Reading List (August 2020) (Patreon)

Hello!

Hope everyone is doing okay. I've just come back from a much-needed break. We stayed in a cottage in Wales with no wi-fi and no phone service and it was great! We just read books, watched movies, went for huge walks, and saw waterfalls and castles.

Back now, and so here's 25-odd new articles and videos to enjoy!

Designer Notes

[Watch | CC | 27 mins] The Making of Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System - The designers behind Mordor's innovative Orc-generation system explain how the whole thing came together. 

[Watch | CC | 19 mins] How Prey's Mind-Bending Opening Level Was Designed - Prey begins with a bang. Or, more accurately, a smash. Danny talks to Arkane about the making of this opener.

[Watch | CC | 15 mins] The Outer Worlds - How Companions Change the Game - Lessons from the Screenplay swaps cinema for consoles, to talk to Obsidian about the making of Parvati.

Critical Hit

[Watch | 1 hour] So What Was That Whole Killzone Series About? - Charlie breaks down a series that rarely gets a critical look: Killzone. This huge video looks at every game in the series, including the handheld releases.

[Read] Defining Dina from The Last of Us: Part II - Dina voice actor, Shannon Woodward, and more discuss one of The Last of Us Part II's most memorable characters.

[Watch | 13 mins] CO-VIDs: dropsy/alum - Ian looks at two point and click adventures that have a staggeringly similar theme - and how the two games tackle it.

Culture Club

[Watch | CC | 8 mins] My Problem with Third Person Action Games - Sid is blind in one eye. Here, he makes a simple plea for accessibility in third-person games.

[Read] An investigation into Blathers - Just what is this nocturnal curator up to, asks Eurogamer.

[Watch | CC | 10 mins] The Games I Wish I Could Play Again For The First Time - Everyone has movies, books, and games that they'd love to experience fresh. For me, I'd love to play old adventures like Monkey Island and Broken Sword without knowing all the solutions off by heart.

[Watch | 8 mins] Mario's Nipple Controversy, explained - An investigation into the surprise disappearance of Mario's mammaries.

Code Monkeys

[Read] An innocent typo led to a giant 212-story obelisk in Microsoft Flight Simulator - I've been enjoying watching people discover how the automated Earth-generation system for Flight Sim has some… peculiarities. Here's a favourite. 

History Corner

[Read] The story of Doom and how it changed everything - Co-creator John Romero chats first-person history. 

[Read] This virtual museum lets you try the lockpicking minigames from loads of different games - A really cool idea! I love the idea of exploring game design through the actual medium of game design. Neat.

[Read] This Woman Inspired One of the First Hit Video Games by Mapping the World’s Longest Cave - It's the game that inspired the first Sierra adventures, which in turn inspired the first LucasArts games. Huge touchstone for an entire genre.

[Watch | 14 mins] Why Is Early Video Game Voice Acting So Terrible? - Austin breaks down the limitations that lead to Jill Sandwiches and Dr Wiwee.

[Play] TweeVee / Interactive Movies - Molleindustria has built an engine for branching FMV games, ala Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. The real gem, though, is that its been used to breathe life into forgotten 90s games like Steven Spielberg’s Director’s Choices.

[Watch | 25 mins] Marathon: Children of Doom Episode 4 - Errant Signal continues its year-by-year history of the FPS. For '94, we skip System Shock and instead head to the Mac for Bungie's pre-Halo shooter.

[Read] The Secret Origin of the Action RPG - I had a brief tangent about action RPGs in my JRPG video. This article will take you down the rabbit hole.

Business Lunch

[Read] How did Fall Guys get it so right? - Fall Guys is probably this year's fad. 2020's Pokemon GO, or Loom Bands, or Fidget Spinners. Gamasutra looks at how the devs pulled it off.

[Watch | CC | 37 mins] How 6 Months of COVID-19 Quarantine Affected Life at Supergiant Games - Danny's been talking to Supergiant about the development of Hades for ages now. This story gets a unique spin, as the studio goes into lockdown.

[Watch | 25 mins] Can you really get rich in the world's only "cash-based" MMO? - People Make Games investigates an MMO where you can cash out, and the suspect economics behind it.

Beyond Bytes

[Watch | 11 mins] How Christopher Nolan Builds Intensity - Want to spot a Nolan movie? Look for multiple storylines all criss-crossing through each other.

[Read] I Tried to Live Without the Tech Giants. It Was Impossible - Do Facebook, Google, and friends have too much power? Here's how life would be like without them. 

[Watch | 11 mins] How Russia Traded Arthouse For Action - A fascinating look at the Russian movie industry. Worth it for the CGI bear with a Gatling gun strapped to its back.

[Watch | 14 mins] Confessions of a Christopher Nolan Fanboy - More Nolan love now (it's not like he has a movie out, right? I mean, no one would release a movie during a pandemic, would they?)

[Watch | CC | 8 mins] Facebook showed this ad to 95% women. Is that a problem? - Back to Facebook for a second. Here's how its ad algorithm plays into harmful stereotypes.

[Watch | CC | 18 mins] CGP Grey was WRONG - Finally, a really interesting video that looks into how CGP Grey videos get made, how mistakes can be missed, and the story of finding and fixing one.