<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ] --> <!--X-From-R13: Qnyvona Fverfvnf Rnexybpx <pnyvonaNqnexybpx.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 23:09:55 -0700 --> <!--X-Message-Id: Version.32.19980728223926.0106fbb0#pop,darklock.com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: 018001bdb90f$477d8ba0$3c32cfcf@Painland --> <!--X-Reference: Pine.SGI.3.96.980728114214.17978H-100000#zazu,angel.com --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, [MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg00413.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00415.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00401.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00418.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00414">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00414">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00414">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: Caliban Tiresias Darklock <<A HREF="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 23:04:46 -0700</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> On 11:45 AM 7/28/98 -0700, I personally witnessed Adam Wiggins jumping up to say: > >Again - you can't tell me what's fun. I know what's fun, and killing tons >of things is not it. I find it *much* more satisfying to overcome a >single, worthy opponent than many weak, stupid ones. In the end, we only really know what WE think is fun. For example, the 'Mortal Kombat' style games leave me pretty bored. Even when I'm playing another human being. Some people like a BIG challenge. Some people like a small one. Some people like a long, involved game (Dungeon Keeper needs a lot of waiting around and screaming at your on-screen creatures to hurry up and do what you told them to). Some people like a fast, background-process kind of game (Quake can pretty much be started at any level and played for minutes or hours without conscious thought at all). Some people like to play human opponents. Some people prefer computer opponents. Some people like to cheat. Some people think cheating is unconscionable. Some people just like to hack the game; Master of Orion was completely uninteresting to me as a game, but I played it a lot just so I could hack into the saved game files, decipher the format, and see what sort of logic it was using. Some people like very technical interfaces (MS Flight Simulator comes to mind; rudder pedals, six-axis joystick, and a few dozen buttons). Some people like very simple ones (The pinball game that ships with Win95: Z - left flipper, / - right flipper, X - nudge table left, . - nudge table right, space - nudge table forward). There is one thing that pretty much everyone thinks is fun: winning. It's how you get there that we need to be concerned with in terms of what is or isn't fun. Sometimes, having fun IS winning, on 'endless' games. If your game never really ends, like SimEarth, then having a good time while you're playing is really the only win condition. If you hate the game, you just lost. Lost what? About thirty to fifty bucks, usually. Ten if you waited for it to hit the bargain bin. ;) I'm of the personal opinion that the biggest mistake a game designer can make is designing a game based on what someone ELSE thinks is fun, because inevitably he'll do a bad job -- and not notice, because he wouldn't be having fun if he did a good job either. Designing a game should be based on what YOU think is fun. If that's not what the rest of the world thinks is fun, then you're probably not going to be a good *commercial* game designer. (That would indicate you should design free or shareware games and be grateful if anyone registers.) But if you like designing games, and you design games you enjoy playing, who cares if you get paid for it? Game designers who make good money are pretty few and far between in the first place -- most of your compensation is in the form of recognition and job satisfaction. Garth Bigelow designed probably the best game I have ever seen in my life, and made a total of about $30,000 over the course of five years from it. That ain't much. But he loved what he was doing, and he created something he could be proud of, and if I met him walking down the street in Vineyard Haven I would really be impressed and want to tell him all about how great I thought his game was. And how many people in the world even remember Ultimate Universe? </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <ul compact><li><strong>Follow-Ups</strong>: <ul> <li><strong><A NAME="00418" HREF="msg00418.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> "Adam J. Thornton" <adam#phoenix,Princeton.EDU></li></ul> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00364" HREF="msg00364.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> "Damion Schubert" <zjiria#texas,net></LI></UL></LI> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00401" HREF="msg00401.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Adam Wiggins <adam#angel,com></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00413.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00415.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Ansii color, needing some specs and or pointers.</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00401.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00418.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00414"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00414"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><STRONG>[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00400" HREF="msg00400.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</A></strong>, Adam Wiggins <a href="mailto:adam#angel,com">adam#angel,com</a>, Tue 28 Jul 1998, 18:39 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00364" HREF="msg00364.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</A></strong>, Damion Schubert <a href="mailto:zjiria#texas,net">zjiria#texas,net</a>, Mon 27 Jul 1998, 03:29 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00371" HREF="msg00371.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Mon 27 Jul 1998, 09:27 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00401" HREF="msg00401.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</A></strong>, Adam Wiggins <a href="mailto:adam#angel,com">adam#angel,com</a>, Tue 28 Jul 1998, 18:48 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00414" HREF="msg00414.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Wed 29 Jul 1998, 06:09 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00418" HREF="msg00418.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</A></strong>, Adam J. Thornton <a href="mailto:adam#phoenix,Princeton.EDU">adam#phoenix,Princeton.EDU</a>, Wed 29 Jul 1998, 14:21 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00429" HREF="msg00429.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</A></strong>, Brandon J. Rickman <a href="mailto:ashes#pc4,zennet.com">ashes#pc4,zennet.com</a>, Thu 30 Jul 1998, 04:43 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00902" HREF="msg00902.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Tue 01 Sep 1998, 21:02 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00365" HREF="msg00365.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Fun vs Realism [ Was: OT: Sid Meier ]</A></strong>, Damion Schubert <a href="mailto:zjiria#texas,net">zjiria#texas,net</a>, Mon 27 Jul 1998, 03:44 GMT </LI> </ul> </LI> </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>