Ask a Game Dev

NOVEMBER 5, 2024

We rarely want AI allies to overshadow players - doing so will break the power fantasy. Instead, we want them to look like they're fighting and take a while so that the player can be the hero. Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr Frequent Questions: The FAQ

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AI Fantasy Fighting Dev 52

Sirlin

OCTOBER 4, 2018

We just put a new feature in Fantasy Strike that’s notable because it’s never been done before. The concept of who recovers first after a move hits or is blocked is called “frame advantage” in fighting games. The concept of who recovers first after a move hits or is blocked is called “frame advantage” in fighting games.

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Fighting Fantasy Games Concepts 52

Sirlin

MARCH 20, 2016

The fourth Fantasy Strike Expo will take place June 3rd-5th 2016 near the San Francisco airport. It's a tournament series and casual play event showcasing the Fantasy Strike video game and tabletop games. Come compete, watch, and make new friends with other Fantasy Strikers. Announcement! Who should come?

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Fantasy Fighting Editing Alpha 52

PreMortem.Games

DECEMBER 22, 2023

Because, let’s be honest, creating games is hard. This year we featured over 20 brave game creators in our solo developers-series and we like to share some highlights. It took solo game developer Graham Reid great effort to finish his game. “I Her upcoming game, Spilled! ,

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Development Dev Indy Game Developer 257

Sirlin

JANUARY 10, 2016

There's a new episode of my Raw Game Design podcast up for my ($10+) patrons, here. That same podcast link also has links to all the other episodes of Raw Game Design too, btw. The twist about this AI discussion is that the trouble here is really all about the way we present it, and that's heavily tied to the in-game menus.

Fighting 52

Fighting Game Design Game Designer AI 52

Keith Burgun

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Over the last six months, I guess partially because I was doing a bit of traveling, but also partially because I got a Retroid handheld and a Steam Deck (both of which are phenomenal, game-changers for game-playing, for me at least), I’ve been on this crazy Final Fantasy kick. Let me know what you think!

Fantasy 52

Fantasy Game Design Game Designer Games 52

Sirlin

APRIL 1, 2015

The third Fantasy Strike Expo will take place June 5th-7th 2015 near the San Francisco airport. It's a tournament series and casual play event showcasing the Fantasy Strike tabletop games. Come compete, watch, and make new friends with other Fantasy Strikers. Discuss Fantasy Strike Expo on the forums. Announcement!

Fantasy 52

Fantasy Editing Beta Fighting 52

Sirlin

NOVEMBER 14, 2016

My team and I have been working on Fantasy Strike for almost a year and half now. It's a fighting game featuring the same characters as my Yomi card game and it's unusually easy to play. Here's our new forums for Fantasy Strike. How much we can polish the game and expand it depends on how much support we get.

Fantasy 52

Fantasy Alpha Fighting Prototyping 52

Sirlin

OCTOBER 22, 2019

Fantasy Strike is an interesting case study in game balance for an asymmetric game. Relying on Experts I find it much easier to balance a competitive game by going off the opinions of experts than looking at data anyway. I’ve found both ways can work just fine, it’s all a matter of knowing which experts to listen to.

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Balance Fantasy Data Games 52

Keith Burgun

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

Starting somewhere in 2020, I started this huge dive into the Final Fantasy series – strangely enough, starting with the XIII trilogy. Some of my earliest, most enchanted memories of games were in some early RPGs. That has changed over the last few years, and I’m really happy to be back playing games like these.

Fantasy 119

Fantasy Pixel Art Fighting 119

Sirlin

NOVEMBER 15, 2016

Fantasy Strike is our new fighting game. This podcast explains what Fantasy Strike is all about. We cover the high concept about making a fighting game more accessible from top to bottom than anything else we've seen, the specific game mechanics we chose to accomplish that, and the resulting dynamics of how it plays.

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Fantasy Game Design Game Designer Fighting 40

Brand Game Development

JUNE 24, 2019

The latest game from Pangea Games is launching on Kickstarter. Tasty Humans is a 30-60 minute, tile-laying, pattern-building game for 1-4 players. You are a fantasy monster trying to sate your insatiable appetite. Need help on your board game? It would have been a crime to leave this game unpublished.

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Tile Writing Fantasy Fighting 130

PreMortem.Games

DECEMBER 1, 2023

Based in the heart of Edmonton, Canada, Inflexion Games is gearing up for the release of their debut title Nightingale. A shared-world survival crafting game set to hit PC Early Access early next year. ​​”For us, it’s almost the beginning of the journey. We’ll continue to grow and expand the game in the months and years to come.”

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Balance Games Fantasy Technology 118

Radiator Blog

AUGUST 12, 2022

To unlock each root gate to the next section, the player must fight their way into a little fort and press a big obvious flashing red button. It helps supplement the stealth fantasy in a game with basically no stealth mechanics. It wasn't really fun to fight on the actual tree branches.

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Prototyping Fantasy Fighting Terrain 130

The Bottom Feeder

MARCH 12, 2025

I finally got around to playing Hades, the megahit roguelike from Supergiant Games. It takes me a long time to build up the energy to pour in the number of hours a game like this requires. It's a 2020-vintage roguelike, which means: A bunch of rooms with fights. Seriously, study this game.

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Indy Writing Fantasy Fighting 73

Game Errors

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

When you’re in the game, all you need to do is press the Escape ( ESC ) key on your keyboard. Here are some other handy checklists to help you determine if your computer is up to the task: Operating System: Confirm that your PC’s operating system aligns with the game’s requirements. Processor: Next, evaluate your CPU.

Fantasy 52

Fantasy Sprite Code Simulation 52

Sirlin

AUGUST 17, 2016

Thank you to all our patrons for supporting the Fantasy Strike fighting game. Although we're not ready to show the game publicly yet, we give our $25+ patrons new builds every month, the latest one is here. We rely on your support, and we'll need even more of it to finish the game.

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Fantasy Polygon Hitbox Animation 52

PreMortem.Games

JULY 23, 2024

To release an 8-hour long demo of your upcoming game, like Italian studio Jyamma Games did with their soulslike Enotria: The Last Song , takes guts and confidence. When the studio offered this generous slice of the game for players to try out during the last Steam Next Fest, reactions were very positive.

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Demo Studios Games Fantasy 104

PreMortem.Games

JULY 19, 2024

To release an 8-hour long demo of your upcoming game, like Italian studio Jyamma Games did with their soulslike Enotria: The Last Song , takes guts and confidence. When the studio offered this generous slice of the game for players to try out during the last Steam Next Fest, reactions were very positive.

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Demo Studios Games Fantasy 104

Sirlin

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

I have a free podcast series on game design, here. In this latest Raw Game Design episode, I discuss how we might use advanced AIs in the Fantasy Strike fighting game, if we had access to some pretty great AI tech. I also have a second podcast that's just for my Patreon supporters.

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Game Design Game Designer Fantasy AI 40

PreMortem.Games

JULY 12, 2023

is one of the most striking indie games coming out this summer. With graphics that wouldn’t look out of place in a Dreamworks animated movie and sword fighting action that would make Zorro blush. It became increasingly clear that anything they tried to make that wasn’t a slapstick fencing game simply bogged the experience down.

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Prototyping Games Fantasy Concepts 104

The Bottom Feeder

OCTOBER 9, 2024

Bonus story tip: If your players travels with other characters, they can chat during the game stuff. Every minute a player spends not interacting with your story dilutes the power of the story." - Vogel's Third Law of Video Game Storytelling Suppose you want to write a single-player video game with a good story. A gacha game.

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Writing Games Art Advertising 90

Sirlin

JUNE 13, 2015

I want to show you some of what I'm working (Codex, Flowchart, and a Fighting game) and tell you about Patreon. During Pandante development, I posted dozens of versions of the game board, cards, rules, etc. Right now, in addition to my podcasts, I have three main game development projects in the works. Instead.it's fun.

Fighting 52

Fighting Fantasy Art Build 52

Sirlin

SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

We discuss "easy special moves" in fighting games. What is a game with "easy special moves" actually trying to do? Moves being easy—in and of itself—tells you nothing about whether the techniques and combos in a game are easy to do or not. What is a game with "easy special moves" actually trying to do?

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Game Design Game Designer Fantasy Fighting 40

Ask a Game Dev

MARCH 3, 2023

I think “the developers vision, as talked about by game hobbyists” usually means whatever the particular game hobbyist likes or believes in most. Instead, most gaming hobbyists will project their own desires and thinking onto the dev team because most people are not very good at trying to see things from alternate perspectives.

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Dev Development Games Fantasy 52

Sirlin

OCTOBER 13, 2022

Yomi was "a fighting game in card form" that I made before making the actual fighting game Fantasy Strike. Now, Yomi 2 is a re-imagining of that fighting-card-game concept. So please join my Patreon at the gold tier to access that right now and help us pay for making this awesome game.

Fighting 52

Fighting Playtesting Fantasy Concepts 52

Sirlin

OCTOBER 20, 2015

Codex is a new take on customizable card games. Last week I posted a new Raw Game Design podcast episode (for $10+ patrons) where I discuss "reset buttons" in Codex (cards that blow up the board so you can possibly come back from a very bad position). Finally, we discuss what Geiger's moves will be in the Fantasy Strike fighting game.

Fantasy 52

Fantasy Fighting Balance Concepts 52

Keith Burgun

NOVEMBER 25, 2023

I say more about each game on the podcast, so make sure to check that out. Sadly, also a way overly complicated combat system and overall it has “modern videogame over-smoothed-ness” IN STARS AND TIME – Very cool game that I recommend you go check out. Here are some quick bullet points, though!

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Fighting Fantasy Balance Software 59

PreMortem.Games

JULY 26, 2024

Canadian developer Lincoln McCulloch, working under the studio name Uncle Grouch Gaming , spent the last five years creating the upcoming Dungeons & Kingdoms. An ambitious game that combines medieval city building and kingdom defense with ARPG combat and monster hunting. “So, Can you make games as a solo dev? Definitely.

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Dev Development Build Game Developer 145

CG Spectrum

DECEMBER 1, 2022

With a love of sci-fi and fantasy, he decided to pursue a career in the film and game industry where he could explore these realms. To paint fantasy illustrations for Wizards of the Coast has been a lifelong goal, and here is an opportunity to learn from someone who has! Still from Marvel's Avengers: End Game portal scene.

Art 105

Art Concepts Fantasy Film 105

Game Designing

APRIL 16, 2022

DOS games were those developed under this operating system. While some of the best DOS games can bring you back to wonderful memories of your younger years, they also laid the foundation for what we see in the gaming world today. What Makes A Good DOS Game? Did the game perform well for what it was? Best DOS Games.

Games 52

Games Racing Fighting Build 52

Sirlin

AUGUST 23, 2015

Codex is the customizable card game I've been working on for a very, very long time. In September though, we'll open up just 200 slots for people to get physical copies of the game. These players will be seeing the game way ahead of everyone else, and they can join us in polishing up the last bits.

Balance 52

Balance Prototyping Fantasy Fighting 52

Game Errors

APRIL 7, 2023

Elden Ring is ruling the gaming industry with a blend of action and RPG gaming aspects as it becomes one of the best ARPG video games available to play on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. It takes place in a fantasy-themed world and presents the gameplay through a third-person viewpoint. million copies have been solved.

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Co-op Open World Fantasy Fighting 40

Mircosoft Game Dev

JANUARY 28, 2025

What a year it has been, with the number of Godot submissions in game jams rising to new heights, more people working for the Godot Foundation than ever before , and most industry award shows featuring one if not more games made with Godot. And with that, the 2024 season comes to an end. A busy year inside the project as well.

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Engine Engineering Mechanics Co-op 40

Astral Clock Tower Studios

JUNE 29, 2021

Hello, dear friends and fantasy aficionados. This is the place where we bring you a monthly peek into the development process for 3D dark fantasy ARPG Kristala, an indie game developed using Unreal Engine 4 by women-lead Astral Clocktower Studios. Astral Clocktower Studios x Game Raven Review. Concept Art.

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Dev Demo Concepts Prop 52

Keith Burgun

MARCH 13, 2024

Videogames, at least the kind I’m talking about (RPGs, adventure kinds of somewhat narrative videogames, Zelda games, Elden Ring, etc), have essentially three “places”: Outside – Hyrule field. Most of the game is Outside, just running around in a grassy area or a snowy mountain.

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Fantasy Fighting Balance Games 59

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 29, 2024

Guest post by Alexander Devyaterikov , Producer at Belka Games In today's gaming world, it's not enough to just have a good game. Here in the screenshot, you can see how our position in the Top100 US App Store grossing games has changed from 2017 to 2020, according to data.ai. The schedule is filled.

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Mechanics Content Puzzle Games 98