Gamasutra Member Blogs: From 'RPG Elements' To Physics Engines

Author: by Staff

Showcasing highlights from Gamasutra's Member Blogs, our weblog writers take a look at physics engine approaches, balancing combat and overuse of the line "X game has 'RPG elements.'" Member Blogs can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while invitation-only Expert Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- are written by selected development professionals. Our favorite blog post of the week will earn its author a lifetime subscription to Gamasutra's sister publication, Game Developer magazine. (All magazine recipients outside of the United States or Canada will receive lifetime electronic subscriptions.) We hope that our blog sections can provide useful and interesting viewpoints on our industry. For more information, check out the official posting guidelines. Here are the top member blogs for the week: This Week's Standout Member Blogs - Building An Analytical Physics Engine - Pt.1 (Stuart Evans) In Stuart Evans' first member blog post, he shows great effort and clarity in comparing two approaches to creating a physics engine -- the analytical approach versus the numerical approach. For his effort, Stuart will receive a lifetime subscription to Gamasutra sister publication Game Developer magazine. - A Balanced Battle System (Christopher Enderle) Blogger Christopher Enderle shares his thoughts on balanced battle systems, using Heavenly Sword, Batman: Arkham Asylum, God of War and ICO as references. He suggests that a more balanced combat system might be achieved by focusing more on player emotion and immersiveness rather than mechanics specifically. - Games are Art: New York Times (Andrew Spearin) With The New York Times calling Sony and Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2 "a major step forward for gaming," Andrew Spearin, the man behind the Half-Life 2 mod Insurgency, argues that it’s not an important mainstream acknowledgement of video games, but also a sign of games being accepted as an art form. - A Role for Could, Would, and Should in Game Input (Ron Newcomb) Regular member blogger Ron Newcomb examines games controlled by sentences as opposed to typical button inputs. Here, he looks specifically at the important trinity of modals "Could," "Would" and "Should," and how they relate to language-based games. - All the Tedium, None of the Heart: Enough with Boasting "RPG Elements" (Craig Stern) Many game developers and marketers have a new favorite saying: that their games has "RPG elements." Craig Stern says the term is unflattering to the RPG genre, and that it's time to stop throwing that phrase around so haphazardly.