Play High stakes With High stakes: Choose the Right Game
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Facade, also known as Mac, is a game by Michael Mateas & Andrew Stern, wherein players take on the task of designing a complex facade. The game consists of a single player layer and the ability to manipulate objects within the game using a simple pointing device. The object is to make the facade correctly - without clipping any edges or going overboard with the color or material.
In the game, players are required to carefully and deliberately construct the right facade that will keep the group of players seated unmoved while their imaginations run wild over what might be possible. Each layer is built in a manner so that it can be easily manipulated. However, the layer's construction is not enough, the players must ensure that all their choices lead to the same result: the facade is real and that no mistakes have been made along the way. In order to do this, players must exercise a level of skill which defies any simple playing, and the decisions that they make will either help the facade becomes more real (if a certain option brings about an improvement) or prevent it from becoming real (if a particular option threatens to destroy the game).
One crucial component of the game is the Facade Generator, a tool that generates a facades by taking a photograph of a current building. The software can also create completely new Facade objects simply by clicking on an existing photograph. While the creation of a facade seems simple enough on the surface, the challenges which the players will face can be deeper than many of their past experiences. This is because each layer is based on the previous one, and what works in one game will not necessarily work in another. As one progresses through the game, players must rely more on their own observational skills, together with their newly-acquired Artificial Intelligence technology and newly-discovered procedural programming abilities, to try to achieve the elusive goal of a fully-realized, emotionally immersive, fully-interactive dramatic drama.
