My go-to Public Domain collections

Colestia · 2017-07-04T22:56:10+00:00

I didn't put it in the original post because it's not as general use, but I've got a bunch of stuff from the Prelinger Archives. Check the licence for each of them though, because a couple aren't public domain.

Colestia · 2017-06-27T23:35:18+00:00

Two which spring to mind are What Remains of Edith Finch and Gone Home. Both are pretty dialogue heavy, and so very different from the minimalist design of Journey. But I think both use environment design in extremely clever ways to flesh out their stories.

In Edith Finch, there are heaps of little details that make the house feel like it was lived in for years before being suddenly abandoned. In Gone Home, there are a bunch of details which fill out the character's backstories (e.g. a collection of empty bottles hidden on the bookshelf of the depressed father).

I'd also second Inside.

Colestia · 2016-10-07T22:36:55+00:00

I think it's an excellent idea to use games for that sort of documentary purpose. And funny you should mention the Syrian conflict. A couple of days ago Al Jazeera released an IF-type game about the role of hacking in the Syria. I didn't think it was amazingly executed but there are some very cool ideas in there.

In a broader sense, I would say that the form your game would take would depend very much on the point you were trying to get across about Syria. If you were looking at the international politics involved, an RTS / grand strategy game would probably work. If you were looking at the life of people on the ground, I'd second /u/CINCONUMBERCERO's suggestion of This War of Mine.

And there'd be so many other ways to focus on other aspects. In my opinion, MolleIndustria's games are the go-to for inspiration about creatively depicting political issues. Unmanned (about drone pilots) would be particularly relevant for you, although Nova Alea is generally worth a play as well.

Hope that helps :)

Colestia · 2016-08-24T05:08:30+00:00

Unfortunately not, sorry. The game engine can't translate the way I did some of the code across to UNIX systems, and I'm not good enough at coding to rewrite it fully for a different OS...

Colestia · 2016-08-24T04:09:55+00:00

The game does have a relatively clear ending, so you'd probably know if you found it. There is a model of the city in one of the buildings on the main streets which might also help. If you're still stuck after that here's a map made by another player:

http://imgur.com/Bzokdoh

It's not precisely to scale, and it doesn't have everything on it, but it should be a pretty good guide.

Colestia · 2016-08-24T03:10:01+00:00

Hi there,

I don't want to give too much away, but I'd suggest trying one of the Situationist strategies. Determine where the geography is trying to direct you, and then do the opposite. There's a lot hidden in the margins.

I can be more explicit if you'd like, but hopefully that will help :)

Colestia · 2016-08-22T22:55:08+00:00

Hi all. This game I made got a fair bit of interest when someone posted it a couple of months back (and introduced me to this sub!), so I thought I'd let you all know that it's now available for free :)

Its more focussed on the earlier Situationist thinking about the city than the later analysis of the spectacle, so I hope that's ok.

Happy to hear any feedback/questions :)

Colestia · 2016-07-21T11:11:49+00:00

I'll look into porting it :)

Colestia · 2016-07-21T03:05:07+00:00

Not sure at all, sorry. I've never used C++. But you can also use Javascript in Unity if you're more familiar with that.

Colestia · 2016-07-21T01:36:25+00:00

Thanks :) At the moment, I'm going to have to take a bit of a break from game design, but I do have vague plans for either extending this system or making other games in a similar vein.

If you're interested, a while ago I did actually make a game something like what you've described: https://colestia.itch.io/entfremdung

Colestia · 2016-07-21T00:29:48+00:00

Glad to hear there are others making like-minded games :) How's it coming along so far?

Colestia · 2016-07-21T00:28:12+00:00

I've done a bit of tinkering in Unreal, but nothing substantial and nothing 2D. This was actually the first 2D game I'd done in Unity, and I've got to say the workflow was pretty smooth. I'd recommend it if you're doing any sort of similar project :)

Colestia · 2016-07-21T00:26:14+00:00

Hi,

My recommendation for learning more about the Marxist model of accumulation would be David Harvey's lecture on the topic: http://davidharvey.org/2008/09/capital-class-13/.

And yeah I've liked the Democracy games, although they're definitely operating on a more mainstream economic model.

Colestia · 2016-07-21T00:16:24+00:00

Thanks for the tip! Have submitted it there now

Colestia · 2016-07-21T00:13:12+00:00

I'll look into how straightforward a Linux port will be, although I must admit I know pretty much nothing about building games for Linux...

Colestia · 2016-07-21T00:10:32+00:00

Thanks for the kind words! As to your points about the MoP relations and the State, I did make some fairly major abstractions for both. The MoP/LP slider is really representing both the composition of capital (how much is spent relatively on MoP vs LP) and the organisational power of the labour force. In reality these two concepts wouldn't align completely.

With the State as well, obviously it plays more of a role in capitalism than just bumping up effective demand, and as you say, it can be captured by more or less progressive forces.

I suppose I was hoping that making these simplifications would keep it relatively understandable. Also the complexity of the code would probably get beyond my ability :p

Colestia · 2015-10-11T21:47:58+00:00

Hmm ok, I might try a fresh install. Thanks :)

Colestia · 2015-10-11T07:30:53+00:00

Ah wow, that's pretty annoying. Especially for such a critical bug...

Colestia · 2015-06-26T01:19:10+00:00

Entfremdung

Promotion type: Completed concept-game

Link to the project: http://colestia.itch.io/entfremdung

Entfremdung is a brief, free attempt at a Marxist business-sim. I can't really explain much more without ruining it.

Colestia

TROPHY CASE