Featured Blog | The eye of the beholder: Measuring player success in photography games

Introduction   Photography as a mechanic is emerging in games, moving beyond simple photo modes, and instead using photo-taking as the key driver for the game’s progression. But how do we as developers measure player success with photography, something that is so freeform, subjective, and artistic? That was a question that my team and I … Read more

Featured Blog | GDC 2024 Diegetics Increase: The Animal Kingdom

Hi! I'm game composer Winifred Phillips – my latest game release is the music for Wizardry: The Mad Overlord's Proving Grounds: the highly successful 3D remake of the 1981 dungeon-crawler classic (Listen AND download My awarded free soundtrack). Welcome to the third installment of my series featuring content from my talk at the Game Developers … Read more

Featured Blog | Power progression in games: Crafting rewarding player experiences

Within this article I will be exploring power progression, how it is a fundamental element of game design, and why it taps into the human desire for growth and mastery. I will presenting my own understanding and experiences as both a player and a game designer Whether it’s levelling up a character, acquiring new abilities, … Read more

Featured Blog | Balancing Creativity and Deadlines in Game Development

In game development, balancing creativity with deadlines is a challenge every team faces at some point. We’re all passionate about building worlds, crafting stories, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in games, but we also have to think about the business side of things: staying within budget, hitting milestones, and ultimately delivering a game … Read more

Featured Blog | Creating Parallax Occlusion Mapping (POM) in Unreal Engine 5

It is still a problem to understand such a complex approach in materials like POM and we will try to understand how to use POM thoroughly and as briefly as possible. We will also explain what each node does and why we use each of them. Let's start with what materials are present in Unreal … Read more

Featured Blog | Iterative Narrative Design for Video Games

Disclaimer: We are in no way affiliated with Articy Draft, Unreal Speech, or Unreal Engine. We simply found a workflow that incorporates these tools and want to share how they help us create our game on a shoestring budget. The problem: Game narratives are constantly changing during the production of a video game. They need … Read more

Featured Blog | Gamescom 2024: A Record-Breaking Year for the World’s Biggest Gaming Event

Gamescom 2024, held from 20 to 24 August, once again confirmed its status as the world’s leading gaming event. The event attracted a staggering 335,000 visitors from around 120 countries to Cologne, reflecting the increasingly globalised nature of the gaming industry. In addition to the extensive consumer exposure, Gamescom also welcomed over 32,000 trade visitors … Read more

Featured Blog | Creating a Spatial Query System

Introduction Spatial query systems have become an essential tool for enabling intelligent AI behaviors in complex game environments. They allow AI characters to dynamically analyze their surroundings and find optimal locations for tasks like taking cover, choosing targets, flanking the player, surrounding enemies, or adapting to changes in the environment during combat. Popularized by games … Read more

Featured Blog | Bridging history and gameplay: Lessons from historiographical video game design

The Intersection of Academia and Media My professional path took a significant turn when I began engaging with the media and later with the world of virtual reality and interactive video games. Upon arriving in London in 2009, I was frequently called upon to answer press and media inquiries about Japanese history. These engagements, ranging … Read more