Game Design Book
I just signed a book publishing deal with O’Reilly Media. Look for my game design book out sometime in 2013.
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Author Archives: Tynan Sylvester
Film and Game Production
I wrote an article-length and somewhat contrary response to an article on Gamasutra by Tess Jones. Check out the article and my response here.
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The Edge of Story
Imagine a game of Left 4 Dead in which a player sacrifices his life so his friend may survive a zombie attack. How do we classify this moment? Is it a story, a piece of mechanics-driven gameplay, or something authored … Continue reading
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Response to Danc’s Loops and Arcs
I wrote a really long response to Danc’s post Loops and Arcs. It was so long his blog rejected it. So I’m posting it here. Please read his excellent article first if you want this to make any sense. My Response … Continue reading
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Skill Ceiling
People talk about the depth of games a lot, but it’s tricky to figure out exactly what that means. I’ve been thinking about a new way to measure the depth of games. It’s the Skill Ceiling. The skill ceiling is … Continue reading
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TNG Edit 3 – Data the Slasher
My hobby now is, apparently, editing Star Trek episodes for humorous effect.
TNG Edit 1 – Guinan’s New Brew
So I decided to practice my video editing a bit. The horrifying result:
A New Word for Game
The word “game” is starting to get outdated. It doesn’t fit us any more, to the point where it is holding us back. When people started calling them games, that’s what they were. Simple sets of action-reaction rules and mechanics. … Continue reading
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Game Word of the Week
Quicktime Event (n) A gameplay mechanic in which players are instructed to push buttons exactly as they are displayed on the screen. Frequently accompanies a cinematic-like sequence of the player character doing something cool but outside the game’s control schemes. … Continue reading
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Game Word of the Week
Verb (n) An action the player can use to interact with the game or game world. Verbs include shooting, running, jumping, pushing buttons, insulting people, and eating food. Usage: We never properly trained the chicken-kicking verb, so how can we … Continue reading
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