The previous iSpiral gameplay video got a bit of interest so I thought I would put up some footage of the latest version of the game. As a reminder, this is a game that is launched from within Moodle and uses the Moodle student ID to associate the student with the game session and equip the space ship based on their class stats. Its an HTML5/Javascript game that has been built in GameMaker and exported to run within a browser. It works best in Chrome and we have not worked on making in fully compatible with other browsers yet. Its only a proof of concept for a larger project but we are learning a lot as we go. The game has not had the hand of an artist yet – only programmers so far – but we are planning to improve the HUD and have an artist rework some of the sprites and backgrounds. We may also get someone to provide new sound and music.
Journey (PS3) Complete
I completed my journey in Journey! I have looked forward to this game for months and I’m (mostly) not disappointed. My view is that its a wonderful and unique experience. I believe it is also clearly a game (as opposed to not a game!) since there are many elements of gameplay embedded within it; for example interaction, exploration, challenge, outcome, and collections. There is also a mystery; a story with a puzzle to solve. Like Dear Esther you move a character towards and obvious goal and gain clues to your own existence as you progress. Unlike Dear Esther, I believe that Journey demonstrates that a story can be told effectively within interactive gameplay. Dear Esther simply told a story within the context of an interactive virtual world; it wasn’t a game but it did tell a story in a profound manner. Journey demonstrates clearly that games can be a medium for the expression of art and a part of that is a unique narrative; a narrative that can be expertly woven into the interactive game design. Journey is short, about £2/$2 per hour for one play through. Its too short considering how long its been in production, but its an important game. Its a game that can inspire other game designers, and it is nice to be able to complete a game in the same month that you started it!
I have been interested in Jenova Chen’s work since his work on Flow in games, as we had a research interest in this area for a while, and played with his Cloud game. As adaptive/emergent AI is a research interest of mine I was really interested in his game FlOw, which was released on PS3 shortly after launch. I played this game on a first date with @bionic_rez who now is my wife. Shortly after we got married we played Flower, and now a little later in our relationship Journey. It seems that Chen’s game release names are subtlety and strangely correlated to the state of our marriage – let’s hope the next release isn’t “battle” or worse!