Game Design: The False Dichotomy of Narrativism versus Simulationism

One of the underlying trends of modern game design (at least since I last reacquainted myself with the buzzwords) has been narrativism versus simulationism. Typically, these games have certain associations with them; narrativist games have a weak point of often falling into mechanical vacuums where characters never develop across sessions or where they fail to be distinct from each other, and simulationist games fall into a pitfall by becoming too heavily dependent on their own systems to allow flexibility and freedom, especially with regards to tabletop roleplaying. However, video games often offer a great example of a way in which all the traditional tabletop game design ideas have broken down over the years and ways to reinvigorate them.

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Loreshapers 2015 Competition Results Posted!

Let me take a moment to apologize for dropping off the radar for so long. I have now officially graduated, and the whirlwind of chaos that has been the past year has subsided. In this moment, I am pleased to announce the results for the Loreshapers 2015 competition, as well as leave a subtle hint about something significant coming up in the next couple weeks.

Without further ado, the full text of the announcement can be found below, or over at Loreshapers.

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2014 in Review, and Plans for 2015

It’s the end of 2014, and I’ve fallen behind on the blog (again) because of taking some teacher certification tests. Unfortunately, I didn’t get around to everything I planned to do this year, though there are some exciting things I did get done as well as things that will be going on.

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Project Update: The Eve of Things to Come

I’ve been working on a few projects recently, and I figure that now’s as good a time as any to officially announce a couple of them, as well as give a status update. I’ve been doing a little bit of work on YMICAE, but I’m nowhere near where I had hoped to be; I basically got in a few hour’s coding, then schoolwork picked up, then I finally got around to doing a little more coding a few days ago. Like DiceLord, which also needs work, I’m probably going to rewrite at least a substantial part of the system. Continue reading “Project Update: The Eve of Things to Come”

The Problem of Conceptual Separation

I know that I’ve been majorly off schedule recently, but it’s mostly because of having relatives for the holidays and not being able to get some good writing time, so I’m going to try to be writing ahead for a while to keep things going.

One of the greatest problems that tabletop game designers (and, less frequently, video game designers) have is with conceptual separation between game mechanics, the behaviors they are supposed to be a response/encouragement to.

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Writing for a Game Design Competition

Designing and writing a game in a short timeline can be daunting, but with proper organization and a solid effort it is far from unachievable. The key to making a game in a very short time is to do a little bit of preparation and outlining ahead of time; an hour or two of prep makes the rest of the design and writing go by very quickly.

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Wreck Racers, a 24-Hour Game

I’m sorry for the fact that every time I’ve been trying to get this blog fired up again I’ve let it slip. I just finished classes for this semester, and it’s been a lot more draining than I expected. I’ve still got a few more things to do over the break, but I’m hoping that I can get on top of things enough to let me keep this blog going well.

Since 1km1kt’s 24-hour game competition seems to have fallen through for  this year (though, ostensibly, it could still be held this year, since it is a 24-hour competition and there’s still a couple weeks left in December), I’ll be running my own competition starting in January. More details to come later this week, once I get them finalized. The main purpose of making Wreck Racers is to provide a model for potential participants, since the contest will (hopefully) extend out of the usual 1km1kt community.

Wreck Racers

Project Update: The Future

Okay, I recognize that I haven’t been exactly the best about keeping up on things in the blog; most of this is because life is kind of hectic right now with stuff that is going on, and I’ve got a lot of other writing that I’ve been doing that gets in the way of my time. Fortunately, I defend my thesis/creative project on the 14th (the one I made XMICAE for), and that will open me up for a variety of fun and interesting endeavors. I’ve got a lot of other stuff that will make updating at my normal pace difficult for a while, but by mid-December I should be back to three weekly posts, and maybe four (I’m no longer a reviewer at DriveThruRPG, so reviews may not be a weekly thing). Continue reading “Project Update: The Future”