T w e n t y S i d e d

Back in the 90’s, you could use the numpad for playing FPS games. I started using the numpad for gaming when Descent came out. The introduction of full 3-axis, 3-dimensional movement abruptly escalated the number of keys I needed under my hand. The numpad felt like a natural choice, because the keys are all lined up, so I didn’t have to hold my hand sideways. There is a nice edge on either side, so I wouldn’t get “lost” in the middle of the keyboard and end up pressing the wrong buttons. Later, the introduction of the infuriating Windows key made the choice even more advantageous.

But lately games are coming out where the numpad is crippled in various idiotic ways. Not because keyboards or interfaces have changed, but because… I dunno? It’s too hard? I’d think after a full day of writing new 3.0 pixels shaders for differed lighting passes and edge-smoothing techniques for dynamic shadows, they could wrap their heads around the profound challenge of those 17 buttons on the right side of the keyboard. In the interest of reducing the number of ways my games annoy me, here is a helpful guide for the game developers out there, who seem to be confused and bewildered by the bizarre contraption known as the numpad.

I shall impart this secret knowledge, now: Continue reading ⟩⟩ “The Mysterious Numpad”

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.

Game companies are big on the idea that they’re just providing us with a “license”. Or lately, they’re trying to turn software into a “service”. The addition of the internet has made it possible for someone else to administrate your software. Setting aside the morality and legality of this deal, how do these various schemes work out? Assuming the user doesn’t resort to piracy, what’s expected of them, and what do they get in return?

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “DRM: Power & Responsibility”

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.

Chris’ survival Horror Quest has a brilliant post that examines the sales performance of PS2 games against their metacritic scores. He’s looking to see how much quality affects sales. He charted 1,281 games and shows us the breakdown in a number of very interesting graphs.

The only nitpick I have is that I’ve never thought scores were all that useful for determining quality. The way the review system works, a critic usually sits down and pushes through a game in less than a week and then hammers out a review. (And the whole system is a sham in the PC realm, where the reviewer is likely using a top-end PC and a review copy that might not have the DRM found in the retail version.) The process suffers from the same problem that movie reviews do, which is that the reviewers are voracious consumers of games, to the point where they make “hardcore” gamers seem “casual”. Add in the marketing “tilt” effected by big name publishers (which we caught a glimpse of in the firing of Jeff Gerstman) and you have a system where scores don’t have a lot to do with quality. I trust scores to filter out the really horrible stuff, but beyond that I rely on demos and word of mouth. I’ve seen many big-name, top-rated games that turned out to be “meh”, and I’ve seen some real gems that were given modest scores by critics.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Game Sales vs Game Quality”

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.