Category Archives: Gaming

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What 1906 video can teach us about game AI, governmental power, and my caffine intake

Video of a chaotic but functional San Fran street from 1906 – lesson about game AI agents, social commentary on governments, or just a sign my coffee is a little too strong on this 9:35am Sunday morning?

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Postmortem Conversation System

Tools and resources for making an indie game

Developing my indie game Postmortem, I’ve been slowly growing a list of programming libraries, art assets, and content-creation tools; hopefully it is useful to you!

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Postmortem 3rd milestone – now with physics, walking and bumping!

The third alpha release of Postmortem brings proper physics and character wandering, with some funny side effects and bugs. Oh and a complimentary behind-the-scenes screenshot too.

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Stanley Parable

How much “gameplay” is too much in narrative games?

Recent years brought us many “artsy” narrative-driven games with varying degrees of interactivity. But as the genre matures, I feel the gameplay is increasingly getting in the way of enjoying the games.

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What I learned from the first playtest of my game

I finally let someone else play my in-development Postmortem game, as I set next to them silently, grabbed a notepad, and watched. After an hour and two pages of notes, I learned a lot not just about my game, but game design itself!

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Postmortem: one must die – Announcing my Game and Recruiting Help!

You are Death. In a country torn by a violent domestic conflict and industrial revolution,a charity gala brings together a cast of influential and ambitious characters. But the Powers That Be demand you take one life tonight.
How will you choose?

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Eve Online Spreadsheets in Space

If you can build a virtual empire, why not a real one?

I used to make fun of Eve Online players, sinking countless hours in what has often been called “Spreadsheets in Space.” But as I sank timeless nights into Patrician 3, I realized there really is something about games that brings out the brilliant organizers and managers in us. Why not do the same in real life?

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Banality of Evil – video game moral choices vs. pragmatism

The banality of moral choices in games, boiling down to “Choose between being an Angel or Satan” has been criticized ad nauseum. But even with properly ambiguous gray areas, moral dilemmas don’t fully work in games because at their core they are just, well… games.

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System Shock 2 Fanmake by TehR3al$hod4n

Lets stop the fan game remakes already

Recent RPS article on yet another System Shock 2 (first-level) remake reminded me how much I hate fan game remake projects, and how those efforts could be put to a much better use.

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Using games to change ourselves

Open-world games like Skyrim or GTA create increasingly complex environments to explore. Whether an evil dual-wielding barbarian or Russian heartbroken thug, the gamer’s playstyle is often characterized by certain underlying tendencies and patterns, reflecting his unique personality traits. But if games can reveal our personality, could they also not be used to fundamentally change it?

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