Oct

Philippe Ringuette-Angrignon has returned to grace the IB with more insight, today dealing with two related topics.  Firstly being that of immersion, some important do’s and don’ts for this all too important goal of game design.  The second topic on the agenda is a theory on increasing the sense of agency in the game through in-game witnesses.  Postulating that with an audience to witness the players activities, be it real or not, the level of agency will increase leading to a much better gaming experience.

Title A: “Immersion – Keeping the shadow puppeteer behind the screen” – Original Article

Title B: “Witnesses – Giving the player the impression that his actions matter” – Original Article

Written by: Philippe Ringuette-Angrignon (www.allegory-of-the-game.com)

Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on Oct 28th, 2009

Oct

Veteran designer Pascal Luban is back again on Industrybroadcast.com, today we read his thoughts on the puzzle of puzzles,particularly in adventure games.  A topic that is undercovered and vitally important to the quality of experience players have in these games.

Title: “Designing and Integrating Puzzles in Action-Adventure Games“ – Original Article

Written by: Pascal Luban (www.gamedesignstudio.com)

Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on October 16th 2009

Oct

Joe Ludwig, aka programmer Joe is back for some insight on a grand scale.  Today we talk about the encompassing concept of scope in your game design and what you need to do to keep it in check.  Because if you don’t, you can kiss your chances of every releasing something on time and on budget goodbye.

Title: “Controlling Scope“ – Original Article

Written by: Joe Ludwig(programmerjoe.com)

Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on Oct 14th, 2009

Oct

Daniel Cook indulges his evil side in today’s article as he details how game designers, breaking away from the traditional packaged goods model of making disposable games will play a more relevant role in more more of the sales process and how their designs will start reflected the actions of not just good game designers but also good businessmen/women.

Title: “How to design online Crack“ – Original Article

Written by: Daniel Cook(www.lostgarden.com)

Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on Oct 13th, 2009

Oct

Unfortunately Audio articles will be unavailable for the next 5 hours or so as we had a bit of a meltdown.  So check back soon and we’ll be up and running

Thanks

Oct

The Gamedev.net book collection is back with more business insight, this time looks at those silent killers that doom your average startup and what to avoid if you plan on being more than just another casualty in the games industry

Title: “Lone Wolf Killers“

Book: Business and Production: A GameDev.net Collection – click to purchase

Publisher: Course Technology PTR

Written by: Raymond Jacobs (www.gamedev.net)

Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on July 23rd 2009

Oct

It’s a great pleasure to read aloud the second excerpt from David Perry‘s new Book:  David Perry on Game Design: A Brainstorming ToolBox.  Today we open the book to Chapter 17 as we look at various elements that create the perception of freedom for the player, just as importantly we highlight negative elements that can detract from this freedom if left unchecked.

Title: “Player Freedom” – Original Article

Book: David Perry on Game Design: A Brainstorming ToolBox

Written by: David Perry (www.dperry.com)

Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on Oct 7th, 2009

Oct

Chris Bateman finishes off his thoughtful trilogy on Play Styles.  We’ve covered Strategic Play, we’ve explored Logistical Play and now the Coup de grâce: Tactical Play. With this final installment we complete our understanding of the major play styles representational of our player base.  With this understanding we are better able to cater a game experience to the tendencies of what our players, in the end making more enjoyable and better selling products

Title: “Tactical Play“ – Original Article

Book: Beyond_Game_Design: Nine Steps Towards Creating Better Videogames, by Course Technology PTR

Written by: Chris Bateman(www.ihobo.com)

Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on Oct 2nd 2009

Oct

Josh Sutphin is back to share a bit more insight into game design, this time talking about how we can look differently at failure, using it as a necessary tool and design it into our players experience.

Title: “Failure for Fun and Profit“ – Original Article

Written by: Josh Sutphin(thirdhelix.wordpress.com)

Read aloud by: Ryan Wiancko on Oct 1st, 2009