wall jump explained

wall jump explained
game design, música e o passeio da vida

This is a post about Estamos Pensando. Do not read it before you play the game. <a href='http://www.kongregate.com/games/HotBarlo/estamos-pensando'>Click here if you haven't!</a> About a year ago, I released Estamos Pensando. Since then, I had lots and lots of fun reading what people thought about it. I'll confess right away: I myself didn't know exactly what was I thinking when I made it. But after reading what everyone thought, I do have my own take too! I dated this girl and she really was a pain in the ass. In the game's initial dialogue, the girl asks for something impossible and complains about how she wanted the guy to be more "romantic". There were lots of people saying this was bad writing. I am not saying it was actually good, but I believe it made the point. Actually, some of those lines I heard from some girl friends and I even researched some blogs in pursuit of similar girls complaining about boyfriends. I know it is weird, but I really put my mind on to it. Ok. So the game begins, you wall jump your way to the rooftop. And then you try to grab the star. Lots of people think this is the character commiting suicide. Not quite. When I dated this girl, I, for quite sometime, put her needs over mine. I didn't think it through, and so I did lots of stupid things. That is what the character (and also the player) does: he jumps from the rooftop to try something impossible. And then he's screwed. He dies. Yes, this is a little over dramatic, I know. But it was the way I found to make the player to be really sad about it. I wanted this. This is the game's crucial point to me: you do something stupid without realizing it. There were some really nice people who did get this and wrote some of the comments I enjoyed the most. The game never tried to teach anybody about anything, as lots of people suggested. It just... it just tries to express the emotions I felt in a really condensed way. After this, you fly to space, now as our hero's spirit, and collect stars. That, actually, doesn't have any real meaning behind it. You may think that the character loves his girl so much that he tries to please her even after his own death. Or you may also believe that he gets the stars just as his way of saying "Are you happy now? Then here are your fucking stars". It's your call. Well, initially I had an idea on this. When the credits rolled, I wanted to get something akin to a tree growing from the ground to the point where it would also get the stars. I thought about making the character this dumb, who would die and never get what he did wrong. But then the deadline came, I was really tired and I scrapped the whole idea. Just one more curious fact: the title. I made the logo and I loved it. I hadn't decided the title yet but I wanted to show it to some friends. So I wrote "Estamos Pensando" as a way to say "I'm still thinking about the title". To the SBGame's festival deadline, I still wanted to change it. But I couldn't think in anything else. So... I decided to keep it. I thought it was hilarious, but now I kind of regret it. It gave the game some sort of pretentious vibe... Lots of people complained about it and I can see why. So.. there you have it! In one year, about 50 thousand people played it here and on <a href='http://www.kongregate.com/games/HotBarlo/estamos-pensando'>Kongregate.com</a>. Not a huge success, but it was a really cool experience. And now I am developing a new game! : )Marcadores: <a rel='tag' href="http://www.walljumpexplained.com/blog/labels/Autor.html">Autor</a>, <a rel='tag' href="http://www.walljumpexplained.com/blog/labels/Game%20Design.html">Game Design</a>

my take on Estamos Pensando

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Data: 2009-10-11
Hora: 12:35 AM
Comentários:

my take on Estamos Pensando

11/10/09 -

Lucas Antico disse...
I hope there's a lot of blood on the next one. Cheers!

26/11/09 -

Anônimo disse...
I loved the game :) I got it that wasn't suicide and I was quite surprised that some people believed so... well that's a sad story but it made me think... thanks a lot :)

8/12/09 -

augusto disse...
i didnt actualy thinked he suicided i realised that he loves her so much he would do anything that she asks and it was a really beautyful story its great,sad and touching./eu não pensei q ele tinha se matado eu notei q ele ama ela tanto q faria qualquer coisa por ela e foi uma linda triste ótima historia q toca no coração.

24/4/10 -

Nanu disse...
Parabensss Sou argentina e achei o jogo por casualidade, amei! primeiro vou peder desculpas pelo meu portugues q nao é muito bom. entao, qndo comecei jogar, depois do dialogo, pensei como o personagem "o q tenho q fazer? sera q tenho q ir pegar uma estrela pra menina?" dai cheguei ate o teto da casa e nao sabia o q fazer...até q vi a estrela e fui pegar ela... o cara morreu e o jogo continua como todos sabem. qndo acabei o jogo pensei: "bom, no final, ele conseguiu baijar as estrelas pra ela..." e me fez emocionar... nunca na minha vida tinha me emocionado com um jogo... Gracias! (Obrigada)

saludosss desde Argentina.
Nanu

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