T w e n t y S i d e d
The more I work with a team of people, the more I’m convinced that having open, accessible game data is the path of least resistance. Why make buggy, lame, proprietary in-house tools when you can just stick all the data into text files and let people use their text editor of choice? Why spend time and effort packing simple data into binary files when you can leave it in plain text? As long as the data isn’t binary in nature (text-based 3D models and sound would probably not be a good idea) then open files are a win for everyone: Easier for coders, more comfortable for the artists, and more mod-friendly for enterprising players.
Of course, I’ve always thought this way, but I assumed it was bias from all the years I worked at Activeworlds, which focused on user-generated content, similar to Second Life or Roblox. I often wondered if I’d gravitate towards obscured data if I ever found myself working on a “proper” game.
But no. But if anything, I’m more pro-“open data” than ever.
But what if the users edit their data files to cheat and give themselves a billion hitpoints?
Yeah. Not a concern. Stopping single-player cheating is a lot like stopping pirates: It can’t be done, but if you’re really creative and determined you can waste a lot of time and money trying.
Early in the project, I had a lot of stuff hard-coded. Certain gameplay parameters were set in stone, and you couldn’t change them without changing the source code and patching the game. That’s basically fine for a one-person team. When I’m working alone, it’s just as easy to change a bit of source code as it is to change some text file of game data. But once Pyrodactyl joined, more and more of the game migrated out of code and into text files the artists controlled.
The only downside is…
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Good Robot #36: Please Wait, Loading”
