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General / Re: I just learned about the vibe...
« on: January 22, 2008, 05:00:20 am »
Thanks, Karl. Much appreciated.
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General / Re: I just learned about the vibe...
« on: January 14, 2008, 09:20:02 pm »
Understood. Thanks for explaining. Hey, who knows, maybe it's the weirdness that makes your music and sound so cool. Don't lose it! 
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General / Re: I just learned about the vibe...
« on: January 14, 2008, 08:07:18 pm »
Hi Alec (and forum gang),
I wrote the "vibe" article for my blog The Brainy Gamer, and, well, sorry about making you gag! ;-)
I thought it might be helpful to say that I never intended the piece as a deep analysis or dissection of Aquaria. Rather, I had read several pieces on the game and felt that they were missing what really hooked me and impressed me most about Aquaria. It's a game with soul. Aside from other issues like level design and gameplay, I'm really intrigued by how the game feels and sounds and looks. I awkwardly describe this as "vibe" in my piece because I don't know a better word to describe it. My intention was simply to express my admiration for the way you got a certain soulful feeling into Aquaria when so many big-budget games seem to have so little. My list of elements in the post was intended to point at things other designers could learn from Aquaria if they want to incorporate this elusive vibe into their games.
As for the question of "reading into" games or over-interpreting them, I think it's an inevitable and positive thing. I work in the theater for my "real job" and I find that people see all kinds of things that I may or may not have intended in my work. When something stimulates us emotionally or intellectually (as Aquaria did for me) we're bound to respond through whatever lenses we see the world through, and that inevitably affects what we think a game means or says. When you put it out there, it's basically out of your hands, and I think that's a good thing. The worst response, I think, is "well that was nice." Better to provoke something meaningful, even if it has no relationship to what you were thinking as the creator.
Anyway, just my 2 cents. Probably worth less. I hope this is helpful, and, again, many thanks for Aquaria.
Michael
I wrote the "vibe" article for my blog The Brainy Gamer, and, well, sorry about making you gag! ;-)
I thought it might be helpful to say that I never intended the piece as a deep analysis or dissection of Aquaria. Rather, I had read several pieces on the game and felt that they were missing what really hooked me and impressed me most about Aquaria. It's a game with soul. Aside from other issues like level design and gameplay, I'm really intrigued by how the game feels and sounds and looks. I awkwardly describe this as "vibe" in my piece because I don't know a better word to describe it. My intention was simply to express my admiration for the way you got a certain soulful feeling into Aquaria when so many big-budget games seem to have so little. My list of elements in the post was intended to point at things other designers could learn from Aquaria if they want to incorporate this elusive vibe into their games.
As for the question of "reading into" games or over-interpreting them, I think it's an inevitable and positive thing. I work in the theater for my "real job" and I find that people see all kinds of things that I may or may not have intended in my work. When something stimulates us emotionally or intellectually (as Aquaria did for me) we're bound to respond through whatever lenses we see the world through, and that inevitably affects what we think a game means or says. When you put it out there, it's basically out of your hands, and I think that's a good thing. The worst response, I think, is "well that was nice." Better to provoke something meaningful, even if it has no relationship to what you were thinking as the creator.
Anyway, just my 2 cents. Probably worth less. I hope this is helpful, and, again, many thanks for Aquaria.
Michael
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