Making Games

I'll start: I have Fabula Anima JRPG TRPG on order at the game store. If nothing else, my husband and I will enjoy reading it and discussing it.

I'm hoping when my life is less on fire I'll also have time to resume Shing Yin Khor's beautiful Bird Oracle (keepsake game).

In videogames, my sister and I hope to do the videogame port of Gloomhaven together. :D

How about y'all?

On tariffs and the tabletop/board games industry in the USA, which may be of interest:

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/cephalofair/gloomhaven/updates/20854?ref=bk-noti-project-update-20854

Explainer from Cephalofair Games (Gloomhaven), with links to other analyses.

I've tagged this "game industry: politics" because we're in the timeline where...that's a thing. [1] For those of you able to block tags, feel free to do so.

[1] It's always been a thing, but I'm extremely tired and I can't word better so this will have to do.

Been a minute again; I'm buried under a novel.

What have y'all been up to in gaming and/or game design and/or gamedev?

- Gabe Barrett's Find the Fun, aimed toward tabletop game design - and fulfillment/manufacturing considerations, which is sure A Mess right now vis-à-vis the US and trade war. :]

- Michael Futter's The Gamedev Business Handbook is terrific and eye-opening, and within 30 pages convinced me that I never want to start an indie game studio. Hard talk about businesss incorporation, cash flow, employer obligations to employees, etc. (yes, there are caveats all over to the tune of "please check with a LAWYER in your LOCAL JURISDICTION" for fine detail, especially at the current moment, whatever it is). I was saying to friends elsewhere that selling your house or remortgaging your house to fund an indie game studio, for me, is OH HECK NO mode (I know at least one person who has done one of these) and was also the moment that I realized that I'm more financially risk-averse than I thought I was. I'm still reading because I'm curious; I've been applying to game writing and narrative design roles (I made it to round 3/final round interview this past week for one role, although it is doubtful I will be offered the role and that's okitty, I know what to bone up on to be more competitive and the interviewers were great!) so this is now in a spirit of "I want to have a general understanding of how game studios work financially/business-wise as someone who is looking for work as an employee."

- Defold 101 [Zenva: free online video course with downloadable source code, assets, PDF materials; requires signing up for the website]. I've heard mixed reviews of Zenva's coding/gamedev courses generally, but all the ones for Defold (cross-platform open-source 2D-specialized games, coding in Lua) specifically are free. This one was super helpful for me as an orientation to the IDE! (Defold itself has a number of pretty good tutorials.)

- Beyond Defold, I finally figured out how to get Matchanovel (visual novel package for Defold) running - Halfstar, the dev, was incredibly kind and responsive when I ran into issues I couldn't work out how to solve by looking around the web, reading documentation, etc. Matchanovel is itself a WIP and some of the documentation for more advanced features isn't there yet or requires a higher level of Defold + Lua proficiency than I have yet attained, but I'm working on it! In particular, the sprite placement system is such a pleasure after wrestling with the genuinely BONKERS system in Ren'Py.

- Picked up The Beginner's Guide to Lua for Game Development [itch.io, $15 USD, about ~100 pages], which is honestly terrific as an intro to the language. It assumes you are starting from zero, which is not me (I had the two years of CS so I know basic mode OOP, control structures, etc.) but it's well-written and friendly. Also mad props tbh that it starts with a (brief) overview of Turing Machines and assembly to motivate "so why Lua" as a high-level language. It recommends working through the exercises with the Onecompiler online interpreter. And mad props that this comes in a PDF, a light mode HTML file, and a dark mode HTML file. I actually avoid dark mode like the plague in displays because it messes me up in migraine-adjacent ways, but I know people who are the other way around, and this is a terrific accommodation.

- I'm looking forward to exploring PICO-8 Fantasy Console:

Welcome to PICO-8!
PICO-8 is a fantasy console for making, sharing and playing tiny games and other computer programs. It feels like a regular console, but runs on Windows / Mac / Linux. When you turn it on, the machine greets you with a commandline, a suite of cartridge creation tools, and an online cartridge browser called SPLORE.

Get PICO-8 $14.99
Windows | Mac | Linux | Raspberry Pi
Specifications
Display 128x128 16 colours
Cart Size 32k
Sound 4 channel chip blerps
Code P8 Lua
CPU 4M vm insts/sec
Sprites 256 8x8 sprites
Map 128x32 tiles

The harsh limitations of PICO-8 are carefully chosen to be fun to work with, to encourage small but expressive designs, and to give cartridges made with PICO-8 their own particular look and feel.

Creative Tools
PICO-8 has tools for editing code, music, sound, sprites, maps built right into the console. Create a whole game or program in one sitting without needing to leave the cosy development environment!

Shareable Cartridges
PICO-8 cartridges can be saved in a special .png format and sent directly to other users, shared with anyone via a web cart player, or exported to stand-alone HTML5, Windows, Mac and Linux apps.

Any cartridge can be opened again in PICO-8, letting you peek inside to modify or study the code, graphics and sound.

I ordered an Anbernic RG CubeXX as a ~retro handheld that should arrive today, and on which I plan on installing PICO-8, so we'll see how it goes! PICO-8 uses a version of Lua so that'll be fun. :)

Next up for me is probably Roberto Ierusalimschy's Programming in Lua 4th ed. (since PICO-8 and Defold both use Lua).

( Bird Oracle: Day 2 )

and



Shing Yin Khor's Bird Oracle, Day 3.

Still a beautiful experience! :D I enjoy the whole aesthetic of a fictive narrative plus constructing your own oracle of objects. It's soothing and meditative, which is what I wanted out of this; also I may have laughed hysterically at the specific, ah, symbolism of Day 3's oracle casting in "message from the universe" terms.

(I'm dealing with Circumstances and may be scarce; apologies. Don't want to discuss details here, thank you!)

Recent gaming! What have y'all been playing lately?

recent games
- On rydra_wong's recommendation, Slay the Princess (visual novel) on Steam Deck. Probably this is best largely unspoiled: it's fairytale horror, but I'm a comparatively squeamish player/viewer and this was fine. ('Ware the content notes if that's a concern.) It features beautiful "pencil sketch" style art that works well for the theme and I especially enjoyed how the main musical theme was altered in ways to complement the gameplay. (I brought this in to a smol but cheery "videogame music of 2024" listening hangout at my postgraduate program and the people in the video games/sound design programs agreed it was terrific.)

If you're the kind of player who enjoys Creature of Havoc by Steve Jackson (Fighting Fantasy gamebook), Slouching Toward Bedlam by Star Foster and Daniel Ravipinto (parser-based interactive fiction/text adventure; you can play in-browser at the link; the button is in the top right of that page), or Doki Doki Literature Club (visual novel, also horror), you might enjoy this.

- I got sucked into Balatro on Steam Deck, iPhone, and iPad :p and Max Gladstone claims he wasn't the vector of transmission so it might have been yeloson or someone else? I genuinely don't remember. This is a poker-themed roguelike where, as you go, you alter the deck, alter modifiers that affect scoring, etc. You don't need to know how to play "real" poker - I mean, it might initially help a tiny bit in having a sense of the odds for hands in a standard poker deck, but the game tells you everything you need to know and I suspect it's easy to pick up.

There's functionally no narrative and it doesn't need one. The interface is retro in style, charming, extremely easy to navigate. It's addictive, fun, can be played in snatches, and the random combos can be very satisfying.

currently playing
- Fights in Tight Spaces - again, I can't remember who rec'd this to me! The go-to people I tend to think of as delivering game recs to me are yeloson and Max Gladstone, but it could have been someone else. :p

This is a "special agent" fighting deckbuilder (think James Bond, I guess, for those who have watched or read any James Bond [1]), but with a spatial (isometric square) small-group tactics component. You'll have cards that do movement, attack cards, defense cards, and of course cards will combine some of these elements; your task is to kill all the opponents (and sometimes, for bonus, to save allies), who have decks/moves of their own.

Hilariously, I died EIGHT TIMES using the second deck that unlocks after the starter deck (Counterstriker), which even TELLS YOU in the name how to play it if you're not paying attention to the MECHANICS of what's in the deck. The core strategy for Counterstriker is:

- lots of maneuver
- lots of block (defense), much of which deals a lot of counterattack damage after YOU'VE been hit
- a small amount of attack

The primary way you deal big damage is by building up block (to protect yourself from taking damage from incoming attacks), maneuvering so enemies can only hit you one or two at a time but DEFFO placing yourself where they can hit you, and not...really attacking all that often.

I kept dying because I couldn't deal enough damage because I was trying to deal damage on straight-up attacks AND AVOIDING BEING HIT AT ALL. I radioactively hate being hit! But if you play this deck correctly (and get lucky on card draws, position carefully, etc.), you DEAL damage by BEING HIT, NOT taking (much) damage because your block is high, and COUNTERATTACKING AFTER THE HIT. And it's right there in the name of the deck but I had to convince myself to STAND THERE TO GET HIT.

(In real life, I'm 5'4" and have the upper body strength of an overcooked noodle, so. :p)

I haven't gotten far into this game, but it's delightful - extremely clean, well-thought-out graphically minimal interface but it evokes the "secret agent mission" feel, cartoon violence (I'm pretty wimpy and this was fine), a pleasure to play and explore. I think the best comparison is if you took Sirlin Games' Yomi (originally a fixed-deck fighting card game with physical cards, still available; there's a digital version too, and a sequel in the works?) and gave it a small tactical grid element. (I like Yomi a lot although I know others differ.)

[1] I have to specify this as to this day I have never watched or read a James Bond anything. /o\

I picked up Turing Machine, which is a cryptology-themed board game (including a solo mode!). I will report back! I'm curious as to whether having just enough number theory to be dangerous (to myself) is an advantage or a detriment in gameplay. :3

(I suspect my mom would destroy this in three minutes. She did punch-card programming in uni and she can take an Rubik's Cube in any state and solve it in 5 seconds no matter how many times six-year-old Yoon :kof: tried to mess it up for her. XD )

(I would report back earlier but I have to attend a webinar in 15 minutes, etc.)

If anyone else has played this (or games similar to it), please let us know!

Yet Another Roguelike Tutorial - in Python 3. I'm on Part 3 of 13 and having terrific fun. This requires you to be somewhat comfortable with the command line, and I'm on macOS running this from the shell (Terminal). So far all the tutorial code runs, although some of the attributes/functions are deprecated and the interpreter will tell you what to swap out, which is very straightforward.

This either requires some basic Coding 101 experience or else the willingness to jump in and learn. The tutorial does explain syntax/code, but there's also a generalized assumption of basic familiarity with coding in general. I don't think the language you know signifies; most of my extremely dated and fairly minimal coding experience was in BASIC, Turbo Pascal (...yeah), Dylan (...yeah), Java, and (I guess) Inform 6 and Twine. That said, if you do know a bit of coding, the tutorial is very well-written and clear. I think it's probably a bit tough as a starting point if you have ZERO coding familiarity.

I am dying to find out if one can integrate sound into this (there appears to be some kind of WWISE/Python interface thingy) but one thing at a time. Mainly,

(a) I wanted to grapple with smol steps in coding a smol game,
(b) most game coding tutorials get bogged down early on actual graphics management, and a text-based roguelike simplifies some of that,
(c) I really love roguelikes! I lost so much time to OAngband and Zangband back in the day,
(d) my husband is having THE WORST time at work for reasons that are work-related and not his "fault" but still,
(e) my husband looooooves games and I finally realized the way to his heart will be through janky roguelike coding. XD

What have folks been playing the past month or so? Sorry to have been so scarce; my master's program has just started and we had some work/weather stuff.

(My husband is ADDICTED to Shogun Showdown on the PC, lolsob.)

Note: this was generated in connection with a TTRPG work for hire for a client, so it's slanted that way; if I were playtesting (say) a crunchy hex-map miniatures wargame, I'd slant questions differently. Feel free to modify/adapt/use as you see fit - and if YOU have questions you think could be helpful, please suggest them in comments! I was trying to keep this to a single double-sided sheet of paper so as to not make it feel like HOMEWORK.

(That said, goodness knows gamers, we love to COMPLAIN lol.)

Playtest Questionnaire for Delightful Playtesters!

Game:
Playtester name/pseudonym (for credits – “Anonymous” is fine, if you prefer!)
Playtester contact info (optional, if you’re willing to answer follow-up questions):
Date of Playtest:

1. How much time did it feel like you were playing for vs. how long you were actually playing?

2. Did you feel like you were making friends or enemies with the other players?

3. Could you play the game again without looking up the rules too often?

4. What did you wish had been explained better in the rules? What did you wish you understood when you started playing?

5. What was your strategy? (“Chaos ball” is a valid strategy!)

6. How much did you feel you had a say in the outcome of the game? Did your decisions feel meaningful?

7. Did anything hold you back from seeing your plans through, and if it did, was it fun or frustrating?

8. What feelings did you have as you played? Were there high points/low points/stories you’d recount to friends/family?

9. How would you describe the game’s theme or vibe in a few words?

10. What kinds of players/situations would you recommend this game for (“people who love spaceships,” “teenagers,” “great for low-brain weekend evenings,” etc.)?

11. What games have you played that are similar to this one?

12. Did you notice any accessibility issues, e.g. font too small or hard to read, sections of the rules not labeled clearly, needs page numbers, colors difficult to distinguish?

13. Is there anything else you’d like to say about your experience? Are there other questions you wish I’d asked? (Please feel free to answer them as well!)

Thank you so much for your time and assistance!