Laralyn McWilliams
@laralyn.bsky.social
Game designer and leader since 1994: Free Realms, Full Spectrum Warrior. Many awards including Lifetime Achievement. Also speaks about game dev wellness.
Tomorrow I have open heart surgery to replace my aortic valve. I have severe aortic stenosis, due to having two separate rounds of radiation: head and neck cancer in 2012 then lung cancer in 2015.
I feel like adding open heart surgery to my health journey is where it officially jumps the shark.
I feel like adding open heart surgery to my health journey is where it officially jumps the shark.
December 21, 2023 at 3:10 PM
Tomorrow I have open heart surgery to replace my aortic valve. I have severe aortic stenosis, due to having two separate rounds of radiation: head and neck cancer in 2012 then lung cancer in 2015.
I feel like adding open heart surgery to my health journey is where it officially jumps the shark.
I feel like adding open heart surgery to my health journey is where it officially jumps the shark.
Reposted by Laralyn McWilliams
There is no better pick me up for a dev than watching a video of their game, from a few months ago. It’s very easy to forget how utterly shitty your last build looked, but I promise,it looked terrible. It played even worse.
December 11, 2023 at 11:05 PM
There is no better pick me up for a dev than watching a video of their game, from a few months ago. It’s very easy to forget how utterly shitty your last build looked, but I promise,it looked terrible. It played even worse.
I was hospitalized a couple weeks ago with a ridiculously high heart rate. Just walking 10 feet made me feel faint, and my heart rate would hit 150. They discovered I have a bicuspid aortic valve (genetic anomaly) and past chest radiation caused advanced SSAS (severe symptomatic aortic stenosis).
December 8, 2023 at 8:13 PM
I was hospitalized a couple weeks ago with a ridiculously high heart rate. Just walking 10 feet made me feel faint, and my heart rate would hit 150. They discovered I have a bicuspid aortic valve (genetic anomaly) and past chest radiation caused advanced SSAS (severe symptomatic aortic stenosis).
Man, Sam Lake is living his best life tonight!
December 8, 2023 at 4:05 AM
Man, Sam Lake is living his best life tonight!
Reposted by Laralyn McWilliams
A HIGHLAND SONG
9/10 -EDGE
Out tomorrow.
Reblueys welcome.
9/10 -EDGE
Out tomorrow.
Reblueys welcome.
A Highland Song on Steam
Moira McKinnon is running away. A wild adventure through the Scottish Highlands, with open platforming and dynamic storytelling, maps and music. From the creators of Heaven's Vault and 80 Days.
store.steampowered.com
December 4, 2023 at 8:17 PM
A HIGHLAND SONG
9/10 -EDGE
Out tomorrow.
Reblueys welcome.
9/10 -EDGE
Out tomorrow.
Reblueys welcome.
One of the most challenging things to learn as a leader is how to tell your team about a change in direction or a new feature/approach with which you disagree... but it comes from higher up the food chain so your team MUST do it. It's a complex problem and one that many new leaders struggle with.
December 1, 2023 at 7:40 PM
One of the most challenging things to learn as a leader is how to tell your team about a change in direction or a new feature/approach with which you disagree... but it comes from higher up the food chain so your team MUST do it. It's a complex problem and one that many new leaders struggle with.
Reposted by Laralyn McWilliams
I am sorry, anonymous UX designer of productivity software.
I will not watch your getting started video.
I did not read you quick start guide.
I am not going to read any pop up.
I will just be mad about the controls.
I will learn nothing.
I am sorry.
I will not watch your getting started video.
I did not read you quick start guide.
I am not going to read any pop up.
I will just be mad about the controls.
I will learn nothing.
I am sorry.
December 1, 2023 at 7:04 PM
I am sorry, anonymous UX designer of productivity software.
I will not watch your getting started video.
I did not read you quick start guide.
I am not going to read any pop up.
I will just be mad about the controls.
I will learn nothing.
I am sorry.
I will not watch your getting started video.
I did not read you quick start guide.
I am not going to read any pop up.
I will just be mad about the controls.
I will learn nothing.
I am sorry.
Um... what now?
I can't really find a meaning for "...take advantage of the “demographic curve” to reduce its workforce..." than laying off all the older workers.
www.cnn.com/2023/11/27/b...
I can't really find a meaning for "...take advantage of the “demographic curve” to reduce its workforce..." than laying off all the older workers.
www.cnn.com/2023/11/27/b...
November 27, 2023 at 8:37 PM
Um... what now?
I can't really find a meaning for "...take advantage of the “demographic curve” to reduce its workforce..." than laying off all the older workers.
www.cnn.com/2023/11/27/b...
I can't really find a meaning for "...take advantage of the “demographic curve” to reduce its workforce..." than laying off all the older workers.
www.cnn.com/2023/11/27/b...
Reposted by Laralyn McWilliams
Fun fact: Did you know that if you foster a positive option of Work from Home, disabled people get a more accommodative environment tailored to their accessibility needs (their home) with zero additional investment from their employer?
November 10, 2023 at 8:43 AM
Fun fact: Did you know that if you foster a positive option of Work from Home, disabled people get a more accommodative environment tailored to their accessibility needs (their home) with zero additional investment from their employer?
Reposted by Laralyn McWilliams
Hear me out: it's time for a huge resurgence in grid-based first-person dungeon crawlers. The fans have suffered too long! There are dozens of us!
Shining in the Darkness (GEN / Climax Entertainment / 1991)
November 10, 2023 at 3:45 PM
Hear me out: it's time for a huge resurgence in grid-based first-person dungeon crawlers. The fans have suffered too long! There are dozens of us!
Reposted by Laralyn McWilliams
A thing I wish I could brain transfer over to players is just how much it takes to get something from "works" to "polished and good" and how things that seem small can actually consume days of time.
November 7, 2023 at 4:57 PM
A thing I wish I could brain transfer over to players is just how much it takes to get something from "works" to "polished and good" and how things that seem small can actually consume days of time.
All of the discourse around "never sell your IP" or "never sell your company" may not understand the pressure on third party and independent devs. It's common practice for publishers to seek reasons to withhold milestone payments to run devs out of money so they have to sell IP or the company.
October 30, 2023 at 6:17 PM
All of the discourse around "never sell your IP" or "never sell your company" may not understand the pressure on third party and independent devs. It's common practice for publishers to seek reasons to withhold milestone payments to run devs out of money so they have to sell IP or the company.
Reposted by Laralyn McWilliams
Here's a nice little design thing we did on Highland.
The game's set in the wild - and in the wild there's weather, and weather is supposed to hurt the player. So we stuck up a health bar, and it goes down in the rain unless you find shelter (as per No Man's Sky, and others.) Good design? Er, no.
The game's set in the wild - and in the wild there's weather, and weather is supposed to hurt the player. So we stuck up a health bar, and it goes down in the rain unless you find shelter (as per No Man's Sky, and others.) Good design? Er, no.
October 28, 2023 at 10:47 AM
Here's a nice little design thing we did on Highland.
The game's set in the wild - and in the wild there's weather, and weather is supposed to hurt the player. So we stuck up a health bar, and it goes down in the rain unless you find shelter (as per No Man's Sky, and others.) Good design? Er, no.
The game's set in the wild - and in the wild there's weather, and weather is supposed to hurt the player. So we stuck up a health bar, and it goes down in the rain unless you find shelter (as per No Man's Sky, and others.) Good design? Er, no.
Reposted by Laralyn McWilliams
Greetings all! Last year I published a fantasy novel, and today is its 1 year anniversary! If you think you'd enjoy a cozy fantasy story about people becoming friends, consider giving it a read! It was a hobby project so I don't really market it.
www.amazon.com/Unlikely-Flo...
www.amazon.com/Unlikely-Flo...
October 24, 2023 at 5:00 PM
Greetings all! Last year I published a fantasy novel, and today is its 1 year anniversary! If you think you'd enjoy a cozy fantasy story about people becoming friends, consider giving it a read! It was a hobby project so I don't really market it.
www.amazon.com/Unlikely-Flo...
www.amazon.com/Unlikely-Flo...
Reposted by Laralyn McWilliams
Play obscure games, small games, unsuccessful games, old games, and especially visual novels and interactive fiction.
Try to develop a critical eye towards game stories. What tools did they use? How did they structure story beats? What agency does the story give the player?
(thread continues)
Try to develop a critical eye towards game stories. What tools did they use? How did they structure story beats? What agency does the story give the player?
(thread continues)
Narrative Designers, if you were to give advice to students looking to get into video games as narrative designers, what would it be?
Please signal boost. I'm compiling this stuff and will credit you for an upcoming class. 👀
Please signal boost. I'm compiling this stuff and will credit you for an upcoming class. 👀
October 19, 2023 at 4:39 PM
Play obscure games, small games, unsuccessful games, old games, and especially visual novels and interactive fiction.
Try to develop a critical eye towards game stories. What tools did they use? How did they structure story beats? What agency does the story give the player?
(thread continues)
Try to develop a critical eye towards game stories. What tools did they use? How did they structure story beats? What agency does the story give the player?
(thread continues)
Reposted by Laralyn McWilliams
Huge news for ink users and those interested in trying it out!
UK developers the Chinese Room have just open sourced their Unreal Engine integration of the ink engine, that allows ink to be used in Blueprints.
UK developers the Chinese Room have just open sourced their Unreal Engine integration of the ink engine, that allows ink to be used in Blueprints.
The Chinese Room
The Chinese Room has 2 repositories available. Follow their code on GitHub.
github.com
October 18, 2023 at 12:25 PM
Huge news for ink users and those interested in trying it out!
UK developers the Chinese Room have just open sourced their Unreal Engine integration of the ink engine, that allows ink to be used in Blueprints.
UK developers the Chinese Room have just open sourced their Unreal Engine integration of the ink engine, that allows ink to be used in Blueprints.
I’m fascinated and amused by the conventions we’ve developed in games, like how to handle extended dialogue sequences without using a cutscene.
“Walk with me,” the NPC says. Here comes lots of dialogue!
“We’ll take the elevator.” Lots of dialogue!
“Get on the train.” More dialogue!
“Walk with me,” the NPC says. Here comes lots of dialogue!
“We’ll take the elevator.” Lots of dialogue!
“Get on the train.” More dialogue!
October 11, 2023 at 4:10 PM
I’m fascinated and amused by the conventions we’ve developed in games, like how to handle extended dialogue sequences without using a cutscene.
“Walk with me,” the NPC says. Here comes lots of dialogue!
“We’ll take the elevator.” Lots of dialogue!
“Get on the train.” More dialogue!
“Walk with me,” the NPC says. Here comes lots of dialogue!
“We’ll take the elevator.” Lots of dialogue!
“Get on the train.” More dialogue!
Reposted by Laralyn McWilliams
One thing that I wish people knew about videogames is that the people creating the videogame & who have a good sense of the pillars of the videogame are actually oftentimes completely ignored by the people doing the marketing and advertising for that videogame, to the extent that it’s a shock to us
October 8, 2023 at 7:38 AM
One thing that I wish people knew about videogames is that the people creating the videogame & who have a good sense of the pillars of the videogame are actually oftentimes completely ignored by the people doing the marketing and advertising for that videogame, to the extent that it’s a shock to us
I’d only been a pro game dev for four years, at this point. My first game had been cancelled and I’d just closed my company too. I was hired by a company in Ann Arbor that made kid’s games as a senior producer. It was the first of 10 times I’d move for game jobs in my career.
In 1999, PC Gamer rounded up "the world's 25 greatest gamemakers" for a photoshoot. Notably, Roberta Williams (designer of the King's Quest series) was the only woman featured.
October 8, 2023 at 1:43 PM
I’d only been a pro game dev for four years, at this point. My first game had been cancelled and I’d just closed my company too. I was hired by a company in Ann Arbor that made kid’s games as a senior producer. It was the first of 10 times I’d move for game jobs in my career.
Constraints are a designer's best friend.
When they first come up, they usually feel like burdens. We rarely impose them on ourselves, and when we do (often via helpful frameworks like design pillars), they feel flexible in a way eternally-imposed constraints rarely do.
When they first come up, they usually feel like burdens. We rarely impose them on ourselves, and when we do (often via helpful frameworks like design pillars), they feel flexible in a way eternally-imposed constraints rarely do.
October 7, 2023 at 5:55 PM
Constraints are a designer's best friend.
When they first come up, they usually feel like burdens. We rarely impose them on ourselves, and when we do (often via helpful frameworks like design pillars), they feel flexible in a way eternally-imposed constraints rarely do.
When they first come up, they usually feel like burdens. We rarely impose them on ourselves, and when we do (often via helpful frameworks like design pillars), they feel flexible in a way eternally-imposed constraints rarely do.
Reposted by Laralyn McWilliams
Was doing a last minute refactor of some conversation logic for Highland and realised a quirk of inkle games which I think is (possibly?) unique to us - at any rate, I think it’s rare because the tooling required is Not A Tree - and that’s mixing reaction and redirection
October 6, 2023 at 3:08 PM
Was doing a last minute refactor of some conversation logic for Highland and realised a quirk of inkle games which I think is (possibly?) unique to us - at any rate, I think it’s rare because the tooling required is Not A Tree - and that’s mixing reaction and redirection
Reposted by Laralyn McWilliams
i hate when video games advertise “your choices matter” as a feature. my choices matter in real life and it’s nothing but trouble. i’ve had enough
October 4, 2023 at 4:04 PM
i hate when video games advertise “your choices matter” as a feature. my choices matter in real life and it’s nothing but trouble. i’ve had enough
Just had a memory of how excited I was at the start of every school year. New school supplies and the year’s books were always a high point, but I was especially thrilled in elementary school by the colorful, fill-in workbooks. My mom had to stop me from doing them all before school even started!
October 5, 2023 at 10:09 PM
Just had a memory of how excited I was at the start of every school year. New school supplies and the year’s books were always a high point, but I was especially thrilled in elementary school by the colorful, fill-in workbooks. My mom had to stop me from doing them all before school even started!
It’s funny how sometimes potentially very bad things don’t really hit you until a while after an incident. I was just struck today with “wow that could have been bad” about having a serious primary immune deficiency and an infection resistant to all first-line treatments.
September 27, 2023 at 10:21 PM
It’s funny how sometimes potentially very bad things don’t really hit you until a while after an incident. I was just struck today with “wow that could have been bad” about having a serious primary immune deficiency and an infection resistant to all first-line treatments.