Continuing to chop down the list of URR stuff to be checked before 0.8’s release! Here’s what has happened in the last couple of weeks: – Resolved some strange issues with churches, especially if you approach them at night. Priests weren’t sure where to spawn or where to sleep, and random worshippers kept appearing off … Read More
Game Design
Ultima Ratio Regum 0.8 Finale Update II
More URR progress! I am now down to the final two things before URR 0.8’s release, which are 1) check every line of dialogue as comprehensively as I can, and 2) deal with some strange issues regarding game speed and optimisation which are bothering me. In the mean time, though, the fact we’re now at … Read More
Ultima Ratio Regum 0.8 Finale Update I
It is with immense pleasure that this month’s blog entry is going to be a long and pretty thorough update on what I’ve programmed into URR in the last little while. As many of you readers will know, the latest version – 0.8 – has been about 90% done for over a year, until I … Read More
The Unpredictability of Gameplay is out!
I am very proud to announce my first book, The Unpredictability of Gameplay, is now out and available from Bloomsbury Academic! The main goal of the work is to unpack what I’ve taken to calling “unpredictability” in games – the ability to put in one input, and not know what output will occur – into a … Read More
How Basic is Basic Gaming Literacy?
I’d like to start this entry with an anecdote, which outlines the basic issue I’m pondering far more effectively than an abstract discussion. A few years ago I found myself in the position of trying to teach someone who had never played a single video game in their life – and had extremely limited experience of board or card … Read More
Bloodborne, PCG, and the Unknowable
A Hunter is a Hunter, even in a blog entry… Regular readers of my blog may remember a comment I made a while back about a game I’ve been deeply anxious to play for some time. This was Hidetaka Miyazaki’s new masterpiece (or so the reviews told me) – Bloodborne. I know I’m rather behind the times … Read More
Perfect Dark Retrospective
A few years ago Perfect Dark was re-released on Xbox Live Arcade. Whilst it was generally met with a positive reception as an impressive modernization of a classic game, especially since the new engine was built ground-up to be as close a copy of the old engine as possible, several reviewers claimed the game’s level design … Read More