Gamasutra Expert Blogs: From Morals To Exhaustion

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 official posting guidelines. In this week's top Expert Blog stories, industry veterans write in depth about infusing games with morality, balancing weapons, and going indie: This Week's Standout Expert Blogs Infusing Games with a Moral Premise (Reid Kimball) Morality systems are becoming common in more and more genres, frequently tossed out as a bullet point in marketing materials. But how often do they meaningfully convey any true sense of morality and consequence? Reid Kimball goes in-depth on the topic, also generating an extremely lively comment thread. Weapon Balancing Based On Gameplay Situations (Part Two) (Daniel Helbig) Following up on last week's initial entry, Daniel Helbig continues exploring the practical aspects of weapon balancing in game design, drilling down into specific attributes and variables. Bytes: Exhaustion Disguised as Stress (Adam Saltsman) The games industry is known as being a demanding way to make a living, and that can be all the more true when you're going it alone. Adam Saltsman shares some of his experiences in working independently -- the challenges as well as the personal rewards. Game Programmer Books: General Programming (Neil Gower) Even in this high-falutin' digital age, books can still be a great way to learn about even purely digital topics like programming. Neil Gower singles out some essentials. Principles of Inspiring Creative Play (Adam Saltsman) In another post this week, Adam Saltsman tackles the complex (and oft-disputed) topic of allowing player creativity, and how to achieve that goal from the designer's perspective. He admits his points are somewhat theoretical, but they are also concise and well-considered.