Wed, 13 May 2009
Is this already episode twenty-five? My how time flies! Which is
exactly the topic of the day. This week on the EXP Podcast, Scott and I
stumble upon a clever idea from Reid Kimball, Gamasutra Expert Blogger and level designer for Buzz Monkey Software.
Taking a cue from cinema, Reid suggests game designers implement the
potentially cheesy but versatile tool that is the montage. By creating
an interactive montage, the passage of time is expressed without a
non-interactive cut scene or jarring jump in time. Join us while we
discuss flashbacks, lumberjacks, the mighty Chronos,
and how games and gamers play with time itself. Of course you can find
Kimball's article in the show notes below. As always, we would love to
have you share your own temporal musings in the comments section.
Some discussion starters: - What games express the passage of time in satisfactory ways? Does their interactive, or the lack thereof, improve the experience? - Do you enjoy playing games under a time constraint? Does this give greater meaning to the passage of time in-game? - Are there characters or franchises you would like to see age in real-time? Do you think this would add to the immersion? To listen to the podcast: - Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed. - Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking the title. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format. - Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right. Show Notes: - Run time: 26 min 48 sec - Reid Kimball's article, via Gamasutra - Music provided by Brad Sucks |