Jim Stormdancer

[mogwaipoet]

One good thing about video games is that no matter how bad the game is,

it's still better than going outside and talking to people

[mogwaipoet]

Remember Tweenbots?

It was a social experiment circa 2009, in which tiny cardboard robots that can only roll forward were released into the wild, holding signs saying "help me get to [location]," and passers-by rushed to help, guiding them away from danger and towards their goal.

It was, of course, later revealed that the navigation data was used to train military assassin drones.

[mogwaipoet]

The Frog Fractions Cinematic Universe is 75% off during the Steam Summer Sale, which has 24 hours to go

Save 75% on Frog Fractions Cinematic Universe on Steam

If you've played Frog Fractions and have been curious about the sequels, but aren't sure which one to play next, here's a short guide:

Glittermitten Grove is a collection of high-concept minigames tied together via a Zelda-like overworld with a very opinionated art style.

The Hop's Iconic Cap DLC is just a hat.

[mogwaipoet]

350 episodes of Topic Lords!

The big three five oh. I can't believe that 350 years ago it was impossible to discuss topics, and look how far we've come since then.

[orteil42]

i started noticing it years ago but i'm a little let down by how much in AAA games seems to rely on "tell don't show". Sims 4 takes you on magical multi-steps adventures through text boxes. No Man's Sky has your character go through all kinds of technomystical nonsense and it's just text boxes. Paradox games are riddled with events that are just text boxes but at least they've got a little flavor picture to go with it usually

[mogwaipoet]

Your ideas about the game you're making get better as you go along, because you're more experienced and you understand your project better.

As an indie, you can realistically put your good ideas in the game right up until you moment you ship. No good idea need be wasted.

In AAA, all your best ideas are wasted, because you can't coordinate 1000 people to change course in the last week of production, or last month, or last six months, or last year, depending on how big the scale of your idea is. Maybe they can go in the sequel.

BUT, if you're just a writer, you can still fucking fill out those text boxes as fast as you can type. (Except they have to get localized still.)

[mogwaipoet]

Topic Lords #350: Tropic Olds, ft. Jenni and Tyriq. We discuss Doctor Lips, Tropic Olds, Cold Sri Top, Scold It Pro, Clod I Sport, Pic Rod Lost, Disc or Plot, Doc Rip Slot, Stolid Crop, Lo, Cod Strip!, Cod Trip Sol, Corps Do Lit, Cold Pis Tor, and Clipt Roods.

Available for patrons, #351: The Flushable Soda Can, ft. RJ-55J and Chall. We discuss remembering the Dynowarz, running an Instagram private server, why don't CPUs do analog arithmetic, and Leaves, by Ursula LeGuin

[mogwaipoet]

Today on Twinbeard plays Mario, it takes a tough game designer to make a tender boss fight

[mogwaipoet]

Fats Domino

Chubby Checker

Lipids Peg Solitaire

Omega-3 Boggle

Adipose Settlers of Catan

NTFS Strip Poker

[mogwaipoet]

Expository baguette, step aside

[mogwaipoet]

Finally, a Twizzler that's too long to safely breathe through when you're hiding from the sheriff in the creek

[mogwaipoet]

Expository baguette, step aside

[mogwaipoet]

You get the sense that mass-produced snack foods get reformulated all the time based on what ingredients are cheapest this month

Of course they're controlled for flavor -- no matter what changes they make, Diet Dr. Pepper must continue tasting more like regular Dr. Pepper or folks'll freak out. However, I bet they *aren't* controlling for how much the new formula foams when touching a mento. I trust Consumer Reports to be on top of this, or we might be heading towards a cola foam crash.

[mogwaipoet]

The Frog Fractions Cinematic Universe is 75% off during the Steam Summer Sale

Save 75% on Frog Fractions Cinematic Universe on Steam

If you've played Frog Fractions and have been curious about the sequels, but aren't sure which one to play next, here's a short guide:

The Hop's Iconic Cap DLC is a sequel in the classical sense, a direct continuation of the first game's story and game structure.

Glittermitten Grove is… not.

[mogwaipoet]

I worked on a game called Gunhouse, in which you attach guns to your orphanage to fend off the monsters trying to kidnap your orphans

This plays out in alternating modes on a timer: you have about 15 seconds to play a color-matching game to attach guns while monsters are frozen, then they unfreeze and get about 15 seconds to attack.

While I was testing, one of the monsters kept coming at me when it was supposed to be frozen, and I got chills. My lizard brain was like "it broke containment!!"

I had programmed the game to continue simulating dead enemies so their death animations could finish even after time freezes. So this little dude wasn't a hacker or an escape artist -- he was a zombie, flagged as dead even as he continued running around trying to kidnap orphans.

Encountering this bug gave us the idea to give this power to the final boss of the game, Peter Molyneux.

[mogwaipoet]

Oh, uh, 70% off on Steam!

Save 70% on Gunhouse on Steam

Load your guns! Rain death from above! Protect your valuable orphans! Defeat giant, improbable bosses! Gunhouse is part puzzle, part active

[mogwaipoet]

I worked on a game called Gunhouse, in which you attach guns to your orphanage to fend off the monsters trying to kidnap your orphans

This plays out in alternating modes on a timer: you have about 15 seconds to play a color-matching game to attach guns while monsters are frozen, then they unfreeze and get about 15 seconds to attack.

While I was testing, one of the monsters kept coming at me when it was supposed to be frozen, and I got chills. My lizard brain was like "it broke containment!!"

I had programmed the game to continue simulating dead enemies so their death animations could finish even after time freezes. So this little dude wasn't a hacker or an escape artist -- he was a zombie, flagged as dead even as he continued running around trying to kidnap orphans.

Encountering this bug gave us the idea to give this power to the final boss of the game, Peter Molyneux.

[mogwaipoet]

The Frog Fractions Cinematic Universe is 75% off during the Steam Summer Sale

Save 75% on Frog Fractions Cinematic Universe on Steam

If you've played Frog Fractions and have been curious about the sequels, but aren't sure which one to play next, here's a short guide:

The Hop's Iconic Cap DLC is a sequel in the classical sense, a direct continuation of the first game's story and game structure.

Glittermitten Grove is… not.

[mogwaipoet]

I spent over a decade working with C and C++ and I got pretty comfortable with most of it,

but if a project required dynamic memory allocation or multithreading, I knew I was in for pain. I have since worked with many languages that make dynamic memory allocation easy, or that at least make the pitfalls annoying rather than disastrous.

The existence of languages that make dynamic memory allocation tolerable implies the theoretical existence of languages that make multithreading tolerable.

[mogwaipoet]

Topic Lords #349: Life Finds a Way (To Scratch Its Nose), ft. Cort and Martin. We discuss what Thomas the Tank Engine does when he gets an itchy nose, the end of Destiny, Glittermitten Grove's undisclosed AI content, Iroha, adding bears to your threat model, and what you'd like to be entangled with.

Available for patrons, #350: Tropic Olds, ft. Jenni and Tyriq. We discuss Doctor Lips, Tropic Olds, Cold Sri Top, Scold It Pro, Clod I Sport, Pic Rod Lost, Disc or Plot, Doc Rip Slot, Stolid Crop, Lo, Cod Strip!, Cod Trip Sol, Corps Do Lit, Cold Pis Tor, and Clipt Roods.