One game design exercise to rethink the past while looking at the present

This semester, I’d like to propose my students one interesting exercise from the book “The ultimate guide to video game writing and design”. Though I’ve made some modifications, the main idea is to recreate a modern game in an old fashioned way.

Some steps are necessary for this mission:

1) Choose one game from the last generation of consoles (Playstation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch) and mobile devices (Android and iOS). The more complex, the better.
2) Try to imagine and recreate the game for the Atari platform (keep the essence of the narrative and few elements from the mechanics).
3) Using samples and print screens from Atari’s games, build a few simple interfaces for the game. This will be a big challenge. In some way, the interface must resemble some core visual elements.
4) Create a prototype for the cartridge cover.

Below, is one example that I created for this post using the game THE LAST OF US.


I tried to maintain the shooting mechanics with stealth. Characters must use the stairs simultaneously to reach the other side of the screen. In a minimalist way, I tried to keep the essence of the "clickers" enemies. Interface is very simple with stamina and ammunition.


The new game's cover is an homage to a very similar story - the movie LOGAN.

To the check the main idea from THE LAST OF US, watch the trailer below:



Many people are creating modern-retro-art for Atari games, you can check out some interesting examples in this link.

#GoGamers

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Reference:

DILLE, Flint; PLATTEN, John Zuur. The ultimate guide to video game writing and design. New York: Skip Press, 2007

A Brief History of Graphics

An awesome class about gaming graphics. A great timeline to understand the history of videogames.



#GoGamers

Presentations at Klagenfurt (Austria) and Prague (Czech Republic)

Last week was awesome! I did two presentations in two great European universities, and I will talk a little bit about the experience and share the content in this post.

1. Klagenfurt

In April 15th, I did a presentation at the 3rd Klagenfurt Game Jam. The event happened at Alpen-Adria-Universität and had many serious discussions about games, gaming concepts, games and accessibility, gamification and much more. I want to thank my friend René Schallegger for the invitation and support in this amazing experience.

My presentation was about my new game, Rock Flickz (which will be in app stores by the end of April) and how we can use a mobile game for music advertising, entertainment and business. You can see the presentation below:



2. Prague

I took a train in Klagenfurt and went straight to Prague for another presentation. This time, I was invited by my friend Daniel Riha to talk to some students from the Charles University (Faculty of Humanities) about "Game Interface Design". Another excellent experience that I want to share in the presentation below:



I think my curriculum has just risen some levels =)



#GoGamers