Twenty Sided

By Rutskarn Posted Saturday Mar 12, 2016

Filed under: Elder Scrolls 44 comments

 The Altered Scrolls: Q&A, Part 4 (Final Q&A)Previous Post

Next PostThe Altered Scrolls, Epilogue: What's Worth Saving 

What is the point of an Elder Scrolls game?

Why did a team of game developers who set out to make a schlocky, plotless combat sim follow a trail of feature-creep-as-inspiration until the result didn’t just clash with their design document–it clashed with the packaging they’d already ordered? What did they suspect that made them take that kind of risk?

Why did Skyrim become not just game of the year, but game of about five straight years in a row?

Why should it come to pass that Nexus has ten mods for a hugely successful open-world game where you play freaking Batman–and forty thousand for a game where you yell at dragons? (Sure, it has a robust toolset–but Fallout 4 doesn’t as of this writing and it’s still got more mods than any non-TES or Fallout game on the market. Having a toolset is no guarantee you’ll get mods, and having no toolset is evidently no guarantee you won’t.)

How does Bethesda do it?

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “The Altered Scrolls, Epilogue: Bethesda’s Freedom”

Rutskarn is a writer, author, wordsmith, text producer, article deviser, prose architect, and accredited language-talker. If you enjoy his contributions to this site you could always back his Patreon.

 The Altered Scrolls: Q&A, Part 4 (Final Q&A)Previous Post

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44 comments

Mass Effect Retrospective 38: Cerberus Unlimited

By Shamus Posted Thursday Mar 10, 2016

Filed under: Mass Effect 213 comments

 Mass Effect Retrospective 37: The Needs of the MenaePrevious Post

Next PostMass Effect Retrospective 39: Cerberus Set Up Us The Bomb 

There’s a distress call from Grissom Academy, an Alliance military school for gifted young Biotics. Shepard goes to help and finds out Cerberus is attacking the school.

Grissom Academy

What is going on with the lighting on the central dome? That seam down the middle makes no sense.

On my first playthrough of this game, I’d lost my Mass Effect 2 saves in a computer migration and so I had to use the default world state, in which Jack is dead. If we make the assumption that anyone using the default character is new to the seriesWhich is not remotely a guarantee, but it’s probably a better policy than just assuming all players are returning ones., then this actually makes sense. Jack is a tricky character and it would be awkward to try to explain who she was in the second game just so the player could appreciate her transformation here in Mass Effect 3.

But this series is based on a full play-through of all three games, and so I got to see the different ways BioWare handled the fact that most of your Mass Effect 2 crew might be dead. They put a lot of work into it, and it really does make for a better world if you take the time to import the saves.

Here at Grissom Academy, Jack has somehow joined the teaching staff. She’s trying to clean up her potty mouth and has ditched the nihilism and random violence in favor of being a mentor to young adults.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Mass Effect Retrospective 38: Cerberus Unlimited”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

 Mass Effect Retrospective 37: The Needs of the MenaePrevious Post

Next PostMass Effect Retrospective 39: Cerberus Set Up Us The Bomb 

213 comments

Good Robot #43: Un-UnSolved Mysteries

By Shamus Posted Tuesday Mar 8, 2016

Filed under: Good Robot 108 comments

 Good Robot #42.75: Pro StratsPrevious Post

Next PostGood Robot #44: Coming April 5 

So now we’re to the part of the project where we have to stop adding Fun New Things and fix the dumb crap and insane bugs we accidentally created earlier. This is my least favorite part of the project. Or any project. The equivalent for an author is once they’re done writing a book and they have to go back and proofread. Bo-ring!

Here are some of the baffling conundrums we’ve unraveled over the last few weeks.

Bug #1: Mysterious Level Exit

This is what the level exit doors look like.

Description:

You’re flying around the level, minding your own business murdering robots, when suddenly the Good Robot acts like it just went through a level-exit doorway. The robot flies to the edge of the room, the screen fades out, and you’re suddenly on the next level, despite the fact that you weren’t anywhere near a doorway. You couldn’t even SEE a doorway.

Why this problem SUCKED:

This bug was a phantom. It was the Loch Ness Monster. It was Bigfoot. Nobody could replicate it, nobody could predict it. It would happen once in a hundred game sessions, which meant it never happened when you were looking for it. It would pop up when you were in the middle of something else, and it was so abrupt that by the time you realized it was happening you’d already been pulled through to the next level and couldn’t remember anything specific about the game state pre-transition. What room was I in? What was going on? Was there a door in the same room? Were any robots near it? Did I stupidly blunder through some gap in the level geometry without noticing?

What happened:

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Good Robot #43: Un-UnSolved Mysteries”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

 Good Robot #42.75: Pro StratsPrevious Post

Next PostGood Robot #44: Coming April 5 

108 comments

Experienced Points: WTF, YouTube?

By Shamus Posted Monday Mar 7, 2016

Filed under: Column 65 comments

 Experienced Points: Undertale and Curly BracesPrevious Post

Next PostExperienced Points: How YouTube Can Fix Itself 

My column this week is in regards to the blink-and-you-missed-it protest of YouTube’s baleful Content ID system.

I barely scratched the surface of the overwhelming wrongness of the system. Other stuff I didn’t get to:

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Experienced Points: WTF, YouTube?”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

 Experienced Points: Undertale and Curly BracesPrevious Post

Next PostExperienced Points: How YouTube Can Fix Itself 

65 comments

Diecast #144: Games for Windows 10, Xcom 2, Stardew Valley, E3

By Shamus Posted Monday Mar 7, 2016

Filed under: Diecast 153 comments

 Diecast #143: Oxenfree, Devil Daggers, SUPER HOTPrevious Post

Next PostDiecast #145: Black Desert, Overload, The Division 

Direct download (MP3)
Direct download (ogg Vorbis)
Podcast RSS feed.

Hosts: Josh, Shamus, Campster.
Episode edited by Issac.

Trivia: My daughter Rachel went out and got herself a full-time job, and doesn’t have time to edit the show. So my son Issac took over. So audio may be a little wobbly for the next few weeks until he learns the ropes. We’ll see how it goes.

Show notes:
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Diecast #144: Games for Windows 10, Xcom 2, Stardew Valley, E3”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

 Diecast #143: Oxenfree, Devil Daggers, SUPER HOTPrevious Post

Next PostDiecast #145: Black Desert, Overload, The Division 

153 comments

Lord of the Rings Online #2: Mail Run

By Shamus Posted Sunday Mar 6, 2016

Filed under: Shamus Plays 12 comments

 Lord of the Rings Online #1: Lulzy BeginsPrevious Post

Next PostLord of the Rings Online #3: Not a Sheeple Person 

I began this evening with a simple goal: To deliver a letter. It’s now the middle of the night, I’m covered in bits of giant-arachnid carapace and goo, and I’m about to die at the hands of an immortal wraith guided by the ultimate evil in the world.

So, this could have gone better, I guess.

Humans on foot are accompanying a mounted Nazgul? That sounds pretty iffy to me. How do they keep up with the horse while also pissing themselves and sobbing?

The Nazgul draws near, waving around his Really Super Evil Sword. He’s got a few human ruffians on his side, but I have no idea why. Once you have magic and you can’t be killed, you just don’t have a lot of need for backup. This is like a Dragon taking a couple of pigeons along when raiding a town. He’s got a sword, a horse, some magic, and four thousand years of endless unlife under his belt. His henchmen are just guys with clubs. I sort of feel sorry for them until I remember that I’m about to die.

Boffin begins cowering. He’s been doing that all night, but this time I think he’s onto something. I cower along with him. It’s not bad.

The Nazgul checks his horse and stops, towering over us. He waits. I’m wondering if Boffin will get the knife first, or if I will. After all he’s put us through, it seems only fair that he should go first.

I glance upward and realize the Nazgul is still hovering over us. He’s not attacking. I suspect he’s come to an abrupt realization:

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Lord of the Rings Online #2: Mail Run”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

 Lord of the Rings Online #1: Lulzy BeginsPrevious Post

Next PostLord of the Rings Online #3: Not a Sheeple Person 

12 comments

Good Robot #42.75: Pro Strats

By Rutskarn Posted Sunday Mar 6, 2016

Filed under: Good Robot 26 comments

 Good Robot #42.5: Good WritebotPrevious Post

Next PostGood Robot #43: Un-UnSolved Mysteries 

“There’s something you can do to help get the game ready to ship,” said Arvind over Hangouts.

“What do you mean, ‘ready to ship?’ It launches in a few weeks. I finished the script, like, hours ago. What’s left?”

“Playtesting. How many hours have you been playing?”

“Aw, jeez.” I checked my counter. “About 75 hours this week?”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah, sometimes fourteen hours at a time. I’m playing right now. I’m sorta waiting for you to hang up so I can go back to talking to it like we’re friends.”

“And have you found any bugs?”

“I don’t know if I’d call it a bug, but Vaegir Guards are just the worst. They’re like drunk dumpster gnomes on drunk ponies. How’s a girl gonna conquer Calradia with a horde of these chumps?”

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Good Robot #42.75: Pro Strats”

 Good Robot #42.5: Good WritebotPrevious Post

Next PostGood Robot #43: Un-UnSolved Mysteries 

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