A review by nickfourtimes
Spelunky by Derek Yu

informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

1) ”The creative mind is like a big pile of jigsaw puzzle pieces. Some pieces were made by other people—inspirational words of advice, an intriguing screenshot from a game you've never heard of, a haunting melody—and some are gained through life experiences. Some pieces are already connected, either because they came that way or because while you were walking down the street or taking a shower they somehow found each other. Sometimes a single piece is missing, and once that piece is uncovered, two other pieces from different ends of the pile can finally be connected.

It's important to accumulate many, many jigsaw pieces, since the more you have available, the more things you can build. But eventually you have to sit down and start sifting through the pieces to put them all together. This is the ‘work’ part of creation. It can often be frustrating, like when two pieces seem like they should fit but don't. Sometimes you know that there's a perfect piece around but you're not sure where it is. Is it even in your head? But like any challenging task with a noble purpose, the frustration also gives way to joy, elation, and ultimately satisfaction when you've finished a big part of a new puzzle.”

2) ”I've tried programming a game engine from scratch before, surrounding myself with books like Tricks of the Game-Programming Gurus in an effort to ‘make games the right way,’ but when days of work yield as much as I could make in Game Maker in a few minutes, it's hard to stay motivated. At the beginning of each semester at Berkeley I had the same sort of naive gumption, buying pristine notebooks and attentively jotting down everything the professors said, only to succumb to ennui a week later, my notes devolving into irreverent doodles. Post-school, however, I accepted that I wasn't cut out for academia and programming theory. I no more wanted to program my own game engine than I wanted to fashion my own paintbrushes. This important realization meant I could stop wasting my time trying to be something I wasn't. Instead of being embarrassed about not being a ‘real programmer’ using ‘real programming languages,’ I vowed to make games whichever way felt good to me.”

3) “The Chain's final purpose is to provide permanent features to a randomized landscape. Although randomization gives Spelunky and roguelikes their longevity and makes each playthrough feel unique, it's what stays the same from run to run that makes the world feel real. But without the randomization, playing the game enough times to figure out the Chain would be much more repetitive. The permanence of the Chain and the randomization of the world work in tandem to give you a greater appreciation of the other.”