Grid Sage Games

JULY 17, 2022

I’m reminded of Beta 11’s spicing up the main complex with Heavies and Cargo Convoys , though in this case it’s not just adding one or two new mechanics but instead about turning Garrisons into proper branch maps in terms of content distribution… Encounter Architecture. …alert level xD.

Beta 52

Beta Content Balance Mechanics 52

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

Deconstructor of Fun

MAY 15, 2022

Balancing relies heavily on gear, maps are crowded with question marks, Boss fights feature repetitive mechanisms. Battle: Simplified skill point system and amazing visual effects The core of the skill system relates to balancing and mechanisms. In the later game, raid mechanisms become quite rich.

Cutscenes 52

Cutscenes Art Content Mechanics 52

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. Unlike Skyrim, there's no need to spam 1000s of fireballs to level up.

Open World 130

Open World NPC Cutscenes Terrain 130

Grid Sage Games

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

Items in Rogue may also be cursed and therefore non-removable except via special means, though that is a tangential mechanic tied more to the identification minigame rather than item randomization itself.) Brogue’s trippy colors come from impactful terrain features like water, lava, and gases. Low on treads or armor?

Data 52

Data Terrain Balance Mechanics 52

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

Grid Sage Games

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

Some roguelikes don’t go heavy on realism, in which case backtracking for this reason can be considered a non-issue and solely a decision to be made within the greater mechanical design, though this does mean progress ends up feeling gamier overall. Design Control.

Point and Click 52

Point and Click Mechanics Feature Open World 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 130

Simulation Art Internet AI 130

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 130

Pixel Film Art Prototyping 130