From the Oddlabs blog: Many game developers, indie or not, view the Mac as a freak that no one cares for or wants to be associated with. They look at statistics that show only 5% of desktop machines are Macs and say: “Why waste a lot of time and money for only 5% of the…
Although they are developed in software, games are not software
The title of this post is from this article: You Need $100,000. Users relate to them differently. Immersion matters. Balance matters. Drawing people into the world of the game in a way that doesn’t break their attention every few seconds matters. Any successful game weaves a web of illusion around the player to engage them…
Skirmish MP
Following on from my last post, I would posit that there is something missing from MP RTS (Multi Player Real Time Strategy) games and that would be the lack of a feeling that success has an impact. Left 4 Dead is my favourite FPS game because it encourages teamwork between players on both sides and…
Most RTS single player modes suck…
Josh Bycer writes: Honestly, most RTS single player modes… suck. The reason is that designers try to use it to teach the player about multiplayer which doesn’t work, as an AI is not a good substitute for a player … Over the years, the structure of mission design has changed and can be broken down…
Back again
I’ve been on a holiday-and-work-fueled hiatus. Two weeks driving in France and Spain and then two weeks spent helping people access seed funding for new ventures in “digital” as part of the CIIF programme. The latter has been frustrating because essentially as I am part of the process, I am unable to apply for any…
It’s full of stars
Ocean Sky from Alex Cherney on Vimeo. Absolutely breathtaking. And if we ever got some decent weather (and I had a decent camera), I’d like to do some more time-lapse photography. I’ve meddled with it in the past as you can see.
Gliese 581
Of course, this is not the first time we have seen Gliese 581 (HO Librae). In 2214, we’ll send a Seedship.
QABAL: INTENT vs IMPLEMENTATION
This thread on rpg.net asks why secret magical settings in games tend to be dumb. My problem is, it’s never made any sense to me on an absolutely fundamental. The idea in most of these settings is that humans not only don’t believe in the supernatural, they’ll even go so far as to doubt their…
Smallvillification
I’m a fan of the Smallville series (so much so that the collected series is on my Amazon wishlist for October when it’s released). I’ve not watched all of it – only about 20 or so episodes across all of the series. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a “no tights, no capes” story…
Frontier: A Changed Man
Kibwe had returned home a changed man. Kibwe had always wanted to be a pilot. From an early age he made airfoils from balsa and drove his parents to distraction with his attention to detail, his constant entreaties to be taken to the airport at Mtwara and, when he was older, his insistence on visiting…
Anomaly Warzone Earth
Great videos from the launch team here. Described as a Tower Offense game, it certainly adds a different flavour to the stock re-runs of tower defense games (like Plants vs Zombies) which have been so popular recently. And certainly distracts me from plans to make “World of Angry Zombies versus Goo”. Because that could win,…
Resonance
On TV, on your phone and online through music and games Something is happening The way people create and engage in stories is changing Resonance is a grand narrative told across multiple platforms on a massive scale A new science-fiction universe is being created and there is only one question… Will you help?
Running the Numbers…
Ian Robinson sent me this link. It’s Joe Konrath talking about the numbers involved in publishing, especially eBook publishing. But now I’m convinced. Signing with a traditional publisher, even being offered $200k per book, is a VERY BAD IDEA. My reply was: I may have to reconsider my previously out-of print editions. With the explosion…
Awesome bollywood movie trailer is awesome
I’m not sure I ever need to watch another action movie again. That said – anyone interested in making a t23L movie?
Christmas Happened. Woot.
Consisting of Houses of the Blooded, Collins Complete DIY Manual, We Are The People We’ve Been Waiting For, Simple Boat Maintenance, Hot War, Cold City, Nameless streets, QIN: The Warring States (plus two supplements) and Aliens and Creatures for DWAITAS.
The Laundry is here
On Thursday I received ‘The Laundry‘ in the post. The announcement came back in March so I was really excited to get the book in the post this week. I have now spent a few hours reading it (all but most of the rules – which is another flavour of BRP, familiar to any CoC…
The Final Frontier. No, really.
Ian Sales writes on his blog: And sometimes those imaginations run a little too free. A lot of science fiction is set in outer space, or on worlds which orbit other stars. Or, indeed, other types of celestial objects, both natural and artificial. In these stories, much of the difficulties associated with space travel are…
Setting Riff: Oa versus Krypton
A thousand years ago, on the planet Krypton, there was a technologically advanced, cruel and nihilistic race which carved a vast stellar empire, subjugating thousands of civilisations under their regime. Only one planet managed to overthrow the grip of the empire, Oa, but their rebellion only served to free their own planet. Their thirst for…
iPad at the gaming table
This picture is made of awesome. It’s from a thread on RPGnet titled: iPad owners – how much are you really using it for gaming purposes? Of course, this uber-geek is just as impressed with the transparent grid paper used for writing notes.
The theft of the Book of Raziel
I’ve stolen the main text here from page 54 of the Smallville RPG but remodeled it on Qabal: Isaac’s player, James, says, “I step into the room from where I have been eavesdropping and accuse Rothschilde of stealing the Book of Raziel.” He then grabs his TRUTH die and his CIRCLE die. None of his…