Reading List (April 2018) (Patreon)

Hey everyone! First things first, thank you for your lovely comments on the newsletter earlier this week. You’re all so supportive and brilliant!

Now - let's finish off April with a big bunch of things to watch and read, eh?

Behind the Scenes

[Read] Designing Lone Echo & Echo Arena’s Virtual Touchscreen Interfaces - Zero gravity game Lone Echo has some of the best controls in all of virtual reality. In this deep-dive interview, Ready at Dawn’s systems designer breaks down one part of the set-up: virtual touchscreens.

[Read] Inside Nintendo’s secretive creative process - A quick rundown of Nintendo’s hardware and software design philosophies, with the newly promoted Shinya Takahashi. (He’s right behind Miyamoto, now)

[Read] Making Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's best level, the Palisade Bank - PC Gamer talks to Square Enix about the making of the stylish bank at the heart of Deus Ex’s Prague. I had a lot of fun in this location, so this was a great read.

[Read] Zack Johnson on Twitter - Design docs are always fun. Here, Zack Johnson reveals the original document for comedy stick figure western, West of Loathing. 

[Read] Fortnite Devs Completely Changed How Players Use Shotguns Without Actually Altering Them - As always, video games are tricking you. Just play along and try to have fun.

Business Lunch

[Read] Why is Rogue Legacy's follow-up considered a 'pretty massive failure?' - To be honest, I didn’t even know that Cellar Door had made a new game. Which is probably why Full Metal Furies flopped so hard. Painful reading.

[Read] Where the Water Tastes Like Wine Postmortem - So’s this. This intriguing narrative adventure has made no money for the developers. Probably shouldn’t have spent all that cash on getting Sting to do the voiceover, in retrospect.

[Read] GDC Wrap-up Part 2: Screenshot Theory - Adam Saltsman (Canabalt) talks about the importance of selling your game through screenshots alone. A picture says a thousand words, so use ‘em!

[Read] Building games that can be understood at a glance - And on that note, SpellTower creator Zach Gage talks about making games that can be summed up in a split second. Good stuff.

[Read] The Netherlands declares some loot boxes are gambling - Things are happening! This is going to be an interesting story to follow.

[Read] I got occupational burnout - and you might, too - Crunch, stress, overwork. I know I’ve done it myself, and it’s very unhealthy. Know the signs, stop it before it gets too bad. Also! Points to the first person who notices the mistake in this article (GMTK fans will know!).

In Retrospect

[Read] Ten years on, GTA 4's Liberty City is still an incredible virtual city - Man, GTA V had a really unique vibe, didn’t it? It was kind of hazy, and had a really muted colour palette. When I think back to the game I just see myself cruising through a sleepy olive-toned NYC. Good times.

[Read] The creators of Spelunky and Getting Over It talk about Sexy Hiking and 'B-games' - Derek Yu and Bennett Foddy talk about a bizarre Polish game dev who made a bunch of weirdo indie games and then disappeared. Lots of recommendations for B-games in there if you’re interested.

[Read] The horror of Vault 11 - Eurogamer delves deep into one of Fallout New Vegas’s more interesting quests.

[Read] Revisiting Virtual Springfield: A Journey Through The Simpsons at its Peak - I loved this game as a kid!

Art and Artistry

[Watch | CC] The Importance of Key Frames - 3-Frame Run Cycles - Dan Root’s new animation focus takes us back to basics, with the bold key frame animation that powered old NES games.

[Play] Out of Order - I quite enjoyed this charming sliding block puzzle game. Works on mobile, too.

[Watch] Far Cry 2 details vs Far Cry 5 - You’ve probably seen this video, but if not: here’s how Far Cry 5 fails to live up to its predecessor. I’m a little mixed on this stuff (I’d rather not wank off unimportant graphical stuff), but it’s still pretty disappointing to go backwards like this.

[Watch | CC] The Anxiety of Celeste and its Music - Can’t not recommend a new Game Score Fanfare! 

[Watch] How Koji Kondo Writes Creepy Music - But here’s some different musical stuff. Zelda’s full of creepy, atmospheric, discordant music. Here’s how it’s made… musically.

Coming Soon

[Read / Watch] 11 Games You Didn't Know bout (But Should) - My ol’ Pocket Gamer pal Alysia’s got a bunch of interesting indie games that you should put on your release radar. Expect to see this stuff in Playlist videos throughout 2018. I’m uber stoked for The Messenger.

[Read] Co-op horror game The Blackout Club is one of the most exciting releases of 2019 - Intrigued by this preview of the new game from Fort Frolic designer Jordan Thomas. Sounds like Dishonored meets Stranger Things? I’m down.

[Read] The Best Indie Games Of GDC 2018 - More indie recommendations to sift through. These days, this stuff excites me way more than the usual crop of upcoming AAA games. 

Gaming Culture

[Read] Why the games media has a diversity problem - this website especially - Eurogamer came dead last on an analysis of diversity in games media. They got former contributor Keza MacDonald to discuss the issue and start a conversation. I haven’t read the comments, mind you…

[Watch] The Power of Video Game Cheats - NakeyJakey once again brings the magic, with a funny and thoughtful video about the history of cheats.

[Read] How Deus Ex: Mankind Divided nails the personal side of prejudice - Deus Ex got a bad rap at launch for its handling of racism and prejudice. But in this writer’s eyes, it captured the sensation well.

[Watch | CC] Wolfenstein vs Call of Duty - The Need for “B” Games - Extra Credits looks to b-movie history, to explain why Wolfenstein could tackle concentration camps with more teeth than Call of Duty.

Beyond Gaming

[Read] Our Film Critic and the Director of a Movie He Hated Sat Down and Tried to Work Out Their Differences - As a former journalist, I find the relationship between creator and critic to be fascinating. That gets explored in this interview.

[Watch] How Dark Patterns Trick You Online - Nerdwriter explains the online design patterns that are working against your best interests.

[Watch | CC] Unpleasant Design - When Bad Design is Used to Hide Problems - While Extra Credits explains the real world design patterns that are working against your best interests.

[Read] What can you do about Apu? The Simpsons used to know - This current Apu / The Simpsons conversation is very interesting. Here’s a good piece about some historical ways the show has commented on the character.