IAM Blog Engine

As I started to develop much more complex applications for work, more and more bugs started to come up. It got to the point where I couldn’t reliably keep a written or simple list of what I had to do and what was not working. And I definitely couldn’t keep it in my head. Luckily at work we had a FogBugz account. FogBugz for those of you who don’t know is a pretty advanced bug tracking web application made by Fog Creek (Joel Spolsky’s company).

At first it took a while to get used to the work flow of FogBugz, but once we all started using it at SNM I really got into it and it helped me out greatly. However as I started to use it more and more I started to see problems in the interface and general application. It just took to much time and clicks to make bugs and close bugs. Now I think most of these problems are not really Fog Creek’s problem, they made an excellent enterprise level bug tracking system. However using it in the small scale (two people) I think makes a lot of the features of FogBugz redundant and adds a lot of extra complexity.

So after spending some time experimenting with the FogBugz API I started to formulate an idea to make my own interface that would stream line the process. I wanted to see a simple list of bugs, ranked and color coded by priority with the latest message about the bug and a button to assign it to someone else and to close it. So after spending some time getting used to the API and building the interface I created a simple Django application that let me interface with the API and store simple user information in the servers memory. Here is a screen shot of the end result:

I was pretty happy with the first version. It let me quickly see what I had to do and check off things when I was done. This got me thinking, is there a market for a really simple ‘to do list’ or bug tracking web application for people like me? I think so. There are definitely quite a few other applications out there that do what I want but I have yet to find one 100% targeted at people who want something simple and to the point.

We’ll see what comes of this idea. I’ve wanted to try to start developing my own apps for a while, and after thinking more about what I could do with a bug tracking application I really think I might be on to something. But then again maybe not. I’m never going to learn if I don’t fail a few times anyways.

If you do use FogBugz and you want to check it out please do and let me know what you think, http://buggie.bmdev.org I don’t use any database at all to store any of your data it all lives temporarily in the server’s memory. Also if you want to check out the code you can see it on GitHub

(Cross posted from my blog)

Before:

After:

We are starting a new project at work and with it we are going to use our custom CMS, Stratus, as the back end. In our last project we heavily re-factored and streamlined the latest build. But the interface has had little or no changes since its initial version. So after I had the scaffolding of the CMS in place for our new project I started to make adjustments to the UI. The first major thing I did was change the colors around a lot. The old UI used whites, light grays, and light blues all over. The only background color is used in the header (as you can see in the first image above). While this isn’t a ‘bad’ interface at all I felt like the interface was not adding anything. It didn’t hold you back from using the CMS but it didn’t help you either.

Because this is a commercial CMS and we always are making it for a specific project we work with the client and show them how to use it (a luxury that most web developers don’t have, and one that none should rely on) UX is not high on our list of priorities. However after thinking about what I could do to make this CMS better (out side of the backend code) I realized with a cleaned up interface we could cut back on a lot of the time we took explaining how to use the CMS to clients and make the CMS less of a chore to use. The first thing I wanted to do was to use color to create a visual hierarchy in the interface. The thing that is most important on the page is the current elements you are working with. For example if you are on the ‘Categories’ page the thing that is most important is the actually category elements. To do this I made the header a dark gray background and the rest of the site a lighter gray background. The only use of white is the center content area (following our categories example, where the categories are listed) making that the very clear center of attention. Besides making the background of the main content area white I also used darker more saturated fonts in the center to further enforce that this is the most important area on the screen. The real challenge here (that resulted in a lot of back and forth between TextMate, Photoshop, and Chrome) was keeping the interface as a whole coherent. When I made the sidebar and header too light and blending in too much it make the center content area overpowering.

While there is still a lot of work to do in the UI I found it to be a really refreshing and an interesting challenge trying to create an interface that needs to be very extensible. Meaning the interface needs to keep up with the complexities of the CMS. If we decided to add a grid based list of a specific object the CMS’ UI needs to deal with that.

Interactive Arts and Media department’s Mindy Faber recently worked with a team of two dozen teens to build a collaborative interactive application using the online social utility tool called Google My Map.

The team worked across the globe (some of the teens were in Chicago, some in Barbados) to create “OurMap of Migrations”; a map that allowed the youth participants to add their own photos, videos, bios, travels and research.

Read more about the project at Google Maps: A Tool for the Youth Media Field!

Reid Kimball, a blogger at Gamasutra, recently wrote an editorial on the current state of action games. His opinion is that action games focus too much on the killy-shooty aspect of the genre, and, essentially, rewards players for firing rockets madly rather than thinking their way through problems.

On a whole, I agree with his argument. I believe that action games could stand to use a little more variety. I am excited about games like Batman: Arkham Asylum, which seem to reward players for methodical and thoughtful gameplay as much or more than out and out brawling.

My only contention with the article is that Kimball repeated compares games to film, using movie examples to discuss what is possible with games. Action games could use more variety in gameplay not to echo film, but to add depth to games. Continued comparison of movies to games, in my opinion, does a disservice to both; they are completely different mediums. Developers should drive for more depth in their games not because it would make them better movies, but because it would make them better games.

Original article can be viewed here.

Todd Howard, the game studio director at Bethesda studios (the developers behind the “Elder Scrolls” series and “Fallout 3,” among other games) recently gave a lecture at the DICE 09 summit, wherein he discussed his theories on game design.  His first point is that “great games are played, not made.”  Basically, his point is that, for a game to be fun to play, it has to be… fun to play.  I really wish this was something that doesn’t need to be said.  Of course, everyone reading this (if there’s anyone reading this) can think of at least a hundred examples of games that just aren’t fun, where it was obvious that the developers just wanted to put out a product with the least amount of trouble involved.

This is not a problem isolated to the game community; just about any creative medium has its share of lazy, pig-headed, or lazy pig-head creators.  However, games have the disadvantage of being obvious when they’re terrible.  Someone with good BS skills can talk about whatever awful piece of art they create, while it’s very hard for anyone to defend something like “Lord of the Rings: Conquest.”

The other advice Howard gives, such as taking inspiration from any source, is just as applicable to all creative endeavors as it is to games.  This really shouldn’t be much a surprise either; habits that create good art in one medium are likely to create art in others as well.  The only thing that changes is the craft.  Talent and skill probably help too.

The Evil Summoner FAQ was a blast to read, though it’s relevance to the class doesn’t really come in till the end, where we get the spoilerly bits. It’s essentially your basic Gamefaqs FAQ, except way more snarky and with a lot less detail. Essentially, it’s how to get through the game Summoner as quickly and time inexpensively as possible. He essentially throws out titular gimmick of the game (Summons) and claims it’s useless. He calls many of the character morons, and points out design flaws (such as the games confusing speed system, and the blunt weapon’s superiority to swords).

Now the end of the article is where Mochan tells us what he thought of the game’s story. He mentions that the plot wasn’t actually all that, but the writing was just pathetic. Furthermore, some of the things that happened in the game were just totally fake (like Joesph forgiving Flece). Or Jekhar’s lack of hateful behavior even though he supposedly hates Jacob. He even complains about the way time passes in the game.

Mochan’s problem with main problem with Summoner, despite its attempts to fuse oil and water (console and PC RPG’s), is that it lacks immersion, even though Mochan doesn’t say it implicitly. But if you look at what Mochan says, you can the problem is pretty apparent from the start. Really what Summoner really seems to have to fucked up on his the little, and with so many little things fucked up, Mochan can’t help but not take the game seriously.

Keep in mind though, he hated the interface too, which also decreased his immersion.

“Petri Purho’s Nordic Game Jam 2009 experiment Four Minutes and 33 Seconds of Uniqueness has elicited some interesting and rather strong reactions among gamers who have found themselves mystified by his creation. Some seem compelled to continue “playing” it over and over in a desperate bid to “win,” while others, including The Escapist’s own Julianne Greer, have asserted that it’s not a game at all but merely an application, and a broken one at that. Regardless of what it is, Purho appears to have accomplished what he set out to do: Push boundaries and get people talking about what a game can actually be.”

-Andy Dell, “Can Art Be Games?”

That’s in reference to “Four Minutes and 33 Seconds of Uniqueness”, a quote on quote “game” that as mentioned in the article is arguably not a game. If you haven’t played it yet, I’d suggest you do. It’s not exactly the most exciting game, but it’s only four minutes and 33 seconds, that is, if you’re lucky and last the whole game (you probably won’t).

“Four Minutes and 33 seconds of Uniqueness” is essentially a loading bar and a program that search’s the internet to see if anyone else is playing. If any is, the program closes down. If there isn’t it loads for, well, four Minutes and 33 seconds.

I’ll admit it is hard to classify that as a game, but the thing is, it is possible to do so, despite it’s complete lack of of interaction on it’s interface. It’s similar to a Nomic or many other games in that it requires the player to bring a lot to it: including the illusion of interaction. The way I see it, the game is a player versus a world. Sure the goal requires you to be the only person in the whole world to be playing, making any victories a really hard one, but getting that little bar is a hell of an achievement after all failures. For some reason I can actually see this game being imported to XBLA, and having one achievement worth 200 points: “World Beater: Survive Four Minutes and 33 seconds”. But then again, that requires a specific mindset. Hence why I think the concept of this “game” is genius.

A lot of the other games mentioned in the game are really hard to define as games, though. While it would be hard to argue something such as “Flower” isn’t a game, the arguments about “September 12″ and “The Cemetery” not being real games are tangible, admittedly. Still, I guess the arguments for why they should be considered games exist also. Furthermore, I guess you could go as far to say things we’d define as games, Mario, Halo, etc, are not games, from a certain point of view, if one chooses not to play them for example.

zeFrank has a cool new voice-drawing toy on his blog.  You raise and lower the notes you’re sing/humming to turn the drawing line.  Check it out.

Have I committed a grave affrontery?

I’ve said that a game from a few years ago, available in every bargain bin, is a better game overall than THE title of the year?

HELL YEP.

Here’s why.

I played and beat Mass Effect and it took me 14 hours and 57 minutes. A decent time (for an FPS, which this is not), but I felt slighted. The story was expert Bioware fare with dynamism, loveable characters and situations, great dialogue…the works. Mass Effect will stand as a GREAT Sci-Fi story, and I await some juicy sequels and a few more playthroughs. The game mechanics themselves left me wanting.

I decided to fire up KOTOR (Knights of the Old Republic) for the Xbox, just for nostalgia. In the first few minutes, I was entranced all over. I LOVE the straight D20 pause-and-go system for battle, I loved using skills and feats, the dialogue was there, the story was just as tight, but it just FELT better. It felt more right. I could directly control my companions Carth and Mission, and didn’t have to baby-sit them nearly as much as in Mass Effect (Example: Revive my team using the tech “Unity”, only to have them both die ONE SECOND LATER.) I was smiling and having a great time. Everything I said had influence on how the characters looked at me as well. They’d react, but later they’d remember my actions and it would affect them. I saw none of that kind of interplay in Mass Effect. I could say or do anything and become the biggest hard-assed bullet-pisser in the galaxy, and everyone would still be all like “Oh…that’s our captain!”

That’s when it hit me, that I was enjoying my time MORE playing Kotor than Mass Effect. I felt like I actually affected the world around me. Give me a game that does THAT more, and I’ll drool for years. Here’s hoping Mass Effect Chapter 2 or Episode 2 or whatever they call it has a little more interplay, and DIRECT CONTROL OF YOUR TEAMMATES.

DIRECT CONTROL OF YOUR TEAMMATES.

DIRECT CONTROL OF YOUR TEAMMATES.

END OF LINE.

DEBATE IS A GOOD THING.

That being said, why is my post called Spoiler Alert? Simple. A friend of mine named Rhyhon recently posted a review of Zelda:PH on facebook. I read it, it was alright. He tends to review a little differently. He explains how the game is played, and then comments on other reviewer’s takes on the game’s playability. It’s his thing, and it works for him. I came across ONE glaring thing that I found a little inappropriate.

At the bottom of his review were two spoilers. One was very direct, a spoiler about the end of the game. The 2nd was a little more sly, and I nailed him on it. Here’s my postulate:

Joe: A review should never reveal a solution to an in-game puzzle. The job of the review is to paint a picture of the game, in order for the player to determine if it should be bought. It’s the gamer’s prerogative that, once reaching the puzzle, the must seek additional help to solve it. If the solution is given before even purchasing the game, an important part of every new game is lost: the experience of something new.

Rhyhon: A puzzle solution should be given during the review, in order to save the players time. If a game contains a certain mind-bender or a puzzle I, the reviewer, consider too poorly hinted at in game to complete, my review should contain the solution to said puzzle, in order to make the game more enjoyable for the players. Going through tough and annoying areas multiple times should be avoided, and by providing early big hints and solutions, I am doing them a favor (See APPENDIX 1, after the jump).

A casket filled with blessed Colt .45’s,

Joe Locastro

More after the jump.

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