Max Nichols
@maxnichols.bsky.social
He/him. Game designer. I make worlds that you want to explore. Sr. Tech Design in AAA. Prev: Bungie, Turbine. I run @HyruleInterviews.bsky.social
Blog: namelessquality.com
Portfolio: maxnicholsdesign.com
Blog: namelessquality.com
Portfolio: maxnicholsdesign.com
Reposted by Max Nichols
Oh well, it's not going to happen unless I don't care if my stuff is going to suck for a while. I should start up again. I miss it. I think my eyes are a little more stable now so maybe I can manage.
November 28, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Oh well, it's not going to happen unless I don't care if my stuff is going to suck for a while. I should start up again. I miss it. I think my eyes are a little more stable now so maybe I can manage.
Reposted by Max Nichols
I still find it interesting how we live in the same household but have managed to have such vastly different years that our takes on the ending were the exact opposite of one another.
November 28, 2025 at 7:31 AM
I still find it interesting how we live in the same household but have managed to have such vastly different years that our takes on the ending were the exact opposite of one another.
Does something being thematically coherent and skillfully done automatically make it good?
I don’t care how skillfully that third act story was told, skillfully telling a miserable story doesn’t make it good
Personally I was not a fan of choosing between two brutal, wretched flavors of nihilism
I don’t care how skillfully that third act story was told, skillfully telling a miserable story doesn’t make it good
Personally I was not a fan of choosing between two brutal, wretched flavors of nihilism
Seeing other narrative design people say that Clair Obscur had a bad 3rd act or bad ending(s)…I just can’t follow you there man. That shit ruled. Sorry. You break the combat wide fucking open and then get your choice of doing genocide or walking toward Omelas and saying “torturing that child rocks”
November 27, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Does something being thematically coherent and skillfully done automatically make it good?
I don’t care how skillfully that third act story was told, skillfully telling a miserable story doesn’t make it good
Personally I was not a fan of choosing between two brutal, wretched flavors of nihilism
I don’t care how skillfully that third act story was told, skillfully telling a miserable story doesn’t make it good
Personally I was not a fan of choosing between two brutal, wretched flavors of nihilism
Reposted by Max Nichols
@maxnichols.bsky.social: Ok, so you keep telling me the end of Oshi no Ko is bad, but like how bad?
Me: It made me feel like the latter half of 2019.
Max: …You just compared it to your dog dying. It made you feel like your dog died?
Me: Yeah, kinda!
Me: It made me feel like the latter half of 2019.
Max: …You just compared it to your dog dying. It made you feel like your dog died?
Me: Yeah, kinda!
November 27, 2025 at 8:00 AM
@maxnichols.bsky.social: Ok, so you keep telling me the end of Oshi no Ko is bad, but like how bad?
Me: It made me feel like the latter half of 2019.
Max: …You just compared it to your dog dying. It made you feel like your dog died?
Me: Yeah, kinda!
Me: It made me feel like the latter half of 2019.
Max: …You just compared it to your dog dying. It made you feel like your dog died?
Me: Yeah, kinda!
New* article!
A history of Ocarina of Time's development, with a specific focus on the new game design problems presented by 3D, and how they solved them.
*I wrote this a few years ago for a magazine. I figure it's been long enough, so on my blog now!
Edited by @paigeedits.bsky.social!
#Zelda
A history of Ocarina of Time's development, with a specific focus on the new game design problems presented by 3D, and how they solved them.
*I wrote this a few years ago for a magazine. I figure it's been long enough, so on my blog now!
Edited by @paigeedits.bsky.social!
#Zelda
The Seminal Third-Person Adventure - The Nameless Quality
“The masterpiece that people will still be talking about ten years down the road.”– Gamespot review for Ocarina of Time, 1998 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was a towering achievement, a game th...
namelessquality.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:15 AM
New* article!
A history of Ocarina of Time's development, with a specific focus on the new game design problems presented by 3D, and how they solved them.
*I wrote this a few years ago for a magazine. I figure it's been long enough, so on my blog now!
Edited by @paigeedits.bsky.social!
#Zelda
A history of Ocarina of Time's development, with a specific focus on the new game design problems presented by 3D, and how they solved them.
*I wrote this a few years ago for a magazine. I figure it's been long enough, so on my blog now!
Edited by @paigeedits.bsky.social!
#Zelda
Reposted by Max Nichols
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
Reposted by Max Nichols
We did something different with the credits for Demonschool. We used this format: name, title, lengthy description of what they did. Often you see credits in games where you don't know what the credited developer was actually responsible for. We wanted to give people proper, actual credit.
November 24, 2025 at 10:23 PM
We did something different with the credits for Demonschool. We used this format: name, title, lengthy description of what they did. Often you see credits in games where you don't know what the credited developer was actually responsible for. We wanted to give people proper, actual credit.
Reposted by Max Nichols
On Thanksgiving 2005, we woke up to find a chocolate cream pie in a tupperware on the patio of my grandparents' apartment. We assumed it was a gift from the upstairs neighbors (grandma was recovering from surgery and getting lots of gift food) and devoured it. It was delicious. (Cont'd)
November 24, 2025 at 11:47 PM
On Thanksgiving 2005, we woke up to find a chocolate cream pie in a tupperware on the patio of my grandparents' apartment. We assumed it was a gift from the upstairs neighbors (grandma was recovering from surgery and getting lots of gift food) and devoured it. It was delicious. (Cont'd)
Towards the very end of my time at Bungie, I had started a project by myself to try and figure out if we could have our workstations go to sleep at night without disrupting overnight syncing+building. I was frustrated for years that we left thousands of PCs needlessly running for hours every night.
The headlines of late echo the importance of environmentalism in tech. This past week, courtesy of #CRCPress, comes the very apt:
THE GAME NEEDS TO CHANGE
A landmark #GameStudies book on how the games industry can drive sustainability, offering guidance for creating greener, more impactful games.
THE GAME NEEDS TO CHANGE
A landmark #GameStudies book on how the games industry can drive sustainability, offering guidance for creating greener, more impactful games.
The Video Game Library Newsletter - Vol. #028
Elden Ring lore untangled, a confusing "Mana" anniversary, blue mascots get comics, and a whirlwind of European releases!
buff.ly
November 24, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Towards the very end of my time at Bungie, I had started a project by myself to try and figure out if we could have our workstations go to sleep at night without disrupting overnight syncing+building. I was frustrated for years that we left thousands of PCs needlessly running for hours every night.
“Count Dracula” loses a little of it’s ominous luster when you realize that it means he rules a County
Barely a step above, like, Mayor Dracula or Sheriff Dracula
Barely a step above, like, Mayor Dracula or Sheriff Dracula
November 24, 2025 at 7:53 AM
“Count Dracula” loses a little of it’s ominous luster when you realize that it means he rules a County
Barely a step above, like, Mayor Dracula or Sheriff Dracula
Barely a step above, like, Mayor Dracula or Sheriff Dracula
Go a step further: Do not read the opinions of your community. It's creative poison.
Often as game designers we love to make people happy. But if you index too much on making the community, or people in the community, happy, then you're ceding too much of your judgment to them.
Often as game designers we love to make people happy. But if you index too much on making the community, or people in the community, happy, then you're ceding too much of your judgment to them.
One of the producers on Guilty Gear Strive said it was basically impossible to source player feedback on balance changes online because nobody had original opinions and would just parrot what the most popular content creators said and so they had to rely on data and I think about that every day.
November 24, 2025 at 4:03 AM
Go a step further: Do not read the opinions of your community. It's creative poison.
Often as game designers we love to make people happy. But if you index too much on making the community, or people in the community, happy, then you're ceding too much of your judgment to them.
Often as game designers we love to make people happy. But if you index too much on making the community, or people in the community, happy, then you're ceding too much of your judgment to them.
Wow. Turning off the AI stuff in gmail turns off the feature where it sorts email into different categories for you. A feature they've had for like 20 years and is basically the main selling point for gmail, aside from UX.
Guess I'm gonna start transitioning to a new email sooner rather than later
Guess I'm gonna start transitioning to a new email sooner rather than later
November 23, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Wow. Turning off the AI stuff in gmail turns off the feature where it sorts email into different categories for you. A feature they've had for like 20 years and is basically the main selling point for gmail, aside from UX.
Guess I'm gonna start transitioning to a new email sooner rather than later
Guess I'm gonna start transitioning to a new email sooner rather than later
This one's a fun read
The OG Starcraft stuff they showed in 1996 always was shockingly unambitious for Blizzard, even back when I first saw those screenshots after the fact in like ~1999 or so, when I started frequenting Blizzard fansites.
As you'd expect, there's a story behind that!
The OG Starcraft stuff they showed in 1996 always was shockingly unambitious for Blizzard, even back when I first saw those screenshots after the fact in like ~1999 or so, when I started frequenting Blizzard fansites.
As you'd expect, there's a story behind that!
Really good insider article on why starcraft was rebooted from a minor title into a big game based on feeling humiliated by the more impressive (later revealed to be fully faked) RTS demo one booth over at a trade show www.codeofhonor.com/blog/starcra...
StarCraft: Orcs in space go down in flames - Code Of Honor
In my previous article about StarCraft I talked about why we rebooted the project and changed it from a follow-on to Warcraft — derisively called “Orcs in space” in 1996 — into the award-winning game ...
www.codeofhonor.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:02 PM
This one's a fun read
The OG Starcraft stuff they showed in 1996 always was shockingly unambitious for Blizzard, even back when I first saw those screenshots after the fact in like ~1999 or so, when I started frequenting Blizzard fansites.
As you'd expect, there's a story behind that!
The OG Starcraft stuff they showed in 1996 always was shockingly unambitious for Blizzard, even back when I first saw those screenshots after the fact in like ~1999 or so, when I started frequenting Blizzard fansites.
As you'd expect, there's a story behind that!
Every game designer parent I know bans Roblox for their kids
November 21, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Every game designer parent I know bans Roblox for their kids
Get their ass Miyamoto
An over-emphasis on seeing all game design through a carrot-on-a-stick lens drives me nuts. One of my least favorite trends in game design spaces, for decades.
It's paternalistic and dismissive, not to mention flat-out incorrect. Luckily it seems much less common nowadays
An over-emphasis on seeing all game design through a carrot-on-a-stick lens drives me nuts. One of my least favorite trends in game design spaces, for decades.
It's paternalistic and dismissive, not to mention flat-out incorrect. Luckily it seems much less common nowadays
Miyamoto on being told that players care about rewards, 2008.
Source: Iwata Asks
#MiyamotoQuote
www.hyruleinterviews.com/b5e9f8738b76...
Source: Iwata Asks
#MiyamotoQuote
www.hyruleinterviews.com/b5e9f8738b76...
November 21, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Get their ass Miyamoto
An over-emphasis on seeing all game design through a carrot-on-a-stick lens drives me nuts. One of my least favorite trends in game design spaces, for decades.
It's paternalistic and dismissive, not to mention flat-out incorrect. Luckily it seems much less common nowadays
An over-emphasis on seeing all game design through a carrot-on-a-stick lens drives me nuts. One of my least favorite trends in game design spaces, for decades.
It's paternalistic and dismissive, not to mention flat-out incorrect. Luckily it seems much less common nowadays
Every year I watch my neighbors blow the fallen leaves from their trees and put them into the yard waste bin
And I'm like
How do you think this works, people. Where do you think your tree is getting the nutrients to grow leaves. Try to think systemically more than 30s into the future
And I'm like
How do you think this works, people. Where do you think your tree is getting the nutrients to grow leaves. Try to think systemically more than 30s into the future
November 20, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Every year I watch my neighbors blow the fallen leaves from their trees and put them into the yard waste bin
And I'm like
How do you think this works, people. Where do you think your tree is getting the nutrients to grow leaves. Try to think systemically more than 30s into the future
And I'm like
How do you think this works, people. Where do you think your tree is getting the nutrients to grow leaves. Try to think systemically more than 30s into the future
Reposted by Max Nichols
Does anyone else feel horrible amounts of sadness whenever an artist posts a tiny little comic of their OCs only for you to discover they don’t actually have a comic for them? Like how dare you make me fall in love with your OCs and not also give me all of the stories about them living in your head.
November 20, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Does anyone else feel horrible amounts of sadness whenever an artist posts a tiny little comic of their OCs only for you to discover they don’t actually have a comic for them? Like how dare you make me fall in love with your OCs and not also give me all of the stories about them living in your head.
I've done the transition from individual contributor -> mixed IC & leadership work a bunch of time over the years.
It's always hard to go from personally checking in work every day to having indirect impact; it's hard to shake the feeling that you're falling behind and not getting anything done.
It's always hard to go from personally checking in work every day to having indirect impact; it's hard to shake the feeling that you're falling behind and not getting anything done.
November 20, 2025 at 6:31 PM
I've done the transition from individual contributor -> mixed IC & leadership work a bunch of time over the years.
It's always hard to go from personally checking in work every day to having indirect impact; it's hard to shake the feeling that you're falling behind and not getting anything done.
It's always hard to go from personally checking in work every day to having indirect impact; it's hard to shake the feeling that you're falling behind and not getting anything done.
I’m really enjoying Inazuma Eleven in large part because it’s a big storydriven RPG but mechanically and thematically it’s really unfamiliar and novel to me
It’s like a whole RPG subgenre I’ve never experienced before sprang fully-formed into existence
It’s like a whole RPG subgenre I’ve never experienced before sprang fully-formed into existence
November 20, 2025 at 7:59 AM
I’m really enjoying Inazuma Eleven in large part because it’s a big storydriven RPG but mechanically and thematically it’s really unfamiliar and novel to me
It’s like a whole RPG subgenre I’ve never experienced before sprang fully-formed into existence
It’s like a whole RPG subgenre I’ve never experienced before sprang fully-formed into existence
Reposted by Max Nichols
Audio (sound effects, music, and dialogue) has a weird relationship with temp assets, mostly because of issues revolving around human psychology.
Problem #1: How do you communicate that something you're hearing is temp?
Problem #1: How do you communicate that something you're hearing is temp?
The annoying thing about the "oh we left a placeholder" generative AI slop excuse is that that is EXACTLY NOT how you should be using placeholders. Anything "not obviously terrible with a panicked hurried half-awake glance" is getting shipped.
In gamedev, if you're using a placeholder asset, best practices involve marking it as placeholder so garishly and offensively clearly PLACEHOLDER that you can't possibly miss it. Also flagging that asset in the dev process so it can be identified quickly before the final build.
November 19, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Audio (sound effects, music, and dialogue) has a weird relationship with temp assets, mostly because of issues revolving around human psychology.
Problem #1: How do you communicate that something you're hearing is temp?
Problem #1: How do you communicate that something you're hearing is temp?
My Inazuma Eleven cheering squad is looking a little low energy tonight
I gotta get them pumped up to challenge themselves, we’re going zero to hero here
I gotta get them pumped up to challenge themselves, we’re going zero to hero here
November 19, 2025 at 7:37 AM
My Inazuma Eleven cheering squad is looking a little low energy tonight
I gotta get them pumped up to challenge themselves, we’re going zero to hero here
I gotta get them pumped up to challenge themselves, we’re going zero to hero here
Yeah. I hate that phrase. Always spoken with the utmost confidence too.
I’ll always remember the ex-Ubisoft art director who insisted that Elden Ring had _objectively_ bad world design, and that anyone who’d ever worked on an open world game could see that it was breaking X and Y world design rules
I’ll always remember the ex-Ubisoft art director who insisted that Elden Ring had _objectively_ bad world design, and that anyone who’d ever worked on an open world game could see that it was breaking X and Y world design rules
November 19, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Yeah. I hate that phrase. Always spoken with the utmost confidence too.
I’ll always remember the ex-Ubisoft art director who insisted that Elden Ring had _objectively_ bad world design, and that anyone who’d ever worked on an open world game could see that it was breaking X and Y world design rules
I’ll always remember the ex-Ubisoft art director who insisted that Elden Ring had _objectively_ bad world design, and that anyone who’d ever worked on an open world game could see that it was breaking X and Y world design rules
Octopath Traveller 2 had an amazing soundtrack, but by my money the best track from the game (either game, really) was Ochette the Hunter:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni4f...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni4f...
狩人オーシュットのテーマ
YouTube video by Yasunori Nishiki - Topic
www.youtube.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Octopath Traveller 2 had an amazing soundtrack, but by my money the best track from the game (either game, really) was Ochette the Hunter:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni4f...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni4f...
Reposted by Max Nichols
My trailblazing game industry bad-ass friend Rebecca Heineman has passed away.
Fuck cancer.
Friends, let’s not forget her: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca...
Fuck cancer.
Friends, let’s not forget her: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca...
Rebecca Heineman - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 17, 2025 at 9:52 PM
My trailblazing game industry bad-ass friend Rebecca Heineman has passed away.
Fuck cancer.
Friends, let’s not forget her: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca...
Fuck cancer.
Friends, let’s not forget her: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca...
Reposted by Max Nichols
For a fraction of the cost, I can make placeholders for you that are guaranteed to slip through to final build and far beyond.
#indiedev #gamedev #GodotEngine
#indiedev #gamedev #GodotEngine
November 17, 2025 at 8:55 PM
For a fraction of the cost, I can make placeholders for you that are guaranteed to slip through to final build and far beyond.
#indiedev #gamedev #GodotEngine
#indiedev #gamedev #GodotEngine