Some links for perusing purposes:
The psychology of avatar customization,
Patrick Redding on co-op narrative and NPC interaction,
intriguing insight into Valve’s design process,
and a cool new animation blog and podcast.
Enjoy responsibly.
Archive for the 'Games' Category
Prototyping
Posted in Design, Games on Feb 6th, 2010 1 Comment »
If you’ve read my blog for any length of time you’ll know that besides animation I also enjoy game design and I’ve recently been tinkering with a little prototype that started as a movement-test and is slowly growing into an actual game.
Graphics are placeholder. Haven’t decided what to do for visuals yet…
Vampires
Posted in Games, Writing on Jan 30th, 2010 No Comments »
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/04/06/interview-without-a-vampire-bloodlines-b-mitsoda/
This is old, but I was re-reading it recently and there’s some great points about game writing in there… Bloodlines is one my favourite games, a real diamond in the rough; unfinished in places, but community patches have solved most issues and at its best it rivals classics like Deus Ex for character interaction and [...]
Story Problems – 3
Posted in Film, Games, Writing on Jan 23rd, 2010 No Comments »
The story discussion continues.
Again, SPOILERS…
The heart of a good story are its characters. They don’t have to be likeable, but they have to be interesting and above all believable. Sometimes a character will say or do something that just seems wrong… People change, certainly, but you know that character would not make that choice at [...]
Crunch
Posted in Games on Jan 19th, 2010 1 Comment »
I mentioned developer credit as a problem the games industry is still struggling with, but another more pressing issue is quality of life. A few years ago “ea_spouse ” brought to light some disturbing development practices at EA, today it seems similar things are going on at Rockstar. The United States seem particularly prone to [...]
Know your classics
Posted in Design, Games, History on Jan 17th, 2010 No Comments »
Two great interviews with four gaming legends: Mechner, Chahi, Raynal and Cuisset, creators of such games as Prince of Persia, Little Big Adventure, Flashback and Another World. (en français)
The first is also available in English.
Prince, LBA and Flashback are still among my fondest gaming memories and it’s a treat to read about their creators’ thoughtful [...]
More Links
Posted in Design, Games on Jan 7th, 2010 No Comments »
Worth a read:
Edmund McMillen’s has tips on indie game development,
and Adam Saltsman advocates accessibility.
Credit
Posted in Games on Dec 20th, 2009 No Comments »
Games are a relatively young industry and there’s much still to improve… One of the first steps for game developers to be treated fairly is receiving proper credit for the work they do, which appears to often still be a problem.
Shiny
Posted in Animation, Design, Games on Dec 15th, 2009 1 Comment »
Some various links of interest:
Charlie Brooker makes a compelling case for games as a medium,
Bioware has tips for those looking to break into the industry,
Gausswerks rethinks some games that could have been great,
and here’s a nifty open-source tool for analyzing video reference!
INDIEEEEE
Posted in Games on Oct 25th, 2009 2 Comments »
Indie games have really moved into the public consciousness in the last year or two. Free from publishers and market focus-testing they offer a uniquely personal take on the interactive medium.
There is a never-ending torrent of so many wonderful games: inventive, elaborate, beautiful, smart, moving, funny and all of the above…
Some are short one-off experiences [...]