roll to see if i'm getting drunk

[prog]

Picked up the Mac version of Neverwinter Nights a couple of days ago. I ha-ha that I got it so that, as a student of networked computer game design, I could examine its interface and communication dynamics. But that's only half ha-ha, in that I can't help but actually pay attention to all that stuff, and doubtless it'll influence the MIGS design, even though MIGS is for entirely different sorts of games. Example: not only does it use pie menus (contexual menus whose options form a circle around the clicked object), but it demonstrates how they can work hierarchically. That's pretty neat.

A very impressive piece of software, anyway. It's a MUD in a box, basically, except using the most modern computer game design paradigms (versus the text-adventure-based MUDs of yore); running the game in single-player mode actually launches a network server on your machine and then opens a connection to it for you, and from there it's a trivial operation to invite friends to join in over a network or the Internet. It happens to ship with a very well designed default game module, but it's ready from the get-go to use any other module you download or create. I haven't even begun to explore the modules that people have made, but examples on the Bioware site show everything from complete D&D adventures in the classic sense to in-world implementations of chess, blackjack, and cockfighting. (Well, chickens fighting penguins, anyway. And the chickens actually seem to be hens. But still.)

From a MIGSy standpoint it's actually really quite inspirational, and I feel it's fifty bucks well spent. Research, it's all about research.

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In other slacking news, I've offically let class registration slip past. Happy about decision, and confident that it's the right one, though it would have surprised me a month ago. In the meantime, I get to work on MIGS, maybe get into performing, spend time with friends, and otherwise have fun, and oh ma-a-a-an am I looking forward to the upcoming year.

Upcoming year? Yes, I've reverted to academic time; despite my avoidance of actual acadmeics, I have nonetheless been entrenched in academia for a whole year, and find myself naturally embracing its cycle once again. The summer is when all hibernates, and fall is the time for new awakenings. And, indeed, so many of my friends seem to be going back to school, getting new jobs, and generally taking stock of things. Ah, yes... Fall is surely my favorite of the seasons.

Comments

[cortezopossum.livejournal.com]

I decided to take a peek at 'Neverwinter Nights' at the local CompUSA (one of two places in town which actually sell Mac stuff). Unfortunatly it's an OS-X game only --- I'm still not confident in my computer's ability to run OS-X at functionally useful speeds. To my suprise I saw another game I had been eye-balling for a while... Zoo Tycoon.

Zoo Tycoon is, however, on it's way into the bargain bins at a number of game stores these days -- it's unfortunate it's taken so long for a Mac port (I honestly didn't expect one at all). It's $50 price tag -- same as Neverwinter Nights is a bit irksome though.