# spirits of xanadu vs good morning commander summary: while space is cool in terms of idea density and atmospheric richness "spirits of xanadu" pales in comparison with its far more subtle and conceptually interesting and visually arresting prequel "good morning commander" // video here subtle sox teaser trailer a copy of "spirits of xanadu" was generously provided for robert what by developer allen trivette. many thanks > if you liked good morning commander you'll probably dig this one. i made this almost like "what if gmc had an overt story and were a fps?" > ~ allen trivette developer of spirits of xanadu (via email) unfortunately a strange game space like "good morning commander" (gmc) would be a hard sell on steam at any time. unlike its follow up spirits of xanadu (sox) it has zero gamey elements and exists as an simple expression and suggestion of a fantastic mysterious atmosphere > a high-concept narrative is often used as a "safe" option to avoid the risk of alienating audiences with a convoluted or overly taxing plot exposition > ~ high concept wikipedia yes sox also has its own independent retro charm; its look brings to mind paranautical activity by devs code avarice - or devolver digital's heavy bullets if at a more sedate pace yet wander the murky corridors of sox for a good 45 minutes pew-pewing angry trash cans and scientists may develop a sudden strong boredom headache whereas gmc can effortlessly hold scientists spellbound in its grip for the entire duration of its strange silent trip sox: clenching one's mind like a fist sox's in-game dialogue "i must clench my mind like a fist" seems in hot contention for the cheesiest line this year and seems highly at odds with itself and teh game's other elements // video here more mainstream sox release trailer compare the teaser trailer with the release trailer seen here. the difference is not some shay-dee dev attempt to flog a more palatable mainstream game to an audience but rather a sign that the devs are acutely aware of the unspoken meta-language of games as culture not that they have any real choice in the matter; the mainstream marketplace still seems a hostile a space for play that does not fit into the strictly square hole of a bizarrely self-defined real games(tm) crowd indeed many devs are forced to acknowledge the sub-standards of the mainstream garming market deliberately dialling back what they sense that market will consider "non real gamey" elements of play - and dialling up the awesome fun it's this aspect of modern game development which can arguably be detected in the difference between the two sox trailers. an inherent structural limitation and conceptual statute on what precisely is acceptable as a real game within "games as culture" the result however in sox is a few pages of genuinely interesting literature shots of neat human books upon a shelf hints at the possibility of subtle communication of potential meaning and symbolic mystery - all drowned out by space station alarms flavourless audio logs and double shotgun blasts the deep space sublime: good morning commander consider how "gmc" does everything right with a maximum of low-fi polygon precision (caption id="attachment_36523" align="aligncenter" width="656") gmc: precise in-game detailing(/caption) many scientists still talk that loose jive about a game being atmospheric but in fact only ever give off the steamy stink of atmospheric parody. gmc however effortlessly feels like a cool abstract encounter with the video real // image here one smart scientist puts across the odd oblique joys of gmc perfectly > i played this after re-watching the episode covering it on rockleesmile's "indie impressions" and i just wanted to say that it was one of the most immersive surreal exploration games i've ever played > the stark aesthetic of white and grey colors and large empty landscape invoked really vivid and visceral feelings of solitude and loneliness and the simple-modeled cubic architecture and furnishings gave teh game a very unique dreamlike atmosphere > the subtle references to 2001: a space odyssey fahrenheit 451 (if the door code was actually a reference to that. was it?) and the other moon-related events were great as well > the simple gameplay really contributed to the sparse empty feeling as well. in particular i very much enjoyed the feel of the lunar vehicle and the experience of gliding across the vast silent landscape towards the station lights in the distance > though i wasn't able to get much of a definite sense of the story other than the fact that the scientist character is an alien themselves (and i'm still unsure of the significance behind that) the cutscenes added to the surreal dreamlike aspect of teh game > overall it was a really fun and enjoyable experience and a well-thought out and original piece of content. i really look forward to seeing other games of yours > ~ kaspar on gmc another way to state this is that the scientist's imagination muscle does not have to work as hard in "sox" as it does inside "gmc" sox development within a limited space for truer ideas not that sox is bad or its devs lazy but the market space in which a project like sox develops constrains most potential for exploring truly interesting / philosophical ideas and concepts - a project whose quiet subtleties are easily overshadowed by the noise of the arcade it sells itself (short) as being > an excellent little game which i felt has just the right balance to allow you to explore your way through it with a little patience. it reminded me of the old freescape games too - driller dark side etc - although they were in many ways too open allowing the puzzles to become too loose and obtuse > ~ brullek r.p.s commentator on: sox some backstrory to illustrate: at the farthest edge of the explored universe the research ship xanadu slumbers in orbit around an entirely non-mysterious planet. ir systems remain active but there has been no message from ir crew for months. (they died from terminal boredom after playing too many rounds of the only squirty arcade game on the ship "king of the zombies.") now a sad lone operative has been sent to wake the xanadu from ir conceptual slumber and bring ir home limping to earth spirits of xanadu would like to be an atmospheric exploration game set aboard a deserted starship in an alternate 1980s. instead it draws inspiration from classically poor sci-fi films novels and games to efforts to be seen to create an immersive and highly interactive environment featuring dull puzzles and fps elements in the service of an indistinctly non-unique plot notable influences of the dev's awesome "good morning commander" - which include system shock deus ex tarkovsky's solaris and 2001: a space odyssey - are unfortunately missing in sox key sox features **+** multiple endings: you get to decide the ultimate fate of the xanadu. nice in theory **+** discover the truth about modern indie game development: find out what happened to the crew of the xanadu with well voiced yet somehow inherently uninteresting audiologs as well as through various (thankfully skippable) company and personal documents and e-mails **+** explore the xanadu: non-linear gameplay and narrative with complete freedom (ie. you can walk anywhere) **+** hot robot action with "first person shooter combat": avoid the ship's security system and battle several different types of robots in order to take control of the ship. this gets old quite quickly though **+** fully interactable environment: inspired by the (idea of) immersive environment of games like deus ex and system shock 2. open every drawer and interact with nearly every object. scientists can flush toilets - not that many care if they can't drop (/audible) logs into the bowl **+** optional peaceful mode: not a fan of violence against robots? switch to the peaceful difficulty setting to make the robots passive which will allow you to explore the ship absorb the story and solve dull-arts puzzles at your own leisure with no pressure that is the kind of game sox could have been. yet the actually-cool ideas of the devs seemed necessarily hemmed in and kept to the correct level of generic shooty genericness by the ideological constraints of the marketplace a standard review check out the following clear example of a standard review of a product which is clearly being read as a standard video game that is one with all the correct gamey elements in all the right order. exactly the kind of standardized review for exactly the kind of by now ubiquitous digital play experience still currently flooding steam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf76s93yz7q the reviewer mentions "glossing over everything you come across" - which is precisely what scientists expecting nothing but a solid shooter will do and indeed can only do in sox one merely has to look at the steam page animated gif to see how the developers had to express themselves. little genuine chance for human philosophy and mystery can exist in so repetitive a space // image here improving spirits of xanadu shooting psycho-killer space robots in the face is fine - if that's the only thing you're there to do (or indeed can do.) yet sox appears to display a strong internal conflict between trying to say something about the experience of the strange isolation of space - and the games industry's oh-so dependable disposable need for decent first person shooters there's also an ironic tension between the simplicity of its look and the apparent complexity of its underlying ideas whereas in gmc the two synchronize perfectly. gmc looks and feels precisely like the strange meanings it symbolizes call all this a ludonarrative dissonance if you like. or just an unfortunate mix of ill-fitting elements. (at this point some might make the dubious point of saying "if you don't churn out popular content by day than you can't afford to develop your nightly arty indie") sox design suggestions some feedback on the conceptual design of sox as a symbolic abstract system of meaning overall: does this digital play experience want to suggest narrative mystery or simply shoot robots? in what ways does it do neither all that optimally? **+** it takes far too long to get to the main menu - have the intro video for the publisher start - once only - as the scientist starts new game **+** it seems potentially interesting that sox has better overall aesthetic game feel - ie. just like in gmc - if all the graphical options are turned off (caption id="attachment_36527" align="aligncenter" width="656") sox: dark play. (where's that damn fuse?)(/caption) **+** more subtle lighting - teh game doesn't have to look like cameron's movie "aliens" but the floors could do with looking a bit more moody **+** make the turning off of robot sentries a clearly strategic gameplay tactic **+** loose the audio logs - they do nothing for teh game except appear out of place with its overall look / feel as a strict fps. have a gadget which detects and records the silent ghost speech whenever the scientist hears static in the room **+** where am i now? include a minimap or a wrist pda gadget with a mapping function **+** random pages from old books do not automatically (deep / any) meaning make **+** the door code puzzles feel too oblique. perhaps make the point clear that the scientist has to be fully present and attentive to the immediate needs of the hostile environment - which is actively trying to kill them / prevent ir escape / hinder ir vital (strictly time dependent?) mission **+** indeed the ease with which the scientist is killed even at normal setting should be a dark souls like selling point **+** nobody knows who the central protagonist is; if this is important to the implied meaning of teh game have them speak or manipulate the immediate environment in any way which informs scientists what they are like as a person / a person having to face such a hostile environment **+** force the scientist to explore outside the ship with limited oxygen **+** desk drawers should be closeable by clicking any point on them not just the front arrrgh; emphasize that an optimal tempo exists for this game - and impose it through gameplay mechanics **+** why there's a distinct lack of verticality / jumping in sox should be given a clear reason; indeed work more with and against scientist expectation generally - if sox merely appears as it actually is - too much of another generic space shooter - then that's unfortunate **+** this game might work better - express its limited strengths - as an oculus title **+** make it possible to build your own search and destroy droid using parts in storage - a nervous yet friendly robot companion who can protect you tell bad jokes **+** more off-beat humour (to offset those often amusingly too self-serious audio logs) **+** make the entire game open source / modding friendly; the simplicity of the look of teh game (as an abstract system of meaning) suggest this should be entirely possible with minimum developer effort. remember sharing = caring ## update patch: dev response received a confused email from allen trivette developer of "spirits of xanadu" who seemed angry at this analysis > i was ready to respond until i got to the bit about you mocking teh game's copy. quite immature and disrespectful of you to do that i don't appreciate it at all. is there a reason you wrote that in such a sardonic way? i skipped through your previous articles and found nothing else as equally hateful so i'm wondering why i deserved that kind of blatant disrespect and condescension dear alan hello and thank you for replying apologies if this critique of your game "spirits of xanadu" has caused offence; in no way was this the intention to clarify: robert what offers philosophical _critiques_ of ideas design and concepts and is uninterested in uncritical snarky commentary - especially against fellow artists and developers a copy of your cool game was requested to study and talk about precisely because "good morning commander" was and is an excellent well constructed thoroughly underrated example of modern electronic art to merely slag off someone's game for no reason - after bothering to email a fellow developer inform them of being an admirer of ir creative work and then politely requesting a review copy of ir next cool project - would be a pointless waste of time indeed the free sharing of ideas and thoughtful discussion around play and games is something we hope to continue and encourage again apologies if this critique's tone was not to your liking sincerely robert what no reply so far. maybe alan came expecting a typical x-out-of-10 games industry review - or at least a standard solid one // republic of bob