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JikGuard
Some thoughts about research and upgrades in RTS games
At its best, research and upgrade allow the player to adapt to the battlefield and increase replayability of a game by presenting different choices and interaction. At its worst, research and upgrades can provide the player with rote-memory tasks.
June 9, 2020
JikGuard
Making a SNES game in 2020
Last year, I released a new game for my favorite console: the Super Nintendo (SNES). This article presents the numerous steps of this incredible journey: designing the game, overcoming SNES-related technical issues, manufacturing new SNES cartridges...
June 9, 2020
JikGuard
Moving on Stairs in a 2D Side-Scroller
Stairs in side-view games are often poorly implemented slopes with no custom animations. This article lays out in detail how to design intuitive, bug-resistant, and good looking stairs movement on a conceptual level.
June 8, 2020
JikGuard
Video Game Deep Cuts: Valorant Rants, Skelattack... Attacks? 2
From a new Konami indie publishing initiative (Skelattack) to the release of Riot's much-hyped Valorant, plenty to talk about this week.
June 6, 2020
JikGuard
Open World Level Design: The Full Vision (part 5/5)
In this last part, I will quickly cover some tracks that I have identified to renew the content of open world games.
June 4, 2020
JikGuard
Bringing Balance to Stealth AI in Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Exploring the four design pillars of stealth AI.
June 3, 2020
JikGuard
Game Discoverability & The Nintendo Switch: What's Selling?
It’s getting pretty crowded out there on Switch, release-wise. So what information can we find about what’s selling well? Here's a look at a useful chart.
June 2, 2020
JikGuard
Video Game Deep Cuts: Shantae's Epic Poly Bridge Kombat Life 2
Particularly this week, with all that’s going on, it feels weird to be putting out a newsletter about video games. But here's one anyway, covering the top games/links of the week.
June 1, 2020
JikGuard
Amazon's first big-budget game Crucible saw a Low launch, but can a slow-burner succeed in a market of record-breaking peaks and multi-million-dollar influencer campaigns?
The decision not to seize upon the marketing capital and capacity of Amazon and Twitch means that the conversation around Crucible never really began. It may be a slow-burner, but it remains to be seen whether that will be enough.
June 1, 2020
JikGuard
Level Design Breakdown: Ghost of Tsushima Gameplay Trailer
Ghost of Tsushima Level design analysis. Production workflow deep dive; From creating a layout to blocking out in Unreal Engine 4.
June 1, 2020
JikGuard
Why after 11 years of making casual games, one developer is returning to a niche series
This is a story of two friends attempting to prove they have what it takes to create deep, strategic experiences. This is also a story of the Revival series, from the 8-bit era to modern PCs. Ambitious goals, broken dreams...success?
June 1, 2020
JikGuard
10 quick store page improvements to get your game ready for the Steam Summer sale 2
If you have a game on Steam you probably got the notification that the Summer Sale is just around the corner. The Summer and Winter sales drive the most post-launch purchases of your game. Is your page ready for all this traffic?
June 1, 2020