Manufacturing Make-Believe
The Art and Science of Game Design from a Certified Game Geek
Welcome to my game blog, sketch-book, rant-rag, and soap-box. This is where I get pretentious and pontificate like a pompous pedagogue, peeps!
Featured Article Series: How to Make Video Games
I wrote these articles a couple of months ago, but I thought I'd shine a spotlight on them here while I work on another major opus.
These articles haven't had a lot of views on HubPages, but I think, after re-reading them, that they do have a lot of good stuff in them. These first four articles really just clear the path for game design by talking about a lot of different things that come up when you first start thinking about pursuing a career in the field: should you go to school? what programming languages should you learn? what tools should you be using? how important is math and physics? how do you get a job as a game tester? can you get into game design by making mods?, etc.
In this series, I've tried to impose some order on all of these different topics by showing how they relate to specific goals and personality types. These things make a lot more sense when you know why people engage in particular activities when trying to break into the industry. The series is by no means complete--it just barely scratches the surface--but I plan on continuing it at some point in the not-to-distant future.
Here are the links: part 1, 2, 3, 4.
Desktop Wallpaper for Skyrim
I decided to upload a few of my favorite landscape screenshots from Skyrim. I've been using these as desktop themes for a couple months now and just wanted to share.
Game Design Topic: Why Graphics Matter
Another article on game design, specifically the role of graphics in game design: The Surface of Things: Why Graphics Matter in Video Games. This article is fairly short (1,900 words). Is there a dichotomy between graphics and gameplay? Are developers forced to choose between one or the other? Is there a hidden relationship between them? Read it and let me know what you think.
War Baby: Creative Character Saves for Skyrim
War Baby is a new line of character saves I'm creating for Skyrim. The objective is to create characters that are not only attractive, but interesting. Eventually, there will be at least one character for each race and gender.
Game Design Topic: Content Scaling in Role-Playing Games
Content scaling is a hot topic in role-playing games, especially in games like Skyrim and Oblivion. This article talks about different types of content scaling (better known as level scaling), how developers use them, and how they affect the player's experience of a game. Be forewarned: it's a long read! (4,500 words)
Skyrim Raises the Bar for Role-Playing Games
Bethesda just released Skyrim, volume five in the Elder Scrolls series. If you don't already own a copy, do yourself a favor and get yourself a copy right now. In spite of some minor UI issues resulting from a hasty console to PC port, Skyrim is hands down the best RPG that I've played in years. Words cannot describe the feeling of pure epic win I felt when I stumbled across these ruins in-game. Seriously, the screenshots do not do the game justice.
Happy Halloween!
Get in the holiday spirit! Or, you know, get eaten by spirits. Check out IGN's great coverage of Dark Souls if you haven't already.
Portals
Check out what's on tap:
Wait! What?
'Case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a huge game nerd. I love games, and I love learning how to make 'em. I also love sharing my knowledge with other people. truancyfactory is where I showcase my work, post my tutorials, and generally get my nerd on. Click the pix to see mods, projects, and tutorials about whatever strikes your fancy or use the navigation links at the top of the page to rock it old school. P.S. Visit my sponsers. Without them, I can't afford to host this site.
Last updated January 26, 2012
© 2009-2011 Dave Finch
wicked factory image, credit:
yasincrow @ deviantart
News: January 26, 2012
I've been working on a new series of articles (approx. 10,000 words) which should see the light of day sometime in the near future. I've also been reading Grant Tavinor's The Art of Video Games which, if you haven't read, I can't recommend highly enough. It's the deep, engaging discussion of video games as an artistic medium that I've been waiting for. Yes, Christmas was good this year. :)
News: January 11, 2012
As usual, I'm behind on my updates. I've written a couple more articles: The Rules of Immersion: Why RPG Gamers Fight All the Time and What Makes a Great Role-Playing Video Game?
News: December 23, 2011
Wow, I'm really getting behind in my updates! I just published another article, which I'm sure you noticed: The Surface of Things: Why Graphics Matter in Video Games. I also published another hub on HubPages a few days ago: Warrior, Wizard, Thief: Class, Balance and Archetypes in Computer RPGs. Read 'em and weep. Er...actually, don't do that. I don't want them to make people sad. Just read 'em and let me know what ya think. I've also done a couple more characters in my War Baby/War Dog series. I'll update the relevant pages ASAP.
And if I don't update again before the holidays: Happy Whatever You Celebrate If You Celebrate Anything This Time Of Year!
News: December 12, 2011
I've added three more characters to the War Baby collection and consolidated them all on a single web page. Planning on doing a bunch more, male and female for both races.
News: December 7, 2011
Okay, in spite of appearances, I have been totally busy lately. Here are my two most recent articles: Ten Rules to Better Role-Playing in Skyrim, and How to Create Beautiful Characters in Skyrim. I also released my first mod on Skyrim Nexus: War Baby - Tabanaryl. Tabanaryl is a female Wood Elf character save (ie. nothing fancy) and the first in a line of character saves that I plan on creating in the War Baby series. These characters are designed to be beautiful, but also functional: ie. to be more than a 'pretty face', but a character with personality and 'edge'. Let me know what you think.
News: December 1, 2011
In a strange turn of events, I somehow managed to write a humor piece: The Pampered Nerd: The Art of Trolling Video Games.
News: November 29, 2011
Another one of my bombastic articles: A Tale of Two Exploits: Skill Perks and Character Leveling in Skyrim. Seriously, these are just too much fun to write. :)
News: November 28, 2011
I've published another article about level scaling called The Well-Appointed Bandit: The Case for Level Scaling. I think it makes some pretty good points about the necessity for level scaling in open world RPGs. Maybe you don't. Read it and let me know what you think.
News: November 27, 2011
I've just posted my (very) long (4,500 word) article about content scaling in video games. If you get a chance, check it out. It might take you a couple of sittings. Feel free to leave your comments.
News: November 23, 2011
Still playing Skyrim. That game is amazing! I did take some time to write a couple of articles about game design, however. Check 'em out: Fast Travel and Narrative Elision in Skyrim, and Is There a Right Way to Play Skyrim?
News: November 17, 2011
I've finally taken a break from playing Skyrim to add a new section to my web site. (You new it was coming.) Right now it's only got a couple of mini-tutorials hosted on HubPages, but as soon as the Creation Kit is released you can bet you'll be seeing a whole lot more here. Go to the Skyrim tutorial page to find out how to take screenshots, change your character's appearance after starting the game, and how to change how quickly time passes in the game (timescale).
News: November 10, 2011
Here is the 4th installment of my video game series: How to Make Video Games, Part 4: The Hacker. Covers things like programming languages, APIs, math requirements, etc. Was kind of a chore to write, but the pictures were fun to caption!
News: November 8, 2011
I just posted the first tutorial in my HubPages Blender series: How to Translate, Rotate, and Scale 3D Objects in Blender. Check it out! This is a great introduction to this fantastic program. I plan on publishing a tutorial every week in this series.
News: November 7, 2011
Published another article on HubPages about modding. Check it out -> Modding Video Games. I'd like to thank all of the modders who contributed screenshots to the article. Your work is inspiring!
News: November 3, 2011
Okay, so I bit the bullet and admitted by ownership of several articles on HubPages. I've also linked to them on my articles page. I admit it: I'm a sell-out! You, too, can feed a starving game designer for only pennies a day by reading my articles! (For some reason, I feel cheap... :)
