tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61231273625606882672011-11-28T01:10:30.225+01:00"Aliasing lets us tell videogames from reality" - <i>Aristotle</i>, "παιδιά", 349 BC<br> "Thou shalt not fear aliasing, it's not the product of evil, it is man greatest invention" - Sir Shigster in "Henry WII" story by <i>William Shakespeare</i>, 1623Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.comBlogger281100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-53517081545489032722010-01-13T19:53:00.000+01:002010-01-13T19:53:12.029+01:00

After a long time, I am back to work on a project very dear to me. It is the sequel to UFHO, the Flash game I made in 2008 while working at Visual Creative Studio. This time, with UFHO2, we are trying to build something bigger and better. While the game will retain the basic mechanics, it will be enhanced by the addition of a single player experience complete with AI, a new dynamic soundtrack,

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-3443530068498659612009-10-22T17:31:00.006+02:002009-10-22T18:06:21.124+02:00

In these days a new game was released for Wii: the on-rails shooter Dead Space: Extraction. The latest news (today/yesterday) say that the game has made a really slow start in the stores around the world, selling a mere 9.000 units in the first week.Now news sites will once again start saying that Wii hasn't got a mature audience, that Wii owners only want casual games, and developers will start

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-40210547480154099012009-09-23T10:06:00.005+02:002009-09-23T10:41:00.965+02:00

Germany has a long story of bans related to games. Censorship is higher there when it comes to blood or violence, and there's a rumor that the Government is considering a ban on all action games.Recently Raven Software has published a game called Wolfenstein, which is the sequel of the famous Wolfenstein 3D which was retired from the market in 1994 due to its nazi references. Ah, I forgot to

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-84256774791650704792009-09-01T16:23:00.003+02:002009-09-01T16:33:37.410+02:00

Just what I was waiting for. Well, actually not, but it's important all the same.Nintendo released today an update to the Internet Channel for Wii, with an updated Flash Player. I haven't yet tried which version it is, I guess it's 9 or 10. (edit: read below)The incredible news is that now Wii will be overwhelmed with GOOD Flash games rivaling Wiiware offerings. Is Nintendo crazy? Waiting for an

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-22264735789540675302009-07-20T15:26:00.005+02:002009-07-20T15:38:05.265+02:00

I just tried The Conduit for the Wii and I just can't believe how bad it is, from a graphical point of view. For months the developers bragged about the engine behind the game, and still from what I could see on the internet I wasn't convinced.Now that I saw it first hand I see nothing but cool (?) effects, blur, bloom lights, some bump, depth of field blur and the like. But taken together they

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-53145057204791925192009-07-02T19:35:00.001+02:002009-07-07T14:24:56.102+02:00

How do we create a mental model?Mental models are, like the word says, entities that live in our minds. They are created by observing reality and taking away only the important details, in a cycle that looks something like "Observation -> Distillation -> Application of the model -> Observation" and so on.The observation phase is where our mind fills with all the necessary details to create the

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-75162431098946207972009-07-01T10:20:00.000+02:002009-07-01T12:30:50.470+02:00

I was pondering on Wii Sports and its relation to reality. I sometimes see people trying to play Wii Sports (tennis, for the most) like it was real tennis, and they marvel at the fact that they can't do all the gestures they would do on a real tennis court. This often happens when the person complaining has a real-life experience with the sport or activity involved in the videogame. Of course the

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-46385111456701300292009-06-29T22:41:00.003+02:002009-06-30T10:57:26.810+02:00

Today saw the start of the game design course by Ian Schreiber. The course is online and it's free, and will be published on his blog for everyone to see. The first predictable post is on the definition of 'game' and 'play'.Here's the post:Game design concepts - Lesson 1If you are a game designer still learning like me, it will be an invaluable experience.

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-34494507211018516422009-04-20T00:17:00.003+02:002009-04-20T00:26:12.903+02:00

I am always against latest fashions, and this happens also for games. Whenever I see a game getting enormous acclaim, I think that it's somehow overrated.I did the same with Braid, a game by Jonathan Blow, but then I tried the demo all the same. Only one play through the first two level was needed to change my mind. Braid is deserving every bit of the good reviews it already has. Check the demo

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-56184315928195919722009-03-29T14:02:00.006+02:002009-03-29T19:36:05.875+02:00

Shift is a wonderful game I just discovered. As usual, the most marvelous and innovative games are Flash...In Shift you play the part of a monochromatic man who runs in black and white labyrinths, trying to get to the exit. What sets the game aside from the rest is the ability to press Shift to turn the world upside down, and go where you couldn't before. If you're white you're walking on white

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-88049815271415072072009-01-29T16:30:00.005+01:002009-01-29T16:38:28.392+01:00

A nifty little game from team HardCode, a group of DigiPen students. Directly from their site:"You control a small frog-like creature that can use his extraordinarily long tongue to grapple, bounce and swing around a world of beautiful terrariums. Navigate and explore a variety of picturesque environments, complete different sets of entertaining challenges, all while licking flies and flicking

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-69770950384287007562009-01-27T15:04:00.003+01:002009-01-27T15:20:46.315+01:00

Today on the site ArsLudica a guy posted a small article about the fact that SEGA and EA are cutting a number of new IPs in favor of tested franchises. He complained that people writing comments in response to the news didn't understand the situation and only asked for sequels of the storical SEGA franchises.Part of a comment (in italian) to the blog post says:"- credit crunch fucked Factor 5:

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-21562086869942115822009-01-17T23:00:00.003+01:002009-01-17T23:55:08.255+01:00

Everybody knows that Wii has got a browser, that the browser is Opera, and that it can only play Flash movies up to the version 7.Now everybody knows that Flash 7 is old now, there was 8 who added filters, enhanced video playback, there was 9 (the current standard) that brought ActionsScript 3.0, and now there's 10, which brings to the table some nifty features like 3D APIs, image processing

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-12331140186619299712009-01-15T12:38:00.004+01:002009-01-15T13:26:08.015+01:00

Some days ago Kotaku and other sites published an article about a patent filed by Nintendo (from Miyamoto itself actually) about something called Kind Code.I read a big deal of the patent itself, and came out with the following: Kind Code is a fanciful name for something that actually exists in some way, and then some more.The patent describes various ways to play a game: "Play", "Digest" and "

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-1673578490979487652009-01-11T02:09:00.006+01:002009-09-23T10:42:27.799+02:00

This being the title of a game for the iPhone I'm working on, with the help of three other guys from the Rome scene of development ;)It's a vertical shooter set between the two World Wars. It has a comical feel to it, kinda like Metal Slug (I'm not saying it will have that class though!)I just finished the preliminary work on the blog, we're going to post some things about the development... for

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-65045138394154973302009-01-09T01:41:00.005+01:002009-09-23T10:42:14.472+02:00

Some time back I entered UFHO for the Independent Games Festival. Yesterday the finalists were nominated and we aren't among them. I can't but feel a little disappointed, but after all I wasn't expecting too much. Don't get me wrong, I love UFHO and I still really believe in the concept, but I think it needs a little bit of polish still to get noticed. Oh well...Anyway at IGF the judges tend to

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-27515538915811914072008-12-19T15:06:00.004+01:002009-01-09T01:56:49.379+01:00

Today's the day. World of Goo is going to be available on the European WiiWare service. I'll buy it as soon as possible.Meanwhile, I found out that someone called "nitrozark" started a project for a free World of Goo Level Editor. It's available on SourceForge here: http://apps.sourceforge.net/mediawiki/wogeditThe guys at 2D boy know that, and they gave their blessing to the editor. Hurrah!

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-2330758748224675932008-12-15T01:12:00.003+01:002008-12-15T01:22:09.531+01:00

What I mean is... why software houses are trying so hard on the average casual gamer? How long do they think it's gonna last?If a person that just got close to videogames buys a really bad game, one of those games that swears "Fun for the whole family!", and then turns out to be boredom for the whole family and even the pets, maybe he will try again.He could buy another bad game, but that's it.

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-50009271922832806612008-12-02T18:03:00.001+01:002009-09-23T10:41:52.472+02:00

Surely Fieldrunners came a bit ago, it's not new and neither is the concept. But on the iPhone this is the greatest execution of the Tower defence gameplay. As you can see the graphics are really sharp and both towers and troops are fully animated.The only downside is that, as of now, there's only 2 maps and 4 types of towers, but Subatomic Studios add features with every release, so maybe the

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-62382546238182234562008-11-30T23:14:00.002+01:002009-01-09T01:55:26.942+01:00

UFHO, my Flash game, has been entered as a contestant for the 11th Independent Games Festival. The entrance fee was 95 dollars, that's why it took so long for us to submit it, we're stingy (whenever I say "we", I mean me and my boss, it's a "company we").I can't say I think it could win in any cathegory for there could be spectacular games out there, but deep in my heart I know UFHO has a great

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-70203677810034616492008-10-01T17:54:00.004+02:002008-10-01T18:12:07.151+02:00

Some time ago I discovered this competition about making retro games. Well, not every category is retro, but 5 out of 6 are, so... It's called Retro Remakes Big Competition, and is hosted by the Retro Remakes site. You can see the rules and all on the competition blog, and everything else on the forums.They accept games in almost every form, for every platform, but the deadline is December the

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-1081591430782012802008-09-23T14:52:00.009+02:002008-09-23T15:20:11.812+02:00

This is something that HAD to be shared:http://it.youtube.com/experiencewiiLet the video run for at least 20 seconds and you'll see...Beside the very funny commercial, I love this game. Too bad that the first reviews say that it's a little bit short...

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-11995667489311392302008-09-18T01:43:00.012+02:002008-09-19T17:08:22.854+02:00

Ever wanted to draw a beautiful dashed line in Flash with a single line of code?... Well you can't do it yet, but my code needs only three or four to intialize the object and then one for each line.I made a custom class called DashedLine, which is an extension of the flash.display.Shape class. With it you can create a DashedLine instance that has the following methods:drawDashedLine - Draws a

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-82931301004341731602008-09-16T21:58:00.007+02:002008-09-16T23:51:39.566+02:00

Well, this post actually talks about everything except the Space stage, because I reached it only at 3.00 AM last night, so I was forced to turn the game off (I have a daytime work, you know).After trying the demo I bought the game, so how is the full game? Is it worth 54,90 € (italian price)? The answer can be yes, for the most part. Spore is a fun, addictive game, maybe a little short since I

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-81776958840477325692008-09-10T01:45:00.012+02:002008-09-10T17:37:36.199+02:00

Tonight I have to talk about one of the most surprising games of the latest years. Yes it's Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 for the Wii, and I'm gonna tell you why. Meanwhile, watch some movies of the game if you don't know about it.This game does what I dream I could do at least once in my life, to take game mechanics unchanged since ten or more years, and change them. The team at Konami (I think the

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-85366842489466243592008-09-08T22:53:00.025+02:002008-09-23T15:08:34.957+02:00

As a big fan as I am of game editors, I couldn't resist to give Spore Creature Creator a try.For those who don't know the game, Spore is a simulator game in which you build your creature and then take it through all the stages of evolution. The game is full of editors to create your creature, buildings, spaceships and so on, and Creature Creator is one of them.What I didn't knew though is how

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-18824516993308136172008-09-03T18:20:00.004+02:002008-09-10T18:20:14.141+02:00

I wrote an article about MMORPGs. Long story short:This article deals with my thoughts on online multiplayer role playing games that push the player to stay hours and hours in front of the screen and make him lose contact with real life and relatives/friends. Since this behaviour is obviously wrong, this article proposes some ways to actually force the player to play less time. This is done by

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123127362560688267.post-64425926578172630632008-08-31T17:11:00.000+02:002008-09-10T18:10:07.465+02:00

Is there a better way to start one's blog rather than talking about his first real game in the role of designer?UFHO has been launched three months ago on http://www.ufho.it. It's a puzzle game online, where you can (and ultimately must) play with a friend in a game that is so tactic that it reminds of chess. The concept is simple: move through a maze of hexagon shaped rooms and head for the gem

Ciro Continisiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12356260874851669502noreply@blogger.com1