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	<title>Preserving Games &#187; complexity</title>
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	<link>http://www.ibiblio.org/winget</link>
	<description>Archiving the Creation Processes of the Video Game Industry</description>
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		<title>What Went Wrong? A Survey of Problems in Game Development</title>
		<link>http://www.ibiblio.org/winget/2009/10/what-went-wrong-a-survey-of-problems-in-game-development/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ibiblio.org/winget/2009/10/what-went-wrong-a-survey-of-problems-in-game-development/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:48:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>walker</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Literature Review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[complexity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creation process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creative limitations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[difficulty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[videogame]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ibiblio.org/winget/?p=204</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fábio Petrillo et al., “What went wrong? A survey of problems in game development,” Computers in Entertainment 7, no. 1 (2, 2009): 1-22.  
 
This February 2009 article from the Computer in Entertainment magazine of ACM takes a look at the game industry and compares its difficulties to the larger software industry. Specifically the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Fábio Petrillo et al., “What went wrong? A survey of problems in game development,” <span style="font-style: italic">Computers in Entertainment</span> 7, no. 1 (2, 2009): 1-22.</strong> <span class="Z3988" title="url_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_id=info%3Adoi/10.1145/1486508.1486521&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=article&amp;rft.atitle=What%20went%20wrong%3F%20A%20survey%20of%20problems%20in%20game%20development&amp;rft.jtitle=Computers%20in%20Entertainment&amp;rft.stitle=%3Cabbrev_title%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.0%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.1%22%20xmlns%3Axsi%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2001%2FXMLSchema-instance%22%3EComput.%20Entertain.%3C%2Fabbrev_title%3E%0A%3Cabbrev_title%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.0%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.1%22%20xmlns%3Axsi%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2001%2FXMLSchema-instance%22%3ECIE%3C%2Fabbrev_title%3E&amp;rft.volume=7&amp;rft.issue=1&amp;rft.aufirst=F%C3%A1bio&amp;rft.aulast=Petrillo&amp;rft.au=F%C3%A1bio%20Petrillo&amp;rft.au=Marcelo%20Pimenta&amp;rft.au=Francisco%20Trindade&amp;rft.au=Carlos%20Dietrich&amp;rft.date=2009&amp;rft.pages=22&amp;rft.issn=15443574"> </span></p>
<p><span class="Z3988" title="url_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_id=info%3Adoi/10.1145/1486508.1486521&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=article&amp;rft.atitle=What%20went%20wrong%3F%20A%20survey%20of%20problems%20in%20game%20development&amp;rft.jtitle=Computers%20in%20Entertainment&amp;rft.stitle=%3Cabbrev_title%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.0%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.1%22%20xmlns%3Axsi%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2001%2FXMLSchema-instance%22%3EComput.%20Entertain.%3C%2Fabbrev_title%3E%0A%3Cabbrev_title%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.0%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.1%22%20xmlns%3Axsi%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2001%2FXMLSchema-instance%22%3ECIE%3C%2Fabbrev_title%3E&amp;rft.volume=7&amp;rft.issue=1&amp;rft.aufirst=F%C3%A1bio&amp;rft.aulast=Petrillo&amp;rft.au=F%C3%A1bio%20Petrillo&amp;rft.au=Marcelo%20Pimenta&amp;rft.au=Francisco%20Trindade&amp;rft.au=Carlos%20Dietrich&amp;rft.date=2009&amp;rft.pages=1&amp;rft.issn=15443574"> </span></p>
<p><span class="Z3988" title="url_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_id=info%3Adoi/10.1145/1486508.1486521&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=article&amp;rft.atitle=What%20went%20wrong%3F%20A%20survey%20of%20problems%20in%20game%20development&amp;rft.jtitle=Computers%20in%20Entertainment&amp;rft.stitle=%3Cabbrev_title%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.0%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.1%22%20xmlns%3Axsi%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2001%2FXMLSchema-instance%22%3EComput.%20Entertain.%3C%2Fabbrev_title%3E%0A%3Cabbrev_title%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.0%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.1%22%20xmlns%3Axsi%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2001%2FXMLSchema-instance%22%3ECIE%3C%2Fabbrev_title%3E&amp;rft.volume=7&amp;rft.issue=1&amp;rft.aufirst=F%C3%A1bio&amp;rft.aulast=Petrillo&amp;rft.au=F%C3%A1bio%20Petrillo&amp;rft.au=Marcelo%20Pimenta&amp;rft.au=Francisco%20Trindade&amp;rft.au=Carlos%20Dietrich&amp;rft.date=2009&amp;rft.pages=1&amp;rft.issn=15443574">This February 2009 article from the <em>Computer in Entertainment </em>magazine of ACM takes a look at the game industry and compares its difficulties to the larger software industry. Specifically the authors analyze twenty <em>postmortems </em>from the archives of <a title="Gamasutra" href="http://www.gamasutra.com">Gamasutra.com</a> to characterize the problems that plague game development. I believe Gamasutra has discontinued this series but postmortems are still published by </span>sister publication <a title="Game Developer magazine" href="http://www.gdmag.com/"><em>Game Developer</em></a>.</p>
<p><span class="Z3988" title="url_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_id=info%3Adoi/10.1145/1486508.1486521&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=article&amp;rft.atitle=What%20went%20wrong%3F%20A%20survey%20of%20problems%20in%20game%20development&amp;rft.jtitle=Computers%20in%20Entertainment&amp;rft.stitle=%3Cabbrev_title%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.0%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.1%22%20xmlns%3Axsi%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2001%2FXMLSchema-instance%22%3EComput.%20Entertain.%3C%2Fabbrev_title%3E%0A%3Cabbrev_title%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.0%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.1%22%20xmlns%3Axsi%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2001%2FXMLSchema-instance%22%3ECIE%3C%2Fabbrev_title%3E&amp;rft.volume=7&amp;rft.issue=1&amp;rft.aufirst=F%C3%A1bio&amp;rft.aulast=Petrillo&amp;rft.au=F%C3%A1bio%20Petrillo&amp;rft.au=Marcelo%20Pimenta&amp;rft.au=Francisco%20Trindade&amp;rft.au=Carlos%20Dietrich&amp;rft.date=2009&amp;rft.pages=1&amp;rft.issn=15443574">A postmortem &#8220;</span>designates a document that summarizes the project development experience, with a strong emphasis on the positive and negative aspects of the development cycle.&#8221; After reviewing the literature discussing problems present in the software industry, the authors begin to analyze the problems described in the postmortems. The games covered and the problems identified and quantified are in a table that describes the number of occurrences and overall frequency (click for larger image). <em>Note:</em> sometime in the future (the Web 2.0 future?) I would provide a link to the actual dataset rather than a .PNG  showing you a picture of the dataset.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 540px"><a href="http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~walker/wentWrongTable.png"><img class="      " src="http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~walker/wentWrongTable.png" alt="=Occurrence of Problems in the Projects" width="530" height="276" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Occurrence of Problems in the Projects</p></div>
<p><span title="url_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_id=info%3Adoi/10.1145/1486508.1486521&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=article&amp;rft.atitle=What%20went%20wrong%3F%20A%20survey%20of%20problems%20in%20game%20development&amp;rft.jtitle=Computers%20in%20Entertainment&amp;rft.stitle=%3Cabbrev_title%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.0%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.1%22%20xmlns%3Axsi%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2001%2FXMLSchema-instance%22%3EComput.%20Entertain.%3C%2Fabbrev_title%3E%0A%3Cabbrev_title%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.0%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.1%22%20xmlns%3Axsi%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2001%2FXMLSchema-instance%22%3ECIE%3C%2Fabbrev_title%3E&amp;rft.volume=7&amp;rft.issue=1&amp;rft.aufirst=F%C3%A1bio&amp;rft.aulast=Petrillo&amp;rft.au=F%C3%A1bio%20Petrillo&amp;rft.au=Marcelo%20Pimenta&amp;rft.au=Francisco%20Trindade&amp;rft.au=Carlos%20Dietrich&amp;rft.date=2009&amp;rft.pages=1&amp;rft.issn=15443574">The authors&#8217; categories provide a helpful navigation to the issues that arise in a game development project. As they note, this study sees the most cited problems as <em>unreal or ambitious scope</em> and <em>features creep</em>, both constituting 75% of all problems described. Notable for game archivists is a 40% frequency for the <em>lack of documentation</em> problem as well. The authors note low occurrences for <em>crunch time </em>and <em>over budget</em> (25%), both &#8220;said to be &#8216;universal.&#8217;&#8221; It&#8217;s difficult however to draw expansive conclusions from a small dataset. Moreover postmortems were not team projects or collaboratively written, rather a single participant is responsible for the postmortem. The authors usefully provide other limitations to put the data in context.</span></p>
<p><span title="url_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_id=info%3Adoi/10.1145/1486508.1486521&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=article&amp;rft.atitle=What%20went%20wrong%3F%20A%20survey%20of%20problems%20in%20game%20development&amp;rft.jtitle=Computers%20in%20Entertainment&amp;rft.stitle=%3Cabbrev_title%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.0%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.1%22%20xmlns%3Axsi%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2001%2FXMLSchema-instance%22%3EComput.%20Entertain.%3C%2Fabbrev_title%3E%0A%3Cabbrev_title%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.0%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.1%22%20xmlns%3Axsi%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2001%2FXMLSchema-instance%22%3ECIE%3C%2Fabbrev_title%3E&amp;rft.volume=7&amp;rft.issue=1&amp;rft.aufirst=F%C3%A1bio&amp;rft.aulast=Petrillo&amp;rft.au=F%C3%A1bio%20Petrillo&amp;rft.au=Marcelo%20Pimenta&amp;rft.au=Francisco%20Trindade&amp;rft.au=Carlos%20Dietrich&amp;rft.date=2009&amp;rft.pages=1&amp;rft.issn=15443574">The authors conclude that the electronic games industry does indeed suffer from problems in the larger software industry (overly ambitious plans and poor requirements analysis) as well as woes peculiar to itself: the first to experiment with new technologies, tool problems, and collaboration between disparate professionals, among others. </span></p>
<p><span title="url_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_id=info%3Adoi/10.1145/1486508.1486521&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=article&amp;rft.atitle=What%20went%20wrong%3F%20A%20survey%20of%20problems%20in%20game%20development&amp;rft.jtitle=Computers%20in%20Entertainment&amp;rft.stitle=%3Cabbrev_title%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.0%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.1%22%20xmlns%3Axsi%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2001%2FXMLSchema-instance%22%3EComput.%20Entertain.%3C%2Fabbrev_title%3E%0A%3Cabbrev_title%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.0%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fxschema%2F1.1%22%20xmlns%3Axsi%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2001%2FXMLSchema-instance%22%3ECIE%3C%2Fabbrev_title%3E&amp;rft.volume=7&amp;rft.issue=1&amp;rft.aufirst=F%C3%A1bio&amp;rft.aulast=Petrillo&amp;rft.au=F%C3%A1bio%20Petrillo&amp;rft.au=Marcelo%20Pimenta&amp;rft.au=Francisco%20Trindade&amp;rft.au=Carlos%20Dietrich&amp;rft.date=2009&amp;rft.pages=1&amp;rft.issn=15443574">On a final note, the postmortems are still available at Gamasutra, and they are really fascinating reads. It really becomes clear just how young an engineering and creative discipline digital game-making is, and how much fluctuation there is in how a game turns out. There are some great examples and stories there; the authors of this article cite quite a few of them.<br />
</span></p>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Not-So-Sensible World of Soccer</title>
		<link>http://www.ibiblio.org/winget/2009/02/not-so-sensible-world-of-soccer/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ibiblio.org/winget/2009/02/not-so-sensible-world-of-soccer/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:43:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Emulation and Vintage Gameplay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[complexity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[playability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[videogame]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ibiblio.org/winget/?p=110</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My experiences playing Warcraft reminded me of a time when games were simpler, and I enjoyed reliving those memories.  Sensible World of Soccer, on the other hand, reminded me that, when it comes to sports games, added complexity is a necessity that is sometimes taken for granted by younger players like myself.  To get right [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My experiences playing Warcraft reminded me of a time when games were simpler, and I enjoyed reliving those memories.  <a href="http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/910/Sensible+World+of+Soccer.html">Sensible World of Soccer</a>, on the other hand, reminded me that, when it comes to sports games, added complexity is a necessity that is sometimes taken for granted by younger players like myself.  To get right to the point, I find SWoS to be almost unplayable.</p>
<p>But before I address how the gameplay in sports games has, thankfully, advanced over the years, I will note that my issues with SWoS began with the speed of the game itself.  When I began playing the game on DOSBox (see previous posts for information on how to obtain and use DOSBox), the little soccer players were zooming around the screen.  Before I could hit escape and catch my breath, it seemed that five goals had already been scored against my team.  No matter much I tried to slow the game&#8217;s movement through DOSBox&#8217;s options menu, the game never seemed to calm down.  Filled with frustration, I downloaded the recent re-release of the game from XBOX 360&#8217;s online marketplace.  To my surprise, though the game was slowed considerably, it was still blazing at a speed entirely incompatible with the actual game of soccer.  Can this really be the default speed?</p>
<p>This was the first of many complaints about the ways in which SWoS presents the game of soccer to video game players.  Soccer is known throughout the world as the &#8220;beautiful game,&#8221; due to the grace and intricacy required to truly compete in the sport.  Soccer is not the kind of hyperkinetic sport that basketball is, or that SWoS would have you believe soccer is.  It is more like an athletic chess match; players are constantly scanning the field, looking for their best option before making a move.  The speed of SWoS makes this kind of thought and strategy impossible, robbing the sport of its great uniqueness.  In modern soccer video games like EA Sports&#8217;s FIFA series, the game allows the player to take his time; indeed, acting or moving too quickly will likely result in defeat.  This is the pace that a soccer video game demands, the pace of the sport itself.</p>
<p>Another glaring issue is the one-button control scheme.  You use the same button to pass the ball and to shoot the ball.  This requires you to use your movement buttons to both move your player and to guide the ball so that, when you press the &#8220;kick ball&#8221; button, the ball is sent toward a teammate for a pass or toward the goal for a shot attempt.  There is not enough room here to elaborate on how incompatible this button scheme is to soccer movement and strategy, but I can simply say that soccer players often find themselves running in one direction and kicking the ball in another direction.  A player running towards the goal may have an open teammate to his left; good luck trying to kick the ball to your left while continuing to move play forward in SWoS.  In modern games, the player is given a shoot button, a normal pass button, a lob/cross pass button, and a through pass button, and all of them are necessary if the player really wishes to recreate the sport itself.  Considering these options in addition to the advanced buttons that a player can now use in modern games to turn a normal shot into a chip shot or an exceptionally powerful line drive, one recognizes how important the new complexities of modern soccer games are.  These control options are not simply added in for innovation&#8217;s sake; they are, in fact, finally allowing the soccer video game to be what it ought to be.</p>
<p>Obviously, I am not suggesting that SWoS was a failed attempt in its time.  I imagine, in the mid-1990s, that soccer fans were happy for any soccer video game they could find, and SWoS certainly broke some important ground that continues to benefit soccer gamers today, most importantly the incredible depth of its leagues, player rosters and career modes.  The <a href="http://worldofstuart.excellentcontent.com/swos/manual3.htm">manual</a> for the game claims to have &#8220;practically every professional team, league, and cup competition in the world,&#8221; and after perusing the team select menus, I am inclined to agree.  Also, the game not only features 26,000+ real life players but also includes &#8220;accurate personal statistics,&#8221; so the better players in real life will perform better in the game.  These inclusions provided SWoS with an off-the-field depth that was ahead of its time and set a high standard for games to come.  Not to mention that the game now serves as a delightful history lesson; for someone like myself who only recently became a fan of world soccer, it is quite interesting to see who was playing for all the teams I know and who were the best players in the mid-1990s.</p>
<p>With that said, I could not wait to turn SWoS off and return to my beloved FIFA &#8216;08.  I have come to expect from soccer video games the ability to guide the players that I know and love via advanced control schemes at a thoughtful and strategic pace, and it is astonishing to see what gamers had to settle for just over a decade ago.  Many of the classic video games that have been deemed important and influential have aged well, continuing to be enjoyable and entertaining to new players even as the graphics increasingly show the game&#8217;s age.  However, SWoS, I would argue, will be better served in my generation by remembering than by replaying.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Warcraft &#8211; Army of Four</title>
		<link>http://www.ibiblio.org/winget/2009/02/warcraft-army-of-four/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ibiblio.org/winget/2009/02/warcraft-army-of-four/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:22:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Emulation and Vintage Gameplay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[complexity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[multiplayer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[videogame]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ibiblio.org/winget/?p=108</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Of the many games that Blizzard created for the Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo franchises, the only one that seems to have been all but forgotten by the company is the original Warcraft.  On Blizzard&#8217;s official website, the company features detailed web pages for their games dating back to Diablo and Warcraft II, but there is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Of the many games that Blizzard created for the Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo franchises, the only one that seems to have been all but forgotten by the company is the original Warcraft.  On Blizzard&#8217;s official website, the company features detailed web pages for their games dating back to Diablo and Warcraft II, but there is hardly any mention of the first Warcraft game.  Also, new copies of Blizzard&#8217;s games can still be purchased at Amazon.com, except for Warcraft I.  No worries; it can still be found on the aptly titled website <a href="http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/422/Warcraft+-+Orcs+and+Humans.html">Abandonia</a>.</p>
<p>Immediately upon viewing the main menu, one may realize why this game has essentially been abandoned by Blizzard.  The multiplayer options (Modem, Network, Direct Link) are reminders of a time when playing a multiplayer game was a much greater hassle.  In this modern era of multiplayer gaming, of XBOX Live and Steam, efficiency and ease of use is expected.  Jumping into a multiplayer game should be as easy as turning on your computer or console.  This may be the reason why Blizzard continues to sell Warcraft II in its user-friendly Battle.net edition but does not bother with Warcraft I.  Today, a game is often measured by its multiplayer capabilities, and here Warcraft I is found wanting by comparison.</p>
<p>It would be a shame if this development resulted in younger gamers missing out on what is undoubtedly an engaging single player experience.  Subtitled Orcs &amp; Humans, Warcraft allows the player to play through a Human campaign and an Orc campaign, which may persuade the gamer to feel that he or she has been given two games for the price of one.  Though the gameplay mechanics are the same for both campaigns, the two races features varied soldier types (for example, Human Clerics can heal damaged soldiers while Orc Warlocks can re-animate dead soldiers as Skeleton fighters) that demand different strategies from the player.  Also, the mission objectives, after a short beginner&#8217;s mission that is the same for both Orcs and Humans, are unique.  It is always interesting, after fighting against certain characters, to change allegiances and assume control of what was once your opposition, to get two sides of the same story.</p>
<p>As one of the first Real-Time Strategy games, Warcraft essentially sets the foundation that would be built upon in the years to come by the Command &amp; Conquer and Starcraft games.  Thus, gamers familiar with the more complex strategies of these later games may have difficulty adjusting to the simpler gameplay of Warcraft.  In the RTS games that followed Warcraft, players were allowed, and encouraged, to create dozens of soldiers and battle vehicles and design heavily populated attacking formations filled with as many units as the player desired.  In Warcraft, a player must work with groups of four.  Just four.  If a player wishes to attack an enemy base with 16 units, the player will need to click-drag the cursor over four units and send them into the fight, then do the same with three more groups of four.  This alone may discourage more accomplished RTS players from finishing Warcraft.  However, as someone who is often overwhelmed by the staggering possibilities of more recent RTS games, I find Warcraft&#8217;s simplicity relaxing and enjoyable.  Though the scale is significantly decreased, the game is still asking the player to make stategic and effective use of soldiers and resources to defeat the enemy.</p>
<p>In conclusion, if one is looking for a multiplayer game, I would encourage that gamer to look elsewhere.  However, gamers who would like to experience an earlier, simpler RTS single player game ought to try Warcraft.  Certainly, by comparing Warcraft to the more recent entries into the genre, one can see how these games, and the gamers who play them, have changed.  I can imagine the unified response to Warcraft having been, &#8220;More!&#8221;  In the years to come, gamers would be given more units to build, more formations to fill, more technologies to research, and more industrious enemies to defeat, expanding to the point where some gamers (myself included) were left behind.</p>
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