thoughts on games and game design by camellia evergreen of evergreen games.\ let's relax and explore what's possible together. find me at other places! ...
this is an indirect follow-up to my other blog post, games are hard , where I examine how computer games work and what about them makes them meaningful to me. computer games (as in video games) are many things, and though I'm far from certain all the things that they are, one thing I'm becoming increasingly confident in is that computer games are an instrument, in the musical sense. an instrument…
I've found Elric of Melniboné a bit disappointing to my own interests. about as soon as I became disappointed I wanted to immerse myself in the context it was made in and its importance, and if nothing else I can appreciate it for that. but, for me, I think the things the stories speak to are things that largely do not speak to me. to me it immediately felt borne of the "drugs, sex and rock and…
books, when they're hard, ask you to make meaning out of the abstract. movies, when they're hard, ask you to experience unpredictable images, sounds and places. videogames, when they're hard, ask you to learn to live as an alien in an unknown world. in their extremes, everything we know about life (or indeed, other videogames) no longer applies. videogames ask us to live as children again,…
following are some personal notes I took while playing the NES version of dragon quest 1 (dragon warrior) an inn visit will cost around 2 encounters of nearby enemies worth. when you're likely to reach these inns/towns, those encounters will be a considerable threat. at first, even managing to afford an inn can feel risky. each "problem" in the game (enemy strategies, light, hazards, healing) is…
this blog post further develops ideas I've explored previously, such as in "what if we don't need to write flexible game code?" and "project modeling" I realized at some point in the last year or two that I conceptualize creativity as a sort of quantum possibility space. I, right now, have the potential to make conceivably billions of different games--I have sketchpads packed with game ideas…
increasingly as I make games, I find the main limitation to my ability to craft a game isn't necessarily workload (if only because I think I've become pretty good at scoping thoughtfully), but instead my ability to model the project in my head. when I can imagine a project all at once, like a bird gazing down at the world from above, it becomes much easier for me to identify its strengths,…
these are reflections on my experience with sraëka lillian's "killing fools", their latest weekly rpg sketch. you can find it here . spoilers below! when I started this one up I became quickly excited. killing fools has a kind of game structure I adore and have found myself exploring in my own ways lately: everything is in front of you from the start, and it's up to you to digest and organize that…
this is part 3 in my series about "mentality" and making games. in part 1 , I linked "mentality" in fighting games to creativity, and in part 2 I reflected on my relationship with "failure." homeostasis is the process by which living things maintain internal stability, through regulation of the body's systems to maintain balance. as living things, we have a drive to create the conditions in our…
this is part 2 in my series on "mentality" and making games. previously, I connected "mentality" in fighting games to craft. to read that post, click here . in creating video games, much like most other things, I am a "failure." while at my worst moments I assure myself it's only me, I think we're all "failures." the pressure society places on us to succeed pushes us to hide and expel our…
my neocities site seem to have broke :( so I'll be using my bearblog again for the moment! back in 2020, where it was the height of the pandemic and we all lived in a 'dreaming period', I like many others began to explore new hobbies and possibilities. among them was my decision to get into fighting games seriously, coinciding with the approaching release of guilty gear: strive. it wasn't clear…