We all have understandings of our own strengths and weaknesses, abilities and expectations, forming a self-image, or a mental model of the person we are. But these often become hardwired, with a whole bunch of cognitive effects together with the difficulty in getting objective information making it rather difficult to re-evaluate your own understandings. Outdated beliefs in your own ability or lack thereof can act to drive your career in suboptimal directions or inhibit your confidence, as well as impacting on your own direction in the world. I’m going to run through an example which has belted this home for me and inspired this post.
Some shots from the Queanbeyan nature reserve taken this morning.
Spotted these first flashes of colour down by the lake.
Once upon a time, I really liked Audiosurf. A kind of puzzle game with levels generated by your music, it did at the time do some really innovative stuff, which hooked 23 year old me. Yet now going back to Audiosurf, I find that it feels like a chore, a simple game without the design chops of a Pac-Man to elevate it nor any narrative, progression or substantial strategy. So why has this change in perspective been so dramatic?
Snapped this one down by the Tuggeranong lake, on the way to pick up a pile of books from the Lifeline Bookfare.
A couple of shots from the Jerrabomberra Wetlands.
Attractio is a first person puzzle game in the Portal mould. It brought to mind what I think is the key conundrum in puzzle game design. In D&D terms, are you targeting intelligence or dexterity?
When it was first released to arcades in 1980, Pac-Man created a new Maze Chase genre which was radically different to the sports, racing and shooting games which had come before it. This became a breakout pop-culture hit with appeal across genders to such a level that two seasons of a Pac-Man TV shows were produced. Even today, Pac-Man’s iconic visage is still one of the most identifiable gaming figures. Yet by 1985 the genre was in deep remission and by 1995 it can be fairly argued dead, except for Namco’s own Pac-Man remakes and re-imaginings. Adventure games went into remission and came back. 2D shooters (ala Galaga) are niche, but still being made. What was it about the Maze Chase genre which led to such an immediate boom and bust cycle?
