Game On

Games. Who doesn't love them?
But what kind of games work best in open sim? 
We sat around the fire in the Safari Clubhouse and talked about it this week. Some don't like games in opensim at all, they think it is really better used for building and experimenting. The instability of the code, others mentioned, is a challenge when it comes to group activities and complicated scripts. Selby Evans mentioned an interesting solution to lag or reliability woes; in Second Life some of his friends organize a weekly version of Hollywood Squares on Thursdays, in which case the only scripts you have to worry about are the contestant's. 

When it comes to playing games in the hyperverse, builders are faced with the unenviable task of dealing with the competition of other dedicated and commercially perfect video games. How can you get people to play at racing or shoot 'em up  in opensim when they could be having a go at Need for Speed or Call of Duty. Well, perhaps for the company?  Something the wide open spaces of the hypergrid is always a bit short of. 


          In defiance of that, Safari went to Japan Open Grid this week to try their racing track, on the appropriately named sim Game, built by Fumi Hax. HG Addresses, as usual, at the end of the post.

          Not surprisingly, Fumi wasn't there, it was like 3 am in Japan when we showed up, so we kind of figured the game out ourselves. 

          The Japanese sim is called simply 'game' and there re about ten cars to choose from, it is a bit tricky to figure out how to click on the floor and then click on the start sign to get the race going, but once you're off...

Yara Eilde showing off her moves!

Unadecal Masala: that was FUN!!
Thirza Ember whispers: i went backwards!
George Equus: Rather impossible without a proper game controller...
Sunbeam Magic: i'm use to surfing and using the arrows and w a s keys , i played with my kids, it was good bonding ;) Mario Brothers and Zelda
George Equus: Never seen the fun in it myself... this seeming obsession of destruction
Wizardoz.Chrome: I go on foot lol
James.Atlloud: I saw flames in my crash.  I hope the insurance company doesn't come after me.
Selby.Evans: Could be fun for some people -- takes control skills -- people can compete and can get better at it it
Sunbeam Magic: things seem a lot better this time around in JOG :)
Unadecal Masala: the only thing I'm not too fond of here., is that everything is in Japanese :)
Thirza Ember: LOL well una we are in Japan, now you know how japanese people feel! ehehehe
Unadecal Masala: does ange know that she's a disembodied head?
George Equus: Body probably lost in crash...
Unadecal Masala: must have been a gruesome crash

           It's fun to hang out and chat about other things, in fact the conversation was about Rinions and Kinect, which is a great system that lets your avie move in whatever your real life body is moving. But would this sim be fun if you came here alone? Or is the group experience better?
Sunbeam Magic: i have been here by myself before ... and I surf in SL alone a lot of the time too
Selby Evans: I am always evaluating places for blog reports, so I never get bored
James Atlloud: Oh, I think I group would be my favorite experience, once everyone was competent with the controls.

The super competent Wizardoz Chrome

           So, let's try another game, on another grid... a return to the sim Outbreak a place we have been to before, a couple of months ago. 

Wizzina and Alex setting out to get some zombies!

           It's where Lou, aka Total Sorbet, has made a Zombie shoot 'em up game.
Yara Eilde : Hi Total
Unadecal Masala: Hola Total!
Total Sorbet: good to see you all! welcome back :D
Thirza Ember: heya Lou here we are! fresh from racing cars on Japan grid
Outbreak: Good luck Jessica.Pixel @pixelplanet.online:9000
Sunbeam Magic: if you can call flame crashes and motor oil fresh :)
Total.Sorbet: oh japan racing? sounds like fun

Total Sorbet

Yara.Eilde: yes
Sunbeam.Magic: Waves to Snakey !
Snakedance Moonwing: oh big crowd :)
Total Sorbet: im assuming u all know how to play? instructions are available here if u need them You can click this to check if u have scripts attached.
Lucy Afarensis: Not sure how to aim gun
Aime Socrates: did you enter the close view mode Lucy?
Lucy Afarensis: oh right thanks
Aime Socrates: tell us Louise what are the latest changes ...
Total Sorbet: oh well u can now aim for headshots for extra points, there are also pickups, speed ups, and bombs. The medipacks are a popular item, and kaboom is the sound you hear when you get a nuke bomb, thats kills every zombie on the map! 
Thirza Ember: before we started out tonight, we were talking about what kind of games work best in open sim... the race track is fun in a group, i'm not sure it would be a lot of fun alon... but this game works in both scenarios
Total Sorbet:  yes thirza it does, some people like to play as a team or as pairs but some hunt alone like Snakedance. 
Lucy Afarensis:  Game seems a lot harder than last lime

Intrepid Safaristas boldly go into the Zombie Zone

Total Sorbet: the game is now much more efficient, with lots of optimisations and game play toughened up because there are some really good players out there. I' ve tried hard to make it as straightforward as possible for the player.It's been difficult given the opensim constraints but I think we're getting somewhere now.
Aime Socrates: do you have good beta tester Louise ?
Total Sorbet: i have a few regulars who unknowingly help in that department aime :D
Jessica Pixel: How do you use the bomb? Oh i just read the notecard, bomb is automatic and kills all the zombies. This is even better than last time, the new HUD is great.
Total.Sorbet: im really pleased to hear that

          Whether you're roaming the streets shooting up the zombies, or sitting in the square camming and watching others play, Outbreak is FUN. About six people can play at one time, and the game seems to get more difficult if you are a good player, so it's hard to get bored. The zombies are all clones of players, so the names are often famous or familiar, which is a great touch, becaue it adds humor to the deadly situation! 

uh oh end of the line for Wizardoz Chrome

          The sim keeps up a running commentary of who is killing or being killed, so you know what is going on. A big score board at the beginning lets you know who the top players are, and gives you a figure to aim at. It's unlikely you're going to top the scores of Snakedance Moonwing, Ultra Soul and Aime Socrates, but you'll have fun trying!

           Finally, we headed over to catch the end of the Craft birthday celebration. 
           Well over thirty avies were on hand to wish the grid happy anniversary and many more years of prosperity and growth. It was also an opportunity to take a look at the 3D art entered into the Building Competition. The art is displayed all around the main dancing area, and will be left up for several weeks, so even if you missed the party evet, you can visit any time to see the thoughtful and ...well-crafted  installs.

The prizes!

          We arrived just around the time that Xyonne Fauno arrived, he was the winner of their annual building competition, which entitles him to a free sim for a year... food for thought to all the builders and artists out there!
HG Addresses 
Racing on Japan Open Grid...  grid.jopensim.com:8002:game
Zombies on OSGrid...  hg.osgrid.org:80:outbreak
Building Competition on Craft... craft-world.org:8002:suq