Starter Guide is an interactive story video game created by Davey Wreden under the name Studio Everything Unlimited Ltd. This game is released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux on October 1, 2015. This game is a critically-honored Wreden criticized
The game is narrated by Wreden and takes the user through a number of incomplete and abstract game creations created by a developer named Coda. Wreden challenges players to try to understand the type of person Coda from exploring these spaces in the first person perspective. In the narrative, players discover that Wreden has tried to impose meaning into Coda's game, causing them to end their relationship. Wreden has stated the game is open to interpretation: some have seen the game as a general commentary on the nature of the relationship between game developers and players, while others have considered it an allegory for Wreden's personal struggle with success resulting from The Stanley Parable >.
The game received mixed and positive reviews. Many reviewers are ready to take the narrative and the questions and ideas they put forward about game development, while others feel the game is forcing some of Wreden's thinking too hard and in a pretentious way.
Video The Beginner's Guide
Gameplay
Gameplay at The Beginner's Guide is presented in the first person perspective that allows players to move and explore the environment and interact with some elements as they evolve throughout the interactive story of the work. Players hear details of the various scenes they explore through the game's narrator, Wreden himself, to describe what they see and make conclusions about the nature of game developers. Some areas include puzzle solving and tree conversation, but there is no way for the player character to die, or the player to make mistakes or lose the game. Narration helps the player pass certain sections of the game room that are difficult or can not be overcome as designed, such as by providing a bridge to cross the invisible maze after the player finds it difficult. After a player has completed a chapter, they can return to one of them in the game, and disable the narration (and help it provides) to explore their own space. This game has a metafictional element.
Maps The Beginner's Guide
Plot
The concept of the game is based on trying to understand the nature of a person based on exploring files and documents on their computer without other records or documentation or knowing this person in the first place. In the game, the player, assisted by the Wreden narrative, seems to understand that a game developer named Coda had met Wreden at game hours in 2009. Coda is considered a mystery, having created many weird game ideas that are then erased or saved and forgotten. Players explore this game, most of which is an exploration game developed from 2008 to 2011 that is only half-created, and driven by the Wreden narrative to try to imagine how Coda's personality will be based on abstract and unconventional space and idea games. The Beginner's Guide is presented in the general chronological order of the Coda prototype, showing the progress of Coda's work as a developer of learning more.
Wreden's narrative explains that he was inspired by many of Coda's game concepts, giving his own analysis of the many themes he considers to appear in the game of Coda. However, Wreden has seen that many games are based on prison themes, isolation, and difficulty in communicating with others, and because the game Coda takes on a darker tone and takes longer to produce, with more focus on dialogue that implies that game development is no longer a positive activity for Coda. Wreden was worried that Coda was feeling depressed and burdened by game development, and took it upon himself to show some Coda game concepts to others to get feedback to help push Coda to develop more. However, this in turn causes Coda to withdraw into exile. At some point in 2011, Wreden believes Coda has stopped making games, until he's sent an email with a private link to the last game by Coda.
This game, the design is in stark contrast to that made by Coda, including an almost unbreakable puzzle and a door that can not be opened from within the game. Wreden discovers that when he can use various programming tools to bypass this, he ends up in a gallery with a message from Coda directed to him, asking him not to talk to him again or to show his game to others. The messages imply that Coda feels that Wreden thought his tone was a sign of emotional struggle and lost the core of why he was involved in game design, accusing Wreden of modifying Coda's game to add more symbolism, and that Wreden's action betrayed Coda. As a result, Wreden feels bad about what he has done, and thus reveals that the purpose of The Beginner's Guide is to try to reconnect to Coda by distributing his games to the public at large and hoping to apologize for his actions.
The game ends with an epilogue level with Wreden who rarely tells about his dependence on social validation, something he sees as an excuse to show Coda games to others.
Interpretation
In the game, Wreden states that The Beginner's Guide is open to interpretation and invites players to share their own theories with him, giving his email address near the beginning of the game.
One common interpretation is that this game is a metaphor for Wreden's own success and seeks to get past his struggles, with Coda becoming a fictitious developer created for the game. Destructoid writer Darren Nakamura points out that for Wreden publishing games with charges claimed as the works of others, released without their permission, will be illegal, and thus provide evidence that Coda should be part of the fiction game. Emanuel Maiberg of the Motherboard theorized that Coda was actually Wreden himself, with Coda representing Wreden's own soul up to and including the release of The Stanley Parable . Among the other clues in the game, Maiberg explains that the name "Coda" can be taken as his definition, which means "the closing part of a literary or drama", and the theme closes one door and moves repeated frequently in the game. Maiberg also pointed out one concept game in which players in the game Coda are flooded with abstract figures from the press, and consider how much attention Wreden receives after the The Stanley Parable ' repeated. Christopher Byrd, writing for Washington Post , shows a blog post made by Wreden after he received much attention after the re-release of The Stanley Parable, and that the Wreden version of the game is really a version fictitious of himself acting as an unreliable narrator, building his personal experience from the sudden media spotlight in the relationship between the fictitious Wreden and Coda. Interactive fiction writer Emily Short believes that Wreden-as-narrator or Coda can not be considered Wreden alone, but two representative characters from game players and game developers, respectively, Wreden who tries to show sympathy in the development of modern games..
Another interpretive theme taken by some people is that the game is presented as a commentary on the role between video game developers and their audience. PC World ' s Hayden Dingman believes the game is designed to show errors from the Death of the Author essay on video game development, on which commentator which tries to link the aspect of the game with how game developers approach it, rather than considering how the game affects themselves. Gamasutra's editor-in-chief, Kris Graft, notes that, when the game tries to deconstruct the way players interpret narrative video games, every attempt to interpret the deeper meaning behind Beginner Guide paradoxically "commits all sins" that the game presents as a problem with the player's interpretation of the game. Laura Mandanas, writing for the Autostraddle, described the game as "a (bad) man came to terms with his overlapping sense of ownership," interpreting the game's theme not only for game development but for interpersonal relationships.
Some people have turned the game into non-fiction, as the game presented is the work of a real developer other than Wreden, and that the game itself can be seen as unethical use of someone else's work and potentially infringing copyright. In considering this aspect, Laura Kate Dale commented with the later clarification that the game was short enough to fall in the steam return window for those who believed the game was not fictional and with thus containing works stolen to restore the game. Dale's statement, before clarification, caused some controversy in Dale suggesting the abuse of the Steam refund system, although his clarification made it clear he was speaking to people who believed him to be non-fiction. The controversy caused some to show that the interpretation of the game was very personal, different between each player; Wreden himself in the light of the controversy refused to affirm or deny the interpretation of the game, until it confirmed that the eventual fictional nature of the game in an in-depth interview with podcast Tone Control.
Development
The Beginner's Guide is developed on the Source machine, which serves as part of Wreden's comments in the game about the nature of level design that is limited by the Source machine. Wreden has stated that he does not plan to give media interviews about the game and let the game speak for itself.
The Beginner's Guide was announced by Wreden two days before its official release on October 1, 2015. The game was developed by Wreden himself; co-creator for The Stanley Parable William Pugh has been involved in creating a new studio, Crows Crows Crows, and working on a project with Justin Roiland, co-creator Rick and Morty , with one title being a similar exploratory game, Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Very Query Cursed be damned: A Whirlwind Heist .
Reception
The Beginner's Guide received mixed and positive reviews on its release. Some reviewers are very positive about allusions made for game development. Jeffrey Matulef from Eurogamer considers Starter Guide to be one of the site's "Essential" titles, calling the game a new approach for providing stories without relying on non-player characters or collectible diaries , as well as insight into Wreden's own soul. Stephanie Bendixsen and Steven O'Donnell from Good Game both gave this game to five stars, O'Donnell called it "strong emotional" and Bendixsen commented that the game "honestly made me experience the whole creative process in a completely different way. "
Edmond Tran from GameSpot gave the game 8 out of 10 ratings, identifying that the game asked philosophical questions about the nature of the role between game developers and players, and how to understand some elements of video game design. Paste ' Cameron Kunzelman compares the insertion of Wreden as his narrator with Alfred Hitchcock, and suggests that Wreden Janus is like the duality between being a game narrator and also a game developer raising questions for players to think about the nature of video game development. Jeff Marchiafava for Game Game , rated the game 8 out of 10, stating that Wreden's approach to gaming creates a thought-provoking experience, "solving serious human problems and emotions in a completely unique way."
Todd Martens, writing for the Los Angeles Times, said that The Beginner's Guide is a "weird, wise and beautiful surrealist game" with many iconic and memorable images. after the player completes the game. Christopher Byrd, writing for the Washington Post, says the game blurs the lines with interactive art and calls it "one of the most emotional games that live on the market." The Boston Globe ' s Jesse Singal states that with The Beginner's Guide, "Wreden pushes the limits of storytelling in video games", including using tricks narratives that go beyond those already used in The Stanley Parable .
Other reviewers criticize the game, finding the narrative and the intended message too forced. Brittany Vincent of Shacknews is more critical of games, ranking 3 out of 10, and claiming that the narrative is arrogant while the concept of the game is compelling and overly complex. Sam Machkovech called the Wreden game a "sophomore setback", and felt that while the game was intended as a private journal for Wreden, his telegraph-controlled emotional passion of the last moments of game and failed to follow "Show, do not tell" narrative techniques. US Game Players ' s Bob Mackey rated the game 2 of 5 stars, sharing the same opinion with Machkovech that the Wreden narratives encourage too many interpretations to players, and feel the game like > The Magic Circle , also deals with exploring unfinished games and the reason why it's not done yet, works better in presenting this idea. Tyler Wilde from PC Gamer gave this game 69 out of 100 ratings, felt that some of Wreden's messages were delivered somewhat heavily through narration but still positively criticized some of the experimental approaches used for narrative and player experience.
Awards
Gamasutra highlights Wreden as one of the top 10 developers by 2015 for his work at The Beginner's Guide . This game has been named one of the top new IPs for 2015 by Destructoid . The New Yorker includes The Beginner's Guide among the top 11 games for 2015. It was nominated for two 2016 Game Developers Choice Awards for Best Innovation and Narration, and for two Independent Games Festivals award for Excellence in Nuovo's Narratives and Awards for Innovation. The Beginner's Guide was nominated for the 2015 "Most Innovative" game by IGN .
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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