Reading List (July 2017) (Patreon)

Hello! Another month, another 30 articles and videos for you to devour!

This month we’ve got remasters, controls schemes, metagames, bugs, foley, web swinging, balance, and more. 

Enjoy!

How stuff gets made

Creating the 30 different control schemes of Edith Finch - Developer Giant Sparrow reveals the secret to making interactive vignettes, with wildly different control schemes, that don’t need tutorials. It’s all about using affordances to make stuff work the way you’d assume it does. 

Story Time with NieR:Automata Director Yoko Taro - NieR:Automata’s bizarre director Yoko Taro shares three handy points to remember when crafting great game stories. It’s a brief write-up of a talk he gave at PlatinumGames. 

[Video] Making a powerful punch sound from scratch - A bit of foley fun, as Waveform breaks down the ingredients (literally) behind a good punching sound effect. I’ve always thought foley artist would be a cool job. 

13 years later, Spider-Man 2's swinging has never been bettered - here's its story - Eurogamer tracks down the designer responsible for Spider-Man 2’s free-flowing web-swinging mechanic. Here’s hoping Insomniac’s game can live up to expectations on this front. Also, check out Super Butterbuns’ piece on the game

Making Platforming Games - A complete 101 breakdown for making platformers - from a designer on Donkey Kong Country Returns. Take notes!

Defining terms

Metagame vs Structure - Helpful definitions of two terms, and discussion about where they came from and how designers can effectively use these two concepts for better games (or better monetisation). 

[Video | CC] Ludonarrative Dissonance - Folding Ideas explains what Ludonarrative Dissonance is asks whether it’s a useful critical tool.

[Video] Superposition: The Genre of Life is Strange - Ian Danskin was also thinking about genres this month, but more from a narrative perspective. He looks at how Life is Strange threads the needle between two different genres. 

[Video | CC] Who Shot Guybrush Threepwood? (The Death of the Adventure Game - I also rewatched this video from Ian, which offers one explanation for why the adventure game genre died off. Or went extremely underground, at least. 

The Illusion of an Analog World - Frictional Games talks about the power of unclear choices in games. None of this Press X or Press Y stuff, but moral decisions that can be answered through the hazy grey area of the game’s many systems and mechanics. 

Diversity and disability

7 examples of accessibility design that developers should study - Accessibility is one of those things that can take a small amount of work for the developer, but can be a world of difference to someone with a disability. Gamsutra’s got some top tier examples. 

Why diversity matters in the modern video games industry - The Guardian talks about representing people of all backgrounds in games, why PlayStation sponsored Pride Week in London, and why it’s all worth worrying about.

Life after launch

More Video Games Are Getting Easier After Release - Heather Alexandra notes an interesting trend of indie games coming out with a high difficulty, before getting toned down with patches not long after. 

[Video] Jeff Kaplan reveals the Overwatch Balance Triangle - There are three things Blizzard takes into consideration when it goes to balance an Overwatch hero. Chris Bratt explains more. 

How developers really deal with bugs - Eurogamer finds out how bugs get dealt with. Mostly from an indie perspective, and largely about bugs found after the game is done, but has some nice stories from big ol’ console games too. 

Go Ahead and Jump! - Remastering games is fascinating, because it’s not just about graphics and music - it’s also about gameplay. Here, Vicarious Visions explains how and why they tweaked the gameplay of Crash Bandicoot. Novacanoo’s got some good stuff on this game, too.

A critical look

[Video] Overwatch's First Step - Raycevick makes an interesting point about the power of Overwatch’s characters and voice lines, and how they help bring new players into the fold. 

Officer Benny and Characterisation in Stealth - A cute story about how Thief 2 used character backstory to reinforce (but not force) the game’s low-violence gameplay style. 

[Video] One More Thing About Titanfall 2 - Game Array talks about pilots and titans in Titanfall 2’s multiplayer mode. How do you make titans fun, when being a pilot is so awesome?

[Video] Breath of the Wild: The Best Game Ever - More great Breath of the Wild stuff here, from Cool Ghosts. Matt talks about “where the game resides”, and how so many games reside on map screens, mini maps, and compass pointers. I’ve been thinking about that phrase a lot.

[Video] 0451 - Errant Signal looks at 0451 - a number that can be found in a handful of games, mostly immersive sims. What does this number mean, and what do these games all have in common - both design and narrative wise. 

[Video] Embracing F.E.A.R. - What made the first FEAR game great? It was more than just great AI and creepy girls. Find out more in this video, from a man with a ridiculous voice. He should do movie trailers. 

What developers are saying about the design of Nintendo's Arms - Gamasutra asked a bunch of game developers to talk about ARMs. Lots of good points about what this wacky fighting game gets right, and wrong.

[Video] 3 Environmental Storytelling Techniques from Dark Souls - HappieCat shares some specific examples of how Dark Souls tells its story through environmental means. 

[Video] What We Can Learn From Devil May Cry 3 - I’m playing this game at the moment. Ryan’s got good points about enemy variety, the style meter, and more. 

Culture and commerce

What it costs to run an independent video game store - Running a mom ‘n’ pop game shop in 2017 has its own set of challenges. Matt Leone talks to those competing with big shops, online stores, and eBay. 

[Video | CC] Getting Started as a Game Journalist - Practice, Prepare, and Pitch - As a (former?) games journalist, this video from Extra Credits rings pretty true to me. Freelance is the best way to get into the business, and this has plenty of tips for getting your pitches to the right person, and accepted. 

[Video | CC] The Unfulfilled Potential of Video Games - Pop Culture Detective looks at how so many games are focused on combat and violence. It’s definitely a topic I’ve been meaning to explore myself. 

Doomguy's Identity - John Romero reveals Doomguy’s identity. Sort of. Find out who was the body model for the space marine on the game’s iconic ass cover art. Which I really should turn into a framed poster. 

This isn't even a game!

[Video] Movie Stunt Coordinator Breaks Down 'Atomic Blonde' Fight Scene - This guy goes into a surprising amount of detail on this fight scene from the Charlize Theron movie Atomic Blonde. All about foam panels, exploding glass, and frame dropping!