Thanks to our advertising consultant, Sushmita Das, My Escape has received its first announcement on the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.). A brief blurb:
To etch the brand in the online gamers' memory, My Escape seeks to create games that will entertain and appeal to those needing a less-immersive gaming experience and a quick escape from quotidian reality. Competing in the online gaming industry that boasts to reach nearly one out of every two internet users (Flash Games Market Survey, ComScore via Mochi Media, 2010), My Escape is set to play ball by introducing games centered around oddness, strangeness, and peculiarity.
People say the hardest thing is facing a blank piece of paper and trying to create something new. I say that’s a load of bull. The fun is in creating the new idea; the difficulty comes in working that idea into a feasible and enjoyable game proposal.
Before you even contemplate writing anything, make sure you have some inspiration. This could come from a newspaper article, film, book, poster, etc. It could be anything! They key is to find something that makes you question “what if...?” and then sit down with paper in hand (or keyboard at fingers) and thrash your brain until you have a basic synopsis. A paragraph of around 3-5 lines is all you need to begin.
Once you have narrowed the idea down, head off to create a single-page treatment that will include the high concept (the goal of the game), target platforms, target audiences, key features and a single-paragraph description of the game.
Upon completion, you should pretty much know your game idea. The next hurdle arrives when creating a game design document. This is the trickier part since every element of game (art, audio, level design, etc.) needs to be covered well enough so that all parties can work from it or producers can pitch with it. The simplest route to travel is visualising your game from the moment you access it to the moments you are victorious, fail and exit and write everything down. Every illumination, transition or sound effect must be included...
Remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day and a top-grade game design document won’t be either!
Is this a joke? Surely £39.95 for this is about £40 too much... They should offer me five pence just to pick the case up and put it back down; I wouldn’t have taken the five pence out of pride! I would have shaken my head with a dissatisfied look, curled across my brow and then marched to freedom.
Only if I knew that all review sites gave the game solid scores out of sympathy for past triumphs!
Yet in this not so perfect world I bit the bullet and purchased Final Fantasy 13. Was it because of hype ? Probably! I guess the reviewer’s words that stated the title was a ‘sixty hour epic onslaught” intrigued me. Yet, this isn’t epic. Not in the slightest!
From the first moments in game to the last time I forced myself to play, I just felt sad. This was once the most amazing IP in the gaming universe! Yet it can’t compete against even average games (for me at least). For example I found myself returning to Quantum of Solace on the PS3 just to avoid playing Final Fantasy 13. I was making up excuses in my head to avoid playing it; “Ah well, I need to complete Quantum first, I’ve had it for several months!”
Ok so I’ve hit it enough with my hate stick, I should explain why I hate it so much. The game play SUCKS, the dialogue SUCKS, character advancement SUCKS, combat SUCKS and mostly for a character driven game, the characters SUCK! Oh and I forgot, the environments are BAD! It was more on rails than Panzer Dragoon (an on-rails shooter)!
The game play sucked because I repeated the same actions throughout the forced 10 hours of game play I experienced (yes I tried to like it, I tried my damn pants off). Could I do things differently? Nope! The environment had me on a fixed course and enemies would do the same things, and I would need to do the same things to get past the same things the enemies did (and breathe).
The moments the game play didn’t suck was when cut scenes started, but unfortunately the dialogue in them sucked HARD! At one point I felt my soul trying to escape through my nostrils; it almost gave up on existing in this fleshy vessel! How can this be an epic character-driven game when the dialogue, the essence of the characters was so horrible? Even the most hardened Final Fantasy fan must admit the dialogue was horrendous, if not you would love some of the new films Steven Seagal is in... The dialogue sucks, buts that’s clearly what you’re after in your entertainment!
As this is a blog, I should end now, but if you haven’t purchased Final Fantasy 13, well done. If you have and enjoy it, well done more! I couldn’t pretend to like something for nostalgic reasons; I’ve done it countless times with Halo and Rare! (and breathe)
What nicknames did you have growing up? Chunk or Becks. It became Becks as I lost the ability to do the truffle shuffle (aka Chunk from the Goonies)
What is one of your favorite birthday memories? I can’t think of any. That is pretty sad in all honesty… Although the later years have probably been blocked out from obsessive drinking.
What was the name of your primary school? Stow Heath Junior School.
What was your favorite subject as a child? Why? None, I hated school although my primary school English teacher use to enjoy my flights of fantasy in regards to my stories.
GEEKY STUFF
How many games do you own? No idea, I have around 30 in front of my but that doesn’t even come close to what I own or owned.
What’s the largest game design document you’ve completed for a project? A funded project, probably around 150 pages (only casual games). My OWN largest project is for an MMORPG that’s around 600 pages covered eight documents I think. That does not include quests.
Do you prefer games on PC or console? I feel more creativity is going on in the PC casual market than anywhere else, but I’ll say consoles… for now!
What constitutes a great game for you? The feeling that I don’t want to put the pad down.
Have you ever waited in line for more than half hour for something geeky? What was it? Just one thing? The first that springs to mind was the Gamecube… Oh and the first Xbox… Oh and… No that’s enough hehe.
LOCAL FLAVOR STUFF
Where’s the best placed to have meat in England? Meat? What? Erm, meat? Lol. Pass.
Where do you prefer to buy your clothing? Online stores, I’m not one for cloth shopping in actual stores… Changing rooms and the crazies where I live don’t go together well lol.
What time of the year has the best weather? Autumn or winter. I like the colour or Autumn but the smile winter puts on my daughters face.
Please name a business in the area that has a funny name. SHAAT clothing store
What’s the traffic like where you live? It’s not so bad, until you get on the roads.
GAMING STUFF
What is your earliest gaming memory? A submarine attack game which was basically blocks shooting at other blocks, which you played on a block while holding a block controller. Thank god for design.
Have you ever thrown and/or broken a controller in a fit of rage? Yes, three times a month at least.
What game had you built up the most hype about in your head but failed to meet your expectations? Where do I start? Metal Gear Solid 4 killed me, you watch more than you play and people had the cheek to complain about Heavy Rain? Oh halo 3 sucked too.
What’s the longest gaming session you’ve ever had? Probably back in my world of please lord put me downcraft days. That game is like cocaine for the casual gaming generation. I can’t say how long it was but it probably shaved the minutes to two days (40+ hours).
Which do you prefer: games that require leveling up or pure attribute increases? I prefer a game that gets me involved. I don’t mind the manner in which it does that, so the system behind advancement is not important to me. Heck I don’t mind if there is no advancement.
UNRELATED STUFF
If you were a spy, what would be your codename? RickyGoVicky… People may see why in the future.
For how long do you think Matthew McConaughey could hold his breath? Do you think he would be good at acting as if he were holding his breath? He’s not good at acting! So if that was reversed, he simply cannot stop exhaling he is that bad.
Please list five words beginning with the letters “pr” that describe you. Prick, Prat… I only know those words beginning with pr… I’m definitely not proud or private… Oh can I slip an I inbetween them and be a pirate… Ooooh haaaa me hearties!!!!
If you were a hybrid animal, what would you be? Part fish, part duck. I would be a fu…… No hang on lol. Part chimp who has been experimenting with mind altering substances and part chimp who has been experimenting with mind altering substances… hehe
In five minutes, using only your mouse and Microsoft Paint, draw your best version of you as that animal.
My Escape has its name, its logo and its first game idea, but we need that certain Je ne sais what that ties it all together nicely with a bow (kind of like our developer Duane on his birthday).
This is where you come in:
WHO: My Escape Fans
WHAT: Developing a slogan for our name and logo with the theme of Personal Escapism
WHERE: On the interwebs
WHY: Because if you win, George will dedicate to you a classic video game tune of your choice by recording every single instrument with his voice George Sings Final Fantasy Victory Theme by MYescape WHEN: Starting now until April 17th
The idea is simple; submit a slogan to us at contact.myescape@gmail.com by April 17th. My Escape will deliberate and decide on its three favorites. We’ll turn it back to you to vote for one of the top three and the winner gets heavenly melodies and harmonies from Georgie-boy. Is that all? Of course not!
You can earn bonus voting points by bringing in more fans to support the group on Facebook. That means, for each additional fan you attract, you and the new member will get one additional vote. All you have to do is have the fan email us with mention of your referral and we will count that towards the final tally.
“Are there rules?” Of course! Every game has them (at least the best ones do):
1) You must submit the slogan to contact.myescape@gmail.com by April 17th.
2) You may submit as many entries as you would like, but if you have multiple awesome submissions, My Escape will only choose one from your list to go into the top three
3) Only one vote per person.
4) Members of My Escape may not submit entries or participate in the final vote
5) If your entry is voted as the winner, you give up all personal freedoms and are permanently an indentured servant to My Escape. Ok, kidding! You only have to agree to let us use your slogan from the point of the contest’s conclusion to infinity. In other words, we’ll trade you George’s recorded voice for your slogan.
Alright, we’re excited and we hope you are too. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email My Escape and we will do our best to answer them promptly. Thanks for your virtual love; we look forward to hearing from you!
It would take her a couple of hundred pounds (that's currency, not weight - for your non-European folk) to eat a bowl of salad dressing (although, they don't really have salad dressing in Scotland)
If she were a super heroine, her name would be 'Captain Dinkyfish' and she would sail the high seas in a pirate ship converting all the people she met to the good cause of piracy. She would also have super rum-drinking powers and be able to out-drink anyone she met. (see photo on right)
She thinks that approximately 1000 mice would fit into a four-door sedan.
When asked what use a tool named "The Gillian" has: Oh god I don't know! It would probably encourage the person it was used on to think that tequila shots were a reeeeally good idea and that they should buy some immediately haha Not that I'm a bad influence when it comes to that sort of thing… :D
BIOGRAPHICAL STUFF:
From where does your first name stem and does it carry any significant meaning, sentimental or otherwise?Hmmm… I honestly don't know that one… I think I'll Google it, give me a second. *opens browser* Right apparently Gillian means "youthful" and stems from the Latin "Juliana." Well that was a bit rubbish, I was hoping it was going to be something exciting! It doesn't really have any sentimental value, my middle name (no I'm not telling you what it is :P) is the same as my gran's but as far as I know my parents just chose "Gillian" because they liked it.
Your last name is Patterson. What’s that been like growing up? Not bad thanks haha. The only annoying thing is having to say "with two t's" every time someone is writing down your name.
Where do you currently live and does it smell good? Funny you should ask that actually because I live by the sea in a little town about 40 minutes away from Glasgow and most of the time no, it does not smell very good at all. Have you ever smelled seaweed when it's been washed up on the shore? It's awful, I can't stand it. I'd much rather live somewhere further inland - I love the smell of trees and grass :)
Do you have any siblings? If so, how well do you get along? If not, do you want to borrow any of mine?Fortunately no, I'm an only child and it suits me perfectly! I enjoy my own company and get really grumpy when I'm around people for too long - I think it's safe to say that if I'd had a brother or sister we'd have killed each other!
As a child, did you have your own bedroom? Were you the kind of child who didn’t mind keeping her bedroom door open or did you need to keep your secret plans under wraps?I had my own bedroom, and the door was firmly shut most of the time! I used to spend hours playing with my toys - I'd get completely absorbed and lose all track of time. I spent a lot of time playing out in my back garden too; there are a few trees down at the bottom so I used to hide in amongst them and make mud pies haha. That or I'd climb up the trees and sit at the top pretending to be a bird or something - I fell out once and broke my wrist… that hurt.
GEEKY STUFF:
How often do you check your email per day? Depends how busy I've been- if I've been at work then maybe just once or twice but if I've had the day off then quite a lot lol
Have you had an online user name that you would now consider to be embarrassing? Not really - I've not been using online forums/etc for that long so I think I was mature enough to pick a reasonably sensible name haha. I usually go with Dinkyfish which is a nickname given to me by my boyfriend or Morgenstern which means 'morning star' in German and is the title of one of my favourite Rammstein songs.
Are there any televisions series to which you’re completely addicted?I wouldn't have said I was 'addicted' to any, I don't watch that much TV at all actually. (The TV in my bedroom isn't even connected to an arial because I only really use it for my Xbox 360/Wii!) One of my friends has recently lent me the first season of 'Supernatural' to watch though and I'm really enjoying it so far. Plus it doesn't hurt that one of the main characters, Dean Winchester, is pretty easy on the eye! He drives one of the sweetest cars I've ever seen too - a 1967 Chevrolet Impala - I am determined to own one one day!
What celebrity crushes do you have?Haha I've already answered this question in the last question! I've also got a pretty bad crush on Till Lindemann, the lead singer of my favourite band - Rammstein. If I had the money I'd move to Germany to stalk him :D God I hope my boyfriend doesn't read this!
LOCAL FLAVOR STUFF:
What are some activities to do where you live that you cannot do anywhere else?Um… there's a lot of golf courses around here… but you can do that in lots of places. I'm not a big fan of golf at all so they don't interest me. The only thing they're good for is sledging in the winter when it snows! Have you even gone sledding down a hill and straight into a bunker? It's fantastic fun! At 21 I'm probably too old to go sledding now… but it's fine as long as no one's watching haha Other than play golf there's not much to do here… it's just full of cafes and charity shops. The beach is ok on the rare hot day we get too :)
What’s a common Scottish phrase that only has meaning to the Scots? What does it mean?That's a hard one… I'd probably go with "och aye the noo" and to be honest even I'm not sure what it means! Literally translated it means 'oh yes the now' but that doesn't make much sense to me haha. I don't think I've ever said it except for a joke!
What’s your favorite local food? Can I say a pizza from one of the local chip shops, Kerims? It's not really a 'local food,' our local food would probably be some kind of fish… but I HATE fish! I don't understand how people can eat something that smells that bad… These pizzas on the other hand smell absolutely amazing! I'm not sure what they do to them to make them taste so good but they're really out of this world- I just wish they would make a calorie-free version haha
Are there any music groups in the area that tickle your fancy?Well where I stay is pretty small so we don't even really have anywhere for bands to perform. I don't actually know of any local bands except the one my boyfriend plays in - The Miniature Society . They're pretty good from what I've heard but I've never seen them live.
GAMING STUFF:
What’s your earliest memory of playing games?I remember when I was in primary school one of my friends had a Gameboy Colour and I was so jealous! She had one of the first Pokémon games -I think it was Yellow- and I used to just sit and watch her play it for hours. One day she was going to go see someone for a minute so she gave me her GBC and let me play it for a few minutes while she was gone - it made me so happy! I convinced my mum to buy me one of my own not long after that :)
What’s the longest gaming session you’ve ever had? I honestly don't know that one… probably not much longer than 10 hours or so. My problem is that I get really sleepy when it gets late and I eventually just fall asleep where I'm sitting regardless of what I'm doing. I fall asleep playing games all the time! It's horrible when you fall asleep playing xbox and then an enemy hits you causing your controller to vibrate and wake you up - I get such a fright haha. I've also fallen asleep playing my DS a few times and dropped my DS on my face because I've been holding it above me lol that's not a good way to get woken up either…
What’s the worst game you can recall playing? Describe what made it awful. Undoubtedly "Yoda Stories" on the GBC. I could never even get past the first level because I just had no idea what to do - it gave you instructions up until a certain point then just sort of abandoned you. I remember I spent hours wandering round the first area - I'd killed all the enemies, spoken to all the NPCs, investigated every box/crate/etc and I just didn't know what else I could try. I got really angry at it but I still went back to it 4 or 5 times, never with any luck. Maybe it's the reason I have a deep-seated loathing of all things 'star wars' haha
Have you ever participated in a video game tournament? If so, how well did you do? If not, what game would be your ace in the hole? Oh no, I'm definitely not a competitive gamer so the idea of a tournament sounds like hell to me! I don't even really like multiplayer games (with the exception of Left 4 Dead) because I'm that antisocial haha. I'm actually one of those people who plays games to relax, so I quite like it when games are 'easy' (Duane is going to crack up when he reads this!). I'm not ashamed to admit that I NEVER play games on any setting above 'medium' difficulty, and quite often turn it down to 'easy.' I hate it when a game is really difficult- I just wind up getting frustrated and never going back to it.
Is there a particular film, book, comic, etc. that you would love to see made into a game?Most films nowadays are made into games, and most of them are rubbish. I'd love to see a couple of my favourite films from when I was younger made into games though: The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. They would have to be really well done though - I'd never forgive the developer if they ruined my favourite childhood movies!
What kind of gamer might you describe yourself as?Oh I'm definitely an 'escapist' seeing as I play games to relax and just get away from it all. I love RPGs like Final Fantasy X where you can just get totally absorbed in the world and imagine that you're really there rather than sitting in your bedroom. I love having big, open spaces to explore and do as I please, and I'm a sucker for any 'collection' elements in a game (hence my love for Pokémon haha). I rarely get 100% in a game though, mainly because to do that in a lot of games requires a HUGE amount of time and effort and I get bored long before I reach 100%.
The death of hardcore gaming is something that pains me very much. For me, gaming should have a real challenge so the reward is all the more sweet. Yet, it feels the majority of games these days cater for the crowd that likes using the buffers when bowling… Surely there’s more excitement in the risk of all your friends laughing at you rather than simply expecting to hit the pins?
I am hoping that with some of the games we develop at MYEscape we can at least add modes of game play that challenge the player. Of course, everyone likes the pat on the back with achievements and trophies but the simplicity of games these days, in my opinion, almost patronizes a player with its automation leading through the majority of interesting functions.
It’s not all bad that games are being simplified. They have truly broadened the market, but I do hope that at least a few of those new to gaming would appreciate a challenge in the ilk of what Pac Man was when originally released… I’m pretty sure everyone has fond memories of Pac Man and the satisfaction they felt when hitting the leader board’s elite! Gaming can be challenging and still suitable for the masses… Or at least I hope.
