Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Indigo Prophecy -- Game Journal(Week 9)
Indigo Prophecy - from the programmer's point of view.
Despite my aggression toward the grueling semester I've been having at Columbia, in retrospect I can say that what I have learned so far has influenced all aspects of my thought process. While I am playing through Indigo Prophecy (which I have only been doing in small incriments, thanks to the lifestyle of a starving artist/college student) with a fresh take on the actual mechanics of the game.
Based mainly on hand/eye coordination and reaction, as well as seemingly free-roaming environments, Indigo Prophecy does a great job at weaving the illusion of non-linear freedom. This is done through the narrative, the story development, and most importantly but least recognized, the programming.
Referring back to my ignorance on the subject before my studies here at Columbia, I can honestly say that I never really gave a shit about programmers. On the contrary, I have developed friendships with these same programmers, and through this relationship I discovered a new point of view.
In my opinion, programmers are the people that give the creative people (myself) a workspace, or box. The expertise of the programmer as well as the technology is ultimately what generates the area, or parameters of the box that us creative types get to 'play' in. These programmers are the people behind the scenes, who deserve the most credit, but seldom ever get any.
As I play through Indigo Prophecy, I am beginning to see it through the eyes of a programmer, thanks to Intro to Programming and Mirella Shannon. The only way I can describe it is similar to the contemporary Matrix series. Seeing through the eyes of a programmer is much like how Neo begins to see through the illusions of falsified reality and sees reality for what it is- the Matrix.
Despite my aggression toward the grueling semester I've been having at Columbia, in retrospect I can say that what I have learned so far has influenced all aspects of my thought process. While I am playing through Indigo Prophecy (which I have only been doing in small incriments, thanks to the lifestyle of a starving artist/college student) with a fresh take on the actual mechanics of the game.
Based mainly on hand/eye coordination and reaction, as well as seemingly free-roaming environments, Indigo Prophecy does a great job at weaving the illusion of non-linear freedom. This is done through the narrative, the story development, and most importantly but least recognized, the programming.
Referring back to my ignorance on the subject before my studies here at Columbia, I can honestly say that I never really gave a shit about programmers. On the contrary, I have developed friendships with these same programmers, and through this relationship I discovered a new point of view.
In my opinion, programmers are the people that give the creative people (myself) a workspace, or box. The expertise of the programmer as well as the technology is ultimately what generates the area, or parameters of the box that us creative types get to 'play' in. These programmers are the people behind the scenes, who deserve the most credit, but seldom ever get any.
As I play through Indigo Prophecy, I am beginning to see it through the eyes of a programmer, thanks to Intro to Programming and Mirella Shannon. The only way I can describe it is similar to the contemporary Matrix series. Seeing through the eyes of a programmer is much like how Neo begins to see through the illusions of falsified reality and sees reality for what it is- the Matrix.
# posted by J2D @ 11:02 AM 
