From: hship@sw.stratus.com (Howard Ship)
Newsgroups: alt.sega.genesis
Subject: Re: EA designer speaks!
Date: 28 Jan 1993 22:24:44 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc.
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: teton.sw.stratus.com

In article <1993Jan28.204425.24546@netcom.com>, ewadams@netcom.com (Ernest Adams) writes:
> Howard Ship writes:
> 
> >I currently have two EA games (Desert Strike and Starflight).  I think
> >the games themselves are tops.  On the otherhand, I'm dissapointed
> >with the manuals.  Both include tremendous amounts of spoiler
> >information, both in special 'hints' sections and mixed in with the
> >general rules.  I miss the good ole days of M.U.L.E.  and Seven Cities
> >of Gold (Atari 800) where the manuals were informative and helpful,
> >but didn't spoil things.  My cynical side says the hints are there so
> >that owners will 'solve' the games faster, then buy the sequel.  So
> >what does an EA insider have to say?
> 
> Not much, I'm afraid. The manuals are written by the marketing
> department, and the games are designed and produced by the production
> department. We in production don't have any control over what goes in
> the manual or on the box.
> 
> Your cynical side has a flip side, which is: we want people to enjoy
> our games enough to buy the sequel. If we make a game so hard people
> can't get through it, they for sure won't buy the sequel.
> 
> If you want to make the game harder, I'd suggest playing it without
> reading the manual, and learn the hard way! The hardest game EA ever
> produced for the Sega is The Immortal -- you might try that. Starflight
> was a port of an IBM game, and people have different expectations of
> computer games than they do of video games; they want lots of background.
> 
> I'm glad you like the games, anyway.
> 
> Ernest Adams
> Technical Designer, Electronic Arts

I rented The Immortal, but I found it very, very scripted.  I had just
Blockbuster's abbreviated instructions (which included a walkthrough of the 1st
level).  I was working on the 3rd level when it was time to take it back.  Also,
it seemed that you lost items when you changed levels (such as extra fireballs from
the fireball scroll).  Further, I had difficulty controlling the wizard in tight
situations, such as some of the trap rooms.  I'd still give it a 3 or 4 out of 5.

Perhaps hard is not the proper adjective.  I want rewarding, which roughly
translates to just-frustrating-enough.  It is very important for me to struggle
with a problem for whatever length of time, stumble upon the solution and announce
to myself: "You stupid idiot!" ... not "This stupid game!"  or worse, "That idiot
programmer!".

Now, of course, I have to recon with "That idiot manual writer!".

Then, there's scaling.  On Desert Strike, the 2nd level was much harder than the
1st (which seemed hard at the time), and the 3rd was a true bitch, but by the time
I made it to the 4th level, I was savvy about the inner workings of the game.  Pretty
much, nothing happens unless you are nearby.  That, combined with pre-knowledge of
what is in each building, and the large number of free-life crates, made the 4th level
dissapointingly easy.  But I'd consider DSII --- if it adds something new.  If it is
simply a rehash, I'll keep my distance.

Speaking of foreknowledge, I'm waiting for a game that sort of scrambles itself every
time you play, but somehow maintains the balance.  For instance, a Sonic that generates
new levels on the fly, perhaps using some fractals, templates and heuristics.  Or in
Starflight, if it built a new universe each time, but managed to keep key elements
(positions of particular star systems in relation to each other, locations of
certain objects) in balance.  Even though I'm trying to be good, I keep falling into
the habit of saving the game, making an exploratory mission, dying in the attempt,
and getting it right the second time (or avoiding it alltogether).

Sure, that's a tremendous order ... but this is the kind of thing I'll be looking for
in CD games a year from now.


-- 
"I can't believe I had the Anti!"
Howard_Ship@vos.stratus.com
Newsgroups: alt.sega.genesis