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Thursday 24 September, 2009
My game experience was different when I played the game to investigate and log the physics of the objects and characters, and how they may contribute to the value system of the game. The first thing I noticed was how the characters reacted to being injured.
Some characters who where hit by an auto, where knocked off their feet and rolled over the car before hitting the ground. Sometimes if you bumped into the wrong group of people on the street Blood spurted from arteries and bodies crumpled after there was a spray of bullets. As I played J.C., my auto flipped over and I was able to drive upside down on the roof of my car in any direction that I wanted to before my car blew up and I was knocked to the ground by the exploding car. Even though I was able to get out, I was still in harms way and I was killed by the explosion. A message then appeared on the Screen: ‘Wasted”.
The autos that I drove took a generously long time to explode. This extended time contributed to the value of the auto as a key piece of equipment to move around in the game. There seemed to be a glowing life monitor in the form of a damaged glowing red hot engine manifold. This glowing area served to warn the player the car will blow up soon; you better plan to get out! The damage to an auto was cumulative and compounded as you ran into, over and through things. As this damage grew I wondered why I could still drive, in real life a car would have been totaled by hitting the first light of utility pole straight on. Instead of the front of your auto being totally smashed, the poles deflected like bowling pins out of the path of the car.
Food plays a very important part of your energy level in this game and controls the value of the life of your character. Physically food and the different types available have their own value system and contribute to developing your character’s longitivity.
Having the stolen cars immobilized created a situation where your character continues on the mission on foot until there is an opportunity to steal another auto. It seemed that the focus of the auto thief would be on car type and street value during the first stage of the game, but instead it is on proving that you are “down” with your homies, and that you still have what it takes to be a part of a group. Being down means to show trust, loyalty and a sense of covenant and family. The ordeal that is developed for your character is for the purpose to make a bond. This bond is more valuable than the cars in the game at this point.
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