Category: Bloggage

This is for random “What’s up in my world” type posts

A ‘Madlibs’ Game Design Doc: Part 1

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A quick note. The following work is considered public domain information. Use it however you want. If you’d like to tell me about it afterwards, I promise you it will make me a happy man — but if you don’t I won’t lose any sleep.

On twitter the other day, I decided on a whim that I wanted to create and fill out a madlib and then design a game based on the answers I got.

I’m trying to design a game via ‘madlibs.’ I’ll ask questions, and the first response dictates the answer. I’ll post the design on my … Continue reading

Confessions of a Nerd who is Learning to Love Football

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When I was a kid, I had plenty of reasons (or so I believed) to hate the sport of football — but I think I can trace it back to one week in particular during 7th grade.

I’m an August kid. For those countless masses of you of you lucky enough NOT to have been born at the end of summer vacation let me explain to you what this means:

1) You never have to go to school on your birthday.

2) When you start working, you really start to miss #1.

3) You’re either a year older or younger … Continue reading

PTSD, a Poem

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My devil is a sick and profane companion.

When he wrings out the cloth of my mind
and finds my frequent failures
and pathetic attempts —
on the days my devil is Depression, he tells me
to stop struggling. Relax.

It’s peaceful only by comparison to other days.

Because my devil is not Depression every day.

On the days my devil is Fear, Panic, Anxiety
he runs to and fro,
wildly waving his hands
with my fears and future held,
one in each hand.

He menaces me with them
like a … Continue reading

Why do games cost so much to make?

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This was an FAQ I got from a lot of people, most recently from Youtuber Rebellion3112. My most recent attempt to explain it got so long that I thought it might just be better to post it here so that everyone can enjoy (and so in the future I can redirect people here and lazily continue lazing about).

Everyone thank Rebellion for sharing. (Thanks, Rebellion).

So let’s get started. It is REALLY hard to explain this without going into a ton of detail, but here’s how it works in the simplest possible explanation (and this is still really long):

Continue reading

The Feast

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Hey everyone,

I wrote a short story a couple months ago called The Feast.

It’s about a family that gets trapped in a cave by a host of demons, and must tell it stories in order to escape. The story is told in an old-timey fairy-tale sort of voice, and I think it worked out pretty well!

I’ve embedded the story below the fold. Hope you enjoy it!

~Mike

Continue reading

At least two types of players….

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I found this post I made on a gamasutra article, and I thought it might make good blog fodder.

It was in response to a comment about games that felt “disrespectful” of their players.

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It seems to me like there are at least two types of players who want different things. One type likes to FEEL smart, or powerful. The other wants to solve problems that require them to BE powerful or smart, or whatever.

I’ve seen these groups over and over again in my career. We even designed separate multiplayer modes for each of them in Resistance 1. … Continue reading

Diablo 3 is not just about loot

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Well, it KIND of is — but give me a second just to put a word in.

I hear a lot of people say that “Diablo is fun, but not because of the core mechanic — it’s because of the loot.”

Don’t get me wrong, I loves me some loot. Loot is probably the main driving force for me when playing a lot of games. So I’m not saying that Diablo 3 isn’t about loot.

I’m saying Diablo 3 is not JUST about loot. The mindless clicking IS fun.

In Diablo 3, there are a ton of different enemies. They … Continue reading