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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 1d

hell yeah

Reposted by Tim Graham Games

Timothy Graham @timothyjgraham.bsky.social · 1d

Today in CCN111 we played Social Media Operations Manager! Students discussed the ethics of the influence industry and social media analytics

Play for free on @itch.io: timothyjgraham.itch.io/social-media...

#indiegames #disinformation

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 2d

Latest update to Social Media Operations Manager brings explosive chained upgrades and network optimisations galore

Give it a whirl for free at timothyjgraham.itch.io/social-media...

I'd love any feedback as I turtle towards the Steam page

#roguelikes #videogames #gaming #indiedev

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Reposted by Tim Graham Games

Richard Kadrey @richardkadrey.bsky.social · 4d

The mystery of medical diagnosis!

Anyone: Why are there suddenly so many AHDH diagnoses?
Dr. Jen: Same reason there are suddenly more stars after we built telescopes.

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 4d

Big update to Social Media Operations Manager!

Play or download for free: timothyjgraham.itch.io/social-media...

I'd love to hear any feedback or ideas

#roguelike #indiegames #indiedev

Social Media Manager by Timothy Graham

A roguelike management sim about social media manipulation and corporate

timothyjgraham.itch.io

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 4d

I mean, yeah, it is baffling.. and some other emotions

Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 4d

I feel like there might be a curve where some people like or even love the game early on, but if they play too long then they start not liking it due to late game frustrations or even boredom or cognate reasons. For the game, maybe it’s a dev issue for the longevity or balance long term?

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Reposted by Tim Graham Games

Bahototh @bahototh.bsky.social · 5d

Old school turn based Roguelike - Play the demo:⛏️ thaaks.itch.io/theralite

Theralite by Thomas Haaks (Right Angle Games), Bahototh

A turn based Sci-fi Roguelike

thaaks.itch.io

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 5d

And the video it came from (highly recommend a follow - this guy is great)

youtu.be/lQRU1P7GdqM?...

There is No Magic Formula for Game Balance

YouTube video by Indie Game Clinic

youtu.be

Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 5d

Hot tip YouTube comment of the day

In regards to balancing games:

@RCColdaDog • 1 mo ago
A technique I love is BIG STUPID NUMBER. It can be movement speed, attack damage, bullet number etc. Sometimes BIG STUPID NUMBER even moves your starting point because you realize the game is really fun with BSN. Then the task becomes working your way down to a midpoint that seems fun/fair while making BSN a reasonably attainable goal to create that first
"Oh my God I AM AMAZING" feeling in the player.

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 5d

Forgot to turn off the engagement metrics UI when the bot is running. Balancing the game using genetic algorithms has been useful, but lots of caveats #indiedev #indiegames

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Reposted by Tim Graham Games

Brendan Keogh @brkeogh.bsky.social · 6d

I made a silly little thing idk brkeogh.itch.io/automatic-fl...

Automatic Flips by Brendan Keogh

Play in your browser

brkeogh.itch.io

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Reposted by Tim Graham Games

Balmut @balmut.bsky.social · 8d

Game Loops Are Out, Chains Are In -
Indie Game Clinic

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SYX...

Types of Chains to Put in Your Games

YouTube video by Indie Game Clinic

www.youtube.com

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 9d

The Microsoft Windows 16-colour VGA (640×480) mode palette. This was the default palette for the earlier versions of Windows; it is now only the last resort palette when the graphics hardware has no driver for Windows. And the first resort for the pixel art sprites I'm about to start drawing...

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 9d

My genetic algorithm bot adds a depth to this because the network is generated by simulated runs of actual game play. So you can learn what works early, mid, and late game, and what’s broken, or what needs to be buffed.

Or, you just let it go because broken builds are fun!!!

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 9d

I can’t understate how cool of an idea Ezra proposed here. synergies are a key part of roguelikes, where players try to find powerful combos of things in the game. Mapping these pairwise synergies in a network procodes a structural view of build “clusters” and how they work (or not) together

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 9d

Oh and you can play a free gamejam web version of the game here: timothyjgraham.itch.io/social-media...

Social Media Manager by Timothy Graham

A roguelike management sim about social media manipulation and corporate

timothyjgraham.itch.io

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 9d

On a more technical level, the nodes are every upgrade & account. The edges represent synergy. An edge is drawn between two items if bots that pick both have a higher average fitness score than bots that only pick one. The stronger the synergy, the thicker the line (edge) in the graph

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 9d

The network is generated from bot data. 🤖
A genetic algorithm plays thousands of runs, testing different builds. If 2 items frequently appear together in successful runs, they get a strong connection. This creates a visual map of synergies, hopefully helping to balance the game and bring joy

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 9d

Really enjoyed the talk by @ezra-szanton.itch.io about "synergy networks" in roguelike games and decided to try implement one. Here's the network generated from the logs of my bot, currently playing Social Media Manager

Link to talk: www.youtube.com/live/Cirv4Uz...

#gamedev #indiegames

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 9d

Totally!

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 9d

I guess it's a balance - different games may need different kinds of run-based experiences

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 9d

Top tier tip! I saw a fantastic short video on this recently www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh35...

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 10d

Thank you!

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 10d

Thanks so much! It's a fun little experimental project. appreciate the feedback

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