Dennispr

It's October 1st, and it's foggy outside, so here's your somewhat yearly reminder that Silent Hill's fog was a technical limitation. Even now, it's still one of the best examples of turning a hardware weakness into a game design strength. #gamedev #gamedesign #silenthill

Here's an example of method that doesn't use fog, but does the same thing. Instead of saying I'm not gonna draw that bc FOG, this method only ever renders things that you're going to be looking at.

It's October 1st, and it's foggy outside, so here's your somewhat yearly reminder that Silent Hill's fog was a technical limitation. Even now, it's still one of the best examples of turning a hardware weakness into a game design strength. #gamedev #gamedesign #silenthill

Why have fog at all??? Games have to render what you see (every object, every texture) for each frame that you see. For most games, you want to do this at the speed of at least 60fps which means a lot of computation. But even at 30fps there may be too many things to render... so you fog it out.

Randomly thinking about meeting a lead dev on starfox attending his talk, and having the takeaway be: "No one appreciates the cool math we did because they only think about the furry pilots" #gamedev #gamedesign #starfox

They quickly found. Out that the Snes couldn't do what they wanted without additional hardware, so they added it to their cartridges (super fx chip).

Randomly thinking about meeting a lead dev on starfox attending his talk, and having the takeaway be: "No one appreciates the cool math we did because they only think about the furry pilots" #gamedev #gamedesign #starfox

I just learned that Monopoly tried to pivot to a booster pack model while collaborating with FIFA. I have thoughts. The first of which is just a resounding... What? But let's talk about booster pack focused games anyway? #gamedesign #monopoly #tradingcardgames

There's a lot more to talk about on this but the major issue seems to be they didn't seem to be confident that a tcg based on sports would work well or have the audience so they tried to mash up pre-exisitng systems without committing to either one.

I just learned that Monopoly tried to pivot to a booster pack model while collaborating with FIFA. I have thoughts. The first of which is just a resounding... What? But let's talk about booster pack focused games anyway? #gamedesign #monopoly #tradingcardgames

Good: using an existing well known game to piggy back another system. e.g. if you kinda know monopoly, you can focus more on the new/different parts like the player cards Bad: Why sports and monopoly?? Maybe they have better consumer data but is there any overlap with monopoly and sports fans?

I just learned that Monopoly tried to pivot to a booster pack model while collaborating with FIFA. I have thoughts. The first of which is just a resounding... What? But let's talk about booster pack focused games anyway? #gamedesign #monopoly #tradingcardgames

The most interesting thing to me is that there seems to be some legitimately good design ideas in here. But, those are drowned out by decisions that are purely financial.

Generally, giving a play an extra turn is too powerful without a big cost that goes with it. Magic made the mistake of severely undercosting time walk at 2 mana and has settled around 5 for a fair version. But can you get an extra turn by just removing the best part? #mtg #gamedesign #tcg

Buuuut, if you think outside the box a bit you can get something similar for cheaper. Memory lapse, for example, counters a spell and puts it back on top of the deck. Sure, it didn't destroy it, but if your player really wants that effect they're gonna have to spend another turn to do it.

Generally, giving a play an extra turn is too powerful without a big cost that goes with it. Magic made the mistake of severely undercosting time walk at 2 mana and has settled around 5 for a fair version. But can you get an extra turn by just removing the best part? #mtg #gamedesign #tcg

For many tcgs, it seems like blocking a draw, or otherwise making it irrelevant, seems to be the answer. Especially as the game goes on. Cards give you options. A draw means new options. No cards means you're stuck taking the same actions you took last turn.

Generally, giving a play an extra turn is too powerful without a big cost that goes with it. Magic made the mistake of severely undercosting time walk at 2 mana and has settled around 5 for a fair version. But can you get an extra turn by just removing the best part? #mtg #gamedesign #tcg

So, In magic a new turn lets you: Draw a card. Untap (restore) permanents that were previously used (lands, creatures) Game phases reset allowing you to use certain cards and effects (for example combat steps) So, which of these could you block/remove to effectively get an extra turn? (Tempo)