Monthly Archives: January 2010

Operating without constraints

by

The subject of the latest issue of Wired magazine is failure. And rather unsurprisingly one of the subjects taking center stage in any discussion about major failures is the now-cancelled Duke Nukem Forever. The story of DNF is well-known by now, the delays, the engine changes, the drama behind its cancellation (and if not then the article is a great summary of the downfall of 3D Realms and the Duke).

The lead for the article sums it up nicely. 3D Realms had success, had time, and had the money to make its dream project. And while there were plenty of other mistakes make along the way to cancellation and vaporware infamy, the story of Duke Nukem Forever would be much different if 3D Realms didn’t have those resources available to it. And as the article tells its story it becomes very clear: the failures of Duke Nukem Forever are a direct result of too much time and too much money. Any other project would have been released a decade earlier because of the time and financial constraints typically associated with game development. 3D Realms had the luxury of not releasing a game unless they absolutely wanted to and that became the major issue with DNF.

To compare look at the idea of art from adversity. The production of Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo was a nightmare that resulted in an amazing film. Jaws was fraught with delays and filming difficulties almost driving Spielberg to give up on the project. Even ignoring the extremes of actual adversity constraints can be enormously useful. Hemingway once said his best work was the six word story “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Or look at the success of rapid game development competitions like Ludum Dare or the Global Game Jam. 48 hours seems like no time to complete a good game yet some of the best games of last year (like Beacon) were developed fully within this time span.

Adversity and constraints are elements that are enormously useful in the process of creation. They force you to be creative, they force you to find compelling solutions to problems, and most importantly they often force you to just complete the damn thing. With no constraints placed on themselves 3D Realms doomed themselves to the sad ending that befall Duke Nukem Forever. Let’s not let the Duke’s fall go in vain. Place constraints on your projects and you’ll end up much happier (and successful) for it.

A gaming 2010 resolution

by

Everyone loves to do New Year’s resolutions. You get the chance to turn the page on a year full of disappointment and regret and enter a vibrant new period full of promise and hope. Now’s the time to get started on that dream project, lose those extra pounds, go to that place you’ve been meaning to go.

So along with the litany of usual cliched resolutions (exercise more, eat healthier, be more successful), I have a gaming resolution of my own.

In 2010, I resolve at least play every game on my Steam backlog.

Every dedicated gamer has a backlog of games. It happens, there’s just too many games on too many platforms now for a single person to realistically complete. Add in having a job or classes and other personal endeavors and it’s no surprise that most players never beat the majority of the games they play. And these backlogs grow over time. I have games from the Dreamcast/PS2/Gamecube-era that I have yet to fully play through. So each year the pile grows larger and larger.

But since the arrival of Steam (and specifically the insane Steam holiday deals) the ability to pick up multiple games on a whim has grown significantly. In December alone I picked up over 10 new games not including expansions and episodic titles (like the awesome Sam & Max deal). So I have an ever-growing list of games that aren’t just completed, but not even installed on my computer. They sit completely untouched.

So screw that. I spent good money (but not a lot) on getting these games. So over the course of this year I swear that I’ll slowly reduce that backlog by installing and putting in a honest amount of time into each game. I’m not going to beat every game, but I can’t sit here idly with Popcap’s Plants Vs. Zombies mocking me in its gray non-highlighted text.