Surgeon Simulator 2013 @ Steam Greenlight

Via Boing Boing:

Bossa Studios created the surgery game “Surgeon Simulator 2013″ in a weekend. It’s somewhere between Operation, advanced medical training simulations, and splatterpunk films.

Assemblywoman Marie Waldron (R-Escondido) has introduced legislation that could someday have California universities offer a degree in creating and designing video games.

“Video game design is a growing industry that is in need of a highly skilled workforce,” Waldron said Monday. “These are well-paid jobs for a young generation that is struggling for economic opportunities. We should work with the entertainment industry to make California a leader in this rapidly growing field.”

AB 255 would create the digital arts pilot program in the California State University and California Community College systems. Waldron hopes to work with the gaming industry to tailor the program to their need for skilled workers.

[Source: LA Times]

See also AB 255 @ openstates.org

Themes
The classification I employed is arbitrary. It served me well in exploring different alleys of thought, but it may at the same time have prevented me from ‘thinking outside the box’. Fortunately it’s a rather large box, yet it leaves interesting games like Amazons or Lines of Action without a clearcut thematic classification. Here it is:

• Chess variants
• Elimination games
• Territory games
• Connection games
• Breakthrough & Race games
• Configuration games
• Mancala games

The first two are ‘existential’ in that the object is to eliminate either the ‘heart’, as in chess, or ‘body & limb’ as in draughts. The other themes are ‘co-existential’ in that the object is to grab more or be faster, without necessarily cutting the other player’s throat.

There’s more where that came from, in considerable detail. Check it out:

Key concepts, or a glossary of sorts, or a toolbox

AI systems can (sort of) paint and compose classical music, but can they design games? … I’ve put together a survey of the AI game designers I know of, to round up what they can do so far (and what they can’t).

- Mark Nelson @ slashdot

Vehicle Capture the Flag map for Unreal Tournament 3.

Download Version 65

Map Folder

Unzip the .zip folder, and put the .ut3 (map file) here:

\My Games\Unreal Tournament 3\UTGame\Published\CookedPC\CustomMaps\

Online server IP address

UPDATE — no online server, I cancelled the account

CinderGarden [2012]

Game: Unreal Tournament Three
Mode: Warfare
Number of players: 12-24

This is a work in progress, very playable right now, some changes to come.

Download CinderGarden version 9031

Update: 8:22 pm

Download WAR-CinderGarden 9041a

68.232.177.61:7777

Little Dipper (2012)

Game:  Unreal Tournament 3

Game mode: Warfare

Number of players: 12 seems about right to me (it’s a small map with lots of close-quarters mayhem)

Version: 33

This is a playtest release — very playable despite some rough edges that need finishing  – send me your comments, critiques, complaints

Update: Version 612 [September 30, 2012]

Improved version, more to come

Download Little Dipper 612

Update: Version 704 [October 1, 2012]

Re-arranged some of the geometry … fixed some of the stuck-spots … added ramps to the turrets near the center node, but the ramps are too steep, I will fix that in the next version ….

Download Little Dipper 704

Update: Version 712 [October 5, 2012]

Various changes … check it out:

Download Little Dipper 712

VugRunner is a Vehicle Capture the Flag map for Unreal Tournament 3.

See the sidebar for map download links.