Surgeon Simulator 2013 @ Steam Greenlight
Via Boing Boing:
Bossa Studios created the surgery game “Surgeon Simulator 2013″ in a weekend. It’s somewhere between Operation, advanced medical training simulations, and splatterpunk films.
Game Design
Blog posts in this category:
Surgeon Simulator 2013
Categories: Real-World Settings
Posted by: the_handy_vandal
Christian Freeling: How I invented games and why not
Categories: Game Design
Posted by: the_handy_vandal
Christian Freeling has interesting things to say about game design:
Themes
The classification I employed is arbitrary. It served me well in exploring different alleys of thought, but it may at the same time have prevented me from ‘thinking outside the box’. Fortunately it’s a rather large box, yet it leaves interesting games like Amazons or Lines of Action without a clearcut thematic classification. Here it is:
- Chess variants
- Elimination games
- Territory games
- Connection games
- Breakthrough & Race games
- Configuration games
- Mancala games
The first two are ‘existential’ in that the object is to eliminate either the ‘heart’, as in chess, or ‘body & limb’ as in draughts. The other themes are ‘co-existential’ in that the object is to grab more or be faster, without necessarily cutting the other player’s throat.
There’s more where that came from, in considerable detail. Check it out:
Artificial Intelligence as game designer
Categories: Artificial Intelligence, Game Design
Posted by: the_handy_vandal
AI as Game Designer:
AI systems can (sort of) paint and compose classical music, but can they design games? … I’ve put together a survey of the AI game designers I know of, to round up what they can do so far (and what they can’t).
VeinRumble: new map for UT3
Posted by: admin
New map in progress: VeinRumble
Vehicle Capture the Flag map for Unreal Tournament 3.
Map Folder
Unzip the .zip folder, and put the .ut3 (map file) here:
\My Games\Unreal Tournament 3\UTGame\Published\CookedPC\CustomMaps\
Online server IP address
UPDATE — no online server, I cancelled the account
CinderGarden: new map for UT3
My current project:
CinderGarden [2012]
Game: Unreal Tournament Three
Mode: Warfare
Number of players: 12-24
This is a work in progress, very playable right now, some changes to come.
Download CinderGarden version 9031
Update: 8:22 pm
Little Dipper
Little Dipper (2012)
Game: Unreal Tournament 3
Game mode: Warfare
Number of players: 12 seems about right to me (it’s a small map with lots of close-quarters mayhem)
Version: 33
This is a playtest release — very playable despite some rough edges that need finishing – send me your comments, critiques, complaints
Update: Version 612 [September 30, 2012]
Improved version, more to come
Update: Version 704 [October 1, 2012]
Re-arranged some of the geometry … fixed some of the stuck-spots … added ramps to the turrets near the center node, but the ramps are too steep, I will fix that in the next version ….
Update: Version 712 [October 5, 2012]
Various changes … check it out:
VugRunner
My new map:
VugRunner is a Vehicle Capture the Flag map for Unreal Tournament 3.
See the sidebar for map download links.
Assay: new map for Unreal 3
Assay is my latest map for Unreal 3.
Editor screenshot:
Coming soon to an online server near you …
Handy Vandal and Unreal Tournament 3
Coming soon: Unreal Tournament 3 maps by the Handy Vandal.
That’s right: custom maps by yrs. vry. trly.
I have to get back to Unreal Editor 3 now, but I will keep you posted.
Game Design with Kids: An Interview with Charley Miller
Posted by: admin
Charley Miller is a game designer and producer based in New York City.
Avi Solomon recently interviewed Miller for Boing Boing:
Avi: What surprised you the most in your work with the kids?
Charley: Kids are typically naturals when it comes to game design and it’s easy to understand why: they know what’s fun and all they want to do is playtest. But what might surprise adults is to know that most children these days are able to wrap their minds around complex systems. That might be thanks to the amount of gaming kids are able to enjoy these days.
Avi: What is the best place to start learning about game design?
Charley: To be a designer, you have to be a player first. Start by playing a variety of games and try to deconstruct the experiences. Start asking yourself questions about why the designer choose certain elements and thinking about how systems are working together to create the dynamics of the game. That should get anyone nice and confused but hopefully stirred to know more.
