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[William Broom]

I bet it will be some kind of lame minigame.

[Craig Stern]

Maybe it will seem that way, but actually be like Ender's Game, where Bob is being used by the future-government to fight a war against a race of alien bugs.

[Valter]

It's interesting to see the progression of a thread like this. It happens for every thread like this, actually: step one is confusion, step two is massive amounts of hate, and then step three is acceptance. Everybody wonders why he would do something like this, then everybody gets pissed about his arrogant video, and then some dude goes "hay lets al be freinds" and everybody forgets why they were mad to begin with.

I, for one, am not about to care about his game. From the extraordinarily vague videos, it looks about like most flash adventure games I have played, perhaps all lumped into one giant flash adventure experience. The problem with his videos is that his enthusiasm and arrogance might be justified if he actually showed a really good and well-polished game in his videos. Instead, he's just showing enough to make us confused as to whether or not it's good, so that we'll buy it when it comes out just to see.

Then again, I've never been that big a fan of flash adventure games, so it might just be me. There's too much running around trying to find out what you can do with whatever new item you've found recently. "use stick on wall" "use stick on floor" "use stick on marshmallow" oh hey, the marshmallow and the stick go together! now we spend another hour finding out which one of the thousand fires in the game is the one that we're allowed to roast the marshmallow on.

Naturally, the one exception to this rule is Day of the Tentacle.

[deadeye]

Huh, I didn't know Day of the Tentacle was made in Flash.

[Shambrook]

Did flash even exist in 93?

*checks wiki*

Well look at that, the program that eventully turned into flash actully did come out in 93.

[Don Andy]

It's interesting to see the progression of a thread like this. It happens for every thread like this, actually: step one is confusion, step two is massive amounts of hate, and then step three is acceptance. Everybody wonders why he would do something like this, then everybody gets pissed about his arrogant video, and then some dude goes "hay lets al be freinds" and everybody forgets why they were mad to begin with.

I'm still at step two, actually, which will probably also be a permanent situation until I get around to play the actual game, if ever.

Although it's not actually "hate", it's more my general opinion of both him and his game based on the information he gave. As soon as there's more info, I rethink my opinion. Pretty straightforward.

[Valter]

Well, I was exaggerating a little bit.

Day of the Tentacle isn't a flash adventure game, it's just an adventure game. Bob's Game looks like a flash game, though.

Compare, for a second, a screen from one online flash adventure game I've played, to the screens from his video:


While his work is definitely more polished, What I see is just another online adventure game, only it's longer so you have to pay for it.

[Alex May]

keep talking

[Capten]

This is actually I think the THIRD video of the game he's posted. And I still have no idea what you're supposed to do in the game, unless it's like a giant 2D Shenmue with no combat.

I think it's pretty obvious. Talk to people, collect items, solve puzzles and explore the world.

He's said there's more to it than that, centering around "Bob's game"

Well, yeah. Maybe we can expect something more, like mini games that have something to do with "Bob's game".

It's interesting to see the progression of a thread like this. It happens for every thread like this, actually: step one is confusion, step two is massive amounts of hate, and then step three is acceptance. Everybody wonders why he would do something like this, then everybody gets pissed about his arrogant video, and then some dude goes "hay lets al be freinds" and everybody forgets why they were mad to begin with.

That's psychology. Not to say that I know much about it, but I have read about this from several sources.

Then again, I've never been that big a fan of flash adventure games, so it might just be me. There's too much running around trying to find out what you can do with whatever new item you've found recently. "use stick on wall" "use stick on floor" "use stick on marshmallow" oh hey, the marshmallow and the stick go together! now we spend another hour finding out which one of the thousand fires in the game is the one that we're allowed to roast the marshmallow on.

I don't know about flash games, but this applies to point 'n click games too. I kind of like point 'n click games but the issue you mentioned sometimes make them frustrating to play.

[Noyb]

Honestly, I haven't seen enough of the game to really decide what I think of it, and definitely not enough to outright loathe it like others in this forum. I have a feeling the game's writing will make or break my opinion.

Hmm... if Bob is the final boss, then it's possible that the characters become self-aware that they're in a game at one point, viewing Bob as a maniacal god to blame for all of their problems. It could be a very interesting concept if that's what he's going for and he actually pulls it off. I can't remember any serious (i.e. not fourth-wall breaking for purely comedic value) full-length games that deal with this theme offhand, although I'm sure I'll be corrected.

That's the thing about innovation. Half of the time when you explain an "innovative" gameplay/story mechanic to someone else, they'll respond "Oh, like in that other game..." (And hell, maybe someone else brought this up earlier in the thread and I forgot.) This might sound a bit harsh, but I really hope he had friends to bounce ideas off of, since design decisions might seem brilliant in a vacuum, but can fail miserably when someone else tries it.

[undertech]

Why someone would give away the identity of the final boss in a preview video is beyond me.

[Capten]

Why someone would give away the identity of the final boss in a preview video is beyond me.

Yeah, I think that's pretty stupid.

[Xion]

Hmm... if Bob is the final boss, then it's possible that the characters become self-aware that they're in a game at one point, viewing Bob as a maniacal god to blame for all of their problems. It could be a very interesting concept if that's what he's going for and he actually pulls it off.

hey, I thought of that before.

[ChevyRay]

I remember that! That was a pretty epic post.

[Troy RULES]

This is like a high quality Demon Rush.

[mirosurabu]

This is actually I think the THIRD video of the game he's posted. And I still have no idea what you're supposed to do in the game, unless it's like a giant 2D Shenmue with no combat.

Well, what you do in this "game" is that you watch Bob's vague videos in which he talks about himself and his fictitious game, and you come to forums like these and wonder what the hell this guy is trying to tell us. Hence the name "Bob's game".

Kidding aside here. I'd really like if he could move focus away from himself in every possible way and focus on game itself. Who in this world cares so much about developers, Bob in particular? He is not supposed to become movie star, he's supposed to make a decent game.

[Valter]

I'm kind of shocked that anybody would say things like that here, considering the love that we lavish Cactus with.

[Chris Whitman]

I would call that 'well-deserved respect.'

I think the psychological reaction to someone making extravagant claims of extraordinary grandeur comes from our basic social niceties. Even if you are extremely good at something, you aren't supposed to say so. In fact, you're supposed to vehemently deny it or at least credit someone else for your success. It isn't as if such a claim actually convinces people that you aren't accomplished, but it indicates that you are willing to pass up personal recognition in favour of community. Furthermore, it also gives other people the opportunity to fail to recognize your self-deprecation and appear graceful. Reciprocally, this reinforces social bonds.

As an analogy, if you break a glass at someone's house, you might offer to replace it, expecting that the offer will be refused. In fact, I've seen someone offer to replace someone else's damaged property and actually be taken aback when the other person agreed.

So it's kind of a 'false sacrifice:' it's a gesture you make to indicate that your primary concerns are not selfish. I know a lot of people get up in arms about this kind of thing, with the idea that someone making claims of their amazing skill is just telling it like it is, but I'm actually going to defend the idea of claiming you are less qualified. It plays an important socio-symbolic function, and there is really no getting around that for a social animal. It isn't 'false' anymore than it is 'false' to ask someone how it's going instead of saying 'hello,' when the expected response is not to give any real information, simply to say "it's going well" or something similar.

If you aren't willing to play the social game, people are immediately going to be incensed with you, and for good reason: it reaches down into the monkey parts of their brains and indicates that you are a selfish monkey who wouldn't think twice about stealing their monkey food. Whether or not the guy believes he's keeping it real, he ends up looking like a douche.

[muku]

It isn't 'false' anymore than it is 'false' to ask someone how it's going instead of saying 'hello,' when the expected response is not to give any real information, simply to say "it's going well" or something similar.

So what sociological function does that fulfill? Because I hate it. Unless you're a friend of mine, haven't seen me in a while and really want to know, don't ask me that. In many cases it makes me feel awkward because I either have to lie (which I'm terrible at, and also it makes me feel bad), or I alienate the other person by truthfully answering "Okay, I guess" or "Seen better days." Either way I feel like a dork and the conversation is off to a bad start. How is that a good thing?

[Valter]

Ok, I admit I was playing the devil's advocate with that one. You are generally expected to lavish more praise on other people more than yourself. I mean, Toady One and Daniel Remar in particular are people who have done massive projects (Of course, Toady One is still working on his!), but don't go around advertising the fact. I had hardly heard of Iji at all until the trailer came out, and then it still just about blew everybody's mind.