So, two computers are now complete.  I have taken a piece of garbage, which I kind of bought by accident along with a monitor and souped it back up to respectability for storage, and I have added some rocket fuel to my now somewhat elderly retired server. I am now awaiting two pieces of equipment to build a VR ready machine for around £300. If anyone is interested, I will post some instructions on how to get VR ready and mildly futureproofed for under £1000.

Why do I need a VR ready machine when I have little time to play games?  Because I plan to make some.

For those who question the usefulness of VR – here are the basics from wikipedia- What is VR

I think it is going to revolutionize education, personally, but I do not plan to leave it in the hands of dull witted educators to make a mess of it.  Learning is an adventure, not an excuse for a bunch of browbeaten and unimaginative people to access grants and hold interminable meetings.

How can I be so confident that I am capable of making VR games?  I spent a lot of time in Second life, and they are making a nice medium for me to work in.  You can read more about it here  Linden labs – Project Sansar

For this reason, I am aware that a lot of the products being launched this year are not quite as future friendly as they might appear on first glance. Looking but not touching, or using traditional gamer’s tools such as playstation controllers, for example, are things that will mean that you have to replace your expensive equipment within a couple of years

Playstation VR – looks very trendy but no thanks

Google Cardboard – a cheap way of seeing whether you like the idea of being blind and looking around a cartoon without much functionality.  The good thing about this is that it makes VR extremely cheap for smartphone users.

HTC Vive by far the best mainstream option as it at least enables you to wave your hands around a bit but no. I forsee a lot of peripheral footpads etc.

Oculus Rift I would like to be supportive but no.

Without some definition in terms of your real life body, VR is all floating hands and the novelty of watching things move about.  Limited in terms of long term value, but oooooooooh the potential.

Tesla Suit: Feel Virtual Reality With Your Body

Touch in VR goes in a predictable direction: VR sex suit sells out in hours

I can tell you that although these might be fun investments, and certainly the idea of a full body suit is far better than things that restrict you to visual or floating hand versions of VR, once Project Sansar is launched, it will be a matter of weeks before somebody posts instructions on how to make a far more comprehensive VR sex suit with a bit of old hessian webbing and a few improvised sensors they picked up on ebay.

Second Lifers are obsessive, they cannot be bothered with the real world, as the one you have more control of is a lot more interesting and colourful.  Rather than you spending all your money on commercial products, I would hazard a guess that if you choose instead to ensure that your computer is ready, you have a couple of monitors and you await developments from Sansar, it will take probably under a year before DIY VR becomes normality.  They are also rather keen on virtual sex, so if that is your thang, keep an eye on Sansar.

I have always been known as a rather uptight and foul tempered Second Lifer, so I am likely to create something more cultural, obscure and a bit surreal.  I do like things with an educational edge, although I am much more interested in alternative reality methods of presentation.  Roll on Sansar, and hurry up with the VR already.

Well, there has been a lot of stress in rebuilding the computer room, and I am sure there will be more, but we are nearly operational again, with a bonus computer that I did not expect nestling between the two beasts (they sound like aircraft, I dread to think how much power they use)

As the plan is a personality driven series of games, I had a look around at game psychology.  Alter Ego is a very old text based game, but those interested can play it free.  I am shooting for something a little more delicate and fun, but I have trawled for something that goes in the same direction, and I think I might be onto a fairly original format for several different possible directions. There is no reason why it cannot be done, and yet it has not been done. Why not use your urge for entertainment and instant gratification for the purposes of self development?

So, I look up ‘personality driven games’ and I find the following personality tests for gamers.

The Multiplayer Psychology Profile  aka the Bartle Test 1996 – I am an anti-social achiever and explorer
The Four Player types test an alternative based on the Bartle Test – I am an innovative strategist

Then I try ‘gaming psychology’

Cognitive Benefits of playing computer games
The Psychology of Great Game Design
The Psychology of Video Game Play – low hanging fruit

This is not really hitting the mark for what I am looking for.  I did catch a fabulous BBC documentary on the psychology of gambling a year or so ago.  Did you know that gambling addicts are addicted to loss, rather than winning?  They believe that a series of losses makes a win more likely.

Having tried to be a gambler, and dismally failed due to my aversion to risk, despite playing a gambler’s game daily, I can say for sure that I do not have the gene for gambling addiction.  I have an unfortunate love of learning new things, and getting bored very quickly, however, which is why my life has been quite so complicated.  I am extremely useful, however, due to the ever-increasing skillset.

I then thought that gamification might be a useful thing to look up, and signed myself up on yet another course, only to find that it does not refer to educational gaming at all.  It is just another business buzzword for making marketing more appealing to millennials.  Sigh.

So, it looks as if I have a truly original idea.  So far, so good.  This should be fun. I was concerned about the lack of combat, and realised today that combat is really used as finite conversation in most games.  Only one percent of gamers are in it to kill other players, according to Bartle, the volume of killing is merely a quick easy reward system for avatar development and progress.

As my game will involve a lot of social interaction with NPC characters, I forsee my having to be a bit inventive with objects and progression.  I particularly dislike heavily story driven games, so I am likely to go for more of an organic, open scheme, which is going to get very complex with point allocation and reward/level progression.  To this end, I will be building a tycoon style game in the course of my self-training.

I think I have played sufficient relevant games to have a style in mind, and a clear idea of how the structure will work.  So now I just have to sit on my ass and learn languages and make games until I am ready to get on with it.

In the meantime I have an awful lot of research to do, so I am a happy, happy bunny.

Fact or fiction – video games are the future of education

Educational gaming commons

The educational benefits of video games

Gaming in education – gamification?

Teaching resources – educational games

Gamestar Mechanic

Dear David,

Note – this is the working title.  I am absolutely not going to be making a game with this title, although I am sure it would sell very well, and if the game is played a certain way, I am sure you could manage to create a super tantric vegetable guru if you wanted to.

Making a game involves playing a lot of games, I have wasted a lot of time investigating what I am shooting for this week.  The idea I have in my mind is little to do with cults, but I have been looking at how cults are handled this week with a view to making the real idea work well in terms of gameplay.

Clockwork Empires is my favourite at the moment.  A city builder with Lovecraftian elements, it has factional warfare and potential for your own cult, but the developers are still having tremendous fun with process tree work at the moment, and it will be a while before it will be ready in terms of frictional behaviour and AI.  Lovely idea, but I do not think a city builder is right for the game I want to make.

Super Cult Tycoon 2 Deluxe A lovely little game which you can play free of charge, this is a simpler city builder which is extremely funny.  Basically you have to kidnap as many acolytes as possible before the FBI shut you down.

Evil Cult is a game for people who miss Dos.  The manual is an education in itself, however, and you can also play this one free

Pathologic is an old game which has been reworked in HD.  It is a little old fashioned and a bit too scripted, and even in HD, I do not think this is the look I am going for.

This one looks as if it will be ideal, so I will be purchasing this later in the year, although I see it retains the traditional American fear of socialism.  You aren’t all unemployed millionaires you know. People still starve to death in the richest country in the world.

I am bouncing around a couple of ideas at the moment, which may or may not intertwine, depending on how development goes.  The first part of the game is basically a career/management game, but since the course of becoming a guru and creating a cult run along similar dynamic lines, I think it is appropriate to look into how people handle AI, resource management and community.

It will not be a violent game, although it may have a mature rating, for the purposes of incorporating all these hot and horny health food fans.

I see from Rulers of nations, that I could actually just use David’s image after all, since he is now a public figure.  I do not think he would like this, however, although you never can tell with David.  He will freak out at the sight of a paperclip on some days, and be totally laid back on others.  Much like the rest of us, I guess.  It seems wasteful not to, on one hand, but he is never quite sure about my sense of humour, so it may be best to have an avatar and let you choose for yourself.  The plan is to make the topic variable also, with an emphasis on educational development in the course of a sweet looking game.

I am swithering as to whether to make a facebook style app to promote the 3d version, since the purpose of this is not strictly to make me money.

I think maybe do a relatively simple app first, and work on the more interesting 3d elements of the final piece of work later.  I have an awful lot of work to do.

In the meantime, if anyone wants to bounce an idea at me, feel free to use the comments.

Ina

As a developer, I would not call myself highly experienced, but here is my take on building games.

Longer term readers will recall that I made a fairly extensive game in Second Life just after my father died.  My father was a fan of Patrick McGoohan’s Prisoner, and as I knew he was dying, just when some cheeky swine was attempting to remake/ruin his legacy, I decided to make a tribute island for him in Second Life.  As it turned out, he actually visited it with his grandchildren, so the creative exercise was worthwhile.  The letter from the family was sufficient for me to make a full working model of the entire series, with the help of a couple of more computer savvy friends doing the scripting.

It took quite a while just to psych myself into thinking in a more linear, and yet less sequential, way to make this happen.  My friends patiently waited for me to figure out that I had to drop the idea of story and concentrate on objects and what they do, and how they move you on within a game context.

So, for your first game I would advise that you do not do it alone, although at times it will feel that you are waiting forever for something very minor.  The more people you can involve the better, particularly in the later stages when you need them to test your idea without bias.  Some people who get involved will just appear to be sticking spokes in your wheels, but even this input is useful.

Knowledge of the following  is desirable:

The games market – do not waste time following every blog and trend.  It is far easier to look at the shops and reviews to see what people actually enjoy playing, and what demographic goes for what game.

Artwork –  it is helpful to have more than one person on 2d artwork, and some experience of machinima, as well as photoshop; and texturemaking is useful. Do not pick a perfectionist to work with until you are bored with fiddling with your game, as they will just hold you up and waste your time. Spend some time in Second Life and practise machinima and building to get better at this yourself. It is amazing what you can do just messing about.

3d modelling – A thorough knowledge of the marketplace before you start is helpful.  I recommend you spend some time in Second Life or similar, as there are alternatives to the mainstream programmes that are far easier to use and cheaper.  Anyone who has spent any significant time with Blender will agree that there are much more pleasurable ways to die.

Game engines – Get to know more than one, so that you have some options.  Take careful note of what they expect in the way of recompense’licensing. Look at the games job sites to see what skills are most marketable before you decide which one to learn. Again, spend some time in Second Life, since many of the skills you can learn from classes in there will stand you in extremely good stead with Unity in terms of building, texturing etc.

Scripting and Coding – If you have a friend that is good at this, bear in mind that they need very precise information to give you what you want.  You need to list your requirements, not necessarily in order, and then wait for them to figure out how to make it happen.  Scripters are amazing, magical people.

Game structure and dynamics – You will get better at this the more games you make.  It is a bit like making films.  Do not worry terribly much about your first ten.  It is more important that you get something done, so that you know what you want the next time.

Animation – there are many ways to go about this, I am mediocre at best, so I will refrain from comment at this time.

Shaders and lighting – considered by many to be the difference between an amateur and professionally made game.

Music – a handy composer is always helpful

I have a very specific idea of how the game I am planning is going to work, but I plan to do it all myself this time, so it will take a while to acquire the relevant skills.

In the meantime, here is my early coding lesson for you to amuse yourself with.

Futile tribute to David Wolfe  Caution – does not work in Chrome

The latter build in Second life