(Adv. Architect Series) Squinky ~~~ I luv u

Len Green · 05-11-2007, 12:25 AM

This is one INCREDIBLY talented young lady !!

I've just read your latest article.

If I was 60 years younger I'd be about your age (now 22 ???) and in love with you !!

P.S.
Missed the "U" in 'Squinky' ... ah well... we can't ALL be brilliant !

Giligan · 05-11-2007, 04:04 AM

Couldn't agree with you more, got to love that cooly cynical spin she puts in her articles. Here's to the next article.

P.S.
When are we going to see a 3D adventure from Deirdra Kiai Productions?

Len Green · 05-11-2007, 04:34 AM

............. and your next EXCELLENT game !!!

Giligan · 05-11-2007, 04:36 AM

Indeed, here's to that!

Squinky · 05-11-2007, 09:02 AM

Thanks, guys!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giligan

When are we going to see a 3D adventure from Deirdra Kiai Productions?

Not too far off in the future, but not too soon, either, because 3D takes a hell of a lot of work. (Right now, anyway. Perhaps someday, 3D adventure game development tools will be just as easy to use as 2D tools.)

Lee in Limbo · 05-11-2007, 02:15 PM

She IS pretty fabulous, isn't she?

Great article, Deirdra. Looking forward to this series a great deal.

Giligan · 05-11-2007, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squinky

Perhaps someday, 3D adventure game development tools will be just as easy to use as 2D tools.)

Heh, that would mean that an Xbox 360 game wouldn't cost $63, and then the whole world would surely explode with a loud "whumpf" of overloaded wallets.

Len Green · 06-03-2007, 01:32 AM

We've been away in Tuscany for a fortnight for the (incredible, marvellous) wedding of our 2nd oldest granddaughter (28 y.o.).

Just read your latest article here!
You never cease to amaze me ... brilliant !

Giligan · 06-03-2007, 08:28 AM

I agree. Extremely well illustrated and presented article.

Squinky · 06-03-2007, 10:22 AM

Thanks again!

I have to ask, though, is anyone going to give me any actual feedback on my articles? A bit of constructive criticism to provoke discussion, perhaps? It's okay, I can take it. Sure, declarations of undying love are nice and all, but how are they going to make me a better game designer, exactly?

wildcat · 06-03-2007, 02:09 PM

Your games are rubbish

Kidding

just counterbalancing the love fest

*Melanie68* · 06-03-2007, 03:35 PM

Squinky, have you ever read Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott? It's her reflections on writing (and life). It's about writing stories (be they novels, short stories, etc). However, she has a chapter on Character. The first bit really reflects what you described in your latest article (in terms of character development).

Quote:

Knowledge of your characters also emerges the way a Polaroid develops: it takes time for you to get to know them. One image that helps me begin to know the people in my fiction is something a friend once told me. She said that every single one of us at birth is given an emotional acre all our own...

...And as long as you don't hurt anyone, you really get to do with your acre as you please. You can plant fruit tress or flowers or alphabetized rows of vegetables, or nothing at all. If you want your acre to look like a giant garage sale, or an auto wrecking yard, that's what you get to do with it...

...By the same token, each of your characters has an emotional acre that they need to tend, or don't tend, in certain specific ways. One of the things you want to discover as you start out is what each person's acre looks like. Waht is the person growing, and what sort of shape is the land in? This knowledge may not show up per se in what you write, but the point is that you need to find out as much as possible about the interior life of the people you are working with...

Just don't pretend you know more about your characters than they do, because you don't. Stay open to them.

Also in her chapter on Plot:

Quote:

Plot grows out of character. If you focus on who the people in your story are, if you sit and write about two people you know and are getting to know better day by day, something is bound to happen.

Characters should not, conversely, serve as pawns for some plot you've dreamed up.

I offer this as a non writer myself but I thought the whole book was fascinating.

Squinky · 06-03-2007, 03:46 PM

Oooh, thanks Mel. I haven't read the book, but I'll definitely be sure to look for it sometime.

*Melanie68* · 06-03-2007, 04:06 PM

Although writing a story that stands on its own is different than a game because you do need to keep an ending and possible plot twists in mind. However, what if the story takes you in a direction that means you have to change some puzzles later on? Do you write the entire story then look at it and decide where puzzles/interactivity can be placed or do you do it as you go along?

Squinky · 06-03-2007, 09:07 PM

Good question. As I'll likely detail in a future article, it's more a matter that the gameplay emerges from the story. I'm not a particularly big fan of separating the two so much; the idea of "placing" puzzles into a story just feels a tad artificial and mechanical to me. So, if the story goes in a different direction, then everything associated with a story goes with it, really.

That said, when I was a bit younger and actually did insert puzzles into my games solely because I thought it would be cool to do so, there were, indeed, times when I'd completely scrap entire sections of puzzles, either because I'd come up with something better, or because I'd found certain things too hard to program, or because I just wanted to make the game shorter so that I could actually finish making it. And since I was going at the puzzle-making in such an artificial way at the time, it didn't really harm the stories all that much.

Erwin_Br · 06-04-2007, 12:21 PM

I find it interesting to know you're building your games around characters. I never realized it, but I came to the conclusion that I'm always building around locations. (and themes)

Great article, D!

--Erwin

Squinky · 06-04-2007, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erwin_Br

I find it interesting to know you're building your games around characters. I never realized it, but I came to the conclusion that I'm always building around locations. (and themes)

Interesting. Now, if only you'd release a certain game so I could see the results of such an approach. *nudge nudge*

05-11-2007, 12:25 AM	#1
Len Green Senior Member $Len Green's Avatar$ Last Online: 06-27-2014 03:12 PM Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 454	(Adv. Architect Series) Squinky ~~~ I luv u This is one *INCREDIBLY* talented young lady !! I've just read your latest article. If I was 60 years younger I'd be about your age (now 22 ???) and in love with you !! P.S. Missed the "U" in 'Squinky' ... ah well... we can't ALL be brilliant ! Last edited by Len Green; 05-11-2007 at 04:31 AM..

05-11-2007, 04:04 AM	#2
Giligan The Greater Last Online: 10-31-2011 02:34 PM Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Kentucky Posts: 6,541	Couldn't agree with you more, got to love that cooly cynical spin she puts in her articles. Here's to the next article. P.S. When are we going to see a 3D adventure from Deirdra Kiai Productions? __________________ Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. -Cliff Bleszinski Last edited by Giligan; 05-11-2007 at 04:45 AM..

05-11-2007, 04:36 AM	#4
Giligan The Greater Last Online: 10-31-2011 02:34 PM Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Kentucky Posts: 6,541	Indeed, here's to that! __________________ Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. -Cliff Bleszinski

05-11-2007, 02:15 PM	#6
Lee in Limbo It's Hard To Be Humble Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,557	She IS pretty fabulous, isn't she? Great article, Deirdra. Looking forward to this series a great deal. __________________ Lee Edward McImoyle, Author Smashwords eBooks

06-03-2007, 08:28 AM	#9
Giligan The Greater Last Online: 10-31-2011 02:34 PM Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Kentucky Posts: 6,541	I agree. Extremely well illustrated and presented article. __________________ Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. -Cliff Bleszinski

05-11-2007, 04:34 AM	#3
Len Green Senior Member $Len Green's Avatar$ Last Online: 06-27-2014 03:12 PM Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 454	............. and your next *EXCELLENT* game !!!

06-03-2007, 01:32 AM	#8
Len Green Senior Member $Len Green's Avatar$ Last Online: 06-27-2014 03:12 PM Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 454	We've been away in Tuscany for a fortnight for the (incredible, marvellous) wedding of our 2nd oldest granddaughter (28 y.o.). Just read your latest article here! You never cease to amaze me ... brilliant !

06-03-2007, 10:22 AM	#10
Squinky Unreliable Narrator Last Online: 08-10-2012 07:03 PM Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Le Canada Posts: 9,873	Thanks again! I have to ask, though, is anyone going to give me any actual feedback on my articles? A bit of constructive criticism to provoke discussion, perhaps? It's okay, I can take it. Sure, declarations of undying love are nice and all, but how are they going to make me a better game designer, exactly? __________________ Squinky is always right, but only for certain values of "always" and "right".

06-03-2007, 02:09 PM	#11
wildcat Senior Member Last Online: 09-26-2011 02:42 AM Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 332	Your games are rubbish Kidding just counterbalancing the love fest __________________ Insanity is just a state of mind

06-03-2007, 03:46 PM	#13
Squinky Unreliable Narrator Last Online: 08-10-2012 07:03 PM Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Le Canada Posts: 9,873	Oooh, thanks Mel. I haven't read the book, but I'll definitely be sure to look for it sometime. __________________ Squinky is always right, but only for certain values of "always" and "right".

06-03-2007, 04:06 PM	#14
Melanie68 Super Moderator Last Online: 05-19-2012 11:09 AM Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,907	Although writing a story that stands on its own is different than a game because you do need to keep an ending and possible plot twists in mind. However, what if the story takes you in a direction that means you have to change some puzzles later on? Do you write the entire story then look at it and decide where puzzles/interactivity can be placed or do you do it as you go along?

06-03-2007, 09:07 PM	#15
Squinky Unreliable Narrator Last Online: 08-10-2012 07:03 PM Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Le Canada Posts: 9,873	Good question. As I'll likely detail in a future article, it's more a matter that the gameplay emerges from the story. I'm not a particularly big fan of separating the two so much; the idea of "placing" puzzles into a story just feels a tad artificial and mechanical to me. So, if the story goes in a different direction, then everything associated with a story goes with it, really. That said, when I was a bit younger and actually did insert puzzles into my games solely because I thought it would be cool to do so, there were, indeed, times when I'd completely scrap entire sections of puzzles, either because I'd come up with something better, or because I'd found certain things too hard to program, or because I just wanted to make the game shorter so that I could actually finish making it. And since I was going at the puzzle-making in such an artificial way at the time, it didn't really harm the stories all that much. __________________ Squinky is always right, but only for certain values of "always" and "right".

06-04-2007, 12:21 PM	#16
Erwin_Br Under pressure. Last Online: 05-20-2012 02:02 AM Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Apeldoorn, The Netherlands Posts: 3,773	I find it interesting to know you're building your games around characters. I never realized it, but I came to the conclusion that I'm always building around locations. (and themes) Great article, D! --Erwin __________________ > Learn more about my forthcoming point & click adventure: Bad Timing! > Or... Visit Adventure Developers: Everything about developing adventure games.