Gamasutra Expert Blogs: From Worlds With Character To Simple Elegance

Author: by Staff

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 set of highlights, industry notables comment on the need for game levels with more character, why devs shouldn't focus on making addictive games, and elegance and simplicity in design. This Week's Standout Expert Blogs Your Environment Is A Character Too! Tyler Glaiel Tyler Glaliel reminds us of the importance of treating a game's world as if it is a character. He offers examples of games in which their levels are "characters," such as Portal, Super Metriod, and BioShock. Are today's game developers putting as much care into the character of their game environments? Gaming's New Market Dynamics and the Importance of Middleware Wanda Meloni Wanda Meloni with M2 Research reviews the current state of the highly-dynamic games business, offering statistics on video gamers, gaming PCs, and more. She also talks about the importance of middleware, and some important driving forces that can be key to a company's success. Breaking the Vicious Cycle Reid Kimball It's often considered a compliment when someone calls a game "highly addictive," but not to Reid Kimball. Here, he criticizes the game industry's obsession with making products that are addictive as possible. And he's a little pissed off. In C++, Everything is Harder Than You Think Neil Gower Freelance programmer Neil Gower sparks some user comments in his post about C++, and how using Boost C++ libraries and smart pointers could simplify your work. But commenters have their own opinions on that. The Surface. Minimalism in Games (Part II) Gabriel Lievano In a two-part post, Gabriel Lievano comments on the need for more simplicity in games -- the old idea the "less is more." He uses the change from Civilization IV to Civilization Revolution as an example. There's still an audience for complexity, but easily-achieved fun is important. But it's not easily-attainable as a game developer.