Ask a Game Dev

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

I don't think that we'll ever see pre-rendered cutscenes go away permanently. As in-engine rendering improves, AAA games will likely move away from pre-rendered cutscenes but AAA games are far from the only games that use cutscenes and have engines that can render high quality cinematic visuals (e.g.

Cutscenes 40

Cutscenes Render Cinematics Engineering 40

Radiator Blog

OCTOBER 13, 2022

There's a Portal-like moment where you escape the puzzle. This isn't a big apocalyptic video game betrayal cutscene where a villain reveals himself and destroys a castle, instead it's a smaller deeper betrayal that instantly brought me back to being a teenager. Pro-tip: play with a gamepad.) PS to Half Mermaid: thanks for the beefcake.

Indy 52

Indy Film Games Point and Click 52

Played with Fire

DECEMBER 4, 2021

Astronomical observatory simulator, manipulating telescope POV, rotating planets on lens display like dioramas or puzzle boxes, relaxing, immersive 360 experience in space, UX pillars: precision, real-time, comfortable distances, avoiding locomotion sickness. A reliable system of interaction for puzzle mechanics. Not necessarily!

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UX Puzzle Animation Animation 52

The Bottom Feeder

DECEMBER 15, 2021

It skips from action to pvp games to puzzles to boss fights with blinding speed. If you've played a decent indie game in the last five year, It Takes Two probably has you play a superior version of that game for 10 minutes. It's really sharp and well-observed, and it isn't a cutscene. This is a really fun game. Very well done.

Art 52

Art Writing Indy Fighting 52

The Bottom Feeder

DECEMBER 13, 2021

But it's just pretty standard puzzle-solving and troll-dodging. There was a depressing and largely forgotten 2013 indie game called The Novelist, about a depressing husband, wife, and child. You can’t put the nuance of human relationships in gameplay, and telling story through cutscenes kind of sucks.

Art 52

Art Point and Click Games Writing 52

Radiator Blog

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

none of Dishonored's morality system and I think this is good, the "stealth puzzle = humane cage free assassination" philosophy has aged poorly imo 69% less stealth. I know it's easy for armchair indies like me to complain about pulling punches. TUTORIAL The tutorial happens across 3 in-game loops.

Fighting 52

Fighting NPC Puzzle AI 52