HUDs and MMOs

I'm thinking about having the juniors in our program create a game of some kind in SL. It has 3d building; you can make animations; you can put scripts in objects to make them do things; there is an audience of people looking for things to do who know the ins and outs of SL already - in other words, you could create an interesting game. There are a variety of games - role play, arcade, board in SL already.

Some of these games use HUDs (heads up displays) to control combat. Here is info on a couple of them

Osiris (originally called roleplay combat system) - http://www.osiris-sl.com/default.cfm and here's more specific info about the RPCS - http://www.osiris-sl.com/products.cfm and they're set up to sell the player's HUD thru XStreetSL - https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=1516549
- has an open licensed API so people can develop weapons and can have NPCs --- they use this one on the Erie island rpg - here's a new world notes post about it under the old name - http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2009/07/kanomi-plays.html

Info on a Naruto themed game on Hinode Shima island with Ninja Control System (NCS) - http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2009/06/sl-naruto.html
SLURL for a boxing sim with a Combat Evolution HUD - http://secondlife.com/events/event.php?id=2781326&date=1244768400

2 HUDs discussed in this new world notes post - http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2007/07/weapons-of-choi.html
DCS2 (Dark Combat System v2)
the company handles most of the set up and runs the server with user stats, stats carry across multiple sims and so do weapons - not too customizable but very easy to get started. they keep 90% of revenues from weapons sales to make their money so the game probably won't make any money

CCS (Community Combat System)
you have to do all the set up and can customize the heck out of it - you have to run the server for user stats and they don't go from sim to sim. Possible to make money since you pay a little up front nd then keep all revenues from weapons sales

list of combat systems used in the stra wars themed rpg - http://swrp.wikia.com/wiki/Combat_System

Some role play places
Deadwood 178 Wild West role play - http://secondlife.com/events/event.php?id=2695563&date=1245286800

Toxian City - here's a YouTube video about it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B_zhYtz5to

Erie Isle - http://www.erie-isle.com/ - there's a very active calendar of events, groups for new players, they use the Osiris combat system, separate areas for humans and supernaturals, lots of weapons, good role play

Other SL games
Here's info on a turn based combat game played with deck of virtul cards in an arena - http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2008/12/play-with-vidal.html

Play testing - end of the Semester

This semester in Critical Analysis of Games, we had about 12 or 13 games out of a class of 26. Some folks worked alone because of their schedules or because they were the only person interested in a topic. Here is a link to all the projects for this class: projects. You can see more pictures here on Flickr.

There were games about LOLcats, YouTube videos, space pirates, Dante's Inferno, Dr. Horrible's musical blog, greek mythology, dating in the 50s, retro space adventuring, trans-Canadian highway system, children's fairy tales, and bounty hunting. We had board games, trivia games, card games, and combinations. The play test session was hectic. We rotated games in and out as people finished a round. It would be better to let them play a round, have a few minutes to make notes, and then repeat. For that we need space and people - lots of people - since most of the games need 4 players.


We invited some staff and other professors to come play. They gave the students good feedback. It was a way for other people in the school to see what kinds of things students in the new game design major will do. And it's important for students to get feedback from someone other than me (or their peers). Especially if we want to think about making commercially viable games - we need to understand different markets

Having our playtest time during final exams week makes it tough to get students. Next year we're going to do the big play test the last week of classes. That will give the students more time to revise and do their write up too. This year we had candidates in doing demo classes so we were a little short of time.

Game Testing

Image by kgregson via Flickr

I have 10 groups in my Critical Analysis of Games class (26 students). Each group had to create a game using the Icehouse pyramid game system. They could add anything else they wanted - boards, cards, dice, spinners. The games had to be playable within 10-40 minutes. I didn't want any 1 minute throw the pyramid (like 56 card pick up) games.

We tested the games today with other students from class, volunteers from my Qualitative Research class, the chair of the TV-Radio department, and several of the administrative staff from the 3rd floor. It was kind of organized chaos - 10 tables with games spread out, people milling around - some playing, some taking notes and observing.

The goal of the play testing was to get feedback from people who hadn't seen the games before. We needed to know if the rules made sense and, maybe more importantly, was the game fun to play. A secondary goal was to let people in the class see other people's games - kind of set up a little competition to improve the games.

A full set of pictures is on flickr - I am not a photographer but you get the idea - lots of people, lots of tables, lots of games, small room - ha ha. - click here to see the set

Image by kgregson via Flickr

I think we met the goals. Most groups had notes. A couple of groups discovered problems with their rules or winning conditions; they made some changes on the fly and adjusted their documentation.

We may test again on Monday if I can find some other people to come in, depending on the feedback I get Wednesday in class. They will turn the game in on the Friday before spring break. I also want them to put the rules and game documentation online and encourage others to play.

We played board games again in class today

My goal was to play games or watch videos every Friday in the Intro to Games & Society. Out of 9 weeks tho we have only managed 3 play days. We had a movie, a guest speaker, an exam review. Can't figure out where the other weeks went.

Anyway - we started our 2nd round of game play. Each group got assigned a new game to learn. Hopefully as we go thru more games groups will begin to share tips about how to play.

So far Apples to Apples seems to be the game most people know already and so have the most fun playing. Carcassone and Ticket to Ride are totally unknown but the groups pick them up pretty quickly and manage to get almost all the way thru a game the very first day. Race for the Galaxy is kicking our butts - the phases are confusing and the symbols on the cards often undecipherable.

A Few More Games

Image via WikipediaGot some new games for the major - they'll be in ppecs soon. Some I got on multiple platforms so we can compare game control schemes and how well they take advantage features of the different hardware.

For the 360
Ultimate Alliance/Forza Motorsports
Assassin's Creed
Bully
Civilization: Revolution

For the DS
Civilization: Revolution
Assassin's Creed
Meteos
N+
Elite Beat Agents (ok - i'm playing this one now so it won't be in PPECS for a week or so)


For the PSP
Lumines II
Ridge Racer
N+

For the Wii
Red Steel