Category: Books
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Vibes
We were watching a cinematic sequence that wasn’t hitting. Everyone in the room understood what it was trying to communicate — the intent was clear, the performances were there, the edit was technically fine. But something was off. It didn’t feel right. It felt like it was moving too fast, too sharp, cutting through moments…
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You Are The Engine
Somewhere along the way I came across a simple demonstration. Someone asked another person to read at a normal pace for two minutes. By the time the two minutes were up, the reader had gotten through three pages. A page a minute, give or take, depending on how dense the text is. That’s it. That’s…
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You Feel Nothing: The Problem with Second Person Storytelling in Games
There’s a book I used to keep on my desk in the office. Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney. Every time someone came to me with a design concept that had a particular problem baked into it, I’d hand them the book, tell them to read the first chapter, and let them figure out…
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Staring At The Summit
(Blogtober Day 12) One of my favorite books that delves into the history of game development is Ken William’s “Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings: The Rise And Fall Of Sierra On-Line.” Despite the rather long name and somewhat busy cover, this book was a pretty fun and interesting read. Ken Williams and his…
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Applying Vonnegut To Gaming Pt. 1
(Blogtober Day 9) Something I maybe have a bad habit of doing is finding a concept, opinion, or soft guideline talked about in one creative industry and considering how it might be applicable to game design and development. I’ve done this almost subconsciously for a while and I tend to keep it to myself these…
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The Best Book I’ve Read All Year Scares Me
(Blogtober Day 5) I’ve been on a non-fiction kick for the last handful of years. Occasionally a science fiction or fantasy novel has creeped it’s way into the queue, but I would say nine out of ten books I read are non-fiction. They tend to be about history or on skills that I wish to…