Optimization and game mechanics

[zhai]

So, because the big project at the new place is large and Flash-based, right now we're doing a systematic analysis of Ferry Halim's Orisinal games. They're some of the most beautiful and innovative Flash games on the market, so worth studying when it comes to thinking about what kind of interactive mechanics you can put into a flash game

Comments

[nofna]

Very cool connection between a player-game interface and the repetitious task you had to do. Nicely spotted. :)

[zhai]

Most games are all about repetitious tasks, insofar as the repetition is part of the experimentation process (do something, change one thing, do that something again, rinse & repeat). The trick is to find out how to make that process sufficiently rewarding across a 3D spectrum of personality types and points of view. :)

[nofna]

Being involved in the game business, have you ever thought of making your own game, where you wouldn't have to engineer it for mass consumption? Like a synthesis of your writing and what you've learned in the industry, built up into your own personal artwork.

[zhai]

I have many side projects. :) Some are small games, some are game proposals, but most are IP franchises that have specific implications in the game space. My overall strategy right now is to continue to push the fiction, and pair, say, a published novella (with solid reviews, etc) with a game pitch later down the road. I have one novella in the works that is built around a future intended game mechanic, and a couple of other more long-term projects where the structures of the world are set up with the intent to be collaborative or interactive (character classes, etc), with a longer trajectory to start with fiction, then move to something like a flash RTS, then eventually into full blown worlds. So, yes. :)

[nofna]

Good to hear!