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The Seven Starting Questions

September 3rd, 2007 · Comments Off on The Seven Starting Questions · Design

From Game, Set, Watch I see that Warren Spector has a design blog now. His latest post has the Seven Questions that, in his mind, can help a designer decide whether or not to even bother with the next step. 1. What are we trying to do? What’s the core idea? 2. What’s the potential? […]

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Developer Interview: Martin Campion

September 1st, 2007 · 14 Comments · Education, History, Interview

A few months ago I wrote about a strategy game from the distant past, Medieval Lords: Soldier Kings of Europe. The game’s developer, Martin Campion, stumbled upon the entry and commented. He graciously agreed to answer a few questions on his experiences developing simulation games. Though Campion has been away from the computer game business […]

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Application Overload

August 31st, 2007 · 4 Comments · Design, Me

Another tech entry, but there is a connection to game design so bear with me. A couple of months ago I succumbed to Facebook pressure. Some old friends from college were using it to stay connected and they wanted me to be part of the fun. I signed on, and before I knew it I […]

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There Are Prizes For Games Writers?

August 31st, 2007 · Comments Off on There Are Prizes For Games Writers? · Awards, Media

Apparently the UK has a Games Media Award. The finalists can be found here. The blog and podcast nominees are international (which PC Gamer podcast are they talking about?) but the writers and print publications are all Brits. And, in a very British way, the awards will be presented in a bar. It is odd […]

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The Best Extension Ever

August 29th, 2007 · 5 Comments · Me

I’m not a technology evangelist of any sort. I use things that work well and let me do the things that I like to do. I’m really a terrible fanboy. But if you do any sort of research or writing, then this extension should persuade you of the virtues of Firefox. Zotero lets you create […]

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PCGUK on Empire: Total War

August 28th, 2007 · 6 Comments · Creative Assembly, Preview

The PCGamer UK preview of the upcoming Empire: Total War is online, courtesy of Tim Edwards. Here are the highlights. Formations are the new rock-paper-scissors of warfare. It’s all about arranging men in such a way as to present the most possible muskets at the line of enemy advance. “A square of men beats a […]

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