Comments for Balthazar Auger

Comment on 1pxg: Hold when black, release when white by 1pxg: Hold when black, release when white -with warning and random successor | Balthazar Auger

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:03:25 +0000

[...] prototype is somewhat flawed too, for the similar reason than “Hold when black, release when white” was flawed: when the system exits the generic warning state, there is no way of knowing if the next [...]

Comment on 1pxg: Hold when Black with Lose State by Spider Monkey

Spider Monkey — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:45:12 +0000

Got it… happy happy joy joy
Is finding a way to win feels as good as winning by known rules?
yes…it does

Comment on 1pxg: Press when black - with punishment by Balthazar

Balthazar — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:22:06 +0000

Thanks for the feedback.

btw I’m working on a better presentation for the next batch of pixel games, the fullscreen blink-o-tron ain’t a good way to go…

Comment on 1pxg: Press when black - with punishment by Squish

Squish — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:41:10 +0000

Thanks for the epilepsy warning! I like it better with a way to lose ( as in “not doing anythis is NOT equal to do something”) even though I think that there should be also negative feedback for pushing the button on white. Good work BTW, pretty impressive what you can do whith one pixel!

Comment on 1pxg: Press when Black - Timed loop by Evgueni Dozov

Evgueni Dozov — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:03:02 +0000

Failure certainly is an important part of games. Uncerainty of the outcome is always cited as a requisite for good gameplay, and most often, that implies failure. Also, if you look at games as a closed environment in which you get to train for the hardships of real life (a definition true for animals, but maybe insufficent for human play), it appears that failure is the main focus of it all - you learn to avoid it in the security of the magic circle in order to do better in the wilderness.

I think with that new rule, you also introduce something quite interesting - it’s the first rule allowing for an effect not caused by the payer to take place. If the player does nothing, the “game” appears to adopt a behaviour of its own. I think that creates a form of conflict, which maybe helps to game-ify the system. You’ve sort of created an AI!

Comment on Constraint: Space by Balthazar Auger » Blog Archive » 1 Pixel Games

Balthazar Auger » Blog Archive » 1 Pixel Games — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:47:13 +0000

[...] pixel games are the radicalization of the spatial constraint I spoke of earlier. The goal of the exercise (because that’s what this will be, a design [...]

Comment on ENJMIN - New vintage of games and interactive experiences by Bookmarks about Interactive

Bookmarks about Interactive — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:45:26 +0000

[...] - bookmarked by 2 members originally found by spookzter on 2008-08-11 ENJMIN - New vintage of games and interactive experiences http://www.bauger.net/2008/07/enjmin-new-vintage-of-games-and-interactive-experiences/ - [...]

Comment on Gamels - game elements by Balthazar

Balthazar — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:07:45 +0000

I thought about ludemes a lot while writing this article actually, but as I recall (I can’t find my Theory of Fun copy…) ludemes were very broad “play verbs” that could be very easily mistook for game mechanics.

Gamels are probably much more atomic than ludemes, I think. You could describe a ludeme as an arrangement of gamels, maybe?

As usual, time will tell. Anyways, thanks for reading and responding, Evgueni!

Comment on Gamels - game elements by Evgueni Dozov

Evgueni Dozov — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 09:00:59 +0000

Gamels seem like a great idea and certainly solve a lot of communication problems. As game design becomes a field of study, it needs to find a vocabulary to rely on.

However, you may want to consider the use of “ludeme” - which could be a synonym for gamel. It’s not exactly “accepted”, and certainly isn’t part of any dictionnary, but some designers seem to begin using it (most notably Raph Koster).

But then again, “ludeme” seems to lack a clear definition, so in building a theory, you might be better off with gamels :). The most interesting part for me is the classification along the two axes, which might provide a good way to use the concept in practice.

Comment on Poesysteme by Balthazar Auger » Blog Archive » Gamels - game elements

Balthazar Auger » Blog Archive » Gamels - game elements — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:53:05 +0000

[...] often run out of words to describe what I want to talk about. My approach in these cases is to just make up a new word. 6×4 picture [...]