Category: Weekly Roundup

A lot of VR news this week, as well as several other gamedev gems. This post covers 10/3 – 10/16 due to an inconvenient business trip 🙂

Check out Episode 4 for a discussion on whether the first generation of VR will realize the dream of immersive experience or whether we still have further to go.

• An interview with Jesse Schell of Schell Games provides practical tips for soliciting valuable feedback during play tests. (polygon)
• Valve showed off a prototype of its new hand tracking controller at the Steam Dev Days event in Seattle. (gamasutra)
• David Mullich summarizes a paper prototyping panel discussion moderated by IGDA Los Angeles and hosted by NYFA. (davidmullich.com)
• Torbern Ellert on the Elusive Target system in Hitman: a fantastic example of compelling game design. The design creates experiences that are distinct, exciting, and rare, while matching the game theme perfectly. (gamasutra)
• Jeff Cork and Kyle Hilliard at Game Informer provide a convenient overview of the state of VR platforms, including PlayStation VR. (gameinformer)
• Ben Kuchera observes that the legal risk of publishing misleading game trailers or screenshots is low, and that it is up to consumers to hold game developers accountable. (polygon)
• Another installment of Gamasutra’s excellent Game Design Deep Dive series: prototyping and design iteration by Beglitched designer AP Thomson. (gamasutra)
• A helpful discussion of procedural generation on Chasm, a Metroidvania-style game that strikes a balance between hand-crafted design and procedural generation to increase variety and replayability. (gamasutra)

Image credit: Schell Games

Game development news that caught our attention this week:

• Notable release: after a long journey from the stygian depths of madness, Red Hook Studio’s critical darling Darkest Dungeon has arrived on PS4. (Official site)
• Take a tour of five titles that create compelling narratives without any dialogue. (Game Informer)
• Thoughtful piece about how Brian Balamut and Giant Squid sought to recreate the emotion of being underwater while creating their visual masterpiece ABZÛ . (pixelempire)
• Recap of Amy Hennig’s thoughts on looking for creative solutions before resorting to tech. (gamasutra)
• Book of Demons devs provide a postmortem of their early access launch, and share the challenges of gaining traction even with solid coverage from major gaming media outlets. (thingtrunk)
• Mark Brown published another installment to his Boss Keys series, this time he looks at the Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Seasons, developed by Capcom for Game Boy Color. (youtube)
• Jeff Vogel provides practical advice to aspiring developers in a lengthy yet lively blog post. (gamasutra)
• Liz Mercuri provides an excellent ‘getting started’ guide for students interested in developing skills for the games industry. (gamesindustry.biz)
• Harsh Gupta gives a colorful and inspiring challenge to learn something new about game development every day beyond what you encounter in your work. (isometric dawn)

Image credit: Red Hook Studios

Game development news that caught our attention this week:

• Valve continues to adjust Steam reviews in an effort to highlight helpful contributions while preventing abuse. (Kotaku)
• Graeme Devine has come out of retirement to join Magic Leap as its “chief game wizard.” In this interview he discusses how game developers will create Mixed Reality (MR) experiences. (Gamasutra)
• Chambara is a local multiplayer game on PS4 that includes screen-looking as a unique core gameplay element. (anigamers)
• Star Citizen has raised more than $120 million but it’s development has been fraught with controversy, scope creep and difficulty levering large groups of contractors. An exposé on what not to do. (Kotaku uk)
• Phil Walker-Harding on designing for a specific target  audience and creating dynamics that respect player choice. (Cardboard Edison)
• Unseen64 is a online archive working to preserve the development history of unreleased games. They recently released a collaborative volume that details some of these stories. (gameinformer)
• Planar Conquest developers give an honest look at the difficulties of multi-platform development. (Gamasutra)
• A challenge to the indie community to ease off on the intense criticism of Hello Games and Sean Murray. Is the game’s disappointing launch just a case of honest intentions colliding with the challenge of working with a AAA publisher? (indiewatch)

Image credit: Chambara