Let’s say I’m an extremely dutiful child. Maybe my parents raised me that way, maybe I got to see an older sibling go off the rails in a horrifying way, so I resolve early on not to follow in her footsteps. I resolve to be dutiful. Maybe I’m interested in construction, but my parents think …
The warrior is hard-working, self-sacrificing, and used to being miserable. He can chew through a wall to get what he wants, and routinely hits goals. He’s full of focused, often aggressive, energy which drives him inevitably towards what he wants. Strengths The warrior is productive. He finishes things, he achieves what he sets out to …
Write thank you notes/emails/tweets to people who don’t expect them.You’ll improve other people’s day. You’ll be more grateful, less inclined to miss the miracles around you, less likely to ignore the good in your life.Also, as a byproduct, you’ll get a constant stream of lovely messages back. Sometimes your heroes will write you back. Pretty …
The artist is looking for something subjective, something deep inside themselves (or not that deep) that applies to them, and few others. It’s a window into their soul. At best, it can be beautiful, it can approach the transcendent. At worst, this is why so much art is so insufferable: you don’t really want to …
This is the second post in a series on game developer archetypes. Read the introduction here. The Bard is hungry. Hungry for ideas, experiences, pleasure. He’s constantly on the search for the new. He fully appreciates sensory experience of every kind so he’s constantly in awe of the beautiful experiences available – he wants to …
People will look to you when they’re going through tough times. They’ll ask for your help when they’re in crisis mode. They’ll ask for your advice. If you run, if you embrace avoidance when things are difficult, you’ll be happier short-term.Keep running, and you’ll be a disappointing 40-year-old. Keep running and you’ll be a sad …
We’ve got four different modes when making games. They’re roughly equivalent to Bartle’s Player Types, but they’re bigger and deeper than the killer/achiever/socializer/explorer model. These are modes of operating, not personality types. You probably function heavily in one of these modes, but you are capable of being great in each mode. This is not a …
Enthusiasm is an engine, it drives you forward, gives you get-up-and-go – but an engine doesn’t work so well when your wheels are pointing four different ways. If you don’t make conscious choice about what you’re going to pursue, (and, more importantly, what you’re NOT going to pursue), the lack of constraints will cause your …
Making games is hard. Finding time to make games is harder. If you’re working/married with kids like I am, you probably have wondered vaguely how anyone gets anything done. You have the ambition to make games, but time slips away and you’re no closer than you were one month ago. What gives? Are you just …
How to complete your game when life is busy and complicated. Read More »
If you’re making a 2D game, you’d better start thinking about depth early. If you don’t communicate depth properly, you risk creating a flat-looking game – or worse: you’ll create ambiguous depth that will frustrate the player and distract them from the game. So, how do you create the illusion of depth in your game? …
