KISS

Discuss the development of other free/open-source games, as well as other games in general.

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MCP
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Re: KISS

Post by MCP »

Robotron 2084: A classic example of death by a nobody on level 3.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZsIyJehtE8
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Jetrel
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Re: KISS

Post by Jetrel »

MCP wrote:Robotron 2084: A classic example of death by a nobody on level 3.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZsIyJehtE8

Iiinteresting. That really reminds me of another title:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1RROksV394
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MCP
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Re: KISS

Post by MCP »

That's looks like an interesting game, but honestly it looks a little bit slow, although just as ruthless as robotron.

I find the speed of robotron ridiculously perfected. It's a very simple balance between what humans can tolerate, but what can drive them to make mistakes, as is the case in sports. I always feel at the edge of control, so when I die or narrowly escape it's a rush. I think that's why people love to play sports. The Human competition just at the edge of what you can physically and mentally handle. I'm pretty sure that's why I do Judo and love grappling.


Funny youtube comment:
As a kid living in the 1980's, I remember thinking they should change the name of this game to "HIV".
The "Human Family" reminded me of all the uninfected church going people while the "Brain Robotrons" were like HIV positives out to "spread" their disease to the uninfected.
I likened the "Hero Robot" to a CDC epidemiologist running around trying to "vaccinate" all the healthy Christian people while an angry mob of "Teminator Robot" homosexuals are ganging up to rape him.
All of these have nifty little jokes about the year 2084, or in one case, the year 2085, the year of fairies, pixie dust, and sunshine:
xbox360 review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro4ZX1QK ... r_embedded
n64/ps2 review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRfX1HV4UlE&NR=1
atari 7800: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZIXSSZCkTw&NR=1


Follow this game up with its sequel, by the same designers:
Smash TV (highly recommend ps2 version with an arcade stick, but I've played it on psp, snes, and psx controllers so it's not big deal)
MCP
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Re: KISS

Post by MCP »

I've been looking for the video interview with one of the two creators of Robotron 2084, but instead I found a written interview, recapping the events that unfolded for this young man.

http://www.dadgum.com/halcyon/BOOK/JARVIS.HTM
The basic play of "Robotron" was programmed in three days. The game was inspired by the immortal arcade robot game "Berzerk" and the game "Chase" on the Commodore PET. The prototype was a "Defender" game with a "Stargate" board and a couple of Atari 2600 joysticks screwed to the control panel. Originally, "Robotron" was going to be a passive game with no firing. You killed the robots by making them walk into the electrodes.

The grunt robotrons were the first enemy designed. Actually the electrodes were first, but they don't do anything except kill everything that touches them. The grunt AI was extremely basic: plot the shortest path to the player and seek out the player until either the player or the robot is dead.

It was fun for about fifteen minutes, running the robots into the electrodes. But pacifism has its limits. Gandhi, the video game, would have to wait; it was time for some killing action.
Lyrax
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Re: KISS

Post by Lyrax »

How about Achievement Unlocked?

It has a sequel, I think, called "This is the Only Level"

They're not completely Simple, but they are quite simple. And moderately fun.
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Aethaeryn
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Re: KISS

Post by Aethaeryn »

Lyrax wrote:It has a sequel, I think, called "This is the Only Level"
I did it with a time of 6:33 and 16 deaths.

Has anyone here done better?
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ahyangyi
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Re: KISS

Post by ahyangyi »

Aethaeryn wrote:
Lyrax wrote:It has a sequel, I think, called "This is the Only Level"
I did it with a time of 6:33 and 16 deaths.

Has anyone here done better?
After a trial play, i scored 10 deaths and 4:56:10 for the second time i played
ahyangyi
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Re: KISS

Post by ahyangyi »

Lyrax wrote:How about Achievement Unlocked?

It has a sequel, I think, called "This is the Only Level"

They're not completely Simple, but they are quite simple. And moderately fun.
BTW, this is called "metagamey" (the gamemaker himself also talked about metagaming). I like KISS games, but in my opinion, KISS games are those with a simple basic mechanism, and build a complex gameplay on top of it. Well, it's just my interpretation, which is strongly influenced by what Wesnoth is :|
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Cloud
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Re: KISS

Post by Cloud »

I've just done a fair bit of reading up on the KISS principle, it's actually really worth reading in detail.
ahyangyi wrote:BTW, this is called "metagamey" (the gamemaker himself also talked about metagaming). I like KISS games, but in my opinion, KISS games are those with a simple basic mechanism, and build a complex gameplay on top of it. Well, it's just my interpretation, which is strongly influenced by what Wesnoth is :|
Not entirely true. KISS relates to the coding side of things. If it's simple to code, most of the time it will be a simple feature.

And of course most here have forgotten the second S. Simple and Stupid, not just Simple(z).

Dave rounds it off beautifully in his post:
dave wrote:This is the cornerstone of KISS: what is laughably easy for a programmer to do is going to result in high quality, bug-free software. What is 'simple' for users, or 'elegant' for designers, but not easy for a programmer is not going to result in high quality software.
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artisticdude
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Re: KISS

Post by artisticdude »

On this subject, I ran across a game a while back that had no graphics whatsoever. Only sound. The idea was to get through the maze by only using the sounds you received when you performed certain actions. It looked really dumb, so I didn't bother downloading it. But I think that gives you an idea of something that is far too simple and, well, stupid to provide any enjoyment. Talk about easy coding.

Though I have to wonder how you could tell if you've just walked into the wall. Meaty thud, juicy crunch, sonic boom, or the crack of your nose hitting solid rock?
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Skizzaltix
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Re: KISS

Post by Skizzaltix »

...I have to say, that sounds rather cool. You wouldn't happen to still have the link, would you?

Although, it's true, if it weren't done right, it would probably be pretty bad.
CMaster
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Re: KISS

Post by CMaster »

ahyangyi wrote:BTW, this is called "metagamey" (the gamemaker himself also talked about metagaming). I like KISS games, but in my opinion, KISS games are those with a simple basic mechanism, and build a complex gameplay on top of it. Well, it's just my interpretation, which is strongly influenced by what Wesnoth is :|
I think, you should check out the asian board game Go:
Simple rectangular board, just black and white stone and only four rules.

You can learn the game mechanics in less than five minutes. Then you can spend a lifetime on getting better. I can't think of any other game that extreme in this regard. Chess looks dead clumsy and unKISS in comparison.
Btw, a computer go that can take on professional humans still remains to be written...
I'm a reciever!
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