Jimmy Chattin - I make better games.

Friday, December 2, 2011

7 Matt Weise - Philosophy in Games

Demon's Souls, Horror, and Holistic Design

Answers and their Points to a Set of Questions
·         Setting - very low fancy
o   Monte Python-esc portrayal of the Dark Ages
o   Only humans and monsters - very obvious
o   Very Gothic and authentically Gothic in a historical way
o   Premise put into modern day setting could not convince it was not horror
o   Silent Hill happening to an entire country
o   Describe and define what the haunting is
·         Integrated design - Demon's Souls does it best
o   Are rules different from fiction to the game? - NO!
§  e.g. Phoenix down on Aeris?
·         Shot to pieces in real life; hide and regenerate health in game
o   Coherent rules
o   Metaphysics and spiritual function is consistent in story and gameplay
o   How much power do you need?  How much are you going to take? - Corruption question
o   YOU ARE A BAD PERSON FOR BEEFING UP TO DESTROY OTHER PLAYERS
o   hitting someone with your weapon will make them very mad - > just like real life; will not hold your hand
o   the game makes you think of what a power fantasy is
§  horror is a disempowering fantasy
o   Super heroes are American
§  be stronger in an unfair fight
o   It's hard because a gamer must use common sense, not gamer sense
§  we expect a game to make us feel powerful, not us to make us feel powerful
·         Demon's Souls fiction is intermeshed into the game -> change fiction, change game
o   Humanity - "Souls are what makes humans human.  This also makes you human.  What's the difference?"
§  Dark Souls is full of philosophical questions
§  requires interpretation of the gameplay
o   The purpose of a game system is to destroy itself (game world destroying itself)
o   There is a massive collection of negative space
·         Rationalization of being a killer
o   Am I good for protecting my alliances?  Am I bad for killing innocents threatening my alliances?
o   Pay to have sins removed -> ticked NPCs love you again

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