Aleara
@aleara.bsky.social
Game designer, programmer and writer. Currently writing several novels and creating a tabletop RPG.
Unrelated but I'm also a game designer (currently working on some TTRPG systems and a video game to stave off unemployed boredom), so Tyral sent me here. Nice meeting you!
February 28, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Unrelated but I'm also a game designer (currently working on some TTRPG systems and a video game to stave off unemployed boredom), so Tyral sent me here. Nice meeting you!
I'm having a ton of fun with the game, I'm really sad to see the discourse around it though. If I understand correctly, the game was in dev hell for a while, which would explain why it feels barebones at times, so I'd love to see a fully realized vision of the concept eventually.
February 28, 2025 at 3:41 AM
I'm having a ton of fun with the game, I'm really sad to see the discourse around it though. If I understand correctly, the game was in dev hell for a while, which would explain why it feels barebones at times, so I'd love to see a fully realized vision of the concept eventually.
Tech companies are trying the "they'll get tired of complaining about it eventually" approach to force AI integration on us. It's also a way to attract investors, right now there's a lot of money being spent on empty promises about AI, so they want a piece of that pie.
January 11, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Tech companies are trying the "they'll get tired of complaining about it eventually" approach to force AI integration on us. It's also a way to attract investors, right now there's a lot of money being spent on empty promises about AI, so they want a piece of that pie.
Thankfully it seems like the Trump cult will be reluctant to rally behind anyone other than Dear Leader, so there's a chance the in-fighting will cause them serious issues at that point.
Now if only the Democrats were smart enough to capitalize on that... One can dream.
Now if only the Democrats were smart enough to capitalize on that... One can dream.
January 11, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Thankfully it seems like the Trump cult will be reluctant to rally behind anyone other than Dear Leader, so there's a chance the in-fighting will cause them serious issues at that point.
Now if only the Democrats were smart enough to capitalize on that... One can dream.
Now if only the Democrats were smart enough to capitalize on that... One can dream.
So it's the last option, then. Thanks for confirming.
December 15, 2024 at 6:20 PM
So it's the last option, then. Thanks for confirming.
Shouldn't someone who views genocide as a deal breaker do everything in their power to make sure said genocide doesn't get even worse? Shouldn't someone who oppose genocide pick for themselves the enemy that will be easiest to defeat? Or does it matter more to be able to claim moral superiority?
December 15, 2024 at 6:17 PM
Shouldn't someone who views genocide as a deal breaker do everything in their power to make sure said genocide doesn't get even worse? Shouldn't someone who oppose genocide pick for themselves the enemy that will be easiest to defeat? Or does it matter more to be able to claim moral superiority?
Layoffs also bring stock prices back up when they go down because the game that took 10 years and cost a 300 million to make doesn't make its budget back on the first weekend. It's not necessarily that they can't afford the flops and keep people employed, they just want to protect stock prices.
December 13, 2024 at 11:48 PM
Layoffs also bring stock prices back up when they go down because the game that took 10 years and cost a 300 million to make doesn't make its budget back on the first weekend. It's not necessarily that they can't afford the flops and keep people employed, they just want to protect stock prices.
Depending on the type of game, local multiplayer can sometimes be added without being too big of an investment, but online stuff will make it all way more complicated.
December 11, 2024 at 10:22 PM
Depending on the type of game, local multiplayer can sometimes be added without being too big of an investment, but online stuff will make it all way more complicated.
Yeah, sometimes I'm just in the mood to get on that grind for a bit.
December 11, 2024 at 2:57 AM
Yeah, sometimes I'm just in the mood to get on that grind for a bit.
I can agree with this, but in that case it's important to properly highlight the "intended way" to play. If you expect players to spread stats points around as they level, as an example, it's fine to also let players do a single-stat run, but the game needs to make it clear it will be a challenge.
December 10, 2024 at 8:37 PM
I can agree with this, but in that case it's important to properly highlight the "intended way" to play. If you expect players to spread stats points around as they level, as an example, it's fine to also let players do a single-stat run, but the game needs to make it clear it will be a challenge.
Not taking the time to figure out what makes an option worse than the rest and fixing it is a decision, especially when talking about live-service games that keep getting updates and revisions. I won't besmirch a small game for unintentional stinkers, but in bigger games it's a choice being made.
December 10, 2024 at 8:34 PM
Not taking the time to figure out what makes an option worse than the rest and fixing it is a decision, especially when talking about live-service games that keep getting updates and revisions. I won't besmirch a small game for unintentional stinkers, but in bigger games it's a choice being made.
Nothing like opening a list of options, seeing a thousand of them, and going "damn, I have that many opportunities to fuck up my build?"
December 10, 2024 at 8:22 PM
Nothing like opening a list of options, seeing a thousand of them, and going "damn, I have that many opportunities to fuck up my build?"
... number without putting stuff in that just serves as filler, but I'd rather make a game with 100 viable options than 100 viable ones and 300 stinkers that are just there to make the game look bigger than it is. And even then, most of those 300 would be fixable, would just take a while to do so.
December 10, 2024 at 8:18 PM
... number without putting stuff in that just serves as filler, but I'd rather make a game with 100 viable options than 100 viable ones and 300 stinkers that are just there to make the game look bigger than it is. And even then, most of those 300 would be fixable, would just take a while to do so.
You don't actually need some of the options to be stinkers. That's a design choice being made that's not necessary at all, and one that, in my experience as a game designer, is not that hard to fix. Sure, I never had to create a list of 400 player options and I might struggle with reaching that...
December 10, 2024 at 8:18 PM
You don't actually need some of the options to be stinkers. That's a design choice being made that's not necessary at all, and one that, in my experience as a game designer, is not that hard to fix. Sure, I never had to create a list of 400 player options and I might struggle with reaching that...
That's something that bothers me with a lot of games and one of the challenges I want to tackle as a game designer. I've been working on a tabletop RPG for a while now which is designed so that all builds will be around as effective as all other builds. Just gotta bring that into a video game now.
December 10, 2024 at 8:11 PM
That's something that bothers me with a lot of games and one of the challenges I want to tackle as a game designer. I've been working on a tabletop RPG for a while now which is designed so that all builds will be around as effective as all other builds. Just gotta bring that into a video game now.
Sometimes I'm just in the mood for a game that has a lot of low-quality quantity. It's an itch that Skyrim scratches sometimes.
While I don't think the game aged well, I acknowledge that it's a great game which innovated on open-world design and paved the way for many arguably greater games.
While I don't think the game aged well, I acknowledge that it's a great game which innovated on open-world design and paved the way for many arguably greater games.
December 7, 2024 at 11:28 PM
Sometimes I'm just in the mood for a game that has a lot of low-quality quantity. It's an itch that Skyrim scratches sometimes.
While I don't think the game aged well, I acknowledge that it's a great game which innovated on open-world design and paved the way for many arguably greater games.
While I don't think the game aged well, I acknowledge that it's a great game which innovated on open-world design and paved the way for many arguably greater games.
Okay, I understand where you're coming for better with that example. I can see how frustrating that would be.
What about something like, say, a female NPC (maybe a shopkeeper or craftswoman) who mentions she has a wife in a video game? Is that considered bad representation?
What about something like, say, a female NPC (maybe a shopkeeper or craftswoman) who mentions she has a wife in a video game? Is that considered bad representation?
December 7, 2024 at 11:16 PM
Okay, I understand where you're coming for better with that example. I can see how frustrating that would be.
What about something like, say, a female NPC (maybe a shopkeeper or craftswoman) who mentions she has a wife in a video game? Is that considered bad representation?
What about something like, say, a female NPC (maybe a shopkeeper or craftswoman) who mentions she has a wife in a video game? Is that considered bad representation?
Game was a flop, studio put a new team on it and tasked them with fixing it, new team decided to reboot the whole thing, servers went down when the moon exploded and a big bad dragon caused the Calamity, and the new version came out taking place 5 years later with fixed content.
December 6, 2024 at 11:03 PM
Game was a flop, studio put a new team on it and tasked them with fixing it, new team decided to reboot the whole thing, servers went down when the moon exploded and a big bad dragon caused the Calamity, and the new version came out taking place 5 years later with fixed content.
I'd also like for those games to receive a final update that disables multiplayer-only content but leaves the rest accessible. Even if the only thing left to do is to walk around the dead world when we feel nostalgic, it'd still be an improvement over what we have now.
December 6, 2024 at 11:01 PM
I'd also like for those games to receive a final update that disables multiplayer-only content but leaves the rest accessible. Even if the only thing left to do is to walk around the dead world when we feel nostalgic, it'd still be an improvement over what we have now.
I'd like to ask this: why is it okay for characters to "just be straight", but when characters happen to "just be gay" it's "trying to get the token lesbian audience"? Why is that scrutiny only ever applied to minority groups? Why do they have to justify their presence in media to you?
December 6, 2024 at 10:47 PM
I'd like to ask this: why is it okay for characters to "just be straight", but when characters happen to "just be gay" it's "trying to get the token lesbian audience"? Why is that scrutiny only ever applied to minority groups? Why do they have to justify their presence in media to you?
I've been out of work for a year. Only upside (if we can call it that) is that even the AAA studios I tried to sell my soul to said they didn't want it.
December 6, 2024 at 10:42 PM
I've been out of work for a year. Only upside (if we can call it that) is that even the AAA studios I tried to sell my soul to said they didn't want it.
Yeah, I have a friend who replaced "I'll Google it" to "I'll ask GPT" in his vocabulary. Kinda sad because he's learning to code, and programming languages have documentation, and GPT sucks at programming, and he's asking it instead of reading the doc, but I couldn't convince him to do it right.
December 5, 2024 at 1:38 AM
Yeah, I have a friend who replaced "I'll Google it" to "I'll ask GPT" in his vocabulary. Kinda sad because he's learning to code, and programming languages have documentation, and GPT sucks at programming, and he's asking it instead of reading the doc, but I couldn't convince him to do it right.
I'm down to team up with people to get a game going. I have solo projects right now so at least I have experience with some things.
December 4, 2024 at 3:09 AM
I'm down to team up with people to get a game going. I have solo projects right now so at least I have experience with some things.