There's actually a lot of "Art games" around downloadable on the Internet, the thing is, they don't get massive coverage because people prefer blowing shit up, so they have little to no money invested in them, and aren't published.
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Tyler Glaiel
@Glaiel-Gamer
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Comments
I know, I played a ton of them.
My only beef with arty games is that some lose themselves in the artyness... i think at the core braid was a solid platformer... it didnt go out to recreate the wheel nor is it ashamed of itself and the fact that it builds on fundamental building blocks that were laid down years ago. In real speak, it didnt fuck with the things that didnt need fucking with and instead invested its energy in complementing the foundations with explorations that were carefully thoughtout without ruining the gameplay.
The danger in overdoing artyness is that at some point, your head gets stuck in a fog, you have distorted things enough to where it seems normal to you. You become that 'cooky artist' that nobody really understands... your works are blobs and people who say they see things in your work.. actually dont. They are just forcing themselves to see things that arent there... be it due to the popular pressures of their surroundings or whatever.
At that point, you have gotten so carried away, and have lost all sense of logic and have convinced yourself that red is green and green is red.
In the art world that isnt THAT problematic, but in gaming, it is problematic because part of the goal of making games is the joy of making something out of nothing and seeing how someone else interacts with it. Its not like art where its just you and the canvas and you zone everyone else out.
Ya pretty much. Hence the point of Pilgrimage, the game gets lost in its own abstraction.
I don't really care when a game is intended as art, for example pilgrimage was a very awesome idea and I loved it.. but I don't care about the message and it doesn't make me think about my own interpretation of it.
The only times I am impressed by games in that respect are when games make amazing use of their available platform.. when a game seems to push the boundaries of what is possible. That's a completely different thing though, that's just more technical wonderment more than a casual observation (as art should be..)
Nice post though.. art games are definitely interesting to play.
I was really searching for a deep meaning in the game, until I read this post. Hell the artist statement was complete gibberish, jumping from one random subject to another. I was deceived , but releived when I found out that it was all a satire by your post. Thanks a lot Glaiel for a unique experience!
There is just one thing that keeps bugging me; what in the HELL do those signs say at the very end? I want to know how the story ends! Or is it just more, "Jason jumped over a rock"?
they say stuff, but they're blurred for a reason ("you have to fill in the meaning yourself")
Did you notice the quality of writing degraded with the graphics and sound?
Yeah I noticed that too. It went from a modern-day epic, to...well, something from the Atari.
I guess I understand now, it's like filling in the story for pong. Or at least having your own interpretation of one.
Now I have to end the story of "Pilgrimage" myself huh, thanks!
I agree with alot of what you wrote. Braid is a great inspiration on me and is really the reason why I'm not releasing games now as often, like you, I too have raised the bar for myself for the games I create. Hopefully Po3 will come as a nice surprise.
I have not made any art games as of yet, but I have created an artsy fartsy game. Sadly it suffered in its gameplay as, like luis said, I got lost in its design and focused less on its gameplay. Music Euphoria, dunno if you've played it, but sheck it out.
how can you right all that??
Depredation
That's a beast of a post. I agree with most of what you said, these art games are key in the evolution of the media and the more paths and alleyways people go down the more streets open up for others.
About braid i'm not sure whether it is an arty game, it's gorgeous, has an awesome story, but the way it plays is also unique, it doesn't rely on its art/music as the central backbone. Then again i agree that it's certainly something different, and I'm sure it wont be the last of its type.
Interesting read, lots of good points, i am actually working on a pixel blender effect for specific pixelating like you mentioned to see what kind of looks i can get and i'll use some of your advice when i actually get around to making the game :).
Glaiel-Gamer
Don't use pixel bender for pixillation, shrinking/enlarging bitmaps is faster. Just a hit. All my pixel bender filter did in Pilgrimage is reduce color depth post-pixelization.