News

The State of the Algorithm: What's Happening to Indies on Steam?
The State of the Algorithm: What's Happening to Indies on Steam?
The business of making indie games has always been difficult, but recently it's become a lot harder. On October 5th, Valve introduced changes to Steam's algorithms that resulted in less traffic to many games that aren't top sellers.
Jan. 29, 2019
Video Game Deep Cuts: The Tiny House Anthem Metro Exodus 2
Video Game Deep Cuts: The Tiny House Anthem Metro Exodus 2
This week's highlights include creators building tiny houses in The Sims, impressions of BioWare's much anticipated Anthem, & a whole bunch of new games to check out - from the Resident Evil 2 reboot to FutureGrind through Metro Exodus.
Jan. 28, 2019
Why Friendly AI Cheat in Ghost Recon Wildlands
Why Friendly AI Cheat in Ghost Recon Wildlands
Sometimes if you want to make your game work as intended, you need to cheat a little bit. In this video I examine one of the best 'cheating' AI systems in recent years: the companion AI of 2017's Ghost Recon Wildlands.
Jan. 25, 2019
Game accessibility quotes of 2018
Game accessibility quotes of 2018
2018 was a vintage year for inclusion of gamers with disabilities, with all kinds of lovely firsts. Post on the progress made throughout the year is incoming, but first a few of my favourite quotes
Jan. 24, 2019
Kliuless #20: Netflix vs. Fortnite... Competitors in Content & Influence
Kliuless #20: Netflix vs. Fortnite... Competitors in Content & Influence
Each week I compile a gaming industry insights newsletter that I share with other Rioters, including Riot’s senior leadership. This edition is the public version that I publish broadly every week as well. Opinions are mine.
Jan. 24, 2019
Houdini Piers that Disappear
Houdini Piers that Disappear
Procedural modeling can be a huge bonus to small teams that want to create diverse worlds. We needed to create piers. 3 of them.
Jan. 24, 2019
So You Want To Compete With Steam: Epic, Discord, Kartridge, and RobotCache 2
So You Want To Compete With Steam: Epic, Discord, Kartridge, and RobotCache 2
Four new competitors have emerged to take on Steam: Epic, Discord, Kartridge, and RobotCache. Let's see how they stack up.
Jan. 24, 2019
How to Plan the Jam: Making Videogame Music with External Collaborators by Ovidio Escobedo
How to Plan the Jam: Making Videogame Music with External Collaborators by Ovidio Escobedo
The creative and technical challenges of designing videogame music are sometimes hard to discuss with people outside the core developer's team. Here is our process -and some tips- for communicating effectively with external artists.
Jan. 23, 2019
Demystifying CVAA
Demystifying CVAA
Compliance deadline for CVAA accessibility legislation was Jan 1. This post details what it means for you.
Jan. 23, 2019
Solving interdimensional crimes
Solving interdimensional crimes
A unique feature in Double Cross is its investigation system, unusual in action-platforming games. How did it come to be, and how did it evolve to the one that shows up in the final game?
Jan. 22, 2019
How to create a semi procedural cartoon foam shader
How to create a semi procedural cartoon foam shader
In this article, I'll explain my workflow to create a semi procedural shader to make cartoon foam without having to handle uvmapping for each new mesh created.
Jan. 22, 2019
The Mysteries of Studying Game Design
The Mysteries of Studying Game Design
For this post, I share my thoughts on what it means to study game design, and provide some tips for developers looking to breakdown games for inspiration.
Jan. 22, 2019