raspberrysweettea | Entries tagged with database

I've finally figured out what term to google, to learn how to make the kind of story project I've been thinking about: interactive fiction.

I watched High Score, the video game documentary miniseries on Netflix, when it came out. I've re-watched it multiple times since. I know a lot of people found it mediocre, but it's a fantastic jumping off point for game history for people like me who either never knew or just don't remember childhood gaming. I also find the simplicity of games past to be incredibly inspiring.

Watching the Xbox/Bethesda showcase yesterday was honestly so disappointing. With the exception of maybe Forza, I think the compulsion to constantly push the capacity of brand new hardware to present ever more complicated graphics is seriously overdone. I'm becoming more interested in focusing on mechanics and story. Using minimal art is key, I think, because you can use it to set a mood and general aesthetic, and beyond that it's easier to turn the player inward to help them imagine and personalize their story. Pretty sure that's why text games interest me so much.

Maybe it's just me, but I struggle to put myself in the story of a game when I'm staring down bright, complicated graphics. I'll spend forever in character creation - for games that have it - but my interest in the game itself tends to die off pretty fast. It's part of why I only play Halo, COD, and Battlefield for their multiplayer/social features. Actually, I got my Xbox360 specifically for its social features, because I didn't understand the capabilities and variety of PC games at the time. My Series X may be my last console, unless some awesome games come out for whatever comes next.

I hope the next Xbox console doesn't come out for at least 15-20 years, so someone smaller can make something truly awesome for the current generation. I still think we moved on from the 360 before we should have, and the push for better hardware/graphics needlessly overran the One, thus rushing us into the Series S/X era before we actually needed to be there. Story is getting left behind.

Well, unless you dig into the PC/Indie scenes. I know the general internet is a treasure trove, it's just hard to find the gems if you don't know where to look. By learning the term Interactive Fiction, I feel like I've just made a breakthrough into a new hyperfixation XD

Although, I'm trying to remember the name of a virtual console I found about a year ago, I think it was low-poly. That mental bug is going to distract me, because I think it was vaguely related to this subject.