MORE LIES

I like the idea of adding more lies of what I am and what I am going to become in comparison to my old life. Here are a few lies I have told myself

I do not play video games (this does not include Ms Pac Man. It’s not just a game, it’s a life time commitment!). I have a life and like interacting with people not machines.

I never have and never will play a Sony PS3 or a Wii or any other of the game consoles. As I do not play games, I do not use anything associated with them.

I am defiantly NOT going to ever design a video game. I don’t play them, so why the fuck would I want to design one?

So that was before and for a long time I stuck to those statements. Now like most aspects of my life, that is out the window.

Over the weekend I attended a “Game Jam” where I had 24 hours to create a level in the new game “Little Big Planet”. As this was required for this course, there was no way I could get out of it.

I began to familiarize myself with the game the week before by playing it and spending time researching it. I had never seen anything like it before. It looks like the Clangers (http://www.clangers.co.uk/) and is fun to play. What struck me most about this game are the choices the players can make. This is a game about choices and so I used that as a concept when designing the level.

The level is too complicated to discuss here. I tried writing it out and realized that it’s more of a visual experience instead of a written one. I will try to post a screenshot of the level when I get a copy of it.

The concept is what I really took away from creating this level and its here I will share it here with you. There are many different ways to play this level (13 to be exact), but it breaks down to a basic easy and hard way. The easy way can be played very quick and is very boring. Players don’t have a chance to gain points or play tasks. They just finish the level and get no rewards.

The hard way takes longer, has places to gain lots of points and has more tasks to complete. There are twists in the level as well. At the very end, the player must conquer his/her fear of a dragon on fire by running through it to collect lots of bonus points. If the player tries to go around the dragon, they do not gain as many points


But this is not what this blog entry is about. Nor is it about how I am telling myself lies. I believe that was already covered. What this blog is about is about the choices we make. The game that was created wasn’t simply about running around a computer screen collecting points and killing monsters. I feel mine is more significant. It actually means something. We have choices we make everyday in life. Some are hard and some are easy.

And what I love about me level, what I really gets me excited is the way it ends. For most of the game you are taught to be smart and work hard and you will get the most points and have more fun. In the finale, the user must face a dragon that is on fire. The obvious way is to go around the dragon, but its very difficult. Instead, the only way to win the game is to go through the dragon. But going through the fiery dragon you get lots of points and get to win the game. It’s the twists at the end that makes it most life like. Life is full of choices and twists and turns. If life is too easy it’s dull. At the same time it shouldn’t be so hard. There is a balance between working smarter instead of harder and that’s when you get to have the most fun.


I should go now; I keep seeing the screen move and little creature bounce around. Sleep deprivation is lots of fun ☺