“You don’t change the world by whispering.” — NY Governor Eliot Spitzer
“Only a New Yorker could think that volume can change the world.”– Jacob Mallow
Hat tip to : SuperHeroNationa
Installers are one of the first things a user actually encounters. Depending on your distribution method, only box art or a web page and a download program will be more visible to your users. Good-looking, functional, and reliable installation tools predate a good majority of modern gaming companies. Despite this, there are still nightmares of poorly designed, non-functional, or counter-intuitive installers out there.
It’s, at this point, old news that World of Goo has had a rate of piracy between 80% – 90%. I don’t want to discuss the oft-debated discussions of DRM, sales, and any of that stuff.
One thing that seems overlooked that is probably worth noting, though :
That 80%-90%? They installed a program illegally onto their computer, with a known phone-home feature, and left it plugged in to the net.
“You move like an insect. You think like an insect. You are an insect… Take care not to fall too far out of my favour. Patience is not characteristic of a Goddess.“
SHODAN is the evil AI directly or indirectly responsible for most of the player character’s trials and tribulations throughout the System Shock and System Shock 2 games. She — although a genderless machine, SHODAN’s dominant voice and personality usually earns the female pronoun — is also one of the creepier and more memorable villains in the computer gaming world.
Don’t let programmers design.
Don’t remove programmers from your design cycle.
Left-click menu? Well, maybe not. 90% of you, if not more, think right-click. One in ten of the American population is left-handed, though. It’s amazing how many instructions rely on this distinction.
The context menu is a great, intuitive control. It’s also about as fun to describe as chewing rocks.
A lot of left-handed individuals quickly get used to reversing right-click and left-click, or simply use their right hands. Most tech support questions from people used to a program, or from people willing to adjust to a system quickly.
Internal menus, CTRL- commands, anything keyboard or basic single click. Anything that’s truely universal.
Remember, you want an application that will not merely be used, but actively supported. Make it easy for those who provide support.
Tabula Rasa is intended to close February 2009.
This probably isn’t much of a surprise for those who’ve been paying attention. Read the rest of this entry »
