Introducing the Tumbleweed

I had intended use this post to regale you all with the unveiling of my latest and greatest immersion enhancer, "the tumbleweed". I had intended to describe the hours I put into crafting this masterpiece of design, calculating the levels of wind resistance, dry brush's average mass, learning the physics of inelastic collisions, the dissipation of energy. I had intended to formulate a comprehensive blog post analyzing the place immersion holds in game design, that is, to discuss how consistency in the internal video game logic is a precondition for immersion. From there I would describe how this tumbleweed, in its perfect appropriation of reality, does more than any flashy big budget graphics ever could in creating a living, breathing world. It was to be the greatest post this blog had ever known.

Then I was alerted to a series of posts on the Johnny Outlaw demo video. Apparently, we have caught the attention of renowned video game designers Hideo Kojima and Shigeru Miyamoto. I was honored by the kind words of encouragement from Mr. Miyamoto, who recognized the brilliance of Johnny Outlaw's enemy AI. But with the arrival of Mr. Kojima, the comments transformed into a battleground for famous developers to express their incompatible beliefs about game design.

Now I am relatively new to this field, but I have a dog in this fight. Mr. Kojima is entitled to his opinion about my AI, but he has overstepped his bounds and accused me of copyright infringement. I feel it necessary to put forth a defense.

Health
Some of you may have noticed that Johnny Outlaw has "Health". Health is a statistic which corresponds to Johnny's health. As he is hit by bullets, his health decreases. You may have seen similar mechanics in other games, and while I admit I have been influenced by them, I am not guilty of stealing such a mechanic. I contest that health is in fact based on the real world concept of health (which also encompasses the concepts of injury and death). As "health" has no discernible creator it is therefor within the public domain. While it is not particularly creative, I felt it necessary in order to properly simulate the Western experience, which includes being a human who is not dead.

Energy
Johnny Outlaw also has a blue bar, relating to his energy statistic. Mr. Kojima has stated that this blue bar is clearly lifted from Fallout 3. Yet, once again, the similarities exist only because we wish to recreate the human experience for the gamer. It is only natural that one would become tired from kicking, jumping, punching, and using extreme focus. It is only natural that this "energy" would replenish over time. And of course it is only natural that this energy could be immediately refilled by a tall bottle of sarsaparilla.

But wait, why is it a bar then? Clearly it must be stolen, for what are the odds that both games would measure energy in bar form? This decision was actually less of a decision than an emergent quality of energy itself. Energy is constantly in flux, and it is made of many smaller units. When the energy icon, a small blue square, is placed next to another energy icon many times over, it resembles a bar that is filling and emptying. Pure coincidence.

Mr. Kojima, I may not be a decorated game designer, but that does not make me a thief!

Now that that's out of the way, it's time for the moment you've all been waiting for: the first look at the tumbleweed!


Enjoy.