Stars over Half Moon Bay
Stars over Half Moon Bay is the second art game by Rod Humble, head of EA’s
Sims studio. It was first presented at the 2008 Game Developers Conference. As
with his previous game The Marriage, no explanation is given about the goals
or gameplay. A large part of the appeal is in discovering the experimental
gameplay and the dissection of the mechanics below can be considered a
spoiler.
Inspired by an evening drive home from work, the game is about looking up at
the stars in the sky and making a pattern in your mind, but also about the
creative process itself. This is reflected in the three phases a gameplay
session consists of. In the first one, a dark blue sky is shown. The player
controls a dark circle or moon with the mouse, trailed by a smaller, brighter
one. A dark curved form slowly creeps up, “eating” the sky. The player moves
the dark circle through the stars to form a trail. Diving down in the moving
darkness leaves behind bright squares of different sizes, relative to the
length of the trail.
When the screen is entirely black, the second phase starts. The darkness moves
back down and during this instant the player is able to move up some of the
squares covered in the black mass. When the screen is entirely clear again,
moving the moon over a star will cause a cross-hair to appear, which can be
used to connect different stars to form constellations. The third, creative
phase, happens in-between the first two, the moment the player thinks over the
creative process of how to form the constellation. These are shown by bright
lines connecting the different stars, creating a form. Clicking right clears
the lines to start over again.
After a while, the word “end” appears in the top hand right corner and the
session can be finished. Past and completed constellations can then be seen in
a horizontally-scrolling memories scenery, accessible from the main menu.
Stars over Half Moon Bay