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Dexiro

Is playing bad games a better way to get inspiration?

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Dexiro
, 02-03-2010 at 07:04 PM (539 Views)
I suppose since this is an LBP forum i could relate more by talking about LBP levels

I've been thinking recently, isn't it logical that playing bad levels is a lot more beneficial to your creativity. There's the possibility that this is just common sense that's passed by me.

Personally i always looked to good levels when looking for ideas. "Hey that level was great, i might do this this and this" - That's called copying though, on a quest for originality i was kind of being counter-productive to myself.
Maybe this could be the thought process behind a lot of new developers simply copying ideas.

Now in contrast, when you play a bad level or game have you never been struck with an idea on how to improve it?
And even better, what about the feeling of motivation you get from them?
The all so common "i could never match that" you get from good games is replaced with "maybe i could give it a shot afterall".

I'm constantly bombarded with ideas that could improve a game but when it comes to it they get ignored and i start digging through ideas in the best games i know.
I've realized i actually get most of my inspiration and motivation from playing bad games rather than good ones.

Maybe this is the reason we're seeing a drop in originality too. Other than ideas being used up, look at the games that used to be created.
A lot of them were terrible for a lot of reasons - but you wouldn't see copies of the same bad games, you'd see new versions almost slowly improving on each one!
Today though we get developers looking into games like Mario when they're making a platformer, Half Life when they're making a shooter or whatever their favourite games might be.

Yahtzee fron Escapist touched on this issue recently. If you get someone to remake a game they love you'll get a below average copy, however if you get someone to remake a game they hate they'll create something much more original.
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Comments

  1. Pantyer2's Avatar
    Hm. I'd say it does, because i have played a few "bad" levels, and i have wanted to recreate them to make them better. For example i've seen this machinima (Halo 3) which was a recreation of another "rubbish" machinima.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUCmPd7Y3TI

    But with that he's kinda making fun of the rubbish video. But i would say it's the same thing.
  2. GruntosUK's Avatar
    I played a level, I forget by who, but ask kappa, she remembers it. It was only about 500 checkpoints, and probably double that in Rocket Cheetahs, simple but great great fun.

    That totally inspired the rocket cheetah funpark in Unhearted: Drakes Misfortune. We had a great deal of fun in that level, so I had to replicate it. I've also done something along the same lines in the new one, that has a water twist. It should be ready really soon

    So yeah, it does inspire in a way.
    Updated 02-03-2010 at 08:44 PM by GruntosUK
  3. rseah's Avatar
    hmm yes i think it does after all we learn from mistakes so i guess we learn from others mistakes too
  4. ghik16's Avatar
    Great Idea. I would try to play bad games for inspiration.
  5. rtm223's Avatar
    You do have a good point here, however, it depends a lot on how critical and objective you can be. I could quite comfortably take the levels that I love and give pages of pointers of ways in which I think they could be tuned up and improved. Put me in a bad level and I'll struggle to get beyond "ditch it and start again" You'll also never learn any good techniques from bad levels, but you may well up your skills by playing good levels.

    In addition, it's not copying if you take concepts from all over the place, adapt them, merge them, spin them around and put your own personal stamp on them. A fusion of ideas from many resources is bound to become something different than the sum of its parts.

    And if you are looking for genuine originality, then you aren't going to find that by playing anything, good or bad


    As for the wider games market - the problem with originality is the same as all big-business media: risk and profitability - you make more money with less chance of failure if you stick to the status quo.


    I just realised this was a wholesale blogjacking. I just felt like putting a different spin on an interesting topic. Please forgive me dexiro!