Beyond MUDs: Kate Flack on Designing Ultima Forever 7
by Brandon Sheffield [02.08.13]
Can moral choices actually teach us about who we are, and can online RPGs ever break the bounds of text-based MUDs? Lead designer Kate Flack hopes that the answers to both of these questions are "yes," as she discusses the latest Ultima game with Gamasutra.
Design, Interview, Social/Online

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Making the Move to HTML5, Part 1 16
by Duncan Tebbs, David Galeano [02.07.13]
In this first of a three-part series, seasoned console developers, formerly of Criterion, describe the process of moving to HTML5 development, discussing the differences between working in C and JavaScript, and explaining dealing with the difficult environment of the browser.
Programming, Social/Online

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Postmortem: Intelligence Engine Design Systems' City Conquest 25
by Paul Tozour [02.06.13]
A candid and detailed look at the difficulties one team encountered when developing a mobile and tablet-based strategy game -- including everything from problems with Kickstarter to networking code, and how some difficulties were solved with automation.
Business/Marketing, Design, Postmortem, Production, Social/Online, Smartphone/Tablet

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Reflections on XNA 25
by Nathan Fouts [02.05.13]
Nathan Fouts quit his job at Insomniac Games in 2006 to strike out on his own as an indie developer, ultimately settling on Microsoft's XNA as his development platform of choice -- and here, he reflects on the tool, which Microsoft last week announced will be discontinued.
Business/Marketing, Indie

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Developer Roundtable: Triple-A, Free-to-Play 7
by David Daw, Patrick Miller [02.04.13]
In this Game Developer magazine reprint, find out how free-to-play games Tribes: Ascend, PlanetSide 2, and MechWarrior Online are making inroads into core PC audiences -- and how their developers view working in the space.
Business/Marketing, Design, Interview, Social/Online

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Accessible Strategy is not an Oxymoron: Design Pillars for Skulls of the Shogun 15
by Jake Kazdal, Borut Pfeifer [02.01.13]
How did the developers of the new indie strategy game strive to break the bounds of the strategy genre? In this article, 17-Bit's Jake Kazdal and Borut Pfeifer break down the decisions that lead to the design choices they made.
Design, Indie

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The Top 10 Mistakes Tool Developers Make 11
by Virgile Delporte [01.31.13]
Sure, you've created what you think is a great tool. But are you really ready to consider putting it out in the wild? This checklist, written by Vergile Delporte, who has extensive experience in the middleware space, explains what you need to do first.
Business/Marketing

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The Aesthetics of Game Art and Game Design 18
by Chris Solarski [01.30.13]
How can the techniques of classical painters provide a roadmap that actually affects how gameplay is designed? In this all-new piece, Chris Solarski expands on themes from his successful book to illustrate an aesthetic path forward.
Design, Art

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How to be a Better Game Designer 26
by Phil O'Connor [01.29.13]
"Regardless of what kind of game you work on, design leadership is at the center of success or failure," writes design consultant Phil O'Connor, whose credits include Far Cry 3 and Operation Flashpoint 2.
Design

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Postmortem: 11 Bit Studios' Anomaly Warzone Earth 13
by Paweł Miechowski [01.28.13]
The popular "inverted tower defense" game was the first created by 11 Bit Studios, a team of Polish veteran developers. Here, Paweł Miechowski, the studio's senior writer, talks about the difficulties and successes of booting up and building a game at the same time.
Business/Marketing, Design, Postmortem, Production, Indie, Smartphone/Tablet

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