full game.
The word is 'polish', my friend. This game is very excellently crafted together, with little hidden secrets and extras at every turn. It boasts variety in its playthroughs, and despite the drab office environment setting, I believe it.
But like I said in an earlier review, the game was still only about 4 to 5 hours until you start to get bored from crossing the same few paths again, and start digging through forums, searching for the easter eggs other people have found.
Is it worth the price, then?
Yes. It's a very good idea, and the execution is perfect. Really, the only thing dampening the experience is the short length and the fact that it's a very strict remake of the original mod. The extra pieces added really make it a strong experience though, and I really hope to see more like this idea from Galactic Cafe.
Also, they're having a sale, lowering the price to $12 plus tax... so... if you're on the fence like I was, that might convince you to get it!
http://www.stanleyparable.com/
Sunday, October 20, 2013
The Stanley Parable - Yes, you should play it
At the time of posting this, The Stanley Parable HD Remix was just made available on Steam as of last Thursday. This is an excellent experimental game, similar to Portal in its dry humor. However, like Portal, it's one of those games that I can't say anything to really describe or justify it without spoiling the large majority of it.
It's one of those games that you have to experience yourself. It's one of those games that's funny. It's one of those games that's weird. It's one of those games that makes you think about your life in general, alongside with some of the common tropes in video gaming. Also, it's short...
Fifteen dollars worth of short?
Now, that's the tougher question. It is a really short game. It only took me 4 hours to extract as much out of it as I could before it felt like squeezing water out of a rock. Notice I didn't say "It took me 4 hours to beat." Of course it didn't. Didn't you go to their main site yet? Did you read the subtle text hidden throughout the site?
"...THE END IS NEVER THE END..."
-www.stanleyparable.com
This is partly the genius that this game has in it. Without spoiling anything, the only thing I can show you is a screenshot, which I think will describe this game perfectly (while explaining nothing at all):
I'll give you a moment to think on that and let you decide whether to play this game or not.
If you're really uncertain after my vague description of it, there is a demo of the game available on the site to help you decide - http://www.stanleyparable.com/
If you're REALLY uncertain after playing the demo, you can play the free mod released a couple of years ago, which is actually a bare version of the game itself.
http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-stanley-parable/ (requires Half-life 2 and Steam)
Once you've tried both of those, we can discuss further whether it's worth buying.
It's one of those games that you have to experience yourself. It's one of those games that's funny. It's one of those games that's weird. It's one of those games that makes you think about your life in general, alongside with some of the common tropes in video gaming. Also, it's short...
Fifteen dollars worth of short?
Now, that's the tougher question. It is a really short game. It only took me 4 hours to extract as much out of it as I could before it felt like squeezing water out of a rock. Notice I didn't say "It took me 4 hours to beat." Of course it didn't. Didn't you go to their main site yet? Did you read the subtle text hidden throughout the site?
"...THE END IS NEVER THE END..."
-www.stanleyparable.com
This is partly the genius that this game has in it. Without spoiling anything, the only thing I can show you is a screenshot, which I think will describe this game perfectly (while explaining nothing at all):
 |
| "When Stanley came to a set of two open doors, he entered the door on his left..." |
If you're really uncertain after my vague description of it, there is a demo of the game available on the site to help you decide - http://www.stanleyparable.com/
If you're REALLY uncertain after playing the demo, you can play the free mod released a couple of years ago, which is actually a bare version of the game itself.
http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-stanley-parable/ (requires Half-life 2 and Steam)
Once you've tried both of those, we can discuss further whether it's worth buying.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Let's Make Doom a little more... Reelistic
So I discovered a mod for Doom called Reelism recently, and man is it fun. It's a wave-based shoot-em-up, similar in concept to CoD : Black Ops Zombies or Killing Floor, but it takes on a new tone, one of its biggest features being the slots-based randomness element they throw in at the start of each round, randomly choosing between game modifiers like environment changes, weapon spawns, and enemy spawns as well.
Don't just take my word for it. Play it yourself!
http://thekinsie.com/reelism/
Plus, that's not the point of this particular blog post. The point is more along the lines of...
So I starting modding a mod called Reelism for Doom lately. Currently, I've been playing around with creating a level for the mod. Well, not necessarily creating... I'm taking an existing level from Doom I and adjusting it to work with Reelism, hence the title.
Work is going very smoothly so far with it. After finding some quick documentation that came with the mod, I was able to open up the map in DoomBuilder and quickly start replacing the normal Doom guys with spawners for the new baddies.
However, my choice of E2M4 at random was not the best choice for an arena type level. There are loads of thin corridors and the original level is very linear, including key door puzzles and areas blocked off by teleporter access alone.
Right now, I've added a lot of changes to the original map, while trying to keep it consistent with the original level design. Many of the secrets have become corridors leading to other areas of the map, and teleporter destinations have been tweaked to make it easier for the player to hop from place to place.
All in all, it's going pretty well and I hope to have it available soon, once I figure out the best place to upload this single level. Also... maybe some better looking screenshots. I keep trying to take cool ones, but die horribly while trying.
I'm also not sure how cameras work in ZDoom yet, so hoping to get deathcam view in there soon.
Don't just take my word for it. Play it yourself!
http://thekinsie.com/reelism/
Plus, that's not the point of this particular blog post. The point is more along the lines of...
So I starting modding a mod called Reelism for Doom lately. Currently, I've been playing around with creating a level for the mod. Well, not necessarily creating... I'm taking an existing level from Doom I and adjusting it to work with Reelism, hence the title.
Work is going very smoothly so far with it. After finding some quick documentation that came with the mod, I was able to open up the map in DoomBuilder and quickly start replacing the normal Doom guys with spawners for the new baddies.
However, my choice of E2M4 at random was not the best choice for an arena type level. There are loads of thin corridors and the original level is very linear, including key door puzzles and areas blocked off by teleporter access alone.
Right now, I've added a lot of changes to the original map, while trying to keep it consistent with the original level design. Many of the secrets have become corridors leading to other areas of the map, and teleporter destinations have been tweaked to make it easier for the player to hop from place to place.
All in all, it's going pretty well and I hope to have it available soon, once I figure out the best place to upload this single level. Also... maybe some better looking screenshots. I keep trying to take cool ones, but die horribly while trying.
I'm also not sure how cameras work in ZDoom yet, so hoping to get deathcam view in there soon.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
From Darkness
So... I happen to dabble in level design from time to time...
By 'dabble', I mean 'really struggle with it' and 'try hard yet I don't get too far with it', often because I 'over-complicate designs to the point where I don't finish it'. I say this because I really haven't really released anything interesting until I participated in a contest last year.
http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/chaseville-half-life-2-ep2/
You may or may not have seen this site if you're a fan of Half-life 2 or any of the series, but I think this contest probably has one of the coolest things I've done in a long long time.
This one... right here...
Or maybe you'd like a closer look... it is a little dark...
Yes, it is a vortigaunt from the original HL2 game painted black, but it worked well with the map, and I'm happy with it. In fact, it was the only entry I made that actually won! (tied with the only other entry)
By 'dabble', I mean 'really struggle with it' and 'try hard yet I don't get too far with it', often because I 'over-complicate designs to the point where I don't finish it'. I say this because I really haven't really released anything interesting until I participated in a contest last year.
http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/chaseville-half-life-2-ep2/
You may or may not have seen this site if you're a fan of Half-life 2 or any of the series, but I think this contest probably has one of the coolest things I've done in a long long time.
This one... right here...
Or maybe you'd like a closer look... it is a little dark...
 |
| Too close... |
Okay... so the achievement is a little unimpressive, but it wasn't really the contest itself that I cared directly for, it was the kick in the pants I needed to challenge myself by working to a deadline.
I'm speaking to this maybe a year too late, but I think now that the contest is done (There is another set of competitions happening this year, but things are way too stressful at my current job to participate and do anything on time), I want to actually speak to the level itself and maybe some lessons I learned from the whole experience.
It was a long week
The 6x10 part of the contest has a purpose: it represented the total number of contests that'd happen that year (6), and the number of days you got to make a level (10 days).
Yes... ten days. You get... ten days! That's a lot less time than I'm used to, that's for sure.
Of course, it wasn't really ten days either... more like eighteen. The site went down around the time of the contest due to the owner starting to become rather displeased with it. Personal reasons that I could understand, as I'd been there before (maybe I'll talk about that project in another blog). After a bit of cheering up, eventually the fans brought him back up and he brought the site up. There was a bit of a delay... and man did it help!
Not to put down the guy. I'm very glad he brought the contest back, but the delay had a huge impact on the the map overall. But how best can I describe what I mean...?
Put quality first, then the deadline...
One of the nicest things I gained from this contest was time... unfortunately, I probably didn't make the most effective use of it...
One of the coolest things I liked about the Source engine is all the added toys they put with the level editor. I really should get up to date with what other developer's tools have to them, but there's something really fun about having a bunch of logical relays, integer comparison, parenting, and even random events in your level editor. The developers at Valve have a real knack at making their mod community happy.
And boy, this was probably one of the coolest (and dirtiest) hacks I made: effectively building an enemy AI entirely out of level editor components.
And then a deadline was announced...
There was a lot to be had with the new mechanic I made, and lots of planning and deciding to do... (let's see, should it be set in a space ship filled with the monsters, should I do an alternate universe with low gravity? How do I make a lawnmower in Hammer?), but then the site was back up and the owner (Phillip) announced that the contest was back up with a couple of days, with a deadline of about a week...
Much planning and panic ensued.
Ultimately, I decided on an apartment and started to build it from almost scratch. I know it's probably against the rules, but the room that the player starts in was actually ripped from an unreleased map I was working on a long time ago. Perfectly dark for the situation... (but it makes for an awful website background image)
In Darkness...
The setting and evil entity established, I began to build the level that would house it. If I had my list of things to do, I would share it. The level was actually more complex and longer in my head than what I could finish in time. However, my goals were pretty set:
1. The creature is in darkness and the player has a very hard time seeing him.
2. The creature is trying to outsmart the player, and sometimes does so rather easily.
3. There MUST be ways to fail, so sayeth the rules of the contest.
4. There has to be a way for the player to win. (quote unquote)
After that was just the question of how 'clever' I could be with it.
Spoiler Alert... the monster is out to kill you.
Planning the theatrics of the monster killing you, the basement with the flares, and even the elevator cutscene were very time consuming, admittedly. It's a shame too, because I wanted to add more obvious traps for the player toHowever, here's a small piece that some people missed.
Go in the elevator after calling it and wait for a little while (literally seconds)
This is probably one of the biggest missed parts, really. Oh well...
Quality Assurance (I get by with a little help from my friends)
The best thing I did was also the most difficult. I wrapped up a day early. One overhauled night from hell and I did it, 7 o-clock in the morning, I was done, and it was ready... for the hands of some rather relentless friends.
Mind you. I've got some good friends, but they are relentless bastards at breaking games... especially when you ask them to. I won't go into much detail about what they broke (because I don't remember all of it), but things like breaking the death scene, breaking the elevator, jumping up on tables and hiding in all kinds of locations effectively keeping the thing from getting them. Oh how this map would have been without playtesters.
Yet out of that, I gained insight into how this map worked. It was very fun watching them run from the thing, actually scared and having no idea how to avoid the thing proper. There were some minor frustration areas they pointed out, and I massaged those parts of the level to try to improve the logic. Ultimately though, some parts like the crank and the chase up the stairwell still weren't perfect, but at that point, my friends were trained experts at beating (and no longer abusing) the map.
Once it was released, how was it received by others?
It's a love-hate relationship
From the perspective of the players that commented on this particular contest, while it shared the win of the contest, it got some very mixed feelings. Some people didn't really like it (and some people really really didn't like it!) Given their opinions about each map, it was clear that the popular winner was not the one I so painstakingly struggled with.
I read each comment after the release and gained a lot of notes and feedback about it. I learned a lot of the real pain points with this map, and that it was nowhere near a perfect gem. I didn't expect it to be, but I also learned how one simple mistake could lead a person's opinion from positive to vehement hatred almost immediately (something I'd experienced before in even professional games).
Still, some people got what I was going for, and even thought it was a great effort. A lot of complaints were that it was too short, and I agree with that sentiment. It wasn't the full map, and the ending that I ultimately used was supposed to be a way to die anyways. If I had more time or a better concept of time, I would have made a more concise and well-polished map, and maybe would have made the ending something better.
So what did we learn...?
I learned a lot about the art and craft to level design and general gameplay design. I felt I used the SDK to its potential with each map I did after this contest, and gained a lot of positive and negative feedback which helped shape later maps. I think I carried a few things though...
Always experiment
It's important to make small prototypes and get them tested often before working on a large piece. It's much less devastating to find out someone doesn't like your one week of work, verses someone doesn't like your masterpiece of several years.
Polish makes the difference sometimes
I never really got the chance to polish any of my maps to give it a shine and it shows. I wouldn't recommend trying to make something perfect in a week, but sometimes putting off releasing something to give it a coat of shine really makes the difference in some player's eyes.
Don't be afraid to hurt the player. You can pull back later if it's too harsh.
Some of the biggest laugh out loud moments and fun experiences in testing was when one of my friends did something extremely stupid and got righteously punished for it. I was worried about it in some cases, particularly when I intentionally put something in just to punish the player. However, some of those moments were the best in the game, and if I held back on those, the testing wouldn't have been nearly as rewarding.
On the other side of this, there were moments in testing where it was clear that my tester friends were not having fun, and in those moments, little bits and improvements had to be added beforehand to make it easier. These things aren't obvious when designing the level, but these are the things that ruin an experience.
When in doubt, err on the harsher side of player experience, then give it to someone and see how they react to it. You never praise a game for how easy it is and how few ways you can die in it.
What about the monster? What will happen to this thing?
I was really pleased with how my first level went in this contest, and I really like the character. I may have been a bit overzealous with how awesome I think the vortigaunt model is in the interview, but I think the whole concept of the chase and whole approach to it has some merit.
I can't make promises yet, because I don't know. If things go well, we might even have a mod about this thing. Look, it even has fan art! (self-drawn)
But don't look at it too long...
I'm speaking to this maybe a year too late, but I think now that the contest is done (There is another set of competitions happening this year, but things are way too stressful at my current job to participate and do anything on time), I want to actually speak to the level itself and maybe some lessons I learned from the whole experience.
It was a long week
The 6x10 part of the contest has a purpose: it represented the total number of contests that'd happen that year (6), and the number of days you got to make a level (10 days).
Yes... ten days. You get... ten days! That's a lot less time than I'm used to, that's for sure.
Of course, it wasn't really ten days either... more like eighteen. The site went down around the time of the contest due to the owner starting to become rather displeased with it. Personal reasons that I could understand, as I'd been there before (maybe I'll talk about that project in another blog). After a bit of cheering up, eventually the fans brought him back up and he brought the site up. There was a bit of a delay... and man did it help!
Not to put down the guy. I'm very glad he brought the contest back, but the delay had a huge impact on the the map overall. But how best can I describe what I mean...?
Put quality first, then the deadline...
One of the nicest things I gained from this contest was time... unfortunately, I probably didn't make the most effective use of it...
 |
| A dev-test map. Sure, why not? |
One of the coolest things I liked about the Source engine is all the added toys they put with the level editor. I really should get up to date with what other developer's tools have to them, but there's something really fun about having a bunch of logical relays, integer comparison, parenting, and even random events in your level editor. The developers at Valve have a real knack at making their mod community happy.
And boy, this was probably one of the coolest (and dirtiest) hacks I made: effectively building an enemy AI entirely out of level editor components.
And then a deadline was announced...
There was a lot to be had with the new mechanic I made, and lots of planning and deciding to do... (let's see, should it be set in a space ship filled with the monsters, should I do an alternate universe with low gravity? How do I make a lawnmower in Hammer?), but then the site was back up and the owner (Phillip) announced that the contest was back up with a couple of days, with a deadline of about a week...
Much planning and panic ensued.
Ultimately, I decided on an apartment and started to build it from almost scratch. I know it's probably against the rules, but the room that the player starts in was actually ripped from an unreleased map I was working on a long time ago. Perfectly dark for the situation... (but it makes for an awful website background image)
In Darkness...
The setting and evil entity established, I began to build the level that would house it. If I had my list of things to do, I would share it. The level was actually more complex and longer in my head than what I could finish in time. However, my goals were pretty set:
1. The creature is in darkness and the player has a very hard time seeing him.
2. The creature is trying to outsmart the player, and sometimes does so rather easily.
3. There MUST be ways to fail, so sayeth the rules of the contest.
4. There has to be a way for the player to win. (quote unquote)
After that was just the question of how 'clever' I could be with it.
Spoiler Alert... the monster is out to kill you.
Planning the theatrics of the monster killing you, the basement with the flares, and even the elevator cutscene were very time consuming, admittedly. It's a shame too, because I wanted to add more obvious traps for the player toHowever, here's a small piece that some people missed.
Go in the elevator after calling it and wait for a little while (literally seconds)
 |
| "I believe this is your floor..." *boop* |
 |
| "How very kind of you to wait... the stairs are such a bother..." |
|
| Dead. |
This is probably one of the biggest missed parts, really. Oh well...
Quality Assurance (I get by with a little help from my friends)
The best thing I did was also the most difficult. I wrapped up a day early. One overhauled night from hell and I did it, 7 o-clock in the morning, I was done, and it was ready... for the hands of some rather relentless friends.
Mind you. I've got some good friends, but they are relentless bastards at breaking games... especially when you ask them to. I won't go into much detail about what they broke (because I don't remember all of it), but things like breaking the death scene, breaking the elevator, jumping up on tables and hiding in all kinds of locations effectively keeping the thing from getting them. Oh how this map would have been without playtesters.
Yet out of that, I gained insight into how this map worked. It was very fun watching them run from the thing, actually scared and having no idea how to avoid the thing proper. There were some minor frustration areas they pointed out, and I massaged those parts of the level to try to improve the logic. Ultimately though, some parts like the crank and the chase up the stairwell still weren't perfect, but at that point, my friends were trained experts at beating (and no longer abusing) the map.
Once it was released, how was it received by others?
It's a love-hate relationship
From the perspective of the players that commented on this particular contest, while it shared the win of the contest, it got some very mixed feelings. Some people didn't really like it (and some people really really didn't like it!) Given their opinions about each map, it was clear that the popular winner was not the one I so painstakingly struggled with.
I read each comment after the release and gained a lot of notes and feedback about it. I learned a lot of the real pain points with this map, and that it was nowhere near a perfect gem. I didn't expect it to be, but I also learned how one simple mistake could lead a person's opinion from positive to vehement hatred almost immediately (something I'd experienced before in even professional games).
Still, some people got what I was going for, and even thought it was a great effort. A lot of complaints were that it was too short, and I agree with that sentiment. It wasn't the full map, and the ending that I ultimately used was supposed to be a way to die anyways. If I had more time or a better concept of time, I would have made a more concise and well-polished map, and maybe would have made the ending something better.
So what did we learn...?
I learned a lot about the art and craft to level design and general gameplay design. I felt I used the SDK to its potential with each map I did after this contest, and gained a lot of positive and negative feedback which helped shape later maps. I think I carried a few things though...
Always experiment
It's important to make small prototypes and get them tested often before working on a large piece. It's much less devastating to find out someone doesn't like your one week of work, verses someone doesn't like your masterpiece of several years.
Polish makes the difference sometimes
I never really got the chance to polish any of my maps to give it a shine and it shows. I wouldn't recommend trying to make something perfect in a week, but sometimes putting off releasing something to give it a coat of shine really makes the difference in some player's eyes.
Don't be afraid to hurt the player. You can pull back later if it's too harsh.
Some of the biggest laugh out loud moments and fun experiences in testing was when one of my friends did something extremely stupid and got righteously punished for it. I was worried about it in some cases, particularly when I intentionally put something in just to punish the player. However, some of those moments were the best in the game, and if I held back on those, the testing wouldn't have been nearly as rewarding.
On the other side of this, there were moments in testing where it was clear that my tester friends were not having fun, and in those moments, little bits and improvements had to be added beforehand to make it easier. These things aren't obvious when designing the level, but these are the things that ruin an experience.
When in doubt, err on the harsher side of player experience, then give it to someone and see how they react to it. You never praise a game for how easy it is and how few ways you can die in it.
What about the monster? What will happen to this thing?
I was really pleased with how my first level went in this contest, and I really like the character. I may have been a bit overzealous with how awesome I think the vortigaunt model is in the interview, but I think the whole concept of the chase and whole approach to it has some merit.
I can't make promises yet, because I don't know. If things go well, we might even have a mod about this thing. Look, it even has fan art! (self-drawn)
 |
| Art by David Newel, terrible as it may be. Vortigaunt belongs to Valve. |
|
| Dead. |
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