Pac-Man World!

Thinking about working on Pac-Man World fills me with pleasure and pain. It was a very difficult process and we had almost no idea what we were doing, but I made a lot of great friends and we made a hell of a game.

You can read all about it at the Playstation Museum where they have great article and a whole mess of my game designs too!

Another blast from the past!

Pac-Man Ghost Zone was the first version of Pac-Man World I worked on for Namco.

It was canceled (technically, it morphed) into Pac-man World but you can read all about in this great article at Playstation Museum.

You find some interviews and lots of drawings by yours truly including these:

I have no idea why I didn't post this before...

I'm sure everyone on the internet has already played Canabalt, but here's a link anyway.

Just add code and art!

Another fun site I found on the interwebs: It's a "make your own Atari 2600" label. Just import your art and viola! Instant cart art!

Sounds like the perfect tool for those awesome 2600 homebrewers I've read about.

Why not make one yourself?

Sadly, no Barbara Crampton... but...

I am constantly amazed at the little gems that are stashed all over the interwebs. I found one tonight called "Deanimator" based on Lovecraft story "The Strange Case of Herbert West" (aka the "hero" in the movie Reanimator)

Skinny little Herbert has nothing between him and a horde of undead but his trusty six-shooter - which seems like it always need reloading. It also features some very nice animation. Pro-Tip: Use your mouse cursor to select the zombies rather than just "aiming" and shooting at the zombies.

It's very simple, very moody and very effective.

Pay $400 to read this post.

I just played Upgrade Complete, a very amusing shooter over at Kongregate - in which you have to buy and upgrade EVERYTHING in the game - including your ship, the graphics and even the copyright screen. It's a great statement on the state of micro-transactions.

I hope they do a second version as the game play is a little unchallenging - the enemies don't even fire back and there are no sound effects and I would have liked to see the graphics get really ridiculously detailed as they got upgraded but then again, it's just about you obsessing about getting more coins.

All-in-all a fun concept.

Mickey Moose?

Mr. Boss goes international!

For those of you who missed me at GDC, I will be presenting "Everything I Learned About Level Design, I Learned From Disneyland" at the Montreal International Game Summit on November 16th in the Westmount Room at 16:00 (that's 4pm for you Americans)

Make sure you drop by and say "hi"!

The rise of the "digital dark ride"?

I've noticed an interesting trend lately in the casual gaming market (read Wii) that ties in nicely to this halloween season: Mature rail-shooters that are trying to capture older audiences with scary/violent content but light gameplay.

Dead Space: Extraction and House of the Dead: Overkill both take control of the character's movement and the game camera in favor of action and atmosphere. I haven't played Toy Story Mania 3D yet, but if it is anything like the Disney's California Adventure theme park ride on which it is based, it will move the player around from mini-game to mini-game. And yes, I know TSM3D isn't mature rated - but it is based on a dark ride.. more on that in a second.



But what I find very interesting is that the creators of JU-ON: the Grudge (based on the series of Japanese horror movies) refer to their game as a "haunted house simulator" (it's even right on the box)(Side note: Their "second player mode" allows the player to scare the first player rather than help them with gameplay... a neat idea which I am curious to see how it is executed.)We all know that one of the gating factors of a video game is player skill. If skill is removed from the equation, will it make it more appealing to players who are normally turned off by lack of skill? does it still make it a "game"? or is it something else... like a "digital dark ride"?

You could argue that the "dark ride as game" concept has been around ever since Castle Wolfenstein 3D or Myst. Anytime the camera is used as a stand-in for the player, the game becomes about the emotion of the player rather than any skill (other than shooting).

As someone who takes inspiration from dark rides and haunted houses for level design, I find this "haunted house simulator" concept intriguing. Just how much "game" is required to qualify it as a game? I've been quoted on saying that Disneyland's Haunted Mansion is one light gun away from being a first person shooter, but what about the opposite? Are games primed to be a dark ride with a little player interaction such as waving a wii-mote at a target and pulling a trigger? What is more important for a game to be: something for the player to experience or something for player to conquer with skills?

I plan on playing and reviewing all four of these titles this month, so play them yourselves and let's talk about them!

"Why didn't anyone tell me about these?"

Sometimes I feel like Henchmen 21 from the Venture Brothers. Howcum no one told me about the "Awesome" series of cartoons? If you haven't seen them yourself, they're damn funny and incredibly accurate. (but not for the kiddies)





Their creator Egoraptor obviously had the same experience with "Shadow of the Colossus" as I did. }:P

Yeah, I know... it's obnoxious but...

Everyone's doing it. And now, so am I.

mrbossdesign@twitter

Join the fun!

Is it Rocktober yet?

Brutal Legend is coming in October and I CAN. NOT. WAIT!



This intro movie should be used in screen writing classes as an excellent example of how to introduce a character in a game. Bravo Double Fine!

Scribblenauts

Today is the release day of Scribblenauts - the latest game from my pals at 5th Cell. (Who also did "Drawn to Life")

Scribblenauts is a very clever puzzle game for the Nintendo DS where anything you type comes to life. Write a Tyrannosaurus? Get a Tyrannosaurus. Type Rickroll, get Rick Astley. Then the two of them fight! Who will win??!! And that's not even the game!



You can pick up a copy at the link below (hint hint) and find out when you enter "Scott" (that's right, I'm also in the game - kind of :)

Six for six!

I was shopping at a local Toys R' Us today and I saw a promotional kiosk selling older PS2 games for $9.99 ($5 off if you buy two!) - one of the games being sold was Maximo vs. Army of Zin, a game I was lead designer on while at Capcom. I picked up a copy to send to a relative but then I noticed something... it was a "Greatest Hits" version.



For those of you who don't know, Greatest Hits status is awarded to games that sell over a half a million units. It had always bugged me that Zin never reached Greatest Hits as I think it is an excellent game. Well, now all six playstation games that I contributed to the design of are all greatest hits! (Pac-Man World, Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness, Soul Blade, Maximo, Maximo vs. Zin and God of War)

Hooray!

This has nothing to do with game design, but...

As many of you know from this year's GDC talk, I like Disneyland.

I won't embarass myself by telling you how many times I've been to the Magic Kingdom this summer alone (more than most people go in their lifetimes) but tomorrow I go for a special reason. It is the (un) official 40th anniversary of my favorite attraction: the Haunted Mansion.



Built in 1964 and finally "populated" by ghosts in 1969, the Haunted Mansion is the easily (IMHO) the world's best dark ride. It serves as a constant inspiration to me as a game designer - the way it uses space, sound, lighting and simple but effective effects to bring its 999 grim grinning ghosts to life. But my favorite phantom isn't even in the ride.



This the infamous Hatbox Ghost. This fine fellow appeared only for the first month of the ride's life and was quickly taken down because his effect - which gave the appearance of his head disappearing from his body and appearing in the hatbox - never worked correctly. Here's what he looked like... actaully, this is a full-sized reproduction - an item you can bid on at the upcoming D23 expo - isn't it gorgeous? If only I had the money and space...

Anyway, rumor has it that the Hatbox Ghost will be returning to the Haunted Mansion during the 40th celebration. Well, I just can't missing welcoming the old boy home if it is true. So tomorrow night at midnight, I will be crusing along in a doombuggy, hoping to catch sight of a hatbox clutching ghost.

Ultimate PS2 library!

OK, I can't afford to get EVERY game on the PS2 (my favorite gaming platform... well not counting the Vectrex), but I've been amassing a moderately impressive PS2 library for some time.

Here's what I have:
Alien Hominid
Batman: Rise of the Sin Tzu
Batman Vengeance
Beyond Good and Evil
Bully
Capcom Greatest Hits vol. 2
Chulip
Destroy all humans!
God of War
God of War 2
Guitar Hero
Grand Theft Auto 3
Grand Theft Auto Vice City
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
Escape from Monkey Island
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
Harry Potter Quiddith World Cup
Haunted Mansion
Ico
I-Ninja
Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
Justice League Heroes
James Bond: Everything or Nothing
Peter Jackson's King Kong
Katamari Damacy
Kya: Dark Lineage
Lego Batman
Lego Indiana Jones
Lego Star Wars
Lego Star Wars: Original Trilogy
Leisure Suit Larry Magna Cum Laude
Lord of the Rings: Two Towers
Mad Maestro!
Matrix: Path of Neo
Metal Slug Anthology
Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty
Mark of Kri
Maximo: Ghosts to Glory
Maximo vs. Army of Zin
Midway Arcade Treasures vol 2
Monster House
Onimusha: Warlords
Pac-Man World 2
Pirates: Legend of Black Kat
Pitfall: The lost Expedition
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
Psi-Ops
Psychonauts
Ratchet and Clank
Rathet and Clank Going Commando
Ratchet and Clank Up your Arsenal
Red Dead Revolver
Resident Evil 4
Rygar: The Legendary Adventure
Shadow of the Colossus
Shadow of Rome
Silent Hill 3
Simpsons Hit and Run
Simpsons Game
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racoonus
Sly 2: Band of Thieves
Spider-Man
SpongeBob: Atlantis Squarepantis
SpongeBob: Creature from the Krusty Krab
Star Wars: Battlefront 2
Star Wars: Force Unleashed
Star Wars E3: Revenge of the Sith
Stuntman Ignition
Swashbucklers: Blue vs Grey
Tak and the power of juju
Tak 2: Staff of dreams
Tak: the great Juju challenge
Tak and the Guardians of Gross
Tomb Raider: Legend
Trapt
Twisted Metal: Black
Wall-E
Up
War of the Monsters
The Warriors

And here's what I planning on getting:
Okami
Klonoa 2
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 (Hey, Metacritic says it's the #1 PS2 game!)
Viewtiful Joe
Disaster Report
Red Faction
Mystic Heroes (which was great on the Game Cube)
Jak and Daxster (which I played to completion but for some reason don't own)
Ultimate Spider-Man
Devil May Cry

So, given all of those titles (and that I really don't play sports games) are there any must play or important PS2 titles missing from my collection? Post your recommendations below!

Ride 'em Darksider, RIDE!

As you may or may not know, I've been spending some time here in Austin helping Vigil games with their upcoming title - Darksiders.

However, this isn't what this post is about.

It's about the AWESOME mechanical horse that THQ is showing at PAX. Check this thing out - it looks amazing! It even lights up from within with an eerie eldricth glow! Wish I was going just to ride it!



And don't forget to pre-order the game!

This blog brought to you by...

As you might notice, there are now small ads linked to blog-entry related products at the end of the most recent blog entries.

If they offend you, then I apologize. However, if you are interested in buying any of the excellent products listed below, do me a solid and click on the link below. I get a very small portion of the profit from Amazon if you do and I have a very bad video game habit to support. :)

Thanks for your understanding and business!

BLURST!

Thanks to the fine folks at Kotaku, I have discovered a new game site. http://www.blurst.com/ has several fine looking games with themes that only games on the interwebs can provide.



Minotaur China Shop (from Flashbang studios) might be the first "Man vs. himself" game I've ever played. You play a huge Minotaur who owns a china shop, helping other anthropamorphized customers buy the mug or grecian urn of their dreams. However, you move around like... well, like a bull in a china shop. Each time you accidently blunder into a cabinet and break something, you get more incensed with rage. You can either give into the rage, destroy the place and collect the insurance, or calm yourself with deep breathes and continue with your day. Something I think many of us can relate to.

An absolutely fantastic concept that reaffirms my idea that you can make anything into gameplay. Well done, Flashbang!

Galaga!

I read a new story today about an Australian fellow breaking the world's record for Galaga and it reminded me of a story early in my career:

I was working for Namco during the mid-90's and I was sent to Japan to help out with some design work on an arcade game (IIRC, it was Tekken 2)

When I got to Namco's Yokohama tower office, I was given a tour including the arcade division where I'd be helping out. Their offices were small tables (the kind you'd find in elementary schools) literally wedged between gutted arcade cabinets, filing cabinets and fire-hazard stacks of old paperwork. I had heard Japanese work spaces were small, but our American cubicles were luxurous compared to these work spaces.

In one of these tiny spaces, I was introduced to a Japanese planner ("Planner" is the Japanese term for designer) who, as I was told, had worked for Namco for "a very long time." I asked him (via translator) what games he had worked on and he listed several off including... Galaga.

I bowed very deeply to the planner, telling him how much I loved the game as a child (to the amusement of the other employees with us) and the planner made a "don't go anywhere" motion with hands as he rushed back to his "office."

He returned with a stack of yellowing graph paper which he started to flip through. After a second, I realized he was showing me the ORIGINAL DESIGNS of Galaga! It was amazing to see the whole game on paper: the ship patterns, the controls especially the famous capture mechanic!

I felt like I had been allowed to touch the Declaration of Independance of gaming. It was quite an amazing experience!

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it...

This Friday, I have been invited to present my "Everything I Learned About Level Design, I Learned at Disneyland" talk to Disney's Imagineers.

As a life-long Disneyland fan, this is a HUGE honor for me - but I can't help worrying that they already know everything I have to say. After all, they built all of it.

Wish me luck!

Even 7 years later, Maximo gets great reviews!

Dave Siller, a great designer and one of my favorite bosses, pointed this out to me - a review of Maximo: Ghost to Glory for the PS2 in the latest issue of Edge. As you may know, Edge is a UK video game magazine with a reputation for being a tough game rater.

Imagine my surprise when they published a glowing review of the game seven years later! Imagine my surprise when I saw my Maximo 3 designs published in the article! (I wonder which blog-o-site they got those from? :P Next time, howabout a credit guys?!)

It's nice to see this game get some love - if you haven't played it, I highly recommend it. It still holds up even after all of this time.

Sorry I'm late!

This summer has been super-exciting with lots of great things happening! Unfortunately, none of them have been blogging. I apologize to any loyal readers (if you are still out there!) but I'll be getting some fun posts together soon.

In the meantime, my "Best of E3":

Split Second (Black Rock Studio/Disney Interactive)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady/WBIE)
Darksiders (Vigil, THQ)
Zombie Apocalypse (I think that's what it was called - it is an PS3 or XBOX live game that reminded me of Robotron)
Brutal Legend (Double Fine, EA)

All of these games had playable demos that were fun and easy to play. I'm looking forward to playing the final versions of all of these.

I would have put Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (Ubisoft Montreal) on my top five list had there actually been playable code (well, playable if I were a member of the press) - there are lots of cool innovations that I'm looking forward to trying out.

Overall the show was competent and it was great to see an E3 that wasn't lame but there was no single "OH MY GOD I HAVE TO OWN THIS NOW!" game.

I think the industry is recovering from 2008 and we'll start seeing more of the super-star games in 2010 when the teams that makes the big hits (Nintendo's Mario and Link teams, Naughty Dog, Sony Santa Monica, Kojima, etc.) are reaching alpha with their "whatever's next"

Did you see any games that you liked? Tell me about them!

E3 is back!

I love E3!

I've attended every one (with the except of the last two lamE3's) and I have to admit, I love the crowds, I love the noise, I love getting my hands on games months before they come out.

Some of the games I'm looking forward to getting my hands on?


Batman: Arkham Asylum (what Batman fan isn't looking forward to this?)


The Saboteur (very intrigued by the "color system" and the 30's setting)


God of War III (Still have lots of friends at Sony working on this one and they're very excited about it. Looking forward to seeing what they've made!)


Bayonetta (Come on, the lead character loses clothes with damage ala Maximo, has guns in her stilletto heels and can turn her hair into a giant monster! What's not to like?)


Red Dead Redemption (Always liked the original - even when it was a Capcom game - and I'm a big fan of the genre.)


Assassin's Creed II (The first game was pretty good, but I'm hoping that the second will solve many of the pacing and game play issues I had with the first.)


Brutal Legend (I have a lot of respect for Double Fine's Tim Schafer and always end up really liking his games. I assume this one will not be an exception)


Darksiders (I didn't work on it, but I have played some of it, and it definately feels like the heir to Maximo. Some great combat mechanics and the horse is very cool!)

Which games are you looking forward to seeing/playing at E3?

If you happen to be at E3, be sure to swing by the THQ booth. Not only do we have some kick-ass games this year, but you can say "hi" to me! I'll be manning the Drawn to Life Wii demo every morning.

See you there!

Very Short Game Review - BIOSHOCK

Hey all, I'm instituting a new feature here at Mr. Boss' Design Lair - the VSGR - or very short game review. Hope you enjoy it!



GAME: Bioshock
Developer: 2K games
Publisher: 2K games
System played on: XBOX 360

BIOSHOCK is a FPS that has three great things going for it. 1) Great 1920's/30's art and sound design (which is odd 'cause the game is set in 1960), 2) Some cool upgradable weapons and power-ups (However, I really only used the Shotgun and the Electro Bolt) and 3) very high production values. Oh, and it has a pretty decent story, I guess. Though I don't know why anyone in their right mind would want to have tanky deep sea divers armed with Arnold Schwarzenegger's gun from "Eraser" walking the halls of your underwater city with GLASS WALLS! Ok, that's four things.

What I didn't like: The game made a bad first impression on me. Originally I didn't buy the "slow down the pipe dream" plasmid so those were impossible. Also, it always seemed like enemies were blind-siding me with attacks which is why they must have put in the "ow! Where did that shot come from?" HUD device. And I never read the story-enhancing audio tapes. After minding these things the second time around, I found it enhanced my play experience.

In General?: I liked it. Enough to finish? Not sure. But I think it's worthy of the respect the industry has shown to it and hope others will take it's lead - especially in the gestalt department. (which is next to the lingerie department)

Are you a responsible game designer?

I've recently been thinking about all the little things that can go wrong on a project and all the things that can be avoided early.

One developer I was talking to was telling me how they lost several days of production time just reorganizing the naming conventions of their files. Imagine being half way done with a project and realizing that you have to go back and rename EVERYTHING in the game? A nightmare.

So I thought of a few things to keep in mind when starting a game in regards to naming files and some other things...

1) Keep it to eight characters if possible.

I can't remember which programmer I worked with told me about this, but he said that any file larger than eight characters actually took up more memory. I don't know if I believe him, but I do know that several programs will only display the first 8 characters leaving you with a file that looks like this:

AirWorld...

AirWorld what? Air World War two? Air World Level five? Air World Enemy one? It could be anything.

2) Come up with an easy to understand shorthand for file names.

Make a consistent legend of abbreviations to name files. Air World could be "Air" or "AW" or even "A" - just make sure you don't create redundant named files. I found it's useful to name things phonetically. If you're not sure about how to name something, think of it like a personalized license plate. "Level Designer" becomes "LVLDSGNR".

Just don't get cute and name things using 8 for "ate" or something like that. Naming conventions are not a puzzle for the other team members to figure out. Otherwise your files will end up reading like the titles of Prince songs.

3) Group files accordingly.

OK, I'm guilty of this one. Having well organized files that separate various design assets is really important not only to you but to your co-workers. Generally organize files by stages of production (concept, pre-production, production) and/or by components of information (level maps, character, feedback) You should always ask yourself, "if I were to die tomorrow, would my team be able to find the results of my design work?"

This, of course, is even more important when creating assets to be used in game. Asset management software like Alien Brain, DevTrack, Perforce and Subversion can make or break your project's production. Pick the right one for you and make sure everyone uses it. And backup files often. (daily if not more!)

Speaking of files, there's one other area that gets neglected by teams during pre-production...

4) For God's sake, get those cheats working early!

Getting your cheat camera up and running early is one of the best things you can do for your production. Not only will it help you develop camera postitioning during grayboxing your levels, but also you can use it to help block out "puppet shows" for cinematics. It's extremely invaluable for creating videos and capture screens for marketing purposes. Remember, other people are going to eventually going to want these kinds of assets and they don't want to play through the entire game to get to that one cool spot in the level.

The same is true for player character cheats. Invulnerability, the ability to "fly" your character around, ammo adds, health adds, money adds, the ability to turn powers, weapons and abilities on and off are very important to get in as soon as possible. Not only does it make it easier for you to play and test your levels, but it allows you to show off your levels in the best possible light when your head of production or that guy from the press comes around.

Make sure your level cheats (the ones that take you from one world/level/location/checkpoint) to another is in early as well and MORE IMPORTANTLY easy to access. Don't make the player/tester have to enter the "Capcom code" just to bring up a level or feature. Make it as user friendly as possible. I know it's something that the final product will never see, but you will be living with this game for a year or two or three and getting around it easily will allow you the time to concentrate on the good stuff like design.

5) Make sure you communicate all of the above to everyone on the team.

It's easy to assume that everyone is keeping up with what you are doing, but make sure that this information is easy to find, easy to read and easy to understand. Just because you ARE writing "stereo instructions" doesn't mean it has to read like them.

Good luck!

Talk video up at the GDC Vault!

The moment you may or may not have been wating for has arrived!

The video (with corresponding slides) of "Everything I learned about level design I learned from Disneyland" is now up at the GDC Vault.

However, I don't know if acces to the video is limited to those with all-access passes.

Anyway, here's the video!

Enjoy!

No time for games, Dr. Jones!!

For the first time in my career, I am faced with a terrible (well, I think it's terrible) problem. I have a huge stack of games and no time to play them. You must understand, this violates everything I believe in as a game creator. Early on in my career, I vowed that I would never be one of those people in games who didn't play games. I worked with too many people who did (and some who even took pride in their non-game playing.)

In order to understand games, in order to make games, in order to be relevant, YOU MUST PLAY GAMES. So, I have a big stack of games. What I want from YOU (and I know you are out there) is recommendations of which ones to play first. Some of these I've started to play, others of them I haven't even unwrapped yet.

Here's the list:

Resident Evil 5
Left 4 Dead
Heavenly Sword
Viking

Bioshock (played two levels)
Half Life 2
Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction

Prince of Persia (2008)

Resistance 1

Resistance 2
Dead Space (played first chapter)

Kung Fu Panda
Crayola colorful journey (don't ask)

Psychonauts (played first two worlds)
Dawn of War II

Give me your list and I'll maybe I'll write up some mini-reviews!

Thanks in advance!

OK, I'm sure you're sick of reading these...

But I'm not!

It's been almost a month since GDC and I'm still finding love for my talk around the inter-webs.

Ryan Shwayder's Nerfbat not only gave a nice review but his blog commenters bring up some good points. I guess I'm not the only person with great blog readers!

ETCKT blog gives a nice summation of my talk. Pretty good as ETCKT isn't even a gaming site!

Javier Elizondo's Twitter message says that the line was "insane" - Sorry you couldn't get in Javier, so make sure you read the slides!

According to Stephen Jacob's "Class Acts: The Post-GDC Notes" you really need to listen to the AV files of the talk to appreciate it. Thanks, Stephen! Anyone who created a "Banjo Hero" game is aces in my book.

Burn the Rope!

I played "You Have To Burn The Rope" when it first came out, but a pal of mine recently reminded me of it. It's an action platformer with all the elements you need - a hero, jumping, object collection (fire), a puzzle, a boss and a big explosion at the end. Oh, and it takes about 2 minutes to play. But the best part of "You Have To Burn The Rope" is the ending credits song - which lasts about 4 minutes - twice as long as the game! Funny, brilliant stuff.


"You Have To Burn The Rope" reminded me of another game that I love - "Skullmonkeys" for the PS1. Besides the awesome clay animation, Skullmonkeys had the best soundtrack I've ever heard in a game - particularly the infamous bonus level song. If you haven't played the game, I recommend it, but beware, you will be throwing your controller as it is BALLS-HARD.

But that's the way we rolled back in those days.

I see STARS!

Sent to me by my old partner in crime Mark Rogers (no relation!) is the throughly addictive Hoshi Saga.

It's kind of like Wario-Ware but far more stylized and far more clever and some times downright impossible to fathom. There are three sets of 30 puzzles and there's at least one in each set that I have no friggin idea how to solve.

Great fun though and a great exercise in variations on a theme... find the star!

Lectures are even more awesome in Japanese.

I've officially gone world-wide.

The Japanese gaming site: Inside for Business has put up a review of my GDC talk. And if my website translator wasn't broken, it's seemed to be a pretty favorable review!



And yes, that is me wearing a pair of mouse ears. See what you miss when you don't attend these things in person?

You can read the untranslated article here.