Brand Game Development

APRIL 28, 2017

Dev Diary posts are made to teach game development through specific examples from my latest project: Highways & Byways. To me, a mechanic is the concept behind the game and the rule is the way that it’s handled to ensure balance. Key Takeaways for Game Devs. Just here for Highways & Byways updates?

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Brand Game Development

MARCH 29, 2021

Finding the balance is difficult, and I think many creatives lean too much into the former category. “Do I care about the basic concept of the game?” The post 3 Signs It’s Time to Quit Working a Board Game Design Idea appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev.

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Brand Game Development

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

Pandemic blows the minds of a lot of new gamers because it’s often the game that introduces the concept of cooperative board game play. There’s a lot of factors to balance, and communicating with your team for long enough to coordinate actions is critical. That alone is enough to make it special, but it’s no one-trick pony.

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Fighting Balance Communications Concepts 130

Rindoku

OCTOBER 7, 2016

After months of toiling in a secluded attic, the last weeks of which were particularly grueling, we finally took Second Hand to its first public showings: first to Dev-Play in Bucharest and shortly thereafter to Clujotronic in our very own Cluj. It was scary, thrilling, amazing and… we won the Dev-Play Indie Pitch! Color me excited!

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Point and Click Dev Demo Playtesting 52

Smart Fox Server

OCTOBER 20, 2021

In this article we are going to explore several ways to use the open source HAProxy load balancer in conjunction with SFS2X , to increase the scalability and availability of a multiplayer project. Round robin Load Balancing. After a few seconds the load balancer should be up and running. Introducing HAProxy. no-tls-tickets.

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Balance Dev Communications Concepts 52

Astral Clock Tower Studios

AUGUST 5, 2020

Hello, and welcome back to another issue of the Kristala game dev blog! Stay tuned at the end of this dev blog to get a peek at all the progress we've made on Kristala in the last 12 months. But first, let's dive into what the dev team has been up to over the course of the last sprint. 3D Asset Design. Check it out! Programming.

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Brand Game Development

OCTOBER 23, 2017

I’ve split it into five sections for your convenience: How Ben, Sarah, and Will Got Started How Working in a Team Feels The Downsides of Teamwork Communication in a Team Advice for New Game Devs. This is unusual for most game devs, I think. Brandon: How I imagine teams as a solo dev. Advice for New Game Devs.

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Prototyping Playtesting Games Game Design 130

Game Dev Unchained

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

The conversation shifted from the nuances of game development to the larger, looming concept of the “metaverse.” With it comes the challenging balance between financial backing and creative control. I sat down with John Krajewski , the man behind the unique and forward-thinking game, Eco.

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Indy AAA Platformer Educational 105

Brand Game Development

JULY 1, 2019

Once you craft the basic concepts of your game and find the right mechanics to express them , you have to set rules. In the end, I tried to strike a balance between having mostly positional scoring effects but including universal effects. 2) appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev. So how do you do it?

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Tile Games Mechanics Build 130

Deconstructor of Fun

DECEMBER 13, 2022

Charles Lee (Art Lead) , veteran art director and concept artist with past experience at Blizzard , Sony Pictures Animation , and who until very recently worked in the Visual Development of Netflix hit Arcane (damn!). This is a well-balanced team in terms of disciplines, covering software, design, and art. billion | US Monthly Charts

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Studios Mobile Mobile Console 52

Grid Sage Games

MARCH 10, 2022

Some roguelikes don’t strive for balance, but maintaining balance has always been important to me for Cogmind, since it fits better with my vision for this type of game, heavy on tough, complex, and consequential decision-making at multiple strategic and tactical levels. Alien Artifacts. Exiles Prototypes.

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Balance Mechanics Beta Prototyping 52

Grid Sage Games

MAY 8, 2022

Recently a player asked me a question regarding my game balance philosophy, and while I can often respond to queries by pointing to some previous article, despite all my writing and no doubt occasionally touching on related topics, I had yet to explicitly do any sort of summary of the philosophy behind my gamedev work. Difficulty.

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Game Design Game Designer Balance Games 52

Brand Game Development

DECEMBER 11, 2017

This is to make sure the game is – on some fundamental level – balanced. Brandon: Later, once you start doing private testing, a lot of balance issues start coming out of the rules. Sean: I ended up resorting to a concept of taking MMORPG concepts and placing them into this D20 world.

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Mechanics Concepts Writing Games 130

Ask a Game Dev

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

I want to expand on that because I thought that it would make for a good central design concept post - what does it mean for a player to make a choice that is interesting? Choosing a character can be interesting if the characters are reasonably balanced. As a designer, how do I provide interesting choices to the player?

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Dev Balance Concepts Build 52

Brand Game Development

NOVEMBER 20, 2017

The core engine is the bare minimum set of mechanics and concepts you need to have a functioning (but not necessarily fun) game. I’ve listened to so many designers describe how through play-testing, a game came out dramatically different then their initial concept because the new version was more fun.

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Mechanics Games Game Design Game Designer 130

Tom Francis

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

The pawn is a shitshow of clumsy balance changes. That would already have me going back to the drawing board of a game concept to see if there’s a more elegant way of hitting the design goals. Stalemate is a wildly stupid concept. And it’s pawn movement you chose to patch? That’s not it!

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Concepts Game Design Game Designer Tile 100

Grid Sage Games

NOVEMBER 28, 2023

might be more ideal from a size and visual balance perspective, but doubling is more feasible for retaining the actual aesthetics, both in terms of cell alignment and pixel accuracy, and might also provide us with other benefits later. Something in between 1.0x

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Brand Game Development

JULY 17, 2017

The following excerpt is from Games Speak through Mechanics, Not Rules (Dev Diary: 04/28/17). To me, a mechanic is the concept behind the game and the rule is the way that it’s handled to ensure balance. The post 5 Levels of Communication through Game Development appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev.

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Communications Game Developer Game Development Development 130

Game Dev Unchained

SEPTEMBER 19, 2023

“I loved the concepts, the design. ” He subtly points to the age-old debate about work-life balance and the perceived differences between American and European professional cultures. The transition, however, was not without challenges. They’re not locked in right out of college.”

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Indy Pixel AAA Art 64

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 8, 2024

There may be something true to those statements which, I guess, is the reason why now devs have allowed the Hero to move once per match. While an interesting concept, on the original release they felt a bit pointless and lacked visibility, as they were linked to specific boards that appeared based on the Trophy Road progression.

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Tile Mechanics Balance Content 69

Brand Game Development

AUGUST 11, 2017

Dev Diary posts are made to teach game development through specific examples from my latest project: Highways & Byways. Self-testing was my primary form of testing in the first and second versions of the game, when I wasn’t even sure if some of the core concepts would work. Just here for Highway s & Byways updates?

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Point and Click Art Games Communications 100

Brand Game Development

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

It’s a tough balancing act! The post Board Game Fulfillment & Why it Matters on Day 1 of Game Development appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev. But today, this guest post by Michael of Fulfillrite will explain why you should think about board game fulfillment on day 1 on game development. Need help on your board game?

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Grid Sage Games

JULY 17, 2022

The above samples show encounters added to a variety of Garrison layouts, highlighted with a dev visualization overlay. Of course this change comes with significant balance repercussions, which we’ll cover when we get to discussing that topic further below. Some concepts: More enemies could show up?

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Beta Content Balance Mechanics 52

Radiator Blog

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

Perfect for pretending to have played Deathloop if you find yourself talking to a game dev. Not that you should ever talk to a game dev. and I think this balance tuning is intentional. So I think they got this balance right, even if I whine about it. no mind control) only 5 powers (+1 PvP only power).

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Fighting NPC Puzzle AI 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 17, 2022

As a consequence, autochess has remained as a niche concept that hinted at a strong potential but that nobody has been able to find a way to turn into a profitable product ready for mass adoption (at least in the West). The end result is that currently, Clash Mini offers a gameplay that’s significantly more casual than Clash Royale.

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Content Mechanics Point and Click Mobile 52

Grid Sage Games

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

In a game setting, though, this can be quite an annoyance from a design perspective (harder to balance!) More freedom for the player, less control for the dev. Since it’s a somewhat related concept and worth taking into consideration during map design, I’ll add a few notes about it here.

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Point and Click Mechanics Open World Feature 52

Sirlin

JULY 3, 2016

While this post by Kaplan is excellent about sharing thoughts from the dev perspective, I'm concerned about the specific thoughts laid out there. The King of the Hill Tie-Breaker People kind of didn't like this, but your dev team thought it was good because it worked. Actually, you might have drawn the wrong conclusions from this?

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Concepts Dev Graphics Beta 40

Grid Sage Games

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

As a general concept teleportation technology exists in quite a few varieties throughout the world of Cogmind, though the player only has access to some of them. In fact I have two new concepts for teleportation tech, which is kinda funny because of how they evolved out of the same idea.

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Game Dev Unchained

AUGUST 24, 2023

As companies, developers, and stakeholders navigate this maze, the hope remains that the industry will find a balance that champions both productivity and the well-being of its workforce. In an age where rapid technological advancements meet traditional work norms, the game development industry stands at a crossroads.

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Media Balance Platformer Game Developer 86

Radiator Blog

DECEMBER 12, 2022

Balancing the weight of each system was difficult. Back in 2012, John Mix Meyer wrote "Women aren’t vending machines you put kindness coins into until sex falls out" to critique proto-PUA concepts like the friendzone. It already feels so fraught to me. I didn't want to give players even more reasons to ignore the story.

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Brand Game Development

JANUARY 29, 2018

I also work with indie dev companies on a more casual level discussing challenges, goals and brainstorming solutions. You want to strike a balance between being specific and deliberate, but also human and approachable when writing rule books. This provides a three-pronged approach to getting balanced feedback on the writing.

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Writing Games Mechanics Balance 130

Game Dev Unchained

MAY 24, 2023

As the conversation progressed, the trio delved into the challenges of finding a balance between creativity and management, a common struggle for game developers and company founders alike. Their experiences highlight the critical balance between leveraging personal skills and outsourcing areas outside one’s expertise.

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Game Dev Unchained

MAY 1, 2023

AI in Art: Balancing Creativity and Ethics In the realm of digital art, AI technology is stirring up a mix of excitement and controversy. It remains to be seen how the legal landscape will evolve in response to AI-generated content and the concerns of artists and content creators.

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AI Technology Content Art 96

Brand Game Development

JULY 15, 2019

That aspect being players dropping pieces into the monsters’ stomachs and strategically arranging them to maximize their overall “satisfaction” Monsters are eating adventurers with their stomachs being some kind of puzzle that you drop the adventurers into was the initial concept. That is an interesting decision.

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Tile Mechanics Games Puzzle 130

Radiator Blog

JUNE 30, 2022

For balance purposes, I limit the number of voyeurs in the maze, otherwise it can enter a deadlock where there's only voyeurs but no one for them to watch. Violence is usually the first thing to prototype in an action game, but here it surprised me how much work it took to hack violence into an existing system that had no concept of it.

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