Life and Simulation

In my unfailingly correct opinion the definition of a video game must meet two points of criteria:

1. It must be a work of art presented as a digital reality in which the audience is prompted for inputs that cause the piece to progress. This is a simple statement, if there’s no interaction then how is it a game, if it isn’t digital then where’s the video aspect.

2. The player must be prompted to make either functionally or aesthetically significant choices that augment the plot or themes of the story being told. This is really the divergence point for me and what makes a video game both intoxicatingly unique and separates it from a film (pressing pause and play is an input that progresses the narrative, but a narrative can’t be changed) or a visual novel. This is an aspect of the medium that can be represented in immensely simple ways such as win or lose - If Mario chooses to jump at the wrong moment he becomes goomba chow and Bowser Jr. finally gets a step mom - but through dialogue, exploration, branching paths in which choices cause other plot elements to be locked away you can make it truly feel like the player(who is undoubtedly also a playa)

These points are why I think it’s appropriate to call all video games simulations and not just a specific genre that focuses on attempting to replicate real life. It’s important to note here that the “simulation” genre is no more authentic than Super Mario sliding down flagpoles - it’s all an illusion. This goes the same for all art. I’ve known people who hate fantasy, which is perfectly fair, but their explanation for their preferences is that they’re interested in the real world and it just makes me laugh because the world of the God Father is no less a fantasy than Lord of the Rings, the setting of the former is just more recognizable. When we play Shadow of the Collosus we’re asking -

“What would it feel like to be a hero with a mighty blade taking down towering behemoths?” the same way the Sims asks-

“What would it feel like to watch a dynasty play out from a God’s eye view?” and this is why, when I actually get a game finished, my work will proudly, pompously and pretentiously brandish the title of simulation in their opening credits.

Game One: Little Wonders

The reason I wanted to make this post was to add some representation for my games on the website and there’s really not much to do with them until their finished. The Little Wonders in the Best Story Anyone Ever Told: That Guy Who Went Looking for Kings that One Time is the full title of a game that I’m sure you can descry from the picture above is targeted for kids, but the goal is that the humor a themes, while simple enough for children to understand, will have another level of meaning to those who are old enough to glean the many subversive aspects of the story.

Little Wonders takes place in Little Wonderland, a far off planet inhabited by simple minded finger people known as, of course, the Little Wonders. The story picks up directly after a bored King jumps off the balcony of his throne room to his demise while the All-Orb, the token that crowns the ruler of the world rolls it’s way to a homeless fellow at the very edge of society. This is our lead character. You embody this Wonder as they adventure across the land in search of a being who is wise enough to sit upon the throne.

I’ve been told by a disembodied voice on the internet that focus of any game designer should be the “feedback loop” and if you have any interest in video games then you have no doubt learned of it by a creator much more popular than myself, but basically it means what are the controls and what’s the reward for utilizing them properly. In Mario you can run and jump, your immediate rewards are the accruement of coins and the crushing of turtles beneath your Timberlands while the long term rewards are reaching the flagpole at the end of a level or the Princess at the end of the game. I don’t think the loop is so pared down in my game.

The main concept for this game as well as the setting and characters all together come from my childhood - where all the great trash ideas come from - playing make believe in the living room with my brother. He was the one who originally created the idea of the Wonders, but since the creatures are made up only of a pointer finger, middle finger and thumb I don’t feel too guilty stealing it. We used to set up little stations all around the house and gather up little toys and nick-knacks, colored, glass pebbles, whatever looked like treasure and I would have a wonder who traveled from market to bazaar and meet exotic characters from all around the world who I would then barter with.

This was one of my cherished childhood memories so I figured if it was so important to me then maybe I could utilize it to steal cash from unsuspecting children. I mean make a good game. So this is the main mechanic and I’m still tweaking it but to gain passage to new levels and at integral story moments you are prompted to trade items that are found through out Little Wonderland. The exploration and acquisition of treasure is the other focus of the game. The idea of the synergy between these two is that the tasks will cause the players to want to comb every inch of the map and interact with every character to find more opportunities to trade.

Of course, I began this article discussing the endless possibilities for video games, or simulations if you’re of a higher pedigree, to providing a wide array of unique experiences so I’m endeavoring to give the player several options to progress through any level and most quests. If you trade with wizards that are found through out your journey you can get rainbow candy themed magic powers that allow you to reach areas that are not otherwise possible to reach and solve certain quests with out having to trade.

There are also a number of characters who have running stories and are setting out on their own adventures that run parallel with your own and as you meet them through out the game your interactions will dictate how their story progresses and where they’ll be found next. If you choose not to interact then their tales will not progress and they’ll be stuck in a conundrum that they’ll never solve. The idea is to promote the feel in that the player is only one small character in a world where every one has a story to be told and that we only find success when we all intertwine our stories together.

I’m making the game in RPG Maker, which is pretty easy to figure out for beginner game designers, but SUPER limited in it’s scope and I really had to put in some time to utilize the program fully and download a lot of exterior plug-ins to get the functionality that the game has. But, hey, it’s all out there for anyone to discover, check it out for yourself. The game will never look as good as something Nintendo will be putting out, but I think it’s got a unique direction and some cute visuals going on.

So that’s the basics. I don’t think I have anything more to say on the matter right now, but hopefully I’ll have updates to post as the project gets closer to completion, I’ll foolishly claim right here and now that I’m past the half way point. I’m sick of typing and I have better things to do anyway, so I’m done. I was going to talk about the other game I’m working on in this post as well, but now I think I’ll save it for my next blog. For some reason I’ve always got two projects going on at the same time in every medium I work in - would not recommend. But this other project I’m really excited about and I have a lot of big ideas for, but that’ll have to wait...

Thanks for reading!