how do i want to structure my next project? i need a loose principle within which to begin creating, assembling pieces. this is the beginning of a research and analysis project:
what structures have facilitated a desirable return to good works?
what structures interest me or, better yet, fail to turn away my interest?
or i could just lay eggs...
there are some structural requirements. i can tell this already. this isn't about "what makes a bad game", it's more like, "what makes a game something i don't want to work on or have made?"
- i don't play games with high system requirements
- i exclusively use a tablet or touchpad, so fps games are mostly out, unless i can control them with keyboard (see next)
- i don't have a controller, i always play with keyboard
- i don't develop for consoles, i almost never play indie games on consoles, that's pretty symmetrical
- developing for phones is really annoying, because of the storefronts.
- developing for web is totally fine. i like to play web games.
- most downloadable games i don't even play? hmm this one is interesting, it's probably why i keep trying to figure out a web platform for all my games... downloadable games are a pain in the butt because of all the different system requirements. web is a really nice home, i just don't think the games are really allowed to stand on their own there, whereas an executable downloadable has a distinct separate feel to it...
- i play some downloadable games. mac makes it annoying.
- i don't trust web games with save files; that is, i rarely return to a web game and expect it to have anything saved
- i don't make accounts for singular games for the most part (not that these are often requested) well, actually, i would. it's just not very common.
hmm.
i think i was already aware of all of these but it's still interesting to see them laid out in one place.
a lot of them are not exactly about structure, but what even is structure?
there are some games that i haven't returned to even though i want to dig deeper, like eliza.
why have i not completed eliza, but i've gotten through scarlet hollow? and consume me?
i think with eliza i have a feeling that nothing i do really matters--and i also can't fast forward through it like i could with a book? i mean, a videogame just doesn't, as an artifact, fit as comfortably into my life as a book does. i love a good book. it passes from one device to the next. i can get one from the library and hold it in my hands, return it, then get a different copy completely and pick right back up where i left off.
the last big linear videogame i tried playing was persona 4. in that game i lost my save file... oh no... i'm still holding on to that bad feeling :( losing a save file suuuucks.
losing a save file sucks. i've got to think a little bit more about how much of my unwillingness to engage with longer linear works comes from not wanting to lose a save file.