I'm late to the party here, forgive me, but many comments.
First of all.... Matt, another fine video, well produced and informative. You look very relaxed and jovial, which works very well as a counterpoint to a very old and obscure gaming platform. The use of cut-scenes was also very appropriate and interesting. Somehow, you made this relatively unknown platform and its apparently obscure and technical games fascinating. I had no idea that these sorts of games were available for the PLATO platform. Your parting comments at the end of the video puzzled me at first until I made the PLATO connection, then I had a hearty chuckle over it! :-)
My response to critics in the hardcore PLATO community: What'd you expect? If someone who is near-totally inexperienced in the PLATO platform tried these games, this is what they'd see. If anything, Matt (a well-known hardcore gamer) was more diligent than I would be, because I would be TOTALLY lost in these games, especially considering that I have no experience in the PLATO platform. If there are better, more inviting games (or other attractions) on the PLATO platform, then I'm all for seeing a sequel to this PLATO Matt Chat. Although I've never experienced the PLATO platform, I came away from this video with a sheer sense of respect for it, thanks to Matt's video. Perhaps the PLATO community should be more open and inviting. From what I've read here, it sounds like even the PLATO forums are closed off to outsiders.
For those of you in the PLATO community that viewed this Matt Chat favorably, I'm sure we "non-initiated" would love to hear your experiences, anecdotes, and advice on this fascinating platform!
Calibrator: "Dumbing down" games makes them more palatable to people like me. There's NO WAY that I want to have to study a PHD-level course manual to play a game. I don't want to worry about all the nitty-gritty details of most gaming subjects, nor do I have the time or patience; I just want to PLAY. If the game is inherently complex, I want an interactive, in-game tutorial that holds my hand while teaching me the deep workings of the game. I've tried to play several games in my time that seemed that you have to come to the game with a PHD in the subject ("Virtual Skipper 3," for example) with no in-game tutorial. At some point, micromanaging and studying REMOVES you from the game fantasy, rather than immerses you in it. A flexible game engine is preferable to a super-technical/realistic game engine, in my opinion.
LarryLaffer: Let's see, Matt Chat sucks, he should hang it up, Matt and Bill's books suck (which I doubt you've even read), etc. etc. Why are you here if you don't enjoy it? Perhaps you don't understand what we're all about here. Constructive criticism is warranted, but not just "hang it up." Would YOU want to be told that you should "hang it up" in your endeavors? Steel sharpens steel, but fire melts steel. Are you steel, or are you fire?
Bill: I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of the "Lode Runner" series. I played "Space Panic" and "Apple Panic," and clearly they were progenitors to "Lode Runner." And the "updated" versions of Lode Runner were inferior, play-wise, to the original. Even with it's comparatively colorless, featureless graphics, I still get a kick out of the simple but mesmerizing animations of the original. The arcade version was too cutesy, and the larger blocks meant simpler levels. The original "Lode Runner" had something that I'm not sure can be improved on, and I'm saying this as a HEAVY Lode Runner player, and I designed many levels which my friends greatly enjoyed back in the day. Lode Runner WORKED, and I had a blast playing it. None of the later incarnations had the same impact for me, although the Japanese arcade gamers loved the arcade version of Lode Runner.
First of all.... Matt, another fine video, well produced and informative. You look very relaxed and jovial, which works very well as a counterpoint to a very old and obscure gaming platform. The use of cut-scenes was also very appropriate and interesting. Somehow, you made this relatively unknown platform and its apparently obscure and technical games fascinating. I had no idea that these sorts of games were available for the PLATO platform. Your parting comments at the end of the video puzzled me at first until I made the PLATO connection, then I had a hearty chuckle over it! :-)
My response to critics in the hardcore PLATO community: What'd you expect? If someone who is near-totally inexperienced in the PLATO platform tried these games, this is what they'd see. If anything, Matt (a well-known hardcore gamer) was more diligent than I would be, because I would be TOTALLY lost in these games, especially considering that I have no experience in the PLATO platform. If there are better, more inviting games (or other attractions) on the PLATO platform, then I'm all for seeing a sequel to this PLATO Matt Chat. Although I've never experienced the PLATO platform, I came away from this video with a sheer sense of respect for it, thanks to Matt's video. Perhaps the PLATO community should be more open and inviting. From what I've read here, it sounds like even the PLATO forums are closed off to outsiders.
For those of you in the PLATO community that viewed this Matt Chat favorably, I'm sure we "non-initiated" would love to hear your experiences, anecdotes, and advice on this fascinating platform!
Calibrator: "Dumbing down" games makes them more palatable to people like me. There's NO WAY that I want to have to study a PHD-level course manual to play a game. I don't want to worry about all the nitty-gritty details of most gaming subjects, nor do I have the time or patience; I just want to PLAY. If the game is inherently complex, I want an interactive, in-game tutorial that holds my hand while teaching me the deep workings of the game. I've tried to play several games in my time that seemed that you have to come to the game with a PHD in the subject ("Virtual Skipper 3," for example) with no in-game tutorial. At some point, micromanaging and studying REMOVES you from the game fantasy, rather than immerses you in it. A flexible game engine is preferable to a super-technical/realistic game engine, in my opinion.
LarryLaffer: Let's see, Matt Chat sucks, he should hang it up, Matt and Bill's books suck (which I doubt you've even read), etc. etc. Why are you here if you don't enjoy it? Perhaps you don't understand what we're all about here. Constructive criticism is warranted, but not just "hang it up." Would YOU want to be told that you should "hang it up" in your endeavors? Steel sharpens steel, but fire melts steel. Are you steel, or are you fire?
Bill: I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of the "Lode Runner" series. I played "Space Panic" and "Apple Panic," and clearly they were progenitors to "Lode Runner." And the "updated" versions of Lode Runner were inferior, play-wise, to the original. Even with it's comparatively colorless, featureless graphics, I still get a kick out of the simple but mesmerizing animations of the original. The arcade version was too cutesy, and the larger blocks meant simpler levels. The original "Lode Runner" had something that I'm not sure can be improved on, and I'm saying this as a HEAVY Lode Runner player, and I designed many levels which my friends greatly enjoyed back in the day. Lode Runner WORKED, and I had a blast playing it. None of the later incarnations had the same impact for me, although the Japanese arcade gamers loved the arcade version of Lode Runner.
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