Mainstream video games have fallen into a dry formula—the tried and true roads developers know they can follow with little risk, and ensure they’ll still have jobs next year. But indie developers are a different breed. For them, it’s still about the game, and the game is their art.“Even though newer games have been trying to move further into focusing on the gameplay than the story, I’m still a sucker for a good story,” said game developer Derek Sneed in an e-mail interview.He says that while the way mainstream games are heading looks appealing, “I feel that the industry’s focus on presenting fantastic visceral excitement in a violent way is devaluating games as a medium of expression.”With his game Deshori, Sneed hopes to create a game that goes beyond this by bringing in gameplay elements that are difficult to create—a sense of wonder.Deshori is a first-person game based around adventure and survival. The player wakes up in a vast wilderness stretching beyond the horizon. There are no weapons, and the world is filled with both mystery and danger. Your ultimate goal is to get off the planet and rejoin a cosmic battle taking place far off in the sky, while enjoying the scenery along the way.Sneed doesn’t want a hollow game. He wants something with the depth of a good movie.“The core of good films is always deeper than the things we see before we reach the end,” he said, noting Braveheart was about freedom and fighting for what you believe in. Hook was about family and not taking them for granted. “Deshori is about learning, the benefits of nonviolence, beauty in nature, and taking risks.”What he wants to bring is diversity. Not all games need to follow the model of adrenaline and violence to be entertaining. “I just want to keep pushing and growing the types of games we don’t see as often, so that people can have a ton of different choices when it comes to picking something they enjoy,” he said.A big inspiration for Deshori was a camping trip Sneed took to Yellowstone a few years back. “In essence you go there to stare at stuff; everything is gorgeous,” he said. “The thing about mountains is they’re huge. HUGE. That’s the main reason people stare at them.”Creating a sense of wonder is no easy task, since, as Sneed notes, it requires the player’s willingness to be in awe to evoke any deep response.The wildlife in Deshori is based on real animals, with each having “just enough of a twist so it seems otherworldly,” said Sneed. Some animals will travel in herds, grazing on plains, while predators hunt them. Different animals react differently to the player.
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Nomads and tribes in the game will be similar. “Nomads will set up their large campsites and light fires only to be gone the next time you pass,” he said, adding they will also “interact with each other and talk and tell stories.”“You’ll get to interact and be a part of all this stuff, but in a lot of ways you’ll just be a silent observer, continuing on your way,” he said. Tags: video games
Selected Topics from The Epoch Times
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