Storify on being a game designer
Prompted my a news story back in September that Halfbrick had laid off the last of its designers, I chatted on Twitter about some of the challenges in being a designer. I’ve been updating the
June 4, 2016
Example of FSM Building: Combat
A past side project included building Wizardry-style combat. That’s a very specific kind of turn-based combat, best displayed in Wizardry VI and Wizardry VII. I call this phased combat. The player enters orders for each of
May 31, 2016
Segmenting (and not repeating) FSMs
I’ve been talking a lot on Twitter lately about creating my solo game, and I’m going to start saving them here as well. Today, I talked about why you often want FSMs on stand-alone gameobjects,
February 21, 2015
Podcast #1: Whittling vs. Puttering Mechanics
There are two different concepts in gameplay that often get conflated: whittling vs. puttering. There’s a certain zen to repetitive motions and patterns. There have been a bunch of studies showing that they soothe, calm,
September 18, 2019
About
Me.
I’m a game designer, producer and developer from way back in the earlu 1990’s. I’ve never lost my passion for creating the best game possible for players.
Shadows
1995, PC (cancelled) Shadows was an adventure/puzzle game, along the lines of Myst. I created a demo in Macromedia Director and Strata 3D (teaching myself 3D art creation in the process), which lead to a
August 6, 2021
Crags
1997, PC (cancelled) I joined Media Station to design and lead the development team for a strategy game concept from the company owner. The original idea was a real-time strategy game, but I felt that
August 6, 2021
Disney’s Stitch: Experiment 626
2002, PS2 The game Stitch: Experiment 626 was a combination shooter-platformer. It took advantage of Stitch’s innate ability to climb walls and walk on ceilings. We developed it as the movie was being created, and
August 6, 2021
Be Your Own Advocate
I routinely encounter folks dealing with serious illness (mostly cancer, in my circumstances) who accept whatever the first doctor they meet tells them, even if what they’re told is that there is no hope. I
August 17, 2017
Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Month
April is head and neck cancer awareness month! Be aware of the causes and symptoms, summarized in the graphic at the bottom. For me, it was a swollen lymph node below my jaw that didn’t
April 3, 2017
Clinical Trial Math
Clinical trial math example: Monday + every two months = time to start worrying about my scan the following Monday. Tuesday + pain below my right ribs = worry about that AND the scan the
March 23, 2017