Game Designers around the world are addicted to performance enhancing drugs and many of them don't know it. They are addicted to progression and escalation.
Originally written for Climax Studios for publication in Develop. Reposted with Permission. Also since I wrote the original article E3 happened and Sony has revealed a lot more of the stratergy, some of which is shown in this video which is a good primer on the subject.
Originally written for AltDevBlog My friends know I’ve been struggling to write this article for months, struggling with the tone and the question: so I ask you, Why? It’s the most important question you can ask yourself, though asking it is never easy.
Originally written for #AltDevBlogADay In a world of frameworks, simple to use engines and added layers of abstraction we are in danger of leaky abstraction, both in design and programming.
Originally posted on #AltDevBlogADay. Several weeks ago, triggered partly by work events and partly Diablo III release I started really thinking about why I play[1]. What is Play to me and how can I make games that speaks to my soul and are worth my time in crafting?
Originally written for #AltDevBlogADay A video recently cycled through my friends’ social circles which I wanted to share. John Cleese talks about Creativity and Open and Closed thinking modes. The TL;DR of John Cleese’s talk Closed Mode. Purposeful Highly Productive , but not creative.
Originally written for #AltDevBlogADay Take a moment, think back, past the nostalgia and sepia dreams so we can consider old, forgotten mechanics. The thing we love about games is that they are complex and detailed but primarily, they are games.
Written for #AltDevBlog. In some cases the most destructive action one can perform on the creative psyche is to give it absolute freedom. The blank page, blue sky, and empty word document are among the most terrifying monsters in the creative world. Apply artificial Constraint.
Sometimes you’re asked to design for the untestable scenario. For instance, design a system for 10,000 players to asynchrously interact in a persistent competitive world with progression mechanics that plays out over 3 months.
Let’s face it, there is nothing more annoying than being bossed about by someone who is useless. Let’s face it, there is nothing more annoying than being bossed about by someone who is useless. ? So here are three simple rules. Work with them in the trenches.
Let’s face it, there is nothing more annoying than being bossed about by someone who is useless. ? So here are three simple rules. Work with them in the trenches. Everyone in the trenches has to be useful. Supplement don’t Replace ? So acquire some “Hard Skills” fast and be useful.
Our profession develops, we form conventions and a toolbox of useful solutions. These tools make us faster, and more efficient. Conventions are not only developer driven but player driven as we define the language of games. The real question is when to break convention?
Over the last year a lot of time has been spent thinking, writing and developing my thoughts on social gaming and by extension micro transactions. The last few months of my professional life have involved some fairly complex and sometimes scary monetisation designs and discussions.
I’ve got a question: “Do you respect your designers?” Growing up I always wanted to make games, and gravitated to programming as the means to achieve this.
Disclaimer: I’m not claiming games which use these mechanics are in any way lesser. I’m merely highlighting these as easy ways to sauce up a game.
So about two years ago I discovered the Lets Play phenomnia on YouTube thanks to Kikoskia and his awesome X-Com playthough. Which was a game I love and have played many times. I quickly discovered this is a design goldmine. Go to YouTube and search for "Lets Play" right now.
Level Up - Scott Pilgrim style. On reflection of this month my NanoWriMo project which I was really keen on is just not going to fit into my spare time at the moment. In better news I'm now Lead Designer at GameLabs Jagex. Wooooot! All quite amazing to be honest.
So I've lost sleep over the last week because I've been trying to convince people Social games are not evil. I've had some good counter arguments thrown at me. Sleep lost. Counter Arguments and finally I hit on the key. So I recorded a Presentation With AUDIO. ....but then the audio didn't record.
As I currently furiously work on my Data Driven Dialogue system for the end of the month delivery and continue my job hunt with furious speed. There is one other project I desperately want to approach!
Need Intel? I'm loving Starcraft 2 at the moment, and it got me thinking about my love of imperfect information in games design. I strongly recommend A Game of Thrones (board game) and Frozen Synapse , which also introduce blind simultaneous action which make it even more interesting.
So I was listening to Another Castle interview the extremly interesting Eric Zimmerman . They were talking about the subverssive nature of play when my brain started drifting to tutorials, thinking about Limbo. Then I realised that not once on Glo did we ask, do we need tutorials ?
Sales in a Can? There is no magic, silver bullet, secret recipe or hidden formula. These words have been spoken many times by more successful, intelligent and thoughtful people than me. Yet people still seem unable to listen. Quality is the primary thing.
GUI Work. The big choices I’m facing at the moment and playing around is on two fronts, GUI Behaviour and Render Pipeline. Fighting through some choices… will post more shortly
I have been struggling with this concept ever since I was eight. Narrative vs Ludology. By Narrative I mean story-telling and Ludology I mean pure game play. Introduction.
Hi All, really working hard at the moment to get that last little bit of polish onto Encleverment. As anyone who talks to me can tell I really do love this little game and want to use every last bit of time I have left to squeeze those little bits and pieces in and shine them up.
Hi Again. I'm working like crazy on Encleverment at the moment so sorry for the late post. Just one attached note before the LARP post. I love MMO but I wouldn't be caught dead making one, why you ask? MMO's are risky, very risky.
Hi All, I haven't forgotten about the MMO piece, the next part, "Problem: Didn't I just kill you? (Reality in a Persistent world)" will be up sometime Monday. I had a great time at Games Horizon conference.
Hi all, before you ask I don't know how many parts this series will have. I have a rough outline of what I want to work through but nothing solid. Once it's all done I do plan to compile it into a more structured article. On a side note Game Horizon is tomorrow.
Similar to the chosen one problem, but with a few more difficulties is kingship. Hierarchies are natural, humans are not anarchists by nature. Now if your playing with yourself and your robot slaves you can rule or be ruled. Playing with other people it becomes more difficult.
Okay I've found some topics I want to write a lot about, so I'm going to make a compromise and break them into smaller posts. Once they are all done I'll put together a complete article or podcast. First some news updates.