Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Will you drown?

game.notch.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 145 posts

Re: Will you drown?

#121

Post by IvyMike »

gpcz wrote: post #101

At the end of every episode in "Once Upon Atari," Rob Fulop (author or co-author of Demon Attack, Night Driver, Space Invaders, and Missile Command for the 2600) talks about how many children in the 80s played thousands of hours of Atari 2600 games and the effect that it had in their psychological development. Specifically, he believed it produced a nihilistic generation due to the overarching message that "you alway…

More on this subject: The Creation of Missile Command and the Haunting of its Creator, Dave Theurer

> Missile Command was a social commentary ahead of its time. One that resulted in the haunting of its creator through constant nightmares, punishing him with a reminder of the value of human life and just how quickly that can be taken from us.

http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/8/15/4528228/missile-co...

Re: Will you drown?

#124

Post by MarkPNeyer »

hisham_hm wrote: post #108
RollAHardSix wrote: post #34

End up going in circles at one point because I didn't realize I had any integrity. Similar to life indeed.

Same here. I just replayed it and realized I didn't notice when exactly I got it. I had to play it for a third time to see the exact point. It made me go: "oh". Brilliant.

can you explain? i can't understand what 'integrity' means for a toddler to get, and why would it cost knowledge.

Re: Will you drown?

#125

Post by _mc »

What I learnt : We need to embrace randomness to keep life simple! Could not complete the game with a "monotonous" set of instructions;

function solve(i, selector) { if(i > 0) { if(selector('a' || Math.floor((Math.random()*100)+1) % 3 == 0) == null){ setTimeout(function(){ solve(i,selector);}, 1000); } else { selector('a').click(); solve(i-1,selector); } } }

solve(1400,$); //worked thrice under 1400

Re: Will you drown?

#127

Post by jaeh »

jffry wrote: post #4

Play automatically: setInterval(function(){ $("a").click() }, 100) (Edit: Yes, this leads you through a very fast, very bad life. Play manually and have a better life.)

this version of the script gets you through the game: https://github.com/jaeh/willyoudrown/blob/master/willyoudrow...

i am also thinking about writing some ifs into it that allow you to focus on "friends", "happy buddha", "people person", "wisdom", "early death" and maybe some other criteria, but that needs user interface and more time, which i dont have today ;)

Re: Will you drown?

#129

Post by tripzilch »

evincarofautumn wrote: post #120
wpietri wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems a little harsh. It was a nihilistic time. Missile Command was brutal, but no more so than The Day After[1]. You always lose pinball in the end, too, but nobody blames that for ruining the youth. Well, nobody in that generation. Previously, like everything else novel the youth do, it was Satan's handmaiden. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_After

It’s positive in a way. Sure, you always lose in the end, but you can have a lot of fun in the meantime.

Indeed. To paraphrase Alan Watts, life isn't like a pilgrimage with a very important goal at the end, it's more like a musical thing, and you are supposed to laugh and sing and dance throughout, not just wait for the final chord.
Post reply on HN