Saturday 15 May 2010

XBIR: A Game of Tennis

Pong. Many 2p options exist. 2 1p modes: either play 'first to X' or 'how many points can you get before the CPU attains X'. X is definable.

+:
The main-menu bg is kinda pretty.
-:
The ball's trajectory can't be changed by either your paddle's speed or relative position. So you can't actually do anything to increase the chances of the opponent losing.
-:
When the computer missed, it seemed to be for no good reason rather than because of my own skill. I think that in a 2-player competitive game, having your opponent make a random mistake just validates your own skill and attests to your superiority. And no-one minds that. But in a 1player game, assuming you're playing what is allegedly a game of skill - random mistakes by the computer opponent just make your score feel arbitrary.

Lesson: CPU flaws need to lie in their limitations. Not in random screwups.

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