I just started playing Battlefield Heroes, it is a quite simple FPS, a copy of the Battlefield series, its pretty fun, the more you play it you can earn point to buy weapons for a limited time and also clothes and powerups, its very entertaining and I recommend it, besides it is free.

Another game like that one is Warock, its another battleflied clone, very good and free.

Long ago I used to play an awful rpg game like WoW, you had to level your character so much, and I kept playing it because it looked great and was hoping it was going to get more fun the more I played it, it was a waste of time...

Anyway, do you play any free MMOs?, do you have any game to recommend?.

"North Korea has said it will cut all relations and communications with South Korea after the latter imposed sanctions on it for allegedly sinking one of its warships."

1° Sinking of a warship
2° Sanctions
3° Cutting of relations
4°

I don't know much about the issue, but I see a pattern of things getting worse and worse, obviously a war is coming.

Take a look at my portfolio and contact me if interested at cibarra223 AT gmail.com

http://christian223.deviantart.com/gallery/

Any questions or proposals welcome. Thank you.

Well, the last prototype of my game started all this thinking, I realized that I do not understand the mind of the gamer since I am not a gamer anymore. And I thought "how am I going to make a better game If I do not have fun with games anymore?". Programming is hard, art is hard, design is hard, when was the last time I enjoyed programming?. I realized that I really do not enjoy the process or the playing, so why do it?.

The thing is that I studied programming, graphic design, game design and art all because I wanted to make games, so realizing I do not enjoy games anymore is a tough thing to admit.

This thread helped me to change my perspective into seeing games more like toys, that seems to fit my interests more, maybe I can see game dev has a toy. Let's see if that helps me.

What a great thread, make me think thing a lot. Since the begining of the thread I have begun to try to see games more from a perspective of toys than games. And I have seen that the best games have a very very strong TOY component, something I have not seen before because I only say them mainly as games...

Yes, "chores" is a better word than "Tasks", because tasks can be fun, but chores carry that negative meaning to them.

You are right about what you say, but who does that?. I mean, I think that only people who are thinking on the game as a sport do that kind of stuff. That's not a bad thing though, but It is something to have in mind. There are games that are so simple that do not allow for such a level of commitment.

Why are certain games more popular than others?, I think it is because they allow both casual gaming and sport gaming, so casual gamers can understand and enjoy watching the game at a professional level, like soccer for example. But chess is not that popular because it is much harder to get into it and have fun with it. It takes time to learn and it takes time to enjoy. Some other games are easy to get into and easy to enjoy, but very hard to master, those are the most popular, they capture all kinds of people.

At this point in my life, I am a very casual player, but the sense of conquest is something so close to FUN that I still want to feel that I am getting better at a game, that I am learning to master it.

For example, in Assassins creed, I have not played it but I have seen my brother play it. The climbing thing looks really fun, but also extremely simple to play, I don't thing you can "master" the art of climbing, you just do it in a very simple way. I think this takes much potential fun away from that part of the game. It is like a very simple toy. Like compare playing with a solid wood cube and playing with a rubber ball, which is more fun?, the one that takes more time to master and understand.

Take for example GTA. One of it's most important fun aspects is that it takes time to master driving the different vehicles it has. It is one thing to master the art of "walk and shoot and aim", and an entirely different thing to master the art of driving. But it is really fun no matter what level you are at it. Imagine if driving was as easy and simple as walking, it is hard to imagine I guess, but I think it would be so simple that it would become boring, like a very bad racing game.

A good video game allows you to play with the toys it contains. Also, they must be good toys in order to be a fun "play" experience. Adults do not have fun with the same thing as kids, so toys must fit their needs too.
I compare "Command and Conquer" and Lego blocks. You can build stuff in both. Each piece has its characteristics, it has it's dimension, color or visual aspect, and characteristics or properties. Lego blocks have very simple properties, they are solid, they can be grouped with each other and you can build stuff with them. C&C blocks have properties that fit the fantasy. They have their dimensions, aspect, and each has it's own properties, some can build soldiers, some are walls, some are turrets, and so on, they allow you to build the base as you want, allowing you to actually play with those toys, but fitting the context of a game.
Both toys let you play, one is more abstract than the other though. One toy is inside a game too. The important thing is that both toys, even with their differences, allow you to experiment, play, they give you freedom, even with rules and predefined goals.

It is more easy to make something complex and boring that to make something simple and fun.

Anybody knows how to make something simple and fun but deep enough to allow a journey of mastery?.
 

@unsilentwill: that reminds me one video about play that taught me a lot (it talks about role playing): http://www.ted.com/talks/stuart_brown_says_play_is_more_than_fun_it_s_vital.html

@tiglionabbit: you hit the nail, what you say is something very close to what I like.

@BinaryMind: Aw man, what you said really made me sad, as If a little bit of myself just died when I realized that I lost the hobbie I once loved. Like, realizing that I changed, that the thing I once liked I like no more, that's sad. I have changed...
Maybe I should think harder on a career change...

Thanks a lot everyone for the ideas, I think I am finally getting close to what I want to do with games.

It is hard though, it's like there is a fine line between "Play" and a "boring task", the thing is that with multimedia computers it is easy to make a task fun by adding content, so you are having fun, but it's not what you are doing the thing that is fun, but the content.

Other game I enjoyed is Rainbow Six series, where you can do the mission in any way you want, with any strategy you want, you have a very clear goal though, kill all terrorists and survive. Which is weird, because that's a task... but somehow it gives you enough freedom to play, to try things, to master the art of plan making and strategy, besides the realism which is very fun too imo.

Simcity is one of my favourite games, the only thing I have against it is that once you understand how to make cities, it gets boring, I would prefer to be able to construct the city in any way I want, give me more control. Adding zones of things is not my idea of making your city... so it's like a simulation rather than a toy, that's how I feel about it at least.

I like Civilization series too. It gives you much freedom. But although you can win the game with peaceful means, I think that at it's core is a war and conquest game... a war strategy game, almost a board game, but it's a really fun one. I would like more opportunities to feel that I am playing, it's hard to express, but it feels like I am racing against others to get one thing as fast as possible, the best army, the most money, the most culture, too narrow minded, no freedom...

I have also been watching lectures about play to get a better understanding of what I look for, which is something more of a toy than a game, and away from narrative, something more about freedom, challenge, experimentation, but I definitely need to think more about it.

@increpare: Nice games, they made me think, I am not terribly exited about them though, I would not play them again either. It was more about experimentation, and exploration rather than play, like those click & point adventure games like Monkey Island. It's about un-locking new content. Once you try a thing, it makes no sense to keep trying to see it again, so you explore to see new things.

I think I want to feel I want to do something specific. Like when in GTA you say "i'm going to get the police to chase me and I'm going to try to escape until they no longer chase me". The first time it's very exciting, but you get tired of it. I wish I could capture that feeling of the first time, that desire to do something. It is not something that the game imposes to you, it is something YOU want to do.

@Lurk: I tried them. I did enjoy something about Deep Forest, it was when I wanted to climb somewhere through some green bouncy platforms that where quite hard to get on, when I got to the top felt good, it was quite hard too. The rest of the game/s is all about exploration, and find new things. There is some fun in trying to master the bouncing, to control where you move though, but it us not much about play either, it is about advancing to be rewarded with new content.

@increpare: I am trying to answer it, a little help wouldn't hurt 

@Chaoseed: I have read some of his work in the past, but I do not really like it, it's a nice try though. I am not saying what he says is wrong, but it does not "click" with me, because you can have fun watching movies, but I do not want to make movies, you learn a lot in them, so it's fun, he is right. Learning is just a part of play. But describing play in that way is like describing a table by saying "tables have four legs", that's true, but it's not really precise, how many things have four legs that are not tables?.

I am trying to understand more what is the kind of fun I look for. Yesterday I was watching my brother play Just Cause 2, I laughed a couple of times watching him do crazy things, like surfing in an airplane then stealing another airplane in midair, then try to land the plane in the middle of a bridge and crash, it was hilarious, but then I watched something similar, it was not hilarious anymore... this kinds of things lasts so little. It was like the first couple of time I played GTA, it gets boring so quickly. This is sad. I wish I could make more playable things.

@Neoshaman: I am having difficulty understanding what you say, sorry. You mean I should think less?.

This is kind of a personal rant, I think that maybe I can get some insight and ideas from other people who know about making games, and that would really help me to move forward.

Many games often feel like just doing stuff, they give you tasks to entertain you and reward you with advancing of the story, or nice graphics, new levels, new content, this is fine if the story is good, but what if it isn't?, I do not enjoy or have fun doing tasks, they only serve to keep me occupied, but I'm not enjoying them.

I am not the gamer I used to be, I used to play every game that came out, but now I really do not enjoy playing games as I used too. I really like the graphics and story of some games, but playing games feels like task after task, I just don't feel like I am playing the game, but that the game is playing me

Talking about game design, I have heard that you have to make the player do things to make the player have fun, and reward the player accordingly, but I am not sure that this works for me.

And about challenge, if the game is challenging, does it mean it is fun?, I would say that a harder tasks does not equal fun...

A game that let's me play with physics feels a little bit more playful, but it also gets boring very quickly. Watching something fall gets repetitive, watching explotions gets repetitive.

Maybe video games are more "video" than "games", we can enjoy the music, story, super graphics, those are really fun, but playing them does not really matter since it is not that fun, and the reward is actually new content.

Maybe I am getting old. I try many games but I don't keep playing them more than five minutes, they are just not fun enough for me to keep playing them. Maybe they have a nice story, but the play of them does not entice me to keep experiencing it's play. The game wants to reward me to keep playing it, I feel that for sure, but I say "no" to the temptation.

I'm 27 by the way, I have been playing games since the Commodore 64 era. Making games used to be my passion, but I think I have lost the passion for playing them. But I have been playing games and making games for so long, I still think there is hope for me in finding my passion back.

I just need to find out more about playing games, more theory I guess. Maybe we as game makers are more focused in the reward and not the act of playing itself, that's why we really do not know how to make fun and playful play. Personally, I can say I do not understand how to make fun, and playful play, I just know the usual game design stuff,make the player have goals and reward him/her, challenge the player to keep him/her coming back. But this leads to task after task, and that is no good.

Casual games are too simple, they are just simple tasks. Hardcore games are about challenging tasks and rewards. I really do not want to spend my time on them, I just want a playful play.

Many games are very retro these days, I feel I already experienced the past and had enough of it, I want new play, I want to play again and make others play, not go trough boring tasks.

Personally, I am making a platform game only because I see there is a market for it. I would really like to make a more playful game, a game that feels it can be played, but how?, I do not know.

[Here is a new UPDATE:]

Here is a new UPDATE:

Major changes:

-You can build equipment by talking to people. In this prototype you can talk to two guys that build different armors. You have to bring them different materials in order to build a specific armor, the more materials you bring them, the better the armor. Each equipment uses one material to give the equipment special bonuses against certain types of enemies.

The new thing is that you can carry a limited number of items, and so you have to choose wisely which materials to gather. The materials appear in all the level, in different groups and quantities.

-You can equip different items too, in this demo you can just change your armor, but the system is in place to equip all kinds of things like helmets, boots and swords.

-Stats system like those new nice Castlevania RPG games.

Also, the game aims to be more like a mix between Commander Keen and Flashback in the platform behaviour, so you have to be carefull where to jump and so on.

Looking for your feedback on this:

1)what is it missing to be fun?

2)would you buy this game as it is but with better graphics?.

3)My idea is this, stop adding more features right now and start making the levels, better art and polish it, but If you guys think it needs more changes in the mechanic, then I'll work on it to make a better game. My objective is to sell this game for a low price as an episodic game, like those old Commander Keen shareware games, do you think it can succeed with this idea?.

4)Here is an idea, to make the game replayable I can re-set the level so that it gets re populated with different materials to gather, but in the same location, so you have to re explore the level to find the materials you want, what you think?.

Thanks a lot.

DOWNLOAD:  http://www.funeffect.com/prototypes/RPG_Platform3.zip

Keyboard controls: Q for inventory, S to gather, Z, X, C to attack, equip, action and jump.

When I discovered what emulation was, I downloaded games for every possible console, I think it was at the time that console emulators started to appear, and when I got internet for the first time, so it a was very exciting time.

I was blown away by games that I always wanted to play but couldn't because I didn't have a console, Yoshi's Island, Super Mario, Final Fantasy, Metroid, Castlevania, Dragon Ball Z and so many more.

I remember that it was a time when I was on vacation, me and my brother played new games all day long, downloaded, played, downloaded, played, everything was so new, it was amazing.

The other best moment was when I saw my first video game ever, Ghost and Goblins (along with Frogger), on a Commodore 64 on a friends house, when I was 6 years old, me and my bro lost our minds then and our parents had to buy us a computer to cure us .

I have been continuing working on the game, but I wanted to know your opinions on an idea I had.

The idea is: you have an inventory and have to experiment using items with the enviorement to try to collect different items to sell. Like for example, use a bottle on a river to collect little fish, or scissors to collect plants.
I got this idea trying to make the game more about exploration and playful experimentation rather that fighting and jumping & running.

Is there a game like this?, what do you think of the idea?.

Good work. It would be nice to see some gameplay like Contra where you have to evade bullets and jump like crazy while shooting, that would make it more fun I think.
 
 

[UPDATE!!!!]

UPDATE!!!!

Here are the most important new changes:

-It saves the progress between rooms, including player equipment and changes in the room.
-You can increase your hearts by picking items.
-You can get different sets of equipment (in this version you can just change swords, but that can be expanded with ease now).
-You can enter doors and access different rooms, allowing gameplay like in Metroid where there are lots of rooms to explore.
-You can mount certain monsters. Possibly to go through dangerous terrain without being harmed.

Please try it and let me know if there are any problems, I'm experiencing some weird behaviour I did not notice in the older version, at times the game changes speed for a few milliseconds and I don't know what's causing it.

Also let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions and things you would like to see in this game. Thanks a lot.

Download: http://www.funeffect.com/prototypes/rpgPlataform2.zip

Instructions: Press X when you are on the door to enter. Press X on the chest to get swords.

I played it, the fighting wasn't much fun to me, and there wasn't much exploration either, but the engine has potential. The story didn't capture my imagination, but I got surprised at the ending. The graphics looks too pixeled to my taste, and it also looks very desaturated.

Other than that, it's a great project with lots of potential, great work. (I'm wokring on a game like yours, by the way    )

Thanks a lot for your comments, they have been writen so I don't forget.

Soon I'll upload a new fixed version, so you can comment too, stay tuned and thanks!.

I want your opinions on my new project, a plataform RPG inspired in Wonderboy in Monsterland.

It has many features, and in this prototype I wanted to show it's main ones. I want to make a very casual plataformer, and I also want to include most of the features of Wonderboy in Monsterland, that is, buy clothing, equipement, and get stronger, while progressing in the levels.

I want to know your opinions, ideas, critiques, what you would like to see in this kind of game?.

Also I want to know if you would buy this kind of game in an episodic manner, for like 5 dollars or less. Instead of a big game, I plan to make several small episodes of this game, adding new features/enemies in each episode and advancing the story, with more levels of course.

Thanks a lot and let me know what you think.



Download: http://www.funeffect.com/prototypes/RPGplataform_1.zip

So every character is an FFT Geomancer?

I had to do some research to understand what you meant, but from what I have seen in youtube, there answer is: not really. Geomancers are like mages right?. In my game there are only two types, archers and swordsmen, which represent both types of atacks, long ranged and close combat, this two types recieve any special ability that the terrain gives.

@Stane: the suprise element is the beuaty of it I think, but I'll test it to see if it bothers people.

I'm seeking opinions and ideas on the design of a mini game that will be included on an upcoming "Princess Maker/Cute Knight" type of game. I'll just copy and paste what I wrote on my blog:

I have been designing the new battle system and I finally decided on how it is going to be, let me tell you about it.

The characters are going to remain the same like in the other battle system idea but adapted to the gameplay of this new one, they are going to be procedurally generated except yours, which are going to be customized to your own desires, choosing any weapon you like,  any armor you like, and you’ll be able to see them fighting with other fighters in this mini game.

You won’t need to teach your characters lots of different attacks like in Pokemon or Final Fantasy, instead of that, each battle will change the attacks of all the characters in the field, you will have the choice to use the special attack given by the terrain in which the chosen character is at, so for example, if a character is in a “Swamp” it will recieve the “Poison” special attack only while he/she is at that terrain. So, each battle will give different terrain types and this ensures that each battle will be different from the last one, requiring a different tactic each time.

The play experience will be something like this: the battle is divided in two teams, a player team and enemy team, and it will be fought by turns. The player will analize the battle field to make decitions, and since each terrain has effectiveness against another terrain (example: swamps give attack bonus against deserts) the player will try to guess who is going to attack who and will act accordingly by choosing who to attack first, and who to defend, this decition will also be based on what enemies are the most powerfull.

There are two columns for each side (look at the screenshot below), the first column is for placing characters far from the battle field, this place is for archers (who can attack anyone they want in the battlefield no matter in which position they are) and for characters who want to momentarily stay away from the battle to replenish health or do other things. The second column is for close combat, all characters placed here can only attack the one who is in front of them, meaning that if an enemy is covering someone behind them, they have to first defeat him to get to the one who they are guarding.

The player will also have a chance to get defence and attack bonuses by pressing buttons at the right time.

There will be traps, items, and a retrat option. All the characters will apply the following stats which can be trained and increased in other parts of the game, besides using the stats bonuses given by the weapon used and armor: strength, accuracy, health, defence, sword proficiency, bow proficiency, trap placement, and maybe more.

The battles will take little time and the player will gain experience points, money, and maybe rare items and game story advancement.

The screenshot is just a mockup that shows how the battle will look like, I still have to program the prototype for it. The menu is from a screenshot of another game,  it will be similar to that but not exactly the same.  The colored boxes represent the terrain type and on top of them are the animated characters formed in teams facing eachother to fight.

Comments and ideas welcome.