Jimquisition: Lazy, Boring, Ordinary, Art Games
- Thread starter Jimothy Sterling
- Start date
http://www.freewebarcade.com/game/the-company-of-myself/
Try this game, The Company of Myself. It's good gameplay and it really messes with the narrative, I highly recommend it.
Try this game, The Company of Myself. It's good gameplay and it really messes with the narrative, I highly recommend it.
Good. Talking about free games, I highly recommend Cart Life, it is a free game and it is so absolutely awesome and complex I couldn't even start to talk about it. Try it out, it's worth it. Most art games have really simple gameplay, Cart Life is quite complex in comparison, but it's very very much an art game.Moeez said:
Just found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE9IbKhQ3aw
It's a Dear Esther speedrun. Oh yes. Where's your messiah now?
It's a Dear Esther speedrun. Oh yes. Where's your messiah now?
Good points well made, Next year I get a chance to meet the guy who made Dear Esther, so perhaps I can ask him what his ideas for the game were.
Though if I remember correctly Dear Esther is pretty old and has just recently been remade, from mod to full-game.
Though if I remember correctly Dear Esther is pretty old and has just recently been remade, from mod to full-game.
Homefront would be better if they didn't wuss out and made China the enemy.
Also Jim nailed it again. Think of gameplay and artistic value as sliders rather than on off switches.
A game needs a certain level of gameplay first because it is a damn game. Then it can crank up the art around its mechanics.
Braid, World of Goo, Bastion, Limbo, and I would include Out of this World are all examples "art" games that still have sustaining gameplay mechanics.
I think the best analogy of art games would be comic books. With both types of media the creators have a story to tell. Comic books tell the story with visually compelling pages with snapshots and some mostly expository dialog. Art games tell the story with game levels which are snapshots like comic pages. The games have the hook that the player is in control of the protagonist increasing immersion.
Also Jim nailed it again. Think of gameplay and artistic value as sliders rather than on off switches.
A game needs a certain level of gameplay first because it is a damn game. Then it can crank up the art around its mechanics.
Braid, World of Goo, Bastion, Limbo, and I would include Out of this World are all examples "art" games that still have sustaining gameplay mechanics.
I think the best analogy of art games would be comic books. With both types of media the creators have a story to tell. Comic books tell the story with visually compelling pages with snapshots and some mostly expository dialog. Art games tell the story with game levels which are snapshots like comic pages. The games have the hook that the player is in control of the protagonist increasing immersion.
But what Mr Sterling has failed to see and even point out is that art is a cyclical thing like fashion. If it wasn't, we'd all still be painting Renaissance artworks. (Though given the quality of today's modern art, this may be something of an improvement - but this is moot.)
But art, like fashion goes through the motions like anything else until it's buyers or connoisseurs get sick of it and then the art changes to reflect the tastes of the future.
Even renaissance art such as the Sistine Chapel were done on a commissionary basis. Not because it was art for it's own sake - but because the church paid Michaelangelo to do it.
Art for it's own sake is a rare beast, the rest of it is art for money's sake.
I can understand why Mr Sterling fears stagnation in art but it doesn't give him the right to act immaturely toward those who disagree with his own artistic opinions.
If someone considers a can of soup, Victoria Frances pictures, abject sculptures covered in verdigree to be art, it's art - albeit to them. Acting like a petulant child will do nothing to change this.
This raises the following question: Why does Mr Sterling not respect other people's right to buy something they deem to be art? Especially when it doesn't harm or otherwise affect him.
But art, like fashion goes through the motions like anything else until it's buyers or connoisseurs get sick of it and then the art changes to reflect the tastes of the future.
Even renaissance art such as the Sistine Chapel were done on a commissionary basis. Not because it was art for it's own sake - but because the church paid Michaelangelo to do it.
Art for it's own sake is a rare beast, the rest of it is art for money's sake.
I can understand why Mr Sterling fears stagnation in art but it doesn't give him the right to act immaturely toward those who disagree with his own artistic opinions.
If someone considers a can of soup, Victoria Frances pictures, abject sculptures covered in verdigree to be art, it's art - albeit to them. Acting like a petulant child will do nothing to change this.
This raises the following question: Why does Mr Sterling not respect other people's right to buy something they deem to be art? Especially when it doesn't harm or otherwise affect him.
Well, not really, I don't enjoy Starcraft 2 at all and it's not Blizzard's fault, I just don't happen to enjoy strategy games. Dear Esther is very enjoyable, just not as a game, but as an aesthetic experience. If you want a game, you won't like it.ElPatron said:
That's not a good analogy at all.The Cheshire said:
I recommend backtracking on Jim's coverage on "art games". He wasn't "playing it right" because the game never instructed him how to "play it right". Therefore it's not his fault.
Then it could be argued it's not a game and we are back at square one.The Cheshire said:
If someone reviews a game, then if it's not a game it deserves a bad score. You can't argue that the reviewer was not "playing it right".
An "artsy" game should be like The Stanley Parable. A fantastic mod for Half-Life 2 (Any source game, really. Even the Free-to-play TF2)
I'm not going to reveal too many things about the game, but I will say that there are many, many endings and the narrative voice is awesome.
I'm not going to reveal too many things about the game, but I will say that there are many, many endings and the narrative voice is awesome.