Well, I don't separate 'game' and 'story' parts of a game (as mentioned in another thread), I don't think it makes sense to do that. Also, if you separate games out like that, then the range of games which are metaphors is much broader, because you could just pick and choose some part of a game (the "story") that is a metaphor and leave the rest out. Then the stories of games like Pac Man and Space Invaders could be metaphors.

I don't seperate them either. 'the story' is a subset 'the game'.

'The story' being the narrative where theres a bunch of assassins hired to kill things, as they perform these tasks other things happen.

'The Game' being the sum of many parts, including, but not limited to: 'The Story' in its entirety, the control system, the menu, the manual, that screen that says not to unplug the power while the game is saving.

How can a game be a metaphor of games of its own type? Isn't that more of a parody than a metaphor?

The game is a parody. The storyline of the game is a metaphor.

I see what you mean. If one sets out to create a metaphorical game, it might be better to keep storytelling to a minimum. And vice versa.

I don't think thats true at all.

An obvious counter-example is Killer7.  The story/general structure (nonsensical, yet passionate, cutscenes interspersed by longer periods of shooting unrelated zombies and occasionally solving puzzles) of the game is basically a metaphor for games of this type. Yet it is 100% linear and story driven.

tasteful nudity/sex? Thats when theres fat or ugly chicks right? or when the chick rapes the guy?

Don't blame me. I'm just asking the questions

On topics like this I like to refer to the visionary Warren Perso and his, to date, one true are film, "French Chicks in the Nuddy!" for an example of how to handle these topics with sensitivity.

Nothing makes life worthwhile quite like a large amount of material possessions for no purpose other than your own pleasure. You know, things like independently produced games or the computers used to play them.

Keeping costs low is good advice though. But sacrificing a comfortable life is usually a bad idea. For example, replacing the name-brand ivory back-scratcher with a no-frills brand is probably just as effective and will save you money. However, replacing it with a plastic fork might save more money, but you probably will lose a great deal of the ideal back-scratching experience.

In more serious advice to the original poster: The best advice I can give is '1) know how you are going to make money before you start. 2) hedge your bets.' If you can't meet these requirements, stick to a more standard career path in the meantime, you may enjoy it more than you think.

part 1) This means a business plan, backup plan. Given that you don't have a plan at this point, your first steps should be getting a job/money/education and enjoying life.

part 2) This means planning for unforeseen events and failures. Health insurance, savings, keeping fit, etc. Most importantly, have a backup plan.

(notice how I avoid the sickening word 'intellectual property')

... sickening word... 'intellectual property'

word

everybody needs me. but not everybody NEEDS me.

... to stop using "we need..." as a synonym for "I would like..."

Also, less use of the royal we in general.

"Big Construction" strikes again.

I'm sure he'll be set upon the arrival of this "energy decent" he seems to fear.

Personally, I'm not a fan of water-borne parasites and rotten food. Also I wouldn't trust someone with his construction methods to install a compost toilet.

But thats just me.

[Weißer Punkt Zwei: Infrarotpunkt in der Schwarzlücke]

Weißer Punkt Zwei: Infrarotpunkt in der Schwarzlücke
An Interactive Documentary by Movius C. Longhair.

This is the sequel to the original Weißer Punkt in der Schwarzlücke made for the TIGSource B-'game' competition in 2007.

Weißer Punkt Zwei is an interactive documentary. It is a serious artistic consideration of events surrounding the discovery and observation of anomalous optical transient SCP 06F6 (Presented in scientific perspective here.)

Official Trailer

Note: The scandalous 'related videos' section is typical of the slander engineered against those who oppose true artistic expression in the interactive experience.

#####################################################

I expect this to be mostly finished in the coming weeks/days. A more elaborate "special edition" (like the first game) will follow shortly after, however the normal version is far less sparse this time around.

As with the original, Weißer Punkt Zwei is most obviously inspired by The Marriage and House Of Leaves, though the total number of influences is too large to count.

Any feedback from those capable of appreciating true art is appreciated.

Sounds like something that could be done as a hacksaw-ing of the Liberal Crime Squad code.

I don't really find his games very interesting, but I want to defend his lifestyle because I admire it.  He's living in a sustainable way, such that if everybody lived like that we'd have no problems with pollution, climate change, etc.  This is something I try to do, but I usually don't succeed just because it's inconvenient to me.  He's fully embraced it, and this deserves respect, even if he sometimes takes it further than is necessary.

Garbage. He's entirely dependent on other people doing the polluting for him, while he sits in his green fantasy land making games for the poor souls wasting away in modern cities.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. He doesn't like certain things and lives far away from them, in the same manner that a sane man eschews filth and pissing in bushes. However, his lifestyle (at least as it's portrayed in the article,) entirely reliant on modern society and all that comes with it.

What, you'll end up exactly where you want to be, living the lifestyle you choose to live, with EA asking you for help?  Oh no!

and living as a bizarre hermit while training your kid to piss into bushes on command.

I think it's great that he lives how he wants and doesn't let people fuck with his meadow. However theres no escaping the fact that the guy has a few screws loose and for anyone reading for the first time about "games as art" or something called "indie games" theres very little in the article that wouldn't horrify them instantly

Haha, I was exactly thinking about this one . Maybe it's because my definition of indie developer is someone who makes weird artsy games for the hardcore audience. I don't consider the casual market indie. I know "Make product, sell it for more than it cost you to make*." is the usual model, but I think something like a loose network would work better "make product, contribute it to a collective, get your equal share of the profit made by selling the compilation". I might be wrong about this though, I kind of failed every economy class I took during my student life (I was too busy drawing in the margin to take notes)

So you keep all the bad points of independent development (working in isolation, lack of quality control, etc.) but replace the good points (no need to co-ordinate with many people for release dates, little overhead, etc.) with collective organisations subject to diseconomies of scale.

The only reason I would join such a group would be if it there was significant benefit to me personally. The only way this could happen would be if I contributed poor quality work that would sell much less otherwise, or if the organisation was a well run business, which would make it identical to most existing publishers/labels.

short version: you're describing a near identical scheme to that mentioned in the first post.

This article should serve as a warning to anyone considering making games for a living. Turn away now or you'll end up like him.

I believe in the indie scene, I think one day soon it's going to find a profitable business model to allow every passionate game maker out there to live independently from the fruits of his/her labor. And I think it's going to be a team effort; I see that while people are often individually working on their own baby, they cheer the others on, they help whenever they can and overall keep a real sense of community that you seldom find within big companies.

I'm confused by this section (more than the rest of the post.) I don't see how an indie game developer is any different to any other creative venture or indeed, small business of any kind.

The 'business model' already exists in the form: "Make product, sell it for more than it cost you to make*." Hundreds of thousands of businesses use this model succesfully every day.

Although, if by 'business model' you mean: "1. Make game about burning carrots that no one but me cares about. 2. ? 3. Profit!" Then you merely need to look at the litany of 'passionate artists' that somehow avoid mainstream fame for proof of the futility of your desire.

*working on commission/patronage/being extremely rich beforehand are also acceptable models.

The Marriage.

you people are nuts.

Good stuff as always.

Controls unusually well for a one button game, I look forward to more.