The Deep End

It's been a few weeks since I first embarked on my quest to become a game-maker using Torque. While juggling my responsibilities for InstantAction, Instant Jam and Torque at large I've been hitting the documentation. Without too much spare time I'm not progressing at light speed, but I am moving along steadily, hopefully emblematic of some of your first experiences with Torque or game making.

I am feeling good about my self to some degree, though, as I've managed to make my first "Torque joke" which, as we all know from watching Dr Who relate light-speed mechanics to skeptical scientists via jokes on the subject, implies that I have at least a tenuous grasp! You may have heard about the misfortune to befall the offices of TorquePowered wherein a pipe burst in a ceiling, filling it with rancid water before eventually causing it to collapse, soaking everything beneath it. Knowing that sympathy was in order I sent the following to Mich Perry:

"Looks like you guys didn't set the collision map for the 'putrid pipe water' paticle effect right"

Having recently completed the particle effects tutorial in TGB I'm no longer so certain that particle effects have collision maps, but I feel like I should get half credit or an "A" for effort! I definitely feel like I'm making progress.

In learning more about Torque I've also had a few epiphanies about game design and structure. Being a life-long gamer and in the industry for almost three years I feel like I've got a better idea about the work and specifics than a total layman, but appreciate that my understanding is the tip of a gigantic and evolving iceberg; I won't try to "tight up the graphics on level three" but I can't begin to imagine what goes into AI or procedural generation. Actually working with a tool like Torque has honed some of this understanding.

While working with the scroller tutorial I began to understand what made some of my favorite 8 and 16-bit video game cutscenes (Sonic 3, Ninja Gaiden, Gunstar Heroes, etc.) feel so full of movement, depth and space. Working with particles impressed upon me how delicate and subtle making a believable and elegant explosion might be. Above all, though, it's wonderfully inspiring. While playing with the tools I reflect on where I may have seen their use or something similar in another game, how the mechanic may have evolved over time and how I might iterate on it in my own designs. This sometimes feeds upon itself as I come to new appreciations for games and designers while being inspired. At the same time, the true amount and scope of the worked involved in making a game, let alone an indie project, yawns wider and deeper before me with each passing lesson. At the very least I will come away from my effort with an even deeper and more profound respect for those that dedicate themselves to what might seem like an insane and fathomless amount of work. I also am beginning to appreciate, however, how driving the thrills of creating something so potentially subtle and fun would be.

I've also been jotting down the little bolts of ideas that I've been getting for when I do embark on making my own game. I've been trying to reflect on what I've been learning while putting myself in the mindset of a developer and I've found that I've been thinking about and appreciating games differently which I think has lead to some new ideas I haven't considered.

Something that I thought might be interesting is creating a platformer (maybe a puzzle-platformer) that riffs on the boss fight with The Sorrow in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. For those that haven't played it, the boss fight consists of wading up a river filled with the souls of all the enemies you've killed up to that point. If you've been stealthy and non-violent, it's a cakewalk, but if you've been going guns blazing it can be almost impassable. The idea, to some degree, is to make players regret (feel sorrowful) for the people they've killed and hurt.

In rough sketches, I was imaging a platformer where a player would try to avoid squishing enemies or go out of their way for a non-violent path to avoid the negative repercussions of dealing with the ghosts of their fallen enemies. I'm not sure what the repercussions would be, but in playing with Object Mounting in Torque I imagined the ghostly souls of 100 dead Koopa-Troopas slowly chasing Mario across a level as he tried to navigate terrain that worsened and warped around his regrets.

Now that I'm reading it back to myself it sounds a little dark (Emo Torque!), but I still thinks it's cool that something as simple as a mounting tutorial could be inspiring. Before I get anywhere, though, I have to wrap up these TGB tutorials!