Newgrounds.com 'Problems Of The Future, Today!"

topic of the day: case for the digital game

welcome to another entry by your friendly neighbourhood gamer. today the topic is the digital game. and my example is crazy steven, a rather violent and gory game from newgrounds.com (my favourite haunt. it really IS very good for getting game examples).

so what's the core mechanic for this game involving a psychotic sword-wielding fireman who rides a flying magic donkey and goes on a killing spree? well, by conventional game genre standards, crazy steven would be considered a side-scroller, where there's the element of continuous motion and changing landscape (think like a cinema reel thing). not to mention the element of response time and reflexes.

and speaking of cinema reel style, that's one way someone would (try to) convert it into a board prototype. the only problem being that it would be SUPER-slow (if the minimum specs for crazy steven were pentium 5, then it MIGHT run at 386). and the fact is that the obstacles and targets are continuous. a bit hard to co-ordinate if you ask me. especially when you've got to collect some (like cash and timers), kill others (like people) and avoid the rest (like fallen trees and concrete blocks). all those aspects would make crazy steven a nightmare to prototype / simultate. and that's it i guess - the fact that you need the computer to do the processing at a reasonable speed in order to have the desired experience (especially when it comes to response time and reflexes).

then again maybe i should try a real life simulation to see how much the game is able to translate. the only problem is that now i need a sword, a fireman's uniform and a magic flying donkey.

p.s. the friendly neighbourhood gamer bears no responsibility whatsoever for any crazy fool who decides to undertake the suggestion mentioned above (assuming he / she can get his / her hands on a magic flying donkey of course).

p.p.s. this kinda goes back post title. except that the problem of a sword-wielding, pyschotic fireman riding his flying magic donkey and killing people is not a problem in the near future (i hope). not till someone can get donkeys to fly anyway.