Tag Archives: multiplayer

Guess the State Game

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So, I was messing with the idea of making a new multi-player Hangman game for mobile, and I went home last night and put together this quick game between 8pm and 1am! I would love to know what you think of the game, which is here:

Guess the State Game

Go play it and then come back and comment on this post! If you like it, please support future development of the game by following the Amazon links on the page footer.

I’d love to add features like leaderboards, a time limit, rewards for reducing mistakes or a perfect score, levelling up, and of course, additional categories other than US states. If I do release a multi-player, competitive, timed version of the game for mobile I’ll also need funds to pay for licensing costs and bandwidth.

You can also help by visiting Zone In, the new site that answers the question, What’s happening near me?

Halo 4 is out today! P.S. I worked on it

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It’s great to finally see my company, Certain Affinity, getting some love for our co-development of Halo 4’s competitive multiplayer, ‘War Games’, with 343, including working on game modes such as Dominion, and on a majority of multiplayer maps, such as Adrift and Longbow.

Here are the highlights, from a range of top videogame news sites:

IGN: How Halo 4 is Seeking to Win Multiplayer Wars

These guys really get multiplayer, and they have a long and intimate relationship with the Halo universe.

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Game Sales, Dead Multiplayer Servers, and Ways to Make People Happy

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In the past six months two projects of mine have been released with integral multiplayer components – Driver: San Francisco and Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest. I want to quickly discuss my multiplayer experience with each of these and draw a conclusion about better ways to do multiplayer today.
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Zombie Jigsaw: piecing together Left 4 Dead 2

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This is the sequel to the sleuthing for the truth article about Brink. First, I should say that it’s a little unfair to compare Brink to Left 4 Dead 2. Brink is essentially a competitive game, whereas Left 4 Dead 2 is co-operative – even in Versus mode. Co-op games offer more time and space for in-game storytelling than competitive ones, because competitive shooters like Team Fortress 2, Counterstrike, or Brink tend to lead to manic, twitch gaming. The best you can hope for with such limited time and attention is some well-placed one-liners. In a co-op game, the experience is more managed, with lows, highs, and potential story moments – similar to single-player.

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Sleuthing for the truth: does story matter in a multiplayer game?

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I’m a pretty story-aware gamer, for obvious reasons. I have a pathological need to complete every dialogue tree, a determination to hear every variation on a bark, and I even take a perverse delight in spamming all the voice commands in TF2 and Left 4 Dead to any teammate who will listen – “Who’s gonna help me capture this bloody POINT?” – imagine hearing that again and again in the loud Scottish Demoman voice (and please don’t hate me).

You might note that both TF2 and Left 4 Dead (1 & 2) are multiplayer games. You would be correct. TF2 doesn’t have much story, beyond the Class videos, the emerging Announcer / Saxton Hale comics canon, and the fact that each level is effectively a mini-scenario where two groups are fighting for control – a scenario communicated through the level design and art itself. OK, when you write it all down, that does sound like quite a lot of story.

But what I’m thinking of is the more traditional, plot-based story where things happen to characters, who evolve, resulting in new things happening – all within the game. And for this, I want to look at Brink and Left 4 Dead 2.
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