Game Fallacies

Posted by RoboBOT on Oct. 4, 2006, 7:11 p.m.

Fallacy: "a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning" -WordNet, a lexical database for the English language (from Princeton University).

Nothing is more eternally loathsome than misconceptions in game making. Okay, well except for maybe chinese water torture and major league baseball. But BESIDES those, absolutely nothing.

So here a list of Ten Seven-and-a-half GM Fallacies that I may or may not want to vent about:

1. platform games must involve jumping on enemies' heads

We all need to get over Mario. He's great and all, with those stylish overalls, and who wouldn't love that hat? but seriously, platform games don't need the enemy-squashing action. In many games, the head-jumping doesn't even make sense. When you game's enemies are porcupines, for example, then you should really consider an new, inovative method of enemy destruction.

2. card games should be reproductions of existing card games

Creating a card game using GM is difficult for many people. What isn't difficult is inventing a card game. Come up with something NEW for a change.

3. because GM comes with a built-in Game information feature, it should be used for ingame help.

The game info screen really detracts from games. For one, having only one page is rather annoying. For two, no matter how many times you click the "imitate game window" box, it still stands out from the game like a sore thumb.

4. RPGs must contain magic and swords.

How about an RPG about…ANYTHING ELSE. For pete's sake, the magic, almost medieval RPGs have been done to death.

5a. Fan games are bad.

5b. Fan games are good.

New ideas are preferable, simply because new games are novel and thus more popular for a time. However, there's nothing wrong with a well done version of everyone's favorite game.

6. Particle effects always make a game look "polished"

All that fancy stuff looks great when used in moderation, but lets just say that there's a line that shouldn't be crossed. I think "sparkly" isn't neccessarily a good description for a game.

7. Calling your game an "Arcade Game" is an excuse for crappy graphics.

"arcade" games USED to just imply that the game required one shiny nickel (or two dull ones) to play. Graphics can look retro, but new-age "bad" isn't "arcade".

Right, so, that's that. I certainly feel better.

I'm sure my next blog will be much less preachy. Until then, check out my fancy new banner! heck yeah.

Comments

RoboBOT 18 years, 2 months ago

thanks, dude.