Best of Game Design — 2024
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GamesIndustry.biz·2y
'Singles, not albums': A guide to making smaller games | GI Sprint
Tony Gowland, managing director of UK studio Ant Workshop, shares his insights on the benefits and practices of creating smaller, more focused games instead of large projects. After investing significant time and money into a game that failed to reach a wide audience, the studio decided to adopt a more agile approach, releasing 'singles' instead of 'albums.' These smaller games, developed on tighter budgets and schedules, allow for more experimentation and quicker feedback from players. Gowland emphasizes simplicity in game design, flexibility in the development process, and the importance of early player feedback.
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Game Developer·2y
I designed economies for $150M games—here's my ultimate handbook
A seasoned game developer shares an extensive guide on designing successful game economies. This detailed resource encompasses five years of experience and knowledge about game balancing and monetization strategies, including current industry trends. The guide covers foundational principles of game economy, like currency stability, price rationality, and resource distribution, and delves into player psychology and resource management techniques. The handbook also discusses using tools such as spreadsheets and introduces a universal tool for game balance, Game Balance Guru, aimed at simplifying complex balancing tasks.
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freeCodeCamp·2y
JavaScript GameDev with Kaboom.js
Learn to build a Metroidvania-style game using JavaScript and Kaboom.js with a new free course on the freeCodeCamp.org YouTube channel. The course covers setting up a development environment, loading assets, defining scenes, implementing enemy AI and a boss battle, and more. Suitable for both beginners and experienced developers, it offers comprehensive guidance from start to finish, including deployment tips.
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Community Picks·2y
6 Game Design Mistakes You MUST Avoid
The post discusses crucial game design principles learned from the development of 'Twisted Tower,' focusing on avoiding key mistakes. Highlights include showing the problem before the solution, simplifying level design, offering mechanical choices to players, ensuring players learn useful skills, clear communication of game mechanics, and incorporating surprises and fun elements to keep players engaged.
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Clear Code·2y
Recreating Zelda: Breath of the Wild in Godot [ + the ultimate intro to 3D game dev ]
This comprehensive tutorial guides you through creating a Zelda: Breath of the Wild inspired game in Godot. It serves as an introduction to 3D game development, covering basics such as managing 3D graphics, animations, interactivity, and level creation. Advanced topics like lighting, special effects, and shaders are also discussed to enhance the game's visual appeal. Basic knowledge of Godot engine and GD script is suggested for better understanding.
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Hacker News·2y
How Tiny Glade 'built' its way to >600k sold in a month!
Tiny Glade, a relaxing building game by Pounce Light, sold over 600,000 copies on Steam within a month of its release. The game appeals to fans of cozy, freeform builders and boasts highly positive reviews. The developers shared insights into their iterative design process, the strong community engagement, and the use of procedural generation to create an immersive experience. Tiny Glade's success is attributed to effective marketing and the game's viral appeal, showcasing the potential for indie games to thrive with the right approach.
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Game Breakdown: Clash of Clans
Clash of Clans (CoC) is a highly successful mobile strategy game known for its engaging social features and strategic gameplay. The game promotes community through clan wars, real-time interactions, and collaborative strategies. Key aspects of its user experience include robust user control via flexible base editing, prevention of accidental premium currency spending, and clear progression through Town Hall levels. The game also features extensive tutorials and practice modes to help players develop their skills. Despite its success, there are opportunities for improvement, such as reintroducing a secure Global Chat and incorporating real-time language translation to enhance social interaction.
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Code a Kirby Clone with TypeScript and Kaboom.js
Learn how to create a Kirby game clone using TypeScript and Kaboom.js. The course covers setting up a development environment, loading assets, designing levels with Tiled, implementing game logic for displaying the level, player movement, enemy AI, and collision detection. Bonus section on exporting the game to different platforms.
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Gamefromscratch·2y
Unreal Engine 5.5!
Unreal Engine 5.5 has been released in preview with several new features. Highlights include nanite skeletal meshes for faster rendering of complex characters, significant performance improvements in Lumen for rendering, and the introduction of mega lights which enable the use of thousands of light sources in scenes. Additionally, new animation tools allow for real-time deformation and editing within Unreal Engine, and updates for chaos physics debugger and mobile UI visualization have also been included.
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Illusion of Skill: How to Make a Better Game in Less Time
Playtesting is crucial in game development for improving game quality efficiently. Distinguished from quality assurance, which focuses on functionality, playtesting emphasizes player feedback to enhance game appeal. Prominent game designers from companies like Valve and Schell Games prioritize playtesting to refine their designs. Frequent testing and clear feedback can exponentially increase the effectiveness of game development, helping designers trust their intuition and avoid future issues. Indie developers are encouraged to test early and often, overcoming common excuses and embracing feedback to achieve a more successful game.
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Apple Developer·2y
Behind the Design: Rytmos
Rytmos, a 2024 Apple Design Award winner, is a visually stunning puzzle game where players create music by solving increasingly complex levels. Developed by Denmark-based Floppy Club, the game integrates diverse world music genres, with each cleared level adding an instrument to a growing song. The game's creators, also musicians, aim to foster creativity and cultural exploration through its unique design.
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SKALD: Against the Black Priory is an old school CRPG with modern sensibilities
SKALD: Against the Black Priory is a retro CRPG that aims to blend the eerie, intricate charm of early '90s RPGs with modern game design to make the genre more accessible. Developer Anders Lauridsen discusses the challenges of solo development, balancing complexity with accessibility, and the inspiration behind the game's design and narrative. The game seeks to capture the unsettling atmosphere of classic horror while offering a smoother, player-friendly experience.
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Developer Tech·2y
FRVR AI enabling anyone to create their own games
FRVR AI is transforming game development by simplifying the process and making it accessible to everyone, regardless of technical skills. With an easy-to-use interface, users can create, test, and improve games through natural-language interaction with AI. FRVR AI's platform supports real-time feedback, iterative development, and cross-device creation. It also facilitates seamless game publishing and fosters a community through contests and a beta server, encouraging innovation among developers.
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UX Planet·2y
Rosebud AI: Introducing the AI-Driven Game Creation Suite
Rosebud AI is a game creation suite that simplifies game development by using AI-driven tools for game assets, developer platform, and avatar animation. It offers zero coding barriers, AI-powered animation tools, character customization, and tools for creating interactive visual novels. Rosebud AI is expanding into 3D game development capabilities.
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Code Monkey·1y
Make your game STAND OUT with ONE tiny thing!
Custom cursors can significantly enhance the professionalism and visual appeal of strategy games. By using custom animated cursors, developers can add a unique touch to their games. The post discusses an asset that simplifies the creation and implementation of custom cursors in Unity, highlighting its ease of use and the value it adds. A free tutorial is also offered for those who want to learn the basics without purchasing the asset.
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Game Developers·2y
I'm making a dev log
The author has started a game development project and decided to document the process through video dev logs. Despite being shy about sharing these videos, they believe that such logs are beneficial for tracking progress and inspiring new game developers. Currently, there's one video available with two more in the pipeline.
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Unreal Engine August 2024 Free Assets
Unreal Engine's monthly free assets for August 2024 include five items: three graphical packs, one engine plugin, and one game prototyping kit. Highlighted assets include modular Old Town, Slavic Village, low poly nature packs, and a turn-based strategy RPG template reminiscent of Heroes of Might and Magic. These assets are free to download and keep if acquired before the first Tuesday of the following month.
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Collections·2yGame UI Database Relaunches with New Features and Extensive Library
Game UI Database 2.0, created by Edd Coates, has undergone an extensive update with over 55,500 screens and 1,700 videos. The revamp introduces advanced filtering, a rebuilt gallery viewer, an inspector tool, visualizers, colorblind filters, and video support. The mobile site has been redesigned for better accessibility. Future updates are expected to add more features and content.
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Our first ever e-book for level designers is here
An e-book on game level design has been released. It covers tips, career advice, and instructions on using Unity tools relevant to worldbuilding. The e-book was created in collaboration with professional level designers and Unity product experts.
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The Door Problem of Combat Design
The door problem in combat encounter design refers to the challenge of drawing players into gameplay spaces and encouraging them to play in exciting ways. This post explores the concept of map control in combat encounters and offers techniques for solving the door problem, such as adding footholds of cover, rewarding risk, using hidden information, leashing AI, and creating one-way paths.
