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Experimental
Gameplay Workshop
The 3rd annual Experimental Gameplay Workshop
took place at the Game Developers Conference 2004. If you weren't there, sorry we missed you!
Robin Hunicke made a write-up of the session with pictures,
which you can
see here.
The following presentations were given:
The
2004
Indie Game Jam
Chris Hecker, Doug Church, and an ensemble cast
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In the Indie Game Jam, a
whole bunch of experienced game programmer/designers get
together for 4 days and work their asses off. The goal is for
each participant to create a small game with new and
interesting gameplay, based around a specific theme.
Participants are provided with a pre-written codebase,
implementing the core functionality necessary for a game of
this theme.
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This year's core engine was
based on Atman Binstock's 2D physics system. The engine
simulates collisions, contacts and constraints between 2D
solid bodies. The goal of the exercise was to
use these physical interactions as
core elements of gameplay. (Most current games that
have physics tend to employ the physics in non-gameplay-critical
ways, restricting it to eye candy and the like). |
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The Indie Game Jam has its
own web site where you can look at the games, see the details
of everyone who participated, and
download source code: indiegamejam.com. This
year's Jam games aren't posted there yet, but you can see the
games from previous years (and hopefully, this year's games
will be posted soon!) Robin Hunicke has
some pictures taken during the Jam here. | |
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Puzzle Pirates is a massively multiplayer online game. Typical MMGs
are built around character advancement systems, where players earn experience
points awarded through combat. Instead of this, Puzzle Pirates employs a
system wherein the player's performance in a variety of
puzzle games controls his advancement and provides the method by
which he affects the world. | |
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You must save the universe by building new stars. You
start by rolling a small sticky ball through a household environment. As
objects come in contact with your ball, they stick. The ball
grows larger, enabling you to pick up even bigger things, and to
roll over obstacles and barriers, granting you access to new areas.
If the ball becomes very misshapen, steering it can be a challenge! | |
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Play pong with closed-loop haptic control. You can
control your paddle with 6 degrees of freedom, impacting the ball
with varying degrees of impulse and spin. You can also assault
your opponent with "Haptic Attacks" that interfere with his
controller while he's trying to play. | |
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Time was used in some innovative and interesting ways this past
year. Robin took a look at new time game paradigms, asking: "How do
these mechanics affect the player experience in novel ways?" Here is
a link to the slides. | |
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The RAPUNSEL project is an online game environment where players
control simple characters. Players need to program their
characters to give them the skills they need to advance through
various worlds. The programming is accomplished via a simple,
visual programming langauge. | |
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Rescue the princess from the evil evil demon. You can't
hope to succeed through physical strength; you must trick the demon
by manipulating his emotions. The player controls an on-screen
avatar with the mouse, and can also say things by typing English
text into an input window. | |
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Chaim showed examples of the mini-games that comprise the
gameplay of Nintendo's
WarioWare, Inc. He discussed how WarioWare, by breaking
game design conventions, can serve as a vessel for teaching game
design. | |
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