Bojac the Centaur and Bojack Horseman! OH NO!!!

Today I'm going to address a sort of "elephant in the room" concerning our Wii U game project, Of Mages & Pages.  Previously we teased a new character named Bojac the Centaur.  As many of you may be aware, Netflix recently released a new series, Bojack Horseman.  The irony is not lost on us. 

This is obviously just one of those "morphic field" type of things Captain Jack Harkness mentioned in Torchwood: Miracle Day.  Two completely unrelated projects arrived at a similar idea completely independent of one another.  I don't know how long Bojack Horseman took to come to fruition and it doesn't really matter.  I originally came up with the name Boajc for a character in a Midieville script I wrote back in 2008.

However, in light of the new show and to hopefully save us from any possible legal issues later on, we are going to be changing the name of our centaur character to something else.  What that name will be, we're not sure of as yet, but we will let you know once we've decided.  It's just too similar to risk it and honestly, it's not that big of a deal.  We at 3twins harbor no ill will towards Bojack Horseman, nor anyone involved with that show.  These things happen.  This isn't the first time we've changed something for similar reasons, and it probably won't be the last.

~Jason

Naaj Story of the Bitten Oar

My stories keep getting longer and longer don't they?! Do you all remember where I left off? If that Anell wasn't such a pest I'd be done by now. Oh right, that shark was charging at me through the clouds! 

I raised my oar high to cast a spell and he jumped and chomped the biggest bite out of it possible! Oh that made me sooooo mad. I chased him down with my busted oar and beat him up so bad that he gave up. And do you know what I did to that shark? I turned him into my house. So now you know, don't cross me, or I might just make a house outta you!

~Naaj

A Word on Blogs

Hi I’m the Black Nite. As if me life wasn’t already difficult, what with all the secret missions I complete for the great King Anell, I’ve been asked to rite a bog. I know. It makes no sense to me neither but the message must have been writ by some buffoon ‘cause it said blog, which we all no don’t exist. Me bog is out behind me tower. It’s got a few fish lots of frogs and is quite smelly. Rumor has it some bog witch once spent time there but I ain’t never seen her. That’s about it except I don’t go there much since I don’t like being wet. No one visits me anyhow but if you want to I’ll show it to you if you come here. I have no idea how I’m sposed to rite more about it.

 

Bye I’m the Black Nite

                                                                                                                         ~ the Black Knight

Players Psychology & Game Play Design

Every game player has his or her favored type of game play, whether consciously or subconsciously they play a game to gain something from it on a psychological level, as a game designer we must see the psychology behind both the game we design and the people that play it. In this process we must answer the questions  before it the player asks it, thus keeping the game from losing its appeal. Building a puzzle game puts us in strategy column, making it important to anticipate what we think the players will do to solve the puzzle/obstacle and change it up, upping the  challenge of the game. If it is too easy the player may walk away, second we must understand the importance in utilizing the appropriate  type of reward system in the game. If the game posses to be draw out with high difficulty or too little for too long of period without a reward system to balance out the players work (& time) may result in a player walking away.

A reward system is a must, but it is also important to determine how it is executed. In this process the designer must decide how and when each reward is given. The How/When is vital to game players interest and desire to continue playing that game. In the Game world the dispensing of  rewards has been generalized into two types of methods, Ratios and Intervals.  Ratios; are rewards given based on the number of actions a player completes. Intervals; are in which the  period of time changes after each reward. It is our job to get inside the players head and keep them on their toes and interested in our product, in doing so these are some of the things we need to look at and understand about game design.

Michael

Marvin's new look

Greetings 3twins fans!

Today I'm bringing you a design of what Marvin the Blue Wizard will look like in our upcoming Nintendo Wii U game, Of Mages & Pages!

I'm not going to go into too much more, but this is a very close to finalized version of Marvin as he will appear as a playable character in the game.

Until next time.

~Jason

History

As we draw closer to the release of the Of Mages & Pages game, I have found myself contemplating the world of the characters. I have studied history in terms of the factual records and the fictional ones. This is where it gets complicated. Do we understand the makeup of the medieval world through the lens of reality, or a combination of concepts gleaned from both historical record and folklore? The fun elements of the game will include many fantasy characters and situations involving magic or powers. I find it interesting to look deeper into where those ideas come from. As science has advanced, we have come to accept many of those elements as entirely fictional or have found physical explanations for what people of the Middle Ages would have deeply believed were real and supernatural.

 

I certainly have no intention of ruining anyone’s fun, and I am a firm believer in the suspension of disbelief for the sake of a story. In fact, that is the beauty of our work. We can add or subtract, at will, any portions of myth to our story based on the wonderful works of the past. I have posted before that many fictional works have influenced me, and I know that is true for most of the 3Twins’ staff. I also believe we are creating an entertaining and quality product or I wouldn’t be involved. The cool part is how we can invent new situations and twists to set ours apart from the ones we have grown to love. You can reply to any of our posts and be a part of this. What do you think should be included or left out of our world?

 

Understand your escape!

~ Chuck