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[PATV] NEW SHOW! Extra Credits - Pacing
Robert Khoo
Registered User, ClubPA staff
Registered User, ClubPA staff
Welcome guys! Super excited to have you guys on board. 
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/episode-07-pacing
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/episode-07-pacing
Some guy.
Robert Khoo on
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TL;DR:
Well, there's the fansubbed anime, but that's kinda hard to beat.
Good luck in the new home, EC!
Steam ID: Obos Vent: Obos
Game and friend frolicking in the meadow made me chuckle.
Eh, just hang out. They'll have the full back-catalog up in not too long, and it's quite a bit and more than worth the wait. Extra Creditz is, I find, one of the most honest and frank discussions about the theory and science of games (i.e. 'ludology' and yes, it's a word), so I'm super happy to see they got everything resolved and got a new home. The BS they suffered with The Escapist and Allison's injury was pretty startling.
It was a concise summary of story-telling theory and all, but uh silly voices are silly.
"Sorry, this episode is temporarily unavailable. Please try again."
Glad to see you found a new home.
Welcome!
As far as the episode goes, I never considered that model of pacing being applied on a smaller scale per level or even per action, that's definitely food for thought.
And cut to credits cliffhangers are pretty frustrating, off the top of my head the Mass Effect games are good examples of games that resolve the major conflict of the story and wind down at the end, while still hinting at what's to come.
Another point that is how varying the intensity of different types of engagement can be used to balance the excitement levels, using it to subtly ramp down one type while building up another. The most obvious examples are puzzles. I'm currently playing Silent Hill 2 through for the first time, and running across a puzzle is one of the most worrying things in the game, because I just know we're building up to an intense moment, though they're still not so predictably placed that there's always one right before a boss battle. Unfortunately most action-oriented games seem to get this wrong by having puzzles that are stupidly easy, which goes from 'ramping excitement down' to 'boring', and again Silent Hill 2 gets this right by letting the player choose the difficulty of the action sequences (or how exciting they are) but also the puzzle sequences (how much they want the excitement ramped down). It's brilliant game design, and I'd love to see more games using this idea.
1. It gives his "character" and the show itself a more unique voice and sound, more identifiable as EC than just some generic dude talking
2. It allows the same amount of information to be conveyed in a shorter period of time to make episodes shorter and more concise.
Need some stuff designed or printed? I can help with that.
Not complaining, just don't know if there's news I missed.
A lot more.
Thanks Extra Credits!
I am so glad that EC is on PATV now, that is perfect.
The editor-in-chief, Russ Pitts, quit today. Things are still going on.
The resolution is diabetes.
I believe he did it because he thought his own voice got kind of boring. EC started out as a college presentation project (first seen at OCRemix) and he did the voice pitch and compression in order to keep people paying attention, and it _worked_.
It turned into a series shortly after that, about an episode a month, until James, the designer, got a hold of Daniel, the guy doing the talking, and EC turned into what it is today. Allison has been doing the art from day 1 I believe, but I could be wrong. I'm very happy to have watched these shows since the beginning, and am glad they can continue producing them without too much interruption!
"Let's have a Super Serious monologue on how to develop a good game... by a stick-man...now let's put in a bunch of 4chan memes and call it a day"
It makes the show rapidly oscillate between "I guess I'm supposed to take this seriously" to "No, no i'm not supposed to take this seriously", and because of that I find the whole experience without any real bite or impact
It's like when Family Guy or something attempts to be biting social or political commentary; it just doesn't work because the next scene is Peter fighting a chicken
Rather curious as to what games the writer has actually designed, since he seems to actually be a consultant.
This is a good home for them though.
fucking
awesome
Good points, once again, in the episode, and once again you have given me a whole know way of analyzing the world and the things I like. Great!
EDIT: as to the presentation in a more lighthearted way: srsly, guys, do you really think you can pitch a dead-serious monologue on these "high-brow" topics, and have the internet not go "BOOOOORING" after five seconds if they didn't make sure the packaging was as funny as the message is insightful? As to family guy, simpsons and the like: I think their "serious" messages reach far more people more effectively precisely because the message "Fox is retarded" is bookended by Homer hitting his head multiple times on a melon.
I liked this episode. I know pacing is important and I can sort of tell when something's badly paced or not, but I've never seen it laid out like this. It was interesting.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111418-Extra-Credits-Artist-Amazed-at-Fan-Support
??
Do tell?
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.305970-Extra-Credits-leaves-the-Escapist-NEW-Extra-Credits-Presents-The-MMORTS?page=1
Quote: "Neither party is really the "villain" or "hero" in this whole mess, so I think not choosing a side works. "
Which, I suppose, is probably true. Although my esteem for the escapist has gone down a few pegs, and my esteem for EC is just as high as it ever was. Especially now I've seen the "publishing" episode.