Steve's Blog

April 23rd, 2018 Using Procedural Generation Techniques in Game Design Effectively GDC Talk - Math for Game Programmers: Semi-Procedural Content Pipelines - Squirrel Eiserloh Link to GDC Vault (May be locked content) 2nd of 6 talks on semi-procedural content generation for games by Squirrel Eiserloh at GDC 2018. In this video he goes over many techniques and how to use them effectively. Variants: Have multiple versions of things. Multiple colors for grass, dirt tiles. Multiple different sounds when running through grass. Do I need a tile to be the same forever? Whenever possible, let the designer provide multiple alternatives. Blueprint Definitions: Don't make an orc, create "orcness". This blueprint has many ranges of values for different characteristics of a character. "Do I need an int, or an int range? Do I need a float or a float range?" Use these types of questions for every trait/parameter. Whenever possible, let the designer provide number

April 21st, 2018 General Game Design Thoughts Keith Burgun on the Difference Between Tactics and Strategy in Games Keith Burgun on Randomness and How It Affects Strategy Games Specifically

April 21st, 2018 Game Design Podcasts Clockwork Game Design Podcast by Keith Burgun

April 21st, 2018 More Potential Physics Related Subjects to Explore Through Gameplay Statics in Engineering Field Forces (magnetism, gravity) Buoyancy Buoyancy Wiki Page on Buoyancy

April 21st, 2018 Exploring Uses of Physics in Gameplay Physics in Games: A New Gameplay Frontier - from Gamasutra.com Article by Pascal Luban on Dec. 4th, 2007. This is an older paper explaining some of the possibilities opened up by computers becoming stronger and being able to process physics in games more readily. The author suggests ways of using physics as a core gameplay element as opposed to just some aesthetic element.

April 18th, 2018 Useful Online Resources for Developing Engineering Games - Statics General Forces and Statics Learning Resource Engineer 4 Free Site Covers a lot of basics on forces all the way up to shear force and bending moment diagrams. Games that are Relevant Schnittkraftmeister - App Game

April 16th, 2018 Research Readings for DIGM 540 Automatic generation and analysis of physics-based puzzle games By: Shaker, Sarhan, Naameh, Shaker, Togelius Learning Mechanics and Game Mechanics Under the Perspective of Self-Determination Theory to Foster Motivation in Digital Game Based Learning By: Proulx, Romero, Arnab Mapping Learning and Game Mechanics for Serious Games Analysis in Engineering Education By:Callaghan, Savin-Baden, McShaneEguiluz Link to Circuit Warz Game Above is the link to Circuit Warz, the game created for the research paper on "Mapping Learning and Game Mechanics for Serious Games Analysis in Engineering Education". This game attempts to teach some advanced electrical/circuit theories through a first person action game.

April 9th, 2018 Science of Sound for Coral Invasion Game Techniques Discovery of Sound in the Sea This site has a lot of basic information on how sound works, especially underwater with sea animals.

April 8th, 2018 Pokemon Fusion Sprite Generator Code Link to Github of Code This is a link to the frankenpokemon github files. Want to look into this more later.

April 6th, 2018 Research Games of Similar Genre to Coral Invasion What genre is it? Wiki Page for Shooter Genre Shooter Game - Subgenre: Shoot 'em Up "Shoot 'em ups are a specific subgenre of shooters wherein the player may move up and down and left and right around the screen, typically firing straight forward." Top Down Shooter: "(sometimes referred to as twin-stick shooters) where the levels are controlled from an overhead viewpoint" Game may also benefit from being categorized as strategy, or potentially puzzle. These two genres help drive the idea that the game may not be pushing the limits of speed, and will be played in a slower and more tactical way than a general shoot em up. This can be useful for rounding out another view on the way the core gameplay can be implemented. Example Games of this Genre Armed to the Gears Link to steam page This game has the player move throughout the level/world, shooting many enemies in a top-down fashion.