Gamasutra expert blogs: From audio layering to Diablo lessons

[In highlights from Gamasutra's Expert Blogs, industry notables write about diverse topics, including lessons that modern RPGs can learn from the original diablo, audio layering, and Double Fine's Kickstarter success.] In our weekly Best of Expert Blogs column, we showcase notable pieces of writing from members of the game development community who maintain Expert Blogs on Gamasutra. Member Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while the invitation-only Expert Blogs are written by development professionals with a wealth of experience to share. We hope that both sections can provide useful and interesting viewpoints on our industry. For more information about the blogs, check out the latest official posting guidelines. Here are the top blogs for the week: This Week's Standout Expert Blogs Dusty: An analysis of From Dust (Josh Bycer) Last year, From Dust was an attempt at striking balance between the God Game genre and puzzle game genre. While the idea was commendable, Josh Bycer says there were problems with sitting in the middle ground between the two. Double Fine's Kickstarter windfall: Will patronage supplant traditional game publishing? (Ryan Creighton) Ryan Creighton shares several ideas Old Media can stand to learn from New Media, piracy, and SOPA/PIPA. Audio passes: Success through layering (Alexander Brandon) Audio requires numerous iterations, both with technology and the creative process. Alexander Brandon offers a lesson about these layers and how they can help your audio be more effective and integrated with the rest of the game. What the current RPG can learn from Diablo 1 (Joshua McDonald) Though outdated in many ways, Diablo has many valuable lessons for the more recent RPGs, argues Joshua McDonald.