Coil_Beginnings - 3 Articles from early 2013

2-28-16

Author’s Note – Here are a few pieces I did at school back in 2013, revamped and remade in one single cBlog. If you guys wanna feel old, I made these when I was around 13/14 so I hope I’ve improved since then!

“Proteus” Review

2/15/13

This. Is. Not. A. Game. This is the antithesis of games. This is… interactive art. I refuse to call it by any other name. Proteus DOES NOT have on-disc DLC, day 1 DLC, multiplayer deathmatch, violence, nor does it require reflexes of the gods. This is an EXPERIENCE.

SOUND – 10/10. The most impressive thing is the sound - it reacts to how you maneuver your avatar in a virtual, retro-styled procedurally generated island. WONDERFUL, STEREO-QUALITY SOUNDS CRACKLE FROM YOUR HEADPHONES BASED ON WHERE YOU EXPLORE.You can play it through your speakers, though your experience is severely downscaled if you decide to play it.

GRAPHICS – 10/10. Though the player may be turned off by the retro-styled graphics, it makes for a beautiful landscape. You have to see it to believe it. THE CRISP CASCADE OF COLORED PIXELS LIGHT UP YOUR SCREEN, SOOTHING YOUR JOINTS AND BONES. No work, even the wonderful piece of interactive art known as Journey, can best this.

GAMEPLAY – N/A. Finally, the gameplay. Well, is there gameplay? Yes, and no. There is technical “gameplay”, if you believe in the technical definition of the word. You do move with the ASDF or arrow keys, and look with the mouse. At the same time, what I said earlier applies. IT’S NOT REALLY MUCH OF A GAME, IF AT ALL.

REPLAY VALUE – 6/10. The only noticeable flaw is the replay value/price. While I love to play shorter “non-games” and games, this work will only take you 45 minutes to get to the end goal. For a price of 10 dollars, it’s hard to justify. For the people that buy in to it, it’s a wonderful experience you won’t forget any time soon.

A day at MaGFEST 11. 

2/26/13

About a month ago, my dad took me and 2 friends to MaGfest 11, a major east-coast gaming and music convention.

It was certainly interesting, to say the least. Geeks from all over came to celebrate video game and music culture. There were tons of cosplayers – people who make pain-stakingly accurate costumes of Video Game and TV characters.

Some pictures of cosplay from the convention (not by me) 

There was an  arcade and a store – where we spent some time. I mostly played indie games and such. It was fun! I also went to a few panels – such as the Flash Animation panel, with famous people such as Egoraptor and Spazkidin3D. Also, there was PSYCHICPEBBLES! To knock it all off, we went to the AVGN (Angry Video Game Nerd) panel to please my friend. I can’t stand the guy, in my opinion. This is an editorial, after all.

I had only seen a fraction of it when it was time to leave, though. I was actually disappointed – it wasn’t really in my power to stay. I REALLY wanted to – the place was gorgeous. The Gaylord Convention Center in National Harbor is a beautiful background for geek culture.

(*dead YouTube link* One of  the songs I recorded was “The Afterblaze*, featured in WayForward’s then-upcoming Mighty Switch Force 2)

3-12-13

True to Life Games

1.      – True to Life Games

2.      – Corporation

3.      – The first game we will make will be called Framed – Tragedy and Disarray. It will be a game about  real people, in real life, in real time. Framed will take place It will also have a strong emphasis on 2-D and 3-D platforming, and will incorporate other genres too. It is expected to be released in 2015 for the current gen systems (Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3), the PC, Mac, Linux,  iOS devices, Android devices (including OUYA), and next-gen systems (PS4, Microsoft’s Next Xbox).  A Vita port may come out, based on crowdfunding.

4.      20% will go to business people (a be-your-own boss and indie mentality is strong in this environment), 40% to artists, and 40% to developers. More exceptions may occur later.

The CEO will take the blame for losses. He is the head of the corporation, and gets paid the most profits. However, he does share profits with the company, and personally invests in crowdfunding and other venues.

Author’s closing note - I made those when I was 13/14 by the way, but it does go to show how my writing has improved since then. I’m really proud of my portfolio of gaming-related content and grouping these together to share with the community has been a ton of fun. I have a couple of other blogs (from Kotaku of all places, around this time on TAY and before I was known as Coil_Whine or even had a Disqus account!). I’ll be sure to polish those just like I polished these pieces.  

LOOK WHO CAME:

CoilWhine