Glitz Blitz

Video game giant Electronic Arts today announced that they've reached an agreement to place static and dynamic advertising directly into their PC and XBox360 titles (Source article from Yahoo! News).

Though newsworthy, it comes as a surprise only in the length of time it has taken for the commercial world to realize how much exposure time gamers really have to virtual game environments. This deal has actually been in the works for some time - for instance, Massive Entertainment, the company mentioned in the article, signed on car manufacturing giant Toyota to produce in-game advertising in future titles late in July.

This marks a milestone in video gaming. There have been isolated cases of ads being placed directly into games in the past, even in high-profile games like The Movies, where Chrysler not only placed ads for their vehicles into the game, but sponsored a contest for the best short film created featuring their car. Even so, the push for commercial advertising in games has never truly been formalized until now.

The video game site Gamasutra ran an informal poll back in November on this very topic, garnering interesting responses from a variety of persons both inside and outside the game industry.

Will this change the landscape for video game development forever?

I personally don't think so. Not every game can accomodate advertising, and not every developer will acquiesce to putting external advertising in their completed product. I think we'll see about the same amount of advertising in video games as a whole as we see in, say, Hollywood movies. There will be titles that have them (sports games in particular seem to have good synergy along these lines), but more austere titles are unlikely to ever see this sort of treatment.

Stalemate

Innovation.

It's what drives the world of game modification. As creators of worlds, modders have a responsibility to produce something unique, different, special. Without that extra spark of creativity, our work and sacrifice becomes pointless.

A lot of people, especially hard-core gamers, decry the lack of originality and innovation in modern gaming and blame the industry for being overly commercial and not sufficiently dedicated to producing quality titles. While I certainly agree that there are a large number of game developers out there looking to make a quick buck as opposed to making something unique, not all developers take that tack, and I think this blanket viewpoint is both flawed and unfair to the minority of developers who really do care about what they do.

More disturbing to me is the tendency of modders to follow suit - they see the overcommercialized elements of modern games, from licensed products like the latest Star Wars game to the unceasing flow of first person shooters, and attempt to synthesize something new out of the mix. Every once in a while, someone succeeds in doing something really spectacular that hasn't been done before, but the sad truth is that, for a community that prides itself on providing a fresh experience to gamers, the modding community as a whole is no better at innovation than the industry professionals.

Part of this has to do the fact that most people in the modding world simply aren't as good at game design as they think they are. Whether it be an inability to think outside the box, a fanatical dedication to flawed ideas, or just a lack of a sense of reality when it comes to development, there are any number of reasons why many mod developers fail when it comes to producing fresh experiences in their games.

Another reason why true innovation is so unusual in modding is that, for innovation to be classified as such, it must work. By that I mean that whatever new elements are added by a developer, they must enhance the quality of the gameplay experience of the player. By the hard rules of reality, a lot of ideas that look good on paper end up being horrible ideas in practice, and rare is the developer who can separate the good from the bad.

There's also the issue of technical limitations. Many ideas that would be fantastic for gameplay are simply not easily produced in the current generation of game engines. One place where many mods falter is the misguided attempt to push a game engine beyond its limits - turning the Half Life 2 Source engine into a MMORPG engine, for instance. While certainly possible in many cases, core alterations of this sort rarely produce a stable and workable platform for a game, especially as modders rarely get access to the source code of the original engine, which complicates matters immensely. Some ideas just aren't feasible using current technology, others require financial resources well out of the reach of not-for-profit modding.

Granted, not every game modification has to be the next Counter-Strike. It's perfectly fine to produce something that's just slightly different, as long as it isn't hyped as more. But the trend of the moment is to produce bold and interesting new games with modding, and sadly, that goal remains as elusive to the mod community as it does to the mainstream commercial game industry.

So You Want To Be A Game Designer?

I posted an article on the forums at ModDB.com a couple days ago which I thought might be worthwhile to crosspost here.

The original post, with following comments can be found here.

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Let's face it, everyone in the modding community dreams of creating the Best Game Ever.

The problem is that, by and large, the majority of would-be modders do not possess enough of the necessary practical skills to turn their dreams into reality. In some cases, driven individuals and/or talented individuals can learn the necessary skills. Unfortunately, more often than not, the thought process goes something along the lines of:

I've got this great idea for a game!
...but I can't write code...
...and I can't model...
...and I can't animate...
...and I can't create maps...
...and I can't draw...

...but I think my idea is fantastic, and it really needs to see the light of day...

...so what role can I play in a development team?

Ah-ha! I can be a game designer! I'll supply all the brilliant ideas and show people just how awesome my game will be and attract people with the skills that I don't have. Perfect!

Unfortunately, that train of thought completely ignores the fact that, despite its nebulous nature, the role of game designer does, in fact, require its own, very specialized set of skills. They're not tangible in the way modelling or coding are, but they nonetheless exist, and woe to those who think it's just a matter of jotting down all your ideas in one place and asking people to implement them.

Think you've got what it takes? Here is my list of Skills Every Good Game Designer Needs. See how you measure up!

Good communication skills
This is arguably the most important skill for any aspiring game designer. In order to create a game and be the driving force behind it, you absolutely must be able to compose your thoughts in an organized and intelligent fashion.

Clarity of communication is important. That means you leave
the l33t-sp33k at the door. No AIM-chat or text message abbreviations (Using "u" instead of "you" makes "u" look foolish and immature, for instance). It also means you must be able to spell words correctly; if you have difficulty with spelling, you'd best be able to make very effective use of a spellchecker.

In order to get people to implement the ideas you have, you need to be able to tell them exactly how you'd like things to be, or be prepared to face the consequences when they add their own interpretation of your instructions. Sometimes this is fine, and adds to the quality of the project. Sometimes, though, they'll want to do things which deviate greatly from your design and will detract from it if implemented. It's the job of a designer to make sure that he keeps the enthusiasm of other project members in check, and make them understand why the changes they'd like to see would be detrimental to the project.

You have to know how to treat people respectfully and keep them motivated, too. Remember that modding is a hobby; you can't demand perfection from your development team. They aren't being paid for the "privilege" of working with you, and it's highly unlikely that anyone will work with you if you're abusive to them or can't control your temper. Remember also to be complimentary on work done if it meets or exceeds your (hopefully realistic) expectations. It's being donated to your project, and usually involves a lot of time and effort - make sure that people know that you appreciate the work and sacrifices they've made.

Comprehension of the processes of game development
Comprehension means that you absolutely must understand enough about every development discipline to hold a meaningful conversation with an expert on it - because you will have to. You don't have to understand how to write the code for a water shader, but you'd best be able to understand what your coders are talking about when they tell you there are issues with video memory management. You don't have to understand vertex optimization, but you'd best listen when your modellers are telling you that they need more time to reduce polycount on their models. You don't have to know how to generate a mipmap, but you need to understand what your texturers are complaining about when they complain that the LOD renderer isn't rendering normals at near distances.

Even if you can't do the first thing with a given discipline, you need to understand enough of the practical theory so that you can figure out why your team members are having issues, and find ways to bypass or resolve those issues.

Understanding of game design principles
This is a widely misunderstood discipline.

Many people believe that the simple act of playing a game confers insight on how good games are constructed. This is just not true. Experience with games is, of course, very useful for studying game design, but what sets the designer apart from the average player is that a game designer can correctly analyze the various aspects of a game and comment about why they're either good, bad, or indifferent towards the appeal of the game. A player looks at a pistol and says "This weapon is weak, with a short ammunition clip, and relatively low damage. I'd rather not use it in most situations against tough opposition." A game designer looks at that same weapon and says "This is my baseline barometer for the rest of the game. Players need something basic to defend themselves with, and this is it. Sure, there will be better weapons in particular situations, but this is the starting point. No weapon should be easier or weaker than this."

There's a lot of elements to understanding game design, but it all boils down to one simple concept: knowing how any specific change or game element will impact the rest. More weapon selection in an FPS game? That affects more than just the weapons. It affects the user interface (more weapons to toggle through or bind keys for). It affects gameplay balance (what role does each weapon play in the grand scheme?). It affects asset requirements (you need code, special effects, ammo, models, and animations for each weapon).

A game designer needs to be able to effectively estimate the effect of every change they are proposing to make to the baseline design. Failure to do so can result in large costs in wasted time trying to overcome impossible technical hurdles, unmanageable art asset requirements, or simply gameplay which isn't fun due to poor interface or game balance.

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So if you're looking to get your grand idea for a video game created, check your skills against the above list. Do you have what it takes? If not, perhaps you should do some research before you start.

Top 10 Warning Signs of Failure

Having spent a lot of time lately at ModDB, I've rediscovered something that I had forgotten in my 2.5 year hiatus from game modifications. Namely, that most people don't recognize the signs that the project that they are working on, or the project they are following the progress of, is in serious jeopardy of failing.
If you've been avidly following the progress of a promising game modification project, or are yourself working on such a project, see how many following list of "Top 10 Warning Signs of Failure" apply to it:

#10: The mod puts "Source", "Doom", "Far Cry", or any other engine name anywhere in the name.

If you have to emphasize the fact that you're using a specific engine more than your actual mod name, chances are your idea isn't well-formed enough to develop. Doesn't apply to every mod that fit this mold, but certainly fits for most.

#9: The mod developers spend more time detailing "story" than developing anything practical like learning how to get models in-game.

Everyone has ideas. Everyone thinks their story idea is the best ever. This is not unique. It's not special. It's not even particularly useful in mod development. Story doesn't mean anything if you can't back up your storyline with matching gameplay, artwork, and effects.

#8: The developers used Poser to generate their character models.

Poser is a program which creates really lovely character models, really fast. The stillframe images produced by Poser are exquisitely detailed and intricate, and it's very easy to spot them if you know what to look for. The problem is that the models produced by Poser have hundreds of thousands of polygons that no engine in the universe can render - and bringing the complexity of the models down to something an engine can render is more work than creating the model from scratch. If modellers are using Poser and asking their coders to import them into the game, they should be fired on the spot and replaced for sheer incompetence.

#7: The mod says "realism" is one of its strengths.

Most FPS games are plenty realistic enough as it is - adding more tends to detract from playability. This in turn reduces the fun factor. Realism does not directly equate to quality. It boosts immersion slightly, but immersion at the cost of annoyance is stupid (for instance, if your "realistic" weapon can't hit the broad side of a barn at 20 feet).

#6: The developers have more untextured renders of objects than functional in-game objects.

Modelling is a tricky art. Getting those models into a game engine and working is a much trickier art. All the models and textures in the universe won't do you any good if you haven't a clue how to make them do what you want once you kick up the game.

#5: The project does not have at least one competent coder.

Let's face it, almost everything that is fun and cool in a mod requires changes beyond what the basic editors can do. Without a coder, you can't get any new gameplay, effects, or much of anything else working.

#4: The project wants to recreate a recent game in another engine.

It takes a huge investment in time and energy to produce any total conversion, and trying to do that with a perfectly playable existing game is an incredible waste of time.

#3: The mod is based around some commercial product that is actively protected by copyright.

Yes, yes, I know other video games and anime and such are really fun and interesting. But they're protected by copyright, and unless permission is explicitly asked for and received to do a modification using a particular character / idea from a commercial work, chances are the original owners will send a very unpleasant Cease and Desist from their lawyers, which will stop the project dead in its tracks with no options, unless the developers are crazy enough to try spending a LOT of money (read: many thousands of dollars) defending themselves in court. And no, the fact that the mod is free does not protect developers from prosecution.

#2: The project leader's primary role in mod development is "game designer".

Mods operate on practical skills first, ideas second. No one is going to let you boss them around just because you think your ideas are the best things since sliced bread. I don't care how good or innovative you think your design skills are; no one is going to care if all they see you do is talk about ideas and never get your hands dirty with the technical aspects of your game. All talk and no results is the province of vaporware.

#1: The project aims to make a massively multiplayer online game (of any type).

There are strict limitations to what current generation game engines will handle (not to mention problems with net connectivity). There's a reason why massively multiplayer games have budgets of 30 million dollars or more (sometimes much, much more) - it's hard to make them, and incredibly expensive. No mod team has this sort of resources at their fingertips, so I think it's a fair statement to say that any projects that want to create a new massively multiplayer game can be immediately classified as vaporware.

Time, Time Tickin', Tickin', Tickin' Away...

In the world of game modification, there's a sense of suspended time. There are always new projects being announced and updates on existing ones calling for attention. Flocks of gaming fans drift from one game to the next, seeking ever more stimulating experiences.

It all blends together into sensory bombardment that leaves us without a solid frame of reference for what's truly happening in each gaming universe. Numerous mod projects spring up in the wake of many games, in some cases giving the illusion of vitality to some games, but no amount of beckoning can keep the attention of the gaming public for long, if the original game cannot hold it.

However much we do or do not notice, time marches on.

Among the many factors that a would-be successful mod developer must juggle is determining what sort of audience will remain to experience their work when they finish, if they finish at all.

Most games release with a large splash of publicity, and good ones can gather a hefty player community. But over time, as new games get released and players become bored with existing content, that community eventually moves on to newer games. Good games with excellent replay value have the ability to retain their community for much longer, as replayability extends the duration for which the player base will stay in a community. What remains is a core of players with whom the game resonates strongly, but those players are often just a pale shadow of what the community once was.

The modding community works indirectly to shore up each fading player community. For the players who are aware of game modifications, the allure of new content can maintain their interest in a game long after they've become bored and jaded with the original game. As new mod content gets released, players can remain interested in the content, depending on the quality and replayability of the mods.

Sometimes, this works well. The modding community for The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, for instance, has largely kept pace with the minimal demands of it's laid-back player base, even as The Elder Scrolls IV releases. Starcraft's simplistic but easy to use map editor, combined with Battle.Net's content-on-demand delivery continues to fuel its player base, despite the extreme age of the game. In most cases, though, history has shown that most games are simply too difficult to produce independent content for at a pace that satisfies the underlying player base.

It's rare to see any mod developer recognize the fact that they're working against the clock. The art of game modification is a time-consuming activity, and there is a tendency to simply accept this fact and ignore the passage of time, as there are usually more immediate problems to address in the development cycle.

Nonetheless, the danger always exists of starting a project, following through, and finding that there is no one left who is interested in your work after you finish. This leads to a lot of unfortunate incidents of mod developers who wake up one day and realize that they've missed the boat. Most eventually abandon their projects and, if they have the will, start anew on a new project, but it's often a crippling blow to their confidence, and causes many to quit altogether after spending countless hours in development for no result. A rare few tough it out and release anyway as a labor of love, and those efforts deserve praise, especially if the final product is of good quality, but they remain in the very tiny minority.

I know it seems odd to argue in favor of practicality in an environment so heavily fueled by dreams and passion, but there is a time and place for ideas. At some point, we have to act on those ideas if we want to make them reality.

Once in a Simulated Lifetime

I had a fascinating conversation last night with a friend who adores playing The Sims. Most hardened gamers turn slightly green when this series of games is even mentioned to them, but I checked my instinctive reaction and listened to what she had to say, and I'm glad I did. During the course of our discussion, she shared some very interesting insights into why some people play games.

The topic came up because I'd recently told my friends about Spore, the latest simulation game being produced by Maxis, and after looking at E3 gameplay video, my friend said something very surprising. She said that she didn't think it would sell as well as The Sims, despite its undeniable level of innovation and expansive gameplay.

The difference? Self-identity. She said that it would be a lot harder for people to identify with an entire alien race than they would with an avatar in The Sims. I thought about that for a moment...

...and then realized she was probably right.

In the case of The Sims, she said that people enjoyed it because it allowed them to vicariously rebuild themselves in a perfect image; in her words "It's you... only better!". You might be ugly, overweight and stuck in a dead end job with no friends, but playing The Sims lets you recreate yourself with improvements - gorgeous, popular, rich, with a loving spouse, a great job, a beautiful house, and perfect children. Escapism? Yes. But addictive escapism.

Previously, this type of "imagine yourself as someone else" activity was covered by activities like role playing games or daydreams. Wishful fantasies of what life might be like if you were someone else. But role playing games are tricky to set up and maintain due to their multiplayer element, while daydreams lack any form of positive reinforcement to promote themselves.

This is the brilliance of The Sims. Players can see and manipulate the game world of their alter egos in great detail, and they see very strong feedback about the consequences of their actions. They can watch as their avatar learns how to deal with common, every day issues from taking out the trash to calling a friend on the phone. The real you might not be able to carry on an intelligent conversation, but if the Sim version of you can sweet talk the girl down the street into having a date with "you", that's the next best thing for a lot of people.

For some, this whole process may seem terribly mundane and boring. But many more find this simple, nearly effortless routine soothing, and even derive some vicarious pleasure out of it. They can look at the wonderful life their Sim lives and take pride in the fact that they were instrumental in creating that life.

"And you may tell yourself: This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself: This is not my beautiful wife!"*

But in the Sims, you can pretend that they are.


* (from the song "Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads)

Hyper Drive

In the cosmos of game development, there are as many motivations as there are stars in the sky. Amongst the modding community, one of the most commonly found themes is the desire to take part in a project that garners some public attention.

Enter the world of hype: the art and practice of advertising your project to generate excitement and support in the community.

Mod developers will often do internet press releases, interviews, and media releases in an effort to stir up a fan base for their project. The motivation for this varies from project to project. Some projects stir up hype to get some visibility so that they can recruit more assistance. Some projects stir up hype to generate a lifeline of moral support for their efforts.

Hype is a useful tool when wielded properly. Making statements about the unique aspects of a project can often offer an additional flow of creativity from the community, as exposure to the ideas and expectations of fans can feed into a project's design. This can be very beneficial to modders, especially those who might be stuck at roadblocks in development, since it can help push them in new directions. Positive comments from fans looking forward to a project's completion can help flagging morale and keep a team on task. Attention from a wide waiting audience can attract talented developers to join your team. And of course, if and when you release your work, the amount of hype you've generated goes a long way towards determining how many users end up trying out your mod.

On the other hand, hype can also backfire. Wild claims about features of a project, without the evidence to show that such elements can be successfully implemented, can sometimes make skeptical players write your project off as vaporware. Even more devastating are cases where a project is "completed" but without meeting the claims that were advertised, which usually results in heavy backlash from disappointed players.

Of course, the above effects of hype only apply if you're actively working on a project. One of the most bizarre uses of hype are projects that seem more in love with the idea of being mod game developers than in actually producing anything. Many neophyte mod developers fall into this trap.

They start with a great idea, expand it, talk about it, and it grows swiftly out of their control as they lose sight of what they can reasonably accomplish and end up making claims that they simply have no way to fulfill. The end result of these sorts of projects is that they inevitably implode, from a player base that eventually tires of waiting for results, or simply stops believing the progressively grandiose claims that are sometimes made by the developers to stay in the limelight.

In all its varied forms, hype plays a pivotal role for many mod projects. Many even consider it an essential ingredient to success. I'm not sure that statement is entirely true, but a little extra exposure never hurts as long as it doesn't affect production or quality.

With the recent over-abundance of mod projects started by a new crowd of fans brought in by the latest game engines, the perceived need to produce maximum hype has reached ludicrous proportions. Like street hawkers peddling their wares, new mod developers strive to be heard in a community already inundated with buzz.

I can only hope that at some point, the sound and fury starts to die down as deadwood projects that collapse under the weight of their own hype fall off the radar and start acting as cautionary tales for eager new developers.

Climbing the Ladder

Much ado is made in and around the community of the tremendous learning opportunities that can be had by participation in mod development. I'd be the last person in the universe to disagree with that view. However, one thing that isn't really discussed is the way in which we, as modders, progress in our craft.

Most people believe that continuous practice can and will elevate anyone from rank beginner to competence, and by and large, that is true, but not for the reasons that are often assumed, and not in the way they seem to think.

A large proportion of the modding community seems to believe that enthusiasm can compensate for a lack of experience or talent, or even reduce the time required to learn new modding concepts. I have some issues with this belief.

Producing a good quality piece of work in modding is a learned exercise, and can be improved with time. Like other skill-based activities, some people are naturally gifted at learning certain concepts and techniques, while others struggle with the fundamentals. It all depends on your innate talents, how well you can mold your thought processes to fit the activity you're trying to learn, as well as your discipline and commitment.

What I have found is that skill development is not so much a smooth incremental process, but rather a number of small but significant "quantum leap" progressions, many of which have pre-requisite concepts that must be absorbed before they can themselves be learned. Practicing one specific thing over and over might get you some very small tertiary improvement in skills, but what I have found to be the most important element in improving at a craft isn't repetition; it's absorption of new and useful techniques.

In order to excel at any craft, you must constantly push yourself to explore and learn new elements. Most people are uncomfortable with the thought of doing things outside of their sphere of competence, and naturally shy away from trying new things out of a fear of failure.

For mod developers, being able to overcome this instinctive reaction is critical to success. Without the courage to excel, even the most naturally talented person will never discover their potential. This is where enthusiasm can be a powerful tool, because it lets us overcome our fear and inhibitions.

Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to think that it's all you need. And that isn't really true. Simply wishing to learn isn't enough; if your thought processes aren't in tune with what you're doing, no matter how much you want to learn something, it won't come to you either quickly or naturally, and trying to do so just leaves you wasting a lot of time.

"But wait, you said that anyone could become competent with enough practice!"

I did, and it's true. Basic competency, in my opinion, is the point when you've absorbed the essential elements of a craft; learned the simple building block techniques, acquired the ability to identify the most common mistakes, with enough proficiency to produce a presentable simple, working example of that craft: a simple low poly model for 3D modelling, a simple texture in texturing, a simple subroutine in programming, designing a basic map for level editing, or writing a short plot hook for a story.

The problem is that competence is not enough. You can't make a playable mod that's worth anything with only basic level skills, and for a lot of people, they never make it past basic competence. Mods, by their very nature, push the envelope of what is possible in a game, and to achieve this goal, you need to be more than competent: you need to be exceptional.

Exceptional means that you have enough talent to easily identify what new techniques you can explore without wasting time, coupled with the drive to follow through, do the necessary research, and practice to successfully absorb those new techniques. Many of the best techniques in modding are complex and difficult to grasp even with a lot of talent and a lot of experience. For most prospective modders, with only average talent, they can get to basic competence without too much trouble, but progressing beyond those limits becomes either unacceptably time-consuming, or outright impossible.

I feel that this one simple observation explains much of why there are so few truly skilled individuals in the modding world. Some people inaccurately estimate their level of talent in a chosen activity, then get frustrated when their rate of development doesn't meet their needs. Others set their sights on tasks which require highly complex techniques that are simply out of their reach, and end up falling short, regardless of how much they practice.

The key is, then, to correctly identify the areas where we have aptitude, and then nurture that skill with time investment and enthusiasm.