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      <h5><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">//<a href="../../../index.html"><font color="#7C420E">loonygames</font></a>://<a href="../index.html"><font color="#7C420E">issue 
        2.9</font></a>://<a href="index.html"><font color="#7C420E">From the Mouth 
        of Madness</font></a>://1, <a href="index2.php"><font color="#7C420E">2</font></a></font></b></h5>
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              <h5 align="right"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#00025E"><img src="../../images/icons/mouth_final.jpg" width="192" height="236" align="left"><loonystart>Vol. 
                2, Issue 9<br>
                January 24, 2000<br>
                </font></b></h5>
              <h5 align="right"><font color="#00025E"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> 
                </font></b></font></h5>
              <div align="center">
                <p align="center"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="3">From 

                  the Mouth of Madness:</font></i></font></b></p>
                <p align="center"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="6"> 
                  Some Thoughts on Game Design</font></i></font></b></p>
                <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">by 
                  Jason &quot;<a href="mailto:jason@loonygames.com">loonyboi</a>&quot; 
                  Bergman</font></p>
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              <p align="right">&nbsp;</p>
              <p align="right">&nbsp;</p>
              <p align="right">&nbsp;</p>
              <p align="left"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="../../images/letters_new/o.jpg" width="25" height="39" align="left">ne 
                of the things that surprised me about RadPipe&#146;s great piece 
                this week on game design (<a href="../feat/index.html">check it 
                out in this here issue</a> if you haven&#146;t already &#150; 
                it&#146;s great stuff) is that he made a few references to an 
                article I wrote several years back for <a href="http://www.planetquake.com">PlanetQuake</a> 
                titled &#147;Waiting for Casablanca.&#148; Sadly, the article 
                would appear to be gone forever, so I can&#146;t simply hyperlink 
                to it, but I&#146;ll do my best to summarize it.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The article 
                was the result of my coming to the sudden and painful realization 
                that games, despite their claims to be otherwise, were for the 
                most part, lacking in any real storytelling. Of course, in retrospect, 
                I may have overlooked several key titles, but nonetheless, I wrote 
                this article criticizing the way the industry was going, which 
                appeared to be headed down a road filled with pretty graphics 
                and little, or no storytelling.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Of course, 
                this was written before the release of <b>Grim Fandango</b>, <b>Half-Life</b>, 
                <b>Outcast</b>, or any other one of the many games that have been 
                released since then that not only tell stories, but do so with 


                incredible skill. <b>Grim Fandango</b> is an interesting one, 
                because you&#146;ll notice in my review of the game I mentioned 
                that I was actually contacted by a member of the team at LucasArts 
                who said their game would live up to my expectations.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And oddly 
                enough, it did. Whodathunkit?</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The industry 
                has changed quite a bit since then. Technology has finally started 
                to take a backseat to gameplay (&#147;pure&#148; games like <b>Quake 
                III Arena</b> and <b>Unreal Tournament</b> aside, of course) and 
                this trend has produced a ton of great titles.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The nice 
                thing about hindsight when talking about games, is that games 
                (even the really good ones) fall into the bargain bin really quickly. 
                That means that games released just a year ago, can usually be 
                found for less than $25 if you hunt around.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">So, with 
                that in mind, I&#146;d like to mention a few games that I feel 
                have some great storytelling. Each game mentioned below not only 
                has a great method for conveying its story, but also has great 
                characters, and an intricate, well-thought out plotline.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">So, with 
                that in mind, let&#146;s look at some games, shall we? </font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Fallout</b> 
                (series): Both of the <b>Fallout</b> games are huge, huge RPGs, 
                but they also feature what very few games manage to achieve: a 
                real world. Until the recent release of<b> Ultima IX: Ascension</b>, 
                they probably had the most complete world (and in many ways, the 
                Fallout games surpass even <b>Ultima IX</b>). While most RPGs 
                have dozens of towns to explore, few of them are as well connected 
                as the ones in Fallout. Characters know each other, the towns 
                are intricately designed, every person, no matter how insignificant 
                has something to say. And each location has its own, unique backstory. 
                Not to mention the mythology of the games, which is actually well-written. 
                Fallout was missed out on by a lot of people, and that&#146;s 
                really a shame. If you&#146;re not intimidated by the size of 
                the games, check &#145;em out (and for the record, there were 
                some bugs that managed to make it into Fallout 2 when it shipped, 
                but rest assured, they&#146;ve all been squashed).</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"></loonystart><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> </font></p>
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<p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Credits: Illustration 
  &copy; 2000 Dan Zalkus. From the Mouth of Madness is &copy; 2000 Jason Bergman. 
  All other content is &copy; 1999 loonyboi productions. Unauthorized reproduction 
  is prohibited, you cartoonish villian, you.</font></i></p>
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