Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Episode 60 is up

Random vs. Predictive... Mike, Stephan and I discuss how games use random vs. predictive play and the challenges in balancing between them.

3 comments:

  1. Transormers 2 is a bad movie, but you really couldn't have expected anything good going to a Michel Bay directed sequel to a kid's movie (no good either) based on a toy franchise.

    Sure, you can go to imdb goofs page and point out all the errors, but ask yourself a question - is T2 bad because the girls' shoes change between the shots, or because it's about pathos spewing noble space truck robots?

    ***

    And what exactly is so random about Peggle? I've just played the 10 level WoW ad/demo one, but it was as deterministic as they get.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A response in reverse order:

    Peggle is random because of the unpredictability of the path of the ball. It's like plinko from the price is right.

    The new terminator movie was fun, but my problem with it is that they broke one of the postulates of the story universe. The terminators are supposed to be the most efficient killing machines ever. In the first two movies, most of the time was spent in pursuit. The main characters were just our of reach of the terminator. Hooray for suspense! The third movie featurs a FIST FIGHT WITH A TERMINATOR!!! The terminator actually picks up the person it is supposed to kill and throws him across the room!!! WHY!?!?!? Wouldn't the most efficient killing machine ever just kill the person it was holding in its hands?

    Thirdly, I think the point that was trying to be made was: If Michael Bay only puts out crap, maybe we should stop letting him put out anything at all. Avatar is an example of a children's show that is actually good. Thus proving it is possible.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great podcast, really enjoyed it. Keep up the good work.

    And I also despised Transformers but saw it with a guy who was in the 'lighten up and enjoy the crap' camp.

    ReplyDelete