Recent content on bluh.org
I’ve been deeply upset about an article going around about the UHC shooter, which suggests Luigi Mangioni was radicalized by pain . The article gives no evidence, and makes no convincing argument. It expects you to look at the negative space: because Luigi “had options”, and “could have been almost anything he wanted to be”, you are expected to believe that he turned…
There are enough people who are going to be at PTG that I felt it was useful to put my attendance plan somewhere shareable.
I’ve been sitting on the doomsday.watch domain name for some years now, and recently I started keeping track of the interesting articles I read in a month. The idea being, I suppose, to keep track of things so I have them around if I want to refer to them again, so I’m not just scrolling back through discord channels or whatever to find links. But also I use it as a kind of filter for…
In no particular order, except potentially how much I listened to them, here are my favorite albums of 2023.
Step 1 Get annoyed at streaming services removing content that you have as a dvd. The whole point of streaming services was so that you didn’t have to get your ass off the couch to watch a movie.
I often found Ubisoft to be a weird place, but nothing was more weird than Ubisoft Montreal’s hiring practices in the late aughts. Maybe it was government tax incentives, maybe constantly increasing the headcount looked good… I’ve heard a lot of stories about why things were the way they were, so I don’t know which are real. But I do know for a fact that Ubisoft would hire…
When I was seven years old, I watched Challenger explode on live TV.
Last week, I had a revelation while I was on vacation. I was five days into a lovely excursion through Newfoundland, completely disconnected, when my phone buzzed. Huzzah! Data! Feeling it would be nice to get a brief update from the world at large, I checked my email, only to be confronted by notification of a new comment on this blog. Never ever get into video games you are the biggest casual I…
I love Super Metroid. It is very easily one of my favorite games. I haven’t played it through in a while, but I have easily played through it 50 or more times. There was a time when I would do it as a relaxation exercise; I can beat the game in an hour and a half. Or I could, at some point. So I am definitely no slouch. I can also rack up a good amount of headshots in random FPS games. My reflexes…
First, a preface: I have been waiting for Final Fantasy Tactics on iPad for a long time. It’s hard to imagine a better platform for turn based strategies than a system in which you can scroll, zoom, spin, and touch. Originally due for fall 2011, fall came and went with nary a word. Which probably should have been my first warning. But then, last week, it gets released! Wow, $18. But…
I’ve been interested in procedural generation in games for a while, so when Notch’s entry for Ludum Dare 22 (Minicraft) was released, along with the source code , I went spelunking. I’ve always been intrigued by Minecraft’s world generation, and this gave me a chance to peek behind the curtain at a 2D version (which, in all honestly, is more inline with my sensibilities). I…
Something I’d like to see is a move to shorter games. I find my time comes at a premium, so when I do encounter games that can be finished in an evening or two, it leaves me happy. But it’s more than just the time requirement, it’s that when game is compressed to a short narrative, you can digest it as a whole, rather than being in the situation where after two weeks of play, the…
Note: This post contains minor spoilers for the movie Inception. So if you haven’t seen it, you should. Also I’m going to assume you are familiar with it so this may be confusing otherwise. Now that that is out of the way. After seeing Inception the other day, I could not help but see what a great game it would have made. In fact, to be entirely truthful, I was jealous. The setting…
More content coming soon! Move, wedding, and honeymoon are done with, so I have some time to start thinking (and thus writing) again. Don’t delete that bookmark just yet!
One of the topics I like to talk about in my work, is how we are, in general, only using our vocabulary as game designers to express literal conflict. Few things are as well represented in games. But our vocabulary can be used to express far more. A really great example of this is a small flash game called Small Worlds , which was created by David Shute for Casual Gameplay Competition 6 . I do…
Choice has always been a finicky thing in games, and how developers have consistently used choice has trained gamers to react to it in a certain way. That way is almost exclusively about weighing the costs of what you may get or lose. We have, by and large, tied most choice in games to rewards, or lack thereof. Bioshock, for instance, pretty much told you up front “If you play this way…
Bejeweled has been around a long time. Closing in on ten years, I expect. And the formula has changed very little in that time. The match three style of puzzle game that it spawned is pretty much everywhere nowadays as well. Not many people have tried to innovate on that formula (though there are some notable exceptions ). So boy was I surprised when I decided on a lark to fire up Blitz on my…
Eve-Online has one of the deepest and most intricate combat systems I’ve ever seen. It’s also heavily balanced for fleet combat, so that every ship type is not only effective but necessary. From the smallest to the largest, everything has a role it can fill effectively. Given that it’s an MMO, in general it’s one person per role, and one person per ship. Which can be…
It’s funny how as a long time gamer, I sometimes take things for granted. As a game designer, that’s probably not the best habit. I was having a conversation about Darksiders with some coworkers over lunch the other day. I’ve been enjoying the game, it being a seamless blend of Zelda, Metroid Prime, and God of War, despite the obvious cribs from those games. One person though,…
I am a pretty big and unabashed Popcap Games fan. Not all of their stuff, mind you, but I’ve spent more money and wasted more time on their games than I’m willing to admit. I’m playing Chuzzle again lately, since it’s been released for iPhone (and with all honestly, when I got my iPhone it was the first game I searched for on the app store). One thing I’ve always…
Darksiders is a fairly by-the-numbers 3rd person action game in the style of God of War / Devil May Cry. However, as I play it, I’m seeing some nice subtle design tweaks that make it stand out against the games from which it obviously drew inspiration. Particularly, the way the instant kills work. To pull off an instant kill, you simply need to press B when in range of a stunned or…
So, Left 4 Dead is pretty cool. It is, for sure, the best zombie survivor game I’ve ever played. And I certainly enjoy it in co-op. But I can’t help but feel a little let down, because honestly, there are so many little things they’ve done which either ruin the experience, or at the least, pull you out of the game. First though, things I like. The pacing of the game is, for the…
On one hand, you are a great game. Amazing game mechanics, puzzles, and a mature and meaningful story and presentation that is as unique as the mechanics themselves. Art, music, sound, writing, all are top notch. A notch above, I might add, any game I’ve played made by any kind of business driven development house. Sure, I could talk about how your difficulty curve is imperfect. How I spent…
So, I’ve been playing Mass Effect lately. Or more to the point, I’ve been hating Mass Effect lately. Don’t get me wrong, I want to like it. The dialogue is fantastic, and gives a level of maturity to Bioware games that’s been solely lacking. Now, if only they could manage to make a good game. The more I play Mass Effect, the more angry I get at it. Why play if you are…
(Note, the following are my own personal opinions, and not those of Ubisoft) So, I’d always figured Assassin’s Creed would end up being a love it or hate it kind of game. So I was surprised when no one actually hated it. In fact, the reception has been predominantly positive . But, there are a few low reviews. I’ve read a bunch of them, and ultimately, a lot of the negative…
Before I get in to this post, let me say that despite my skepticism about the Wii, I did hope that when I finally got to play, controller(s) in hand(s), it would feel perfectly natural, and everything Nintendo claimed it would be. Well, after spending about a half hour with Monkey Ball, I must say I am somewhat crestfallen. Played the single player standard game for a bit, and it felt okay. Not…
I’ve been playing Gears of War sporadically over the past week. Ultimately, I was left ambivalent about the game. Looks good, sounds good, great voice acting. But the main gameplay mechanic is ’learn through failure’, the difficulty levels need an extra step, and there’s a whole hell of a lot of instant death, despite the forgiving health mechanic. So I was playing it, but…
Neverwinter Nights 2 is the prime example of what happens when you give a bunch of green developers a big game to do, with not enough people and/or time. Say what you will about the first game, at least it had a level of polish to it. NWN2 is an object lesson in poor design. I want to like it. I really do. Maybe after an upgrade. And about twelve patches.
Photo by Nicolas ‘Qiqo’ Stephan I’m a professional game developer with over 20 years of experience, mostly in AAA. I specialize in player controls and player systems, design, and leading teams. On the side I play guitar, write about music, and constantly start small games I never finish. I love to talk about games, my job, and the industry. If you’d like to contact me, my email is…
2021 - Current It’s a secret. 2016 - 2020: Watch Dogs: Legion Lead Gameplay Programmer. It was an impossible project, but my team still managed to knock it out of the park. 2012 - 2016: Below Gameplay Programmer. Nathan called me Lead Gameplay Programmer once, but I think he was joking. I programmed most of the gameplay outside of the UI and level generation. 2010 - 2012: Ubisoft Toronto…