Arnaldo Licea

http://arnaldolicea.squarespace.com/

I am going to stop using Blogger. Head to my new web site for the latest!

-Arnaldo

It's amazing just how a simple caricature can make a seemingly awful gag into a hysterical gag. Is Pixar going 10 for 10? Looks like it.

-Arnaldo

Finally finished Fallout 3 after 40+ hours. I do not remember the last time I played a game for so long; it reminds me of my countless hours on the Final Fantasy games. So what do I think about it? I thought it was brilliant. It was truly the type of game that you could play again and again and never pay the same thing twice. I was playing it with a couple of people at the same time and every time we'd talk about a specific area we'd have completely different stories about it.

The world was enormous and detailed and so interesting. You would "lose" a couple of hours by just walking around the wasteland and see what you'd find. You would find a house with unusual characters with unusual situations that were just hilarious, or situations that affected whole villages and religious beliefs. Sometimes the side-stories were more interesting than the plot itself! Especially when you influence the course of the narrative. To me, this is as advanced as story based games have come. You have a single, authored story as the backbone of the whole world, that gives the player something to focus on from the beginning, and then you have these mini-stories (sometimes mini-epics!) that their fate is completely entrusted to the player. In fact, the player can bypass whole chunks of the main story without losing narrative coherence.



Gameplay was a little dry. It felt like a regular RPG to me but it doesn't mean its a bad thing. The VATS system was a very unique and interesting thing to implement on a shooter type game. It made the game feel more tactical and gave the me time to breathe when overwhelmed. But it only worked well at a high level; when I could do more damage. When VATS was useless you'd have to play it like a shooter and this game falls flat on its face as one. Controls were okay for exploring and doing 'RPG things' but it was mediocre for shooting because of how the game was tuned when aiming.

The game as a whole was very complete but it has some faults. Animations were forgettable, though on a project of this scale its understandable. The characters were also forgettable. I didn't care for any characters but my father, and that was because Liam Neeson is an excellent actor that can deliver lines the way they're meant to be delivered. Even though character animations were horrific, his dialogue just redeemed his character. I really think the industry should focus on characters more because they are such an important part of the experience. And I mean, REALLY focusing on perfecting them. I don't know how a lot of studios handle characters but I would hire animators to just focus on the faces. When modeling a character, I'd put so much emphasis on the face and rig it so that we can make that character deliver dialogue with the authenticity of a performance like Liam Neeson's. That would really amplify the story and empathy for the characters. If we continue to make half-ass characters then how can we really expect the gamer to empathize and like them?

Though the game is not about warfare, the wasteland was pretty uneventful till the end. Everything seemed to be contained in little sections and everything was done in a small scale except, of course, for the end. It should've had some instances with like that but who knows, maybe there are and I just haven't seen them. Again, that's what makes it so good and makes me forget about the little details because its more about the big picture. As technology and studios mature, I'm sure all these little details will be fixed but right now, with this scale, this is the best we're going to get. Bethesda did an amazing job with this one and I'm really anticipating next projects because they're only going to get better.

-Arnaldo

BioWare is one of my favorite companies. Their goal is to create the best story-driven games; something I also want to tackle in my career. Mass Effect was a game that raised the bar in interactive storytelling and nobody has been able to top it. It's unique conversation system, familiar squad-team mechanics, and its original take on a space opera really made it shine.

This new trailer shows NOTHING. When I mean 'nothing', I mean absolutely nothing. So what makes it such a good teaser? The teaser has a twist. I don't want to spoil it if you haven't seen it, but its quite a twist...especially delivering it in the teaser. I don't know what BioWare is planning but my guess is that it has to do with BioWare being purchased by EA and probably not being able to release the first one on PS3. So maybe its just a way to bring PS3 owners to the universe without missing out on the first game's events.

I'm very excited to see what BioWare can do with a second installment. All they have to do is improve a bit on the established concepts of the first and they'll have a bigger hit. Maybe they'll show something closer to GDC.

Speaking of GDC, I'm not able to go this year. Wish I could, though; Kojima is going to be there to talk about MGS4 and there are a lot of interesting panels. Just talking about it gets me bummed that I'm not going. Oh well, there's always GDC '10.

-Arnaldo

...that sounds horrible. You know what doesn't sound horrible? An Indiana Jones game on the Wii. Check out the teaser:



I am so excited that a high-quality Indy title is going to come out. Originally, I was looking forward to playing it on PS3 or Xbox 360 because of Lucasart's new tech, used in The Force Unleashed. Now that I see it on Wii, I can imagine a barrage or cool things you can do with the Wiimote (the whip, DUH!). The only downside to all of this is that the game is not going to be a looker. One of the reasons I love Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is because its very much like Indiana Jones. Going from those gorgeous graphics to Wii graphics is going to suck but the gameplay might make me forget about all that.

I just hope they don't screw this up--this could be a very interesting and fun game in the Indy universe.

-Arnaldo

Can't wait!

-Arnaldo

...not doing much of it. Why? Well, the fact the I've been busy at work, then working on stuff when I get home, then still grinding through Fallout 3, then devouring The Dark Knight and Wall-E Blu-rays has left me with little time to play anything new. Wait, that's not true. As I type this I've realized that I have been playing a lot of games this holiday, but they all come from a very unexpected source: my phone.

I gotta say that I've been playing more games on my phone than on any other console I have. They range from free, addicting, arcade titles to full-blown, highly-sophisticated, experiences like the current game I'm playing: Rolando.




Rolando is what LocoRoco for the PSP should have been. In both Rolando and LocoRoco you tilt the world to make your ball-like characters move around the environment. But unlike LocoRoco on the PSP, you actually tilt the iPhone to tilt the world. Not only that, but Rolando has some of the best-looking graphics on the phone; it can be easily mistaken for PSP graphics. And yes, the game is fun to play. This game should be a full-blown $29.99 PSP title, yet it's $9.99 on the App Store. Amazing deal.

Hope more titles like this keep coming from ngmoco and I'm going to go back and play some more. Woo!

-Arnaldo

Yeah, I said it. The economy is working against me getting a job in the industry while I get my own stuff up and running. And it sucks not only because I can't get a job, but because a lot of talented people are losing their jobs and studios are closing their doors. It is unacceptable. It is creating the ultimate catch-22 for new developers to get their foot in and the only thing left to do, in my case, is to just focus on the games I want to make and try to make them happen. Who knows, maybe that will be the key to everything. I just hope that everything will stabilize and that the people that have lost their jobs will find better ones that will make them happy.

On a lighter note, merry Christmas! It's the season to be jolly but not for a lot of people; a lot of crazy stuff has been going on around the world that is just devastating. I REALLY hope 2009 will be a better year for everyone.



Speaking of next year, I might be going to GDC again! I went this year and it was a blast. I met so many people and learned so much. Next year I hope to land a job one way or another. I'm going to be like a ninja; they won't see me coming!

Happy Holidays!

-Arnaldo

Saw these over at Slashfilm.com. I know, I'm a bit biased but I completely agree: These films have to be at least recognized by the academy. Though I'm a bit pissed off that they disqualified The Dark Knight score.

http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/walleawardsad.jpg

http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/darkknightawards.jpg

http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/fycheath.jpg

I believe that both these films pushed the medium and were so unique that a lot of studios will try to mimic their success very soon. USPS is late with my Wall-E Blu-Ray but I know that it'll be worth it when it gets here. I've also pre-ordered The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray as well.

-Arnaldo

Yup, we're back and working at the speed of light on this awesome game. We've done more these past couple of days then what we've done in months; It's really exciting. We've opened a blog where we will chronicle the development of the game from the phase that it is in now to when we have the final build. Think of it as a sort of making-of but using the new media. The whole team will be making blog posts, video blogs, podcasts, twitter posts--anything that will give a peek into our process and how everything is going.

Make sure you check it out and tell us what you think!

Shades of Ghrey Official Blog

-Arnaldo