February 15, 2025Moral Choice,
Gaming,
Karma,
Fallout 3,
Fallout New Vegas,
Jade Empire,
Fable,
Metal Gear Solid 3,
Metal Gear Solid V,
The Outer Worlds,
Evil Intro
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I’m working on a game right now that involves a lot of narrative. That’s lead me to think a lot about moral choice in games, what I like, and what I want to do in the future.
For my game, Esmerelda: The Black Amber Covenant, I want to have quests and a morality system. But what does that look like, even just from the design perspective?
Well, let’s think about some games that did moral choice well:
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December 6, 2024 
Perfecting Survival Horror
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I think the games that have had the most consistent impact on me in the past have been survival horror games. But what makes a survival horror game perfect?
A survival horror game transcends the genre when it uses horror elements to effectively enhance its non-horror message. Here are some examples:
System Shock 2, Half Life and Half Life 2, Portal and Portal 2, Fallout 3, MGS2 & 3. I would consider all these to be games that have themes beyond “escape” or “survival”, and the elements of horror in these games support these non-horror themes.
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December 5, 2024 I’m Doing it Wrong
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“If you’re not making quantitative predictions, you’re probably doing it wrong.” Said Gabe Newel, speaking about his company’s approach to design in this video.
Newel’s words got me thinking: What is a quantitative prediction? And how can game devs apply them to their design process? As a guy who wants to produce video games, it seems like a useful practice to employ.
Define: Quantitative Prediction
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A quantitative prediction is a guess based on a mental model combined with measured, numeric variables that ultimately tries to predict an outcome.
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December 4, 2024 What is Esmerelda: The Black Amber Covenant?
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ETBAC is a game I’ve been working on (in some guise) since 2020. It’s a part-time, labor of love project, but I’m trying to take it as seriously as possible. I have big dreams for it, hopefully it gets to be as big as Stardew Valley someday.
Like SV, it’s a top-down adventure style game. It also is heavily inspired by Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It also draws on minimalist design styles from Gen 3 Pokemon and Earthbound to render the adventure.
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