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Dennispr

@dennis.videogameworkshop.com

400 followers 330 following 450 posts

I make games that might teach you a thing or two! Currently making cool stuff at www.videogameworkshop.com I talk about designing developing and playing games + programming. PhD, Speaker: LEGO, GDC, TEDx Previous: Hero Elementary + Skillsville

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Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 4d

We got to complain about Other M’s progression system in this week’s blog!

Videogame Workshop @videogameworkshop.com · 4d

The last thing any designer wants is for a player to reach a state in the game that’s unbeatable. So, what do you do? Lock it!

#GameDev #IndieGameDev #GameDesign

Directing Players with Keys

The last thing any designer wants is for a player to reach a state in the game that’s unbeatable. So, what do you do? Lock it!

videogameworkshop.substack.com

Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 2h

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Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 10h

I think the aether drift Eternal Might deck is slept on. Great zombie tribal out of the box. The EoE precons were good too!

Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 17h

Alright devs, liking videogames already puts you on the board so what's your Demonic Possession Score (tm)?

Cyberpunk culture and postmodernism put me somewhere above 15.

#gamedev #indiedev #halloween

A list of things that make up "Satan's spiritual structure" the list is:

Eastern religions

Yoga

Freemasonry

Illuminati groups

New Age religions

Church of Satan

Scientology

Rosicrucianism

Astrology

Tarot cards

Ouija boards

Remote viewing

Palmistry

Voodoo

Earth Worship

Wicca

Cyberpunk culture

Divination

Meditation

Vegetarianism

Lycanthropy

Postmodernism

Backmasking

Astral-projection

Necromancy

Re-birthing

Kabbalah

LOTR

Fire walking

Levitation

Alt “comix”

Vampirism

Trilateralism

Marihuana

Pot parties

LSD/shrooms

Video games

Harry Potter

Dungeons & Dragons

Halloween

Fornication

Skull & Bones

Rock music

Heavy metal

Burning man

Twilight films

Raves & XTC

Goth culture

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Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 1d

How hard could it be to port this game to console? They have the same controls, right?

#gamedev #indiedev #programming

A controller with the WASD keys instead of an analog stick

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Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 2d

The ti-83 is technically one of the most long-lived home consoles of all time. And it supports home brew games!

LaurieWired @lauriewired.bsky.social · 2d

Graphing Calculators like the TI-83 receive a lot of hate for perceived obsoleteness.

Unironically, it’s one of the few times that younger generations experience a limited computing system.

The creativity from boredom, no phone, etc makes for some interesting programming.

Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 2d

Modern people: “Haha. Witches brewing potions and flying on brooms!”

The witches: brewing hallucinogens, finding creative delivery systems.
"Oh, we were flying...”

#witches #halloween #folklorethursday

So why do the brooms fit into this? Because to achieve their hallucinations, these early drug users needed a distribution method that was a little more complicated than simple ingestion. When consumed, those old-school hallucinogens could cause assorted unpleasantnesses—including nausea, vomiting, and skin irritation. What people realized, though, was that absorbing them through the skin could lead to hallucinations that arrived without the unsavory side effects. And the most receptive areas of the body for that absorption were the sweat glands of the armpits ... and the mucus membranes of the genitals.

So people used their developing pharmacological knowledge to produce drug-laden balms—or, yep, "witch's brews." And to distribute those salves with maximum effectiveness, these crafty hallucinators borrowed a technology from the home: a broom. Specifically, the handle of the broom. And then ... you get the idea.

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Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 2d

I've got a good one. I made a save system for one of our games. It worked well, so we used it for a new game.

Everything was going good at first, but then our testers reported weird errors when they tried to play. Turns out it was reading the previous games save file.

Add a version string y'all!

GameDev.tv @gamedevtv.bsky.social · 2d

💬 What’s the nastiest bug you’ve ever slain?

#GameDev #IndieDev #DevWisdom #CursedDev

Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 4d

Aesthetics seem to matter way more than mechanics for this genre. Devs I've talked with think it's because people disagree about what mechanics are or are not cozy. That said, almost everyone can get behind classifying something that looks like Yoshi's wooly world as cozy.

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Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 4d

100 tabs open. YouTube mini palyer hovering on top.

The Verge @theverge.com · 4d

Google’s latest AI model uses a web browser like you do

Gemini’s “computer use” model can scroll and click its way through a browser.

buff.ly

Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 4d

We got to complain about Other M’s progression system in this week’s blog!

Videogame Workshop @videogameworkshop.com · 4d

The last thing any designer wants is for a player to reach a state in the game that’s unbeatable. So, what do you do? Lock it!

#GameDev #IndieGameDev #GameDesign

Directing Players with Keys

The last thing any designer wants is for a player to reach a state in the game that’s unbeatable. So, what do you do? Lock it!

videogameworkshop.substack.com

Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 4d

When you mess up the code you can just do "git restore" to roll it back!

Me: yes I certainly don’t just delete the whole thing and check it out again….

#gamedev #indiedev #programming

A meme showing a screen shot from Alines with Ripley saying “nuke it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure"

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Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 5d

Congrats to everyone who participated! This stuff is hard!

I'm looking forward to playing some entries.

Ludum Dare @ludumdare.com · 5d

And the Ludum Dare 58 Jam has ended. It's now submission hour! Package up and submit your game now! Then, start playing and rating your peers games!

NOTE: If you're account is new, it may take a few minutes @distraction.engineer to approve you. Don't fret! They is on it! #LDJam

Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 5d

A "free" ruler app that paywalls measuring in inches is so anti-consumer it's actually funny.

A screenshot of a ruler app that says you can unlock measuring in inches for a micro transaction.

Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 6d

This reminds me of the trick in the original Zelda where you were supposed to kill all but one enemy on each screen so you'd force the game to save the state instead of resetting it.

Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 6d

Every Halloween someone says “actually, it’s Frankenstein’s monster.”

Yeah, bud, and it’s his dad, Victor Frankenstein who rejected him and denied him his last name. Which you just did again.

Be better.

#Frankenstein #Halloween #Actually

A picture of Frankenstein thinking while drinking tea and smoking a cigarette.

Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 7d

Working for something makes it feel more important. An example from Nintendo: the songs from Ocharina of Time. Originally the songs were spells players could use like the medallions of a Link to the Past. They were changed to require the players to "play" the Ocharina

#gamedev #indiedev #gamedesign

A screenshot of N64 Link form the Legend of Zelda playing an Ocharina.

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Reposted by Dennispr

Kiyone @kiyonescarlet.bsky.social · 7d

lol

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Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 8d

Did google search nerf their advance search with the addition of the AI suggestions? Terms i’m looking to explicitly exclude with “-“ are still showing up as the first suggested hits and it’s really annoying.

Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 8d

The most efficient way to pack 17 squares is visually unsettling.

So, maybe the lesson here is do what's best for your game, not always what's most efficient?

#gamedev #indiedev #gamedesign #residentevil

The most efficient way to pack 17 equal squares into the smallest possible larger square involves arranging them in a specific, non-grid pattern that minimizes wasted space, resulting in a square container with a side length of approximately 4.68 units for 17 unit squares. It's very asymmetrical and ugly to look at.

The briefcase from resident evil packed in the unappealing 17 item layout

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Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 9d

Portal gun!

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Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 9d

Working on a weakness for your own original monster? You might find it interesting that almost all classic monster weakness are based on superstitious that boil down to good hygiene.

Silver? Antimicrobial.
Sunlight? Disinfectant.

#folklorethursday #worldbuilding #horror #writing #gamedev

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Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 10d

Charlie and I talked about this on the podcast too, but generally it's really important to us to have our prototype communicate information to the player as effectively as possible as quickly as possible. + Unfinished art communicates that it's a work in progress.

Videogame Workshop @videogameworkshop.com · 11d

Too little and you get bad feedback.
Too much and you risk sunk costs.
So how do you decide when your game prototype has enough art?

Here are two common approaches-

#GameDesign #GameDev #IndieGameDev

How Much Art Should a Game Prototype Have?

It can be hard to know when your prototype is polished enough for other people to play.

videogameworkshop.substack.com

Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 10d

Mole Mania was my sleeper hit on Gameboy. It was a long time before I knew Miyamoto was behind it. All I knew was that it was a fun and well designed game. Glad to see it get this treatment!!

Time Extension @timeextension.com · 10d

Miyamoto's "Forgotten" Game Boy Masterpiece Mole Mania Gets The Unofficial 'DX' Treatment. (Image: @marc_robledo)

Miyamoto's "Forgotten" Game Boy Masterpiece Mole Mania Gets The Unofficial 'DX' Treatment

Muddy has never looked better

www.timeextension.com

Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 10d

We all joke that the power fantasy animal crossing is affording a house and paying it off, but that's not by coincidence. The designers were very explicit about mirroring that. It's a bummer that so many people feel that this is the only way they can do that.

#gamedev #gamedesign

You mentioned the economy. We created stuff that you might want to buy, but in order to buy those things you have to make money, and in order to make money you have to work... our intent in creating in Animal Crossing was to create this mini-world that you live in, so certainly we take into consideration those rules that you have to live by in the real world, and those are reflected in the game as well.

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Dennispr @dennis.videogameworkshop.com · 11d

Cool, I haven’t heard of Clickteam Fusion. I’ll have to check it out.

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