what’s this? it’s a new knytt story. how quaint!
let’s talk, briefly, about the system nifflas invented to categorize player knytt stories. stories are sorted in three ways: by size (small, medium, large), by difficulty (easy to lunatic, of which you can have three if your story supports difficulty selection), and by theme. these thematic categories, of which you can pick two, include “challenge”, “puzzle”, “maze”, “environmental”, “playground”. i like that this selection allows for stories to be something other than get through the obstacle course, avoid the enemies, collect the magic foozle. the “environmental” and “playground” categories suggest the type of open-world wandering that knytt was built on in the first place.
in execution, though, i spent a while trying to decide how to characterize fossil. i was leaning toward environmental, but that implies (to me) an open, unguided shape to the level; fossil does make demands on the player and force the player to complete specific actions. i learned the last time, however, that the nifflas groupies who populate his forum – who are amazingly stiff about such things considering what a progressive designer their idol is – will freak out if you categorize a level as both “environmental” and “challenge”. i considered just labelling it environmental, but the environment in the level exists to serve the story (as opposed to something like the lighthouse, where the environment is the story).
in the end, i chose “misc”. i think that categories tell us little if anything about what the experience of a game will be like – this is one of the (many) problems that mainstream games journalism is mired in, where categories like “fps” and “mmorpg” comprise a wide range of very different games (well, one of the – many – problems the videogames industry is mired in is that this range isn’t very wide nor the games very different). another of games journalism’s problems? fucking acronyms.
my knytt stories were uncategorized for a while, until someone convinced me to begin posting them to the official forum. i’ve never really been happy with the situation. fortunately, they’re of little real consequence in practice, which perhaps proves my point.
9 comments
You may be looking a little to hard at what the categories aren’t instead of what they can be. Sure, none of them are likely to summarize your game, and I don’t doubt that huffy critics of categorization imbue the whole process with cloying petulance. But categories, though incomplete, provide a great schema for any starting player. Any given player will approach “challenge,” “environmental,” “playground,” etc. with a preconceived notion or set of notions about the genre. The expectations then provide a strong structure against which more easily to observe and measure useful discrepancies–the features of your game that do not meet the player’s expectations, those distinguishing factors. For instance, if one labels Braid a platformer, a wealth of homage, subversion, and refined design (many of the elements that distinguish Braid from its predecessors) become clearer, more perceptible.
I understand the anxiety of trying to pin down one’s art, or, for that matter, anything: words are terribly inadequate most of the time. But given your track record of exploring existing genres and conventions, tinkering with the rules and cutting the excesses, iterating on norms to suit your own viewpoint; given all that, you may want to try to use this imperfect system of categorization to its potential rather than lament it.
Really enjoyed the story :)
I think environmental challenge would’ve suited it well enough. Sod what anyone else thinks if they don’t like stuff to be labelled that way!
So anyway, I played this and thought it was very nearly your best, except with a few reservations. Actually fuck it, I will email you about it
Me and a few friends did a Knytt level once, you may be interested.
http://nifflas.ni2.se/forum/index.php?topic=4079.0
exquisite knorpse is interesting, but every time i try to play it i end up stuck in the red area. that’s a consequence of not being able to see what everyone else is doing, i suppose: there’s no way to guarantee a level is winnable. i’d be interested in seeing an exquisite knorpse where the player starts with all the abilities she’s ever going to have.
Actually, I did mess with a few rooms to ensure it’s always winnable. If you’re referring to the gray zone with red blocks below the area where you get the climbing ball, there’s a discrepancy between two adjacent rooms you have to exploit.
okay, i’m interested in this kind of collaborative design, but this level is far too obnoxious to try and finish.
My enthusiasm for the level usually breaks down just before or just after Kayin’s masocore section. I’m still fascinated by the Exquisite Knorpse process, though; since the Gamer’s Quarter attempt went nowhere, I might try again over on Select Button in October.
I’d love to see more cooperative work from my favorite indie designers.
ja-love i am going to commit to this project right now. do it.
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