• My homepage, Prometheus' Spawning Grounds (PSG)
• Cortex Command dev log

Game design preferences

My favourite genres are RTS and Siege/TF/CTF. These games often have a few of the traits I list below.

• Persistence, eco systems - I'd like to play a Zelda game where Ganon actually had to worry about logistics, troop recruiting and maintenance, economics and various feedback systems. This would mean that Link could manipulate various balances, and the player would feel he's making a difference.
  
• Sandbox - I like sandbox games because they allow me to make my own challanges, nothing is imposed on me. I'm looking forward to Spore and SupCom.
  
• Emerging complexity - I suppose games like Go and Chess are good examples of this. A simple set of rules result in very complex gameplay. Both Go and Chess are hard for a computer to 'solve' (make an AI for), maybe that's what's so appealing, the amount of discussion that can be made around which move is the best one?
  
• Scalability, Emerging depth - I just made up this term. Games with emerging depth have layers of content that the player can discover as he moves from beginner to intermediate to hardcore. Dwarf Fortress and Tribes has good emerging depth I think (and emerging complexity as well). If done right, emerging depth can exist without interfering with the first 'simple gameplay' layer. I feel that many games today needlessly cut out emergent depth to focus on certain demographics that just enjoy the first layer.
  

• Exploration - Zelda 1 and Metroid 1 (well, maybe a few others too) are still kings, sadly. See why below.
  
• Nonlinear gameplay - There's plenty of exploration games today, unfortunately they're all linear, so what's the point?! Pokemon, Metroid Zero Mission and most RPG games, I'm looking at you.
  
• Alternative routes - No absolute bottlenecks. Skill should be rewarded and allow the player to push ahead.
  
• Puzzles as sidetracks only - I like solving puzzles if they're not forced upon me.
  
• Unrevealed To-Do list/map - I don't like playing games that unload huge task lists on me. It's better not to see the path ahead.
  
• No mechanical labor - No grinding. I prefer games where the 'leveling' requires improvisation and human input, otherwise a robot (or macro) might aswell play the game.
  
• No final stop or ultimate state - This means I prefer games that I can play differently each time, and it's a matter of taste how I develop my character(s) throughout the game. Apples and Oranges, not SuperSaiyan 4 Banana.
  
• Collectability - I like this as long as it doesn't turn into 'To-Do' or 'Ultimate state'.
  
• Robots, monsters, panties.
  

In my opinion, the ideal adventure game has a progression that is restricted by:

• 10% Keys&Doors - You absolutely need the red key to progress, then you must talk to the old lady or she won't open the portal, etc.
  
• 40% Character Skill - The skill and equipment of the character determines how well you do in different areas of the game.
  
• 50% Player Skill - Games like Quake or Tribes are mostly Player Skill. The weapons and armour in these games can be said to be Character Skill. They're nice to have, but won't mean much in a battle against a player that is a notch above you.
  

Unfortunately most adventure games today are so heavy on Keys&Doors that Character Skill just tags along for the ride, and Player Skill has little or no say. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating, but I haven't really enjoyed that many games lately.

Favourite games

These are games I've played a lot or would like to play more.

• Atari2600: Demon Attack, Adventure, Gravitar.
  
• C64: Exile, Bruce Lee, M.U.L.E.
  
• NES: Metroid, Zelda 1, Megaman 1, Blaster Master, Kid Icarus, DragonQuest 1.
  
• Amiga: Elite 2, Utopia, K240, Megalomania, Colonial Conquest, SuperCars II, Paradoid 90, Wing Commander 1.
  
• PC: Quake 1, Tribes 1, Total Annihilation, Dark Reign 1, Dwarf Fortress.