Ask a Game Dev

AUGUST 22, 2024

However, I don’t want to leave things too abstract - game design is about taking an idea and translating it into real game rules and mechanics. If you balance things right, the choice isn’t always obvious and will depend on evaluating other factors at the time of the choice. That’s what makes it interesting.

Mechanics 52

Mechanics AI Dev Racing 52

Grid Sage Games

MARCH 10, 2022

Mechanics that are never quite worth taking advantage of, items that haven’t lived up to their potential, or were later superseded by other options but remained unchanged, or even long-term experiments that were included at some point but never updated/expanded/removed. Alien Artifacts.

Balance 52

Balance Mechanics Beta Prototyping 52

iXie gaming

APRIL 16, 2024

These tools are powerful enough to simulate player interactions, check for bugs and glitches, and validate game mechanics. In fact, the emergence of new technologies, like generative AI, has further advanced the capabilities of automated testing tools. Finding the Right Balance Automated testing is here to stay.

Scripting 52

Scripting Technology Games Bug 52

Game Dev Unchained

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

. “We’ve definitely just had a return to the office here… But the icing on the cake there is that we did have to return to the office this week, but we’re onto a four-day work week, which is great,” he says, providing a glimpse into the evolving work-life balance within the gaming sphere.

Games 52

Games AI Technology Content 52

Grid Sage Games

NOVEMBER 20, 2023

The answer is most , but there are a few exceptions, generally including things that AI-controlled bots can’t really use, or aren’t suitable for certain types of allies from an architectural standpoint. D This is the fourth post in a series on new item mechanics. Really looking forward to what people do with this one.

Mechanics 52

Mechanics Build Point and Click Tile 52

Ask a Game Dev

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

However, I don’t want to leave things too abstract - game design is about taking an idea and translating it into real game rules and mechanics. If you balance things right, the choice isn’t always obvious and will depend on evaluating other factors at the time of the choice. That’s what makes it interesting.

Mechanics 52

Mechanics AI Dev Racing 52

Game Analytics

DECEMBER 5, 2022

This time, we’ll look at the top games that use storytelling as a core mechanic and show you that you don’t need sparkling design and intense gameplay to create a hit. Reigns does a good job balancing this information while leaving enough mystery for unexpected twists. Making choices can be the sole mechanic, and you still have a game.

Horror 109

Horror Games Mobile Mobile 109

Grid Sage Games

DECEMBER 3, 2022

This year’s major release was of course Beta 11 “Mechanical Renaissance,” in the works for 17 (!) months, and a massive set of new toys, challenges , revamped mechanics , and more. Of course that’s only one factor in the revenue drop, but it definitely plays a significant role. So we’re done, right?

Beta 52

Beta Mechanics Content Art 52

Designer Notes

MARCH 31, 2023

Civ inherited this mechanic directly from Empire, a game from the 80s which had much of the same tile-based, turn-based combat as Civ but without the scope of all human history. Here is Frontierville, by Brian Reynolds, the designer of Civ2, which took Farmville and added an Energy mechanic that limited the player’s actions.

Tile 98

Tile Point and Click AI Mechanics 98

Game Daily

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Avalon is being built with Didimo’s Popul8 character creation platform and Inworld’s AI-powered character engine. Avalon has found investment backing from the likes of Bitkraft, Delphi Ventures, and Mechanism Capital raising $13 million in a round announced earlier this year.

Racing 98

Racing Content Fantasy Platformer 98

Designer Notes

OCTOBER 14, 2021

Simulations can be great games, but they tend not to be a good format for turn-based games with transparent game mechanics. It worked extremely well from a mechanical perspective, which is all we needed for early MP testing before the game even had characters, families, and events. We were being so old-fashioned!

AI 40

AI Simulation Mechanics Mobile Gaming 40

Big Games

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

Unicorn Run also introduces flying powers and shooting mechanics to help you achieve higher scores, adding an extra layer of excitement to the gameplay. With a balanced mix of realism and accessibility, it features excellent handling, damage modeling, and a variety of cars and tracks.

Graphics 52

Graphics Racing Entertainment Games 52

iXie gaming

AUGUST 12, 2024

The Mechanics of Motion Capture Motion capture (mocap) is the magic that makes your favorite game characters move realistically. Developers need to find a balance between realism and gameplay, making sure characters move in a way that feels real but also enjoyable to play. But how does it work?

Animation 52

Animation Animation Data Technology 52

Designer Notes

AUGUST 2, 2021

None of these systems were any fun and weren’t intended to be so; they were mechanics put in place to keep the players from ruining the game for themselves by founding too many cities just because it was simply the most effective strategy.

Tile 52

Tile Build Mechanics Prototyping 52

CG Spectrum

JUNE 10, 2024

They are also responsible for implementing NPC (non-player character) movement, performances, and behaviors, which are controlled by AI (artificial intelligence). They oversee both the foundation and execution of the game mechanics and overall user experience. Others are writers and/or world directors who focus on player experience.

Film 52

Film Animation Animation Concepts 52

iXie gaming

FEBRUARY 11, 2024

Therefore, developers should aim to balance between skill and simplicity. Hybrid-casual games bring in more sophisticated graphics and characters, among other gaming mechanics, providing richer gameplay. The hybrid-casual core game must be simple. Why are Hybrid-Casual Games Attractive to Developers? Richer gameplay.

Games 52

Games Feature Development Game Development 52

Deconstructor of Fun

DECEMBER 5, 2021

Go in, loot, fight players and/or AIs, survive and extract’ is the formula pioneered by DayZ , and later honed by Escape From Tarkov , which gets the heart pumping even after thousands of play sessions. There’s no reliance on overly realistic, gameplay-affecting survival mechanics like limb injuries, hunger, or thirst.

Console 59

Console Mobile Mobile PC 59

Deconstructor of Fun

MARCH 14, 2023

Diversify revenue model Cilingir urged game-makers with games skewed heavily toward either ad or IAP-based monetisation to balance their revenue mix. Khanna rounded out the talk with some tips on managing ad creatives, including some AI-powered campaigns that can take the shape of text, image, video, and HTML5 ads.

Games 59

Games Cross platform Mobile Mobile 59

Designer Notes

AUGUST 10, 2021

The big change that always gets mentioned when going from Civ 4 to Civ 5 is one-unit-per-tile (1UPT), which is interesting as 1UPT is purely a mechanical – as opposed to thematic – change. 1UPT, on the other hand, helps balance some of the extremities of the Orders system by making it more difficult to kill a unit via stacking.

Tile 40

Tile Point and Click AI Mechanics 40

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 24, 2023

For example, a balance patch to Skyweavers that changes the power (and thus price) of different cards will shake up the market considerably. Major balance patches should be a planned event, similar to the Federal Reserve’s monthly meetings. These “set-it-and-forget-it” markets like housing don’t attract day traders or hot news cycles.

Games 52

Games Point and Click Asset Balance 52

Game Dev Unchained

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

But, beyond gameplay mechanics, Eco speaks to a much larger industry trend: the emergence of the metaverse. With AI technologies making rapid strides, and the information age turning students into consumers wanting immediate answers, there’s an urgent need to adapt. But the landscape of learning and motivation is changing.

Indy 105

Indy Platformer AAA Educational 105

Designer Notes

AUGUST 31, 2021

With that preamble done and due praise given, it is all the more remarkable that one bad game mechanic has been preserved from version to version, tweaked perhaps, adjusted at times, but still as clumsy, fiddly, and unnecessary in 2021 as it was in 1991 – the system of placing citizens on tiles.

Tile 40

Tile Terrain Game Design Game Designer 40

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 3, 2019

This deconstruction will cover: The game’s core loop Why having chosen a basic match-3 mechanic was a safe bet What other games have tried The game’s features and to which kinds of players it caters How time-limited offers and events are run successfully. The Matchers Gonna Match E&P’s core gameplay is carefully designed and balanced.

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Feature Build Balance 52

Radiator Blog

MARCH 16, 2023

Each level also had unique mechanics and art styles that all tied into a cohesive whole. They still need to balance this pre-production with finishing the studio's other projects too. What's the balance? Again, what's the balance here? It was a quirky story-first 3D platformer with jokes that were actually funny.

Art 59

Art Concepts Dev Studios 59

Radiator Blog

MAY 5, 2021

It is much better than the boring shot reverse-shot cutscene stuff going on in AAA RPGs these days, and makes Skyrim's "sit" mechanic more meaningful. Destroy the player's expectation that relationship mechanic = main cast member. Expendable companions. Lots of height variation and clutter = broken pathfinding.

Open World 52

Open World NPC Cutscenes Terrain 52

Sirlin

APRIL 8, 2015

Yomi is highly balanced at the expert level, and it expresses the values of a fair competitive game. EX characters can also use the power up mechanic to get ANY cards from their deck, not just Aces. You can play against AI that uses EX characters and you can unlock them to play in 1p modes.

Cross platform 52

Cross platform Fighting Feature Balance 52

Radiator Blog

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

This fighting game health mechanic is too fussy and unreliable for a busy shooter. and I think this balance tuning is intentional. Limited regen (e.g. No health potion inventory , big change from Dishonored / Prey. No hoarding / shopping trips. but you can only safely do this if you have 50% or more health already.

Fighting 52

Fighting NPC Puzzle AI 52

Astral Clock Tower Studios

AUGUST 5, 2020

He also set up a new system built into the base code for our AI to allow us to easily enable or disable targeting an enemy in Blueprints (for things such as hiding enemies or enemies that are temporarily invisible to the player). Speaking of sprinting, Will found a better way to balance our sprinting/dodging control that uses the same button.

Dev 52

Dev Clipping Texture Concepts 52

Sirlin

JULY 25, 2019

Even if a game were impossibly well balanced and had like 100 matchups that were all 5-5, but 20 matchups that were 6-4 or 7-3, then you’d hardly ever play the 5-5 ones compared to the other ones, even though at first glance MOST of the game is the fair ones. Notice that this isn’t just about poorly balanced games.

Fantasy 52

Fantasy Feature Fighting Point and Click 52

Deconstructor of Fun

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

This feels like betting mechanics on steroids -- each match is a roll of the dice whether you’ll be able to get out with the loot you want. While technically players can buy better tanks and robots, this genre keeps things competitive by having a clear rock/paper/scissor balance between each class. Let’s go through each in order.

Mobile 52

Mobile Mobile Content FPS 52

Game Dev Unchained

MAY 1, 2023

Chaumette, a veteran in the field, shared his insights on how AI technology has the potential to revolutionize the creation process for artists and developers. In the interview, Chaumette discussed how AI has been influencing the gaming industry for years, citing the early work of Andrew Maximoff, founder of Promethean AI, in 2018.

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AI Technology Content Art 96

Radiator Blog

DECEMBER 12, 2022

Here my walking mechanic borrows some sensibility from Death Stranding, where terrain can seriously slow down the player's speed, so a skilled player should micro-optimize their route a little and avoid water / hills / obstacles. Balancing the weight of each system was difficult. It already feels so fraught to me.

Pixel 52

Pixel Film Art Prototyping 52

Radiator Blog

JULY 6, 2021

Naked simulated AI people ("peeps") arrive and flow across the terrain. So I shifted direction to something more like Claude Shannon's Theseus (1950), a mechanical mouse that "learned" how to navigate a maze by flipping magnetic switches beneath the floor. It's a zoomed out perspective, it's not immersive, it's a simulation.

Simulation 52

Simulation Art AI Internet 52

Filmustage

OCTOBER 27, 2023

Navigating these crucial sectors with precision ensures a balanced approach to VFX budgeting, aligning creative ambitions with financial realities. Striking a balance between these two powerful adversaries, or choosing one over the other, often forms the crucible where a film's visual authenticity and financial feasibility are forged.

Cinematics 52

Cinematics Technology Balance Film 52

Radiator Blog

JUNE 30, 2022

Under your watch, these AI men wander the randomly generated sex maze and pair-up for sex based on proximity, line of sight, and sexual compatibility. For balance purposes, I limit the number of voyeurs in the maze, otherwise it can enter a deadlock where there's only voyeurs but no one for them to watch. You play as a sex angel.

Code 52

Code Educational Education Prototyping 52