Gamasutra.com - All Blogs http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ Gamasutra Blogs Tue, 08 Nov 2011 02:15:15 EST en-us scarless@think-services.com (Simon Carless) Snowblinded - by Ben Hopper http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/BenHopper/20111108/8850/Snowblinded.php Business,Serious On Friday, November 4, 2011, mere days after the release of their long-awaited title, The Lord Of The Rings: War In The North, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment broke the news to a whole lot of people at WB Games Seattle ... http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/BenHopper/20111108/8850/Snowblinded.php Tue, 08 Nov 2011 01:35:00 EST Becoming A Better Game Programmer - by Alistair Doulin http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/AlistairDoulin/20111108/8843/Becoming_A_Better_Game_Programmer.php Programming,Indie How can we become better game programmers? What goals should we have as game programmers and how can we help each other to further our discipline? http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/AlistairDoulin/20111108/8843/Becoming_A_Better_Game_Programmer.php Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:14:00 EST Gaming Toolbars: More Than Malware - by Robert Levitan http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RobertLevitan/20111108/8847/Gaming_Toolbars_More_Than_Malware.php Robert Levitan, Pando Networks' CEO, explains that browser-based toolbars are actually good for gamers. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RobertLevitan/20111108/8847/Gaming_Toolbars_More_Than_Malware.php Tue, 08 Nov 2011 05:09:00 EST What Makes Strategy Games Exciting? - by Evan Jones http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/EvanJones/20111108/8844/What_Makes_Strategy_Games_Exciting.php Game Design,Console/PC,Social/Online A rough transcript of a talk I gave at the San Francisco IGDA meeting in October 2011. Many competitive strategy games are deep and interesting, but what makes them transcend that to become exciting? http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/EvanJones/20111108/8844/What_Makes_Strategy_Games_Exciting.php Tue, 08 Nov 2011 04:19:00 EST How Will I Express Myself Without the Matured Ability to Express Myself?! - by Matthew LoPresti http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MatthewLoPresti/20111107/8837/How_Will_I_Express_Myself_Without_the_Matured_Ability_to_Express_Myself.php Game Design,Indie The realization of a dream, or a passionate call to my own arms. Whichever you enjoy most. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MatthewLoPresti/20111107/8837/How_Will_I_Express_Myself_Without_the_Matured_Ability_to_Express_Myself.php Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:42:00 EST Building An Indie Studio In An Unlikely Place - Part 3 - by Sergio Rosa http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/SergioRosa/20111107/8830/Building_An_Indie_Studio_In_An_Unlikely_Place__Part_3.php Business,Indie A few months ago we opened one of the first indie game development studios in El Salvador, Latin America. On part 3 I share the parts that "were not in the job description." http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/SergioRosa/20111107/8830/Building_An_Indie_Studio_In_An_Unlikely_Place__Part_3.php Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:16:00 EST The Irresistible - by Radek Koncewicz http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RadekKoncewicz/20111105/8822/The_Irresistible.php Game Design A handful of examples covering emergent behaviour that's common and yet has no real effect on gameplay. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RadekKoncewicz/20111105/8822/The_Irresistible.php Sat, 05 Nov 2011 02:11:00 EDT Corporate Creativity - by Daniel Lehrich http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DanielLehrich/20111103/8814/Corporate_Creativity.php Game Design,Console/PC Inspired by a Bobby Kotick quote and my time as a developer... reflecting on the difference between "creativity" and "corporate creativity" as it pertains to the development process. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DanielLehrich/20111103/8814/Corporate_Creativity.php Thu, 03 Nov 2011 08:11:00 EDT 2D Game Art For Programmers - Part 4 - by Chris Hildenbrand http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ChrisHildenbrand/20111103/8813/2D_Game_Art_For_Programmers__Part_4.php Visual Art This is the fourth set of tutorials using free graphic tools like inkscape and gimp to create 2D game art. While working on the animation tutorial I got a little sidetracked and created some more character designs. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ChrisHildenbrand/20111103/8813/2D_Game_Art_For_Programmers__Part_4.php Thu, 03 Nov 2011 06:42:00 EDT What would YOU like to see in the GDC AI Summit? - by Dave Mark http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DaveMark/20111103/8811/What_would_YOU_like_to_see_in_the_GDC_AI_Summit.php Game Design,Programming What sorts of things you would like to hear about at the GDC AI Summit? Tell the AI Game Programmers Guild! http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DaveMark/20111103/8811/What_would_YOU_like_to_see_in_the_GDC_AI_Summit.php Thu, 03 Nov 2011 02:07:00 EDT The Problem with Fun - by Slaton White http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/SlatonWhite/20111108/8848/The_Problem_with_Fun.php Game Design Discussing games with other people in the industry and in general is important. Sometimes people will try to find general descriptions such as "games are fun". While some games are fun, trying to generally describe anything can't do any good. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/SlatonWhite/20111108/8848/The_Problem_with_Fun.php Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:55:00 EST How to Prevent Rogue Volunteer Abuse - by Michael Hahn http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MichaelHahn/20111108/8846/How_to_Prevent_Rogue_Volunteer_Abuse.php Business,Production,Console/PC,Social/Online Over the last twelves years, I have seen many cases of volunteer abuse. The site owners/companies are stuck working overtime trying to undo the damage caused by these evil volunteers. I am going to discuss how to limit the damage volunteers can do. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MichaelHahn/20111108/8846/How_to_Prevent_Rogue_Volunteer_Abuse.php Tue, 08 Nov 2011 07:54:00 EST Myths about static analysis. The third myth - dynamic analysis is better than static analysis. - by Andrey Karpov http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/AndreyKarpov/20111108/8841/Myths_about_static_analysis_The_third_myth__dynamic_analysis_is_better_than_static_analysis.php Programming,Indie The third myth is: "Dynamic analysis performed by tools like valgrind for C/C++ is much better than static code analysis". http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/AndreyKarpov/20111108/8841/Myths_about_static_analysis_The_third_myth__dynamic_analysis_is_better_than_static_analysis.php Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:39:00 EST Game Industry: Are we reaching maturity? - by Mihai Cosma http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MihaiCosma/20111107/2940/Game_Industry_Are_we_reaching_maturity.php Production,Serious The gaming industry as a venue of creative vision is starting to reach a point where gratuitous exploitation of its medium is on the decline. A point where refinement is slowly seeping through the cracks to reveal a better experience, a better videogame. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MihaiCosma/20111107/2940/Game_Industry_Are_we_reaching_maturity.php Mon, 07 Nov 2011 08:36:00 EST [Counter Attack] So You Wanna Work in the Games Industry - by Kaylin Norman http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/KaylinNorman/20111107/8840/Counter_Attack_So_You_Wanna_Work_in_the_Games_Industry.php Business,Game Design,Programming,Production,Serious,Indie In my first [Counter Attack] segment post I pose counter arguments to a very well known video. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/KaylinNorman/20111107/8840/Counter_Attack_So_You_Wanna_Work_in_the_Games_Industry.php Mon, 07 Nov 2011 07:51:00 EST Growing Pains - by Richard Goodness http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RichardGoodness/20111107/8839/Growing_Pains.php Dear Trolls: There are more of us than there are of you. Just sayin'. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RichardGoodness/20111107/8839/Growing_Pains.php Mon, 07 Nov 2011 07:39:00 EST Ill-Esha to Compose Music for Big Top Ballet the Game - by Elizabeth Boylan http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ElizabethBoylan/20111107/8838/IllEsha_to_Compose_Music_for_Big_Top_Ballet_the_Game.php Audio,Smartphone/Tablet If you haven’t heard of Ill-Esha you need to go straight to iTunes and buy her album Elusive History, described by Ethan Baer ’Packed to the brim with haunting and elusive vocals, and lyrics evocative of Elysha’s powerful and inspirational history.’ http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ElizabethBoylan/20111107/8838/IllEsha_to_Compose_Music_for_Big_Top_Ballet_the_Game.php Mon, 07 Nov 2011 07:23:00 EST Any Port in a Storm: Part 1 - by Mark Jessup http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MarkJessup/20111107/8819/Any_Port_in_a_Storm_Part_1.php Business,Indie When we first started TinkerHouse Games, Lane and I had very strong idea of how it was all going to unfold. Then we quit our day jobs, packed our bags and headed out into the wild frontier of mobile gaming. That was when we first realized that we actually http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MarkJessup/20111107/8819/Any_Port_in_a_Storm_Part_1.php Mon, 07 Nov 2011 04:10:00 EST DLC Quest and the Opposite Approach to Indie Development - by Ben Kane http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/BenKane/20111107/8834/DLC_Quest_and_the_Opposite_Approach_to_Indie_Development.php Production,Console/PC,Indie "If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right." How I switched up my approach to making Xbox Indie Games for the better. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/BenKane/20111107/8834/DLC_Quest_and_the_Opposite_Approach_to_Indie_Development.php Mon, 07 Nov 2011 03:58:00 EST Sandboxes and the Rebirth of Grinding - by Eric Schwarz http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/EricSchwarz/20111107/8833/Sandboxes_and_the_Rebirth_of_Grinding.php In this article I reflect on how few sandbox games ever approach the "ideal" of the form, and how a poor implementation of sandbox gameplay can bring a videogame's status as a "game" into question. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/EricSchwarz/20111107/8833/Sandboxes_and_the_Rebirth_of_Grinding.php Mon, 07 Nov 2011 01:49:00 EST