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Live at PAX South 2016
We have two panels at PAX South 2016!
Atari Game Design
Saturday, January 30th at 1:00pm
Bobcat Theatre
Game design is a wide subject. The best approach to mastering it is to focus on the fundamentals, and what better place to do that than with Atari 2600 games? Join us for a deep game design analysis of classic competitive Atari games like Outlaw, and how their core concepts extend to modern games. When you can literally count the pixels with your eyes, and the code will fit in your calculator, the core principles of good (and bad) design become starkly apparent.
Designing Game Rules
Sunday, January 31st at 1:00pm
Bobcat Theatre
The rules of a game literally define it. In videogames, they are intrinsic limitations. In tabletop, players must enforce them. In all games, players need to learn them. There are good and bad ways to teach a game. From awful tutorials to unparseable rulebooks, elegant demos to hour-long slogs, join us for a mechanical discussion of how game rules are (and should be) written, how players learn games, and why so few people are willing to read a 100 page rulebook (nevermind the appendices)!
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Comments
I've always been fascinated by the technical challenges of coding on the old hardware. Somewhere on my shit-talk list is making my own 2600 game one day.
Actually, have you played any of the homebrew titles publishes by AtariAge, and would you consider those as part of the lecture? It's amazing what some people have accomplished. I'm a big fan of Medieval Mayhem, which is an updated version of the old Warlords game (a competitive 4-player Pong)
1. Outlaw (a study in good design)
2. Slot Racers (well designed, but obtuse)
3. Maze Craze (lots of neat stuff about this one)
4. Surround (tron bikes)