It was in September that I took the leap from the console game space into the social game space. Now, 5 months later I can say – or in this case write – that I do not regret this decision, at all. The very first things that made me excited about working on games are [...]

There are some games such as Far Cry 2, Bioshock, and Shadow of the Colossus which we can analyze their game design mechanics and discuss topics such as ludonarrative dissonance. They are games that have depth and provide something a bit more than a shallow entertainment experience. WET isn’t one of those games and it [...]

Very few times are we given the opportunity or luxury to brainstorm. It’s one of the few times where a certain buzz consumes everyone involved, spirits are lifted, and it seems like you could conquer the world! Recently I had to complete a design exercise – very much like this very design exercise – that [...]

Last week, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen for the Nintendo DS made it’s way to video game stores, and with it so did the multiplayer design feature which I was the lead for, Battle For Earth. Following upon the success of Transformers: Battle For The Allspark Agora Games once again collaborated with Vicarious Visions and [...]

This post is a continuation from  Énoncé – The Base Of A Narrative which discusses how said semi-autonomous agent would go about creating narrative based on an énoncé model. This post deals with the similar issues discussed in Énoncé – The Base Of A Narrative but this time, using practical syllogism as a base for narrative. Practical Syllogism [...]

This post is a continuation from Creating Interesting Narrative which tackles the problem of how to create an interesting narrative. This deals with more of the actual structure behind creating the narrative rather than what is needed to create an interesting narrative, more specifically how to do so based on the concept of a Narrative Énoncé. [...]

This post is a continuation from Actor Driven Narrative where the issues of an actor driven virtual narrative and how to approach such a goal may be completed. Creating An Interesting Narrative – This is one of the biggest problems by far. A film, book, or any other interactive medium has pace and momentum. It [...]

Introduction Narrative is complex. It involves characters, plot structure, actions, consequences, desires, essentially everything which a human being experiences throughout their life, but a bit more shallow and briefer. But what makes a narrative? How can we generate narrative? These are intrinsic questions which must be answered to create a compelling semi autonomous narrative which [...]

Left 4 Dead is a great title, there is no doubt about it. The AI director introduces a new element of fear and paranoia in a gameplay experience that is hard to find elsewhere. Enhancing multiplayer / co-op was an excellent choice on behalf of Valve, and it shows. There are many great things about [...]

Imagine playing World of Warcraft where new quests and stories were generated on the fly without an update. NPCs interacted with each other in an evolving manner such that they had continuous character development. How different of an experience would that be compared to what we experience now? Quite. As of late, I have started [...]