Thrik

The limit will be... your imagination.

Here's a twist I suspected but it's good to see confirmation: after a certain period of time the overlord can be overthrown. http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2013/05/godus-curiosity-molyneux/ Thus he has an incentive to not be a dick: he loses not only his power but also his royalties. Now that's what you call real consequences of dying in a game. I love Molyneux.

Haha that video was brilliant. I'm intrigued by this and will probably back it just because the setting interests me and it's Double Fine. Never really played turn-based games before so I might enjoy.

Please kill this industry. Why Thatgamecompany nearly fell apart after releasing Journey – and what’s next for the studio

It seems like a good step would be figuring out something that you enjoy doing. The best jobs are the ones that are in some ways an extension of your hobbies. I spent most of my teenage years working on fan sites like Mixnmojo, gaming blogs/news sites of my own making, and a game development forum. That led to me getting good at building and designing websites, which ended up being my job for five years. That led to me becoming a more general UI developer/architect a year ago. I could feasibly go into game UI from here if I really wanted to. Important things to note about my progression: I largely went to college so I had something to focus on while building my web design skills Going to college did a tremendous amount for my social life and general development as a functional human Most of what led to me getting a web design job I learnt outside of college For two years my salary was genuinely, truly shit and this is probably inescapable unless you're very lucky So I guess the main point I'm getting at is this: spend a few years developing some skill that you'd love to have, whether it be producing 3D environments, programming games, or designing/engineering audio (using game examples here). Aim to do this in your free time. If you can do a course that perfectly complements that then do so, if you can do one that somewhat complements it that's cool too. It all feeds into giving you a more rounded perspective. I did a multimedia course which wasn't directly related to web design but many of the things I learnt were transferable.

Nice Gamasutra article about the man we all love. Curiosity and the Church of Molyneux

God I suck. I've been in my new flat for a month now and my computer room consists of some unopened IKEA boxes and my hardware thrown on the floor.

I think now that the PS4 and XBone are starting to become within grasp, the hopelessness of the Wii U is becoming increasingly apparent. I truly believe that the console would be totally viable if it had been kitted out with hardware suited to running the kind of games that will define the next generation. Instead it's destined to become a console that plays a small portion of current-gen games plus whatever Nintendo decides to release for it. Speaking of which, never mind third-party support — where's the fucking first-party support? Where are the games Nintendo fans like myself justify buying their consoles for? But anyway, I can't see the Wii U's situation ever improving in terms of becoming a proper member of the next generation. I'm sure eventually it'll be a worthwhile purchase purely for Nintendo's first-party classics which'll hopefully eventually turn up, but there's no way it's going to be any more relevant than the Wii in terms of supporting all the third-party stuff PlayStation and Xbox owners will be enjoying. It pisses me off that Nintendo had a chance to completely re-establish their credibility in terms of catering to non-casual gamers, but completely scuppered it with the bizarre decision to target a performance level equivalent to the Xbox 360 which game out 7.5 years ago. No matter which way you frame it, that was a foolish decision destined to fail. So, the future? Well, the Wii U is selling like shit and it's looking unlikely that Nintendo will ever sell their initial stock — never mind future supplies. This is an Atari video game burial type fiasco. I think Nintendo's going to use their early start as a get-out clause and announce something else within two years that's a more credible next-gen console and try to retcon the Wii U as an extension of the last generation, dumping the Wii moniker entirely. I just can't see any universe in which the Wii U will be Nintendo's main focus for even half of the next generation (that'll be around 2017).

I can see why they were put off after doing the Woodtick soundtrack. That was a particularly sophisticated system, probably overkill. Much of the rest of the game and The Curse of Monkey Island used a more simple 'fade between variations of the same music' approach and I can't say it was any less effective. The way the Rollercoaster of Death music was implemented was a particularly standout moment for me, even though it was relatively primitive compared to the Woodtick music.

I think the difference between those of us who are happy with the end result and those who aren't is the fact that some of us learnt many years ago that whatever Molyneux says, you should temper your expectations by a factor of 10. Anyone who was expecting some kind of deeply philosophical life-changing experience that would make them see the world with new eyes is a nutcase. He's a British game developer, not Morgan Freeman. His prize is highly appropriate considering his professional experience (pioneering god games) and the audience playing Curiosity (Molyneux and/or gaming fans).

What you thought of it even before mighty prophet of untold power Dan in December?! Impossible!

Can you imagine how hilariously this would have played out if the winner had been some 10-year-old?

Oh I'm not expecting him to have any kind of micro control over things, but I would like to think that Molyneux and his cronies can come up with an interesting way of giving this 'commander' role so to speak abilities that make him feel awesome while also giving players that feedback that someone is up there having an affect on their game even if it's mostly superficial. Obviously the game has to be capable of being great without his involvement, he's not going to be sat there manipulating things all the time. He might not even like the game, who knows. But hopefully whatever controls he has are at the very least interesting and a cool way of showing that is in the game. It is interesting to note that Molyneux specifically referred to this guy earning money until the end of his reign. A possible implication that this guy might only get to be the kingpin god for so long before it goes to someone else? Or maybe he gets to decide when his reign is over and can select a replacement.

Agreed. Molyneux should make some art show or something.

All right, I'm happy with that. Pretty cute idea, the winner gets a nice bit of monetary compensation, and it could have some really interesting gameplay implications for the rest of us (Godus is definitely a game I'm looking forward to anyway). It's also kind of nice how the prize is tied into the god game genre that is so dear to Molyneux.

shitting hell

I bet Molyneux is wetting himself with excitement. I really hope the winner isn't bitterly disappointed, ruining Molyneux's life forever.

OK they've said on Twatter they have him on the phone. Splendid.

Haha, I'm loving Peter Molydeux's piss-taking on Twitter. First saying that it was some kid who got the prize and didn't realise, simply closing the game. And then that it was this: Funny, but also brings up a pretty depressing possibility: that the winner might have not even realised they won, or suffered some glitch that caused them to not see the prize (sync issues or something), or something like that. I hope they put something into place to verify someone actually acknowledged and experienced whatever it was.

I'm certain that I played some stealth game where the music gets more intense as an enemy approaches you (or vice versa). It was a subtle but extremely effective nuance, yet I can't remember which game it was. It might have been Dishonored? That kind of thing is absolutely brilliant, more games should build up a crescendo as you work towards something rather than just switching between 'quiet' and 'alert' variations like most games do. Of course even that is skipped by some games. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a great example of how to handle different states well, though. It nails building up the music and dropping it down depending on whether you're taking things in an action-packed or stealthy way, and there're also lots of nice distortion effects used. For example, when in certain rooms the volume of the music will lower and/or become a more bassy rumble. Subtle but has an effect on tension and immersion in general.

New Super Mario Bros does that last one. I find the noise really annoying though.

It's only the overworld that has that music, although I can't really imagine how using an existing tune would make it any easier to play around with than writing an original one. For sure though, Banjo has excellent music in all ways.

Yes. While not such a concern for me now, it was only a month ago that I was on ~8mb/s like most of the UK. Downloading games (and sometimes even patches/DLC) was tedious, and it's only going to get worse now that both next-gen consoles will be capable of holding 50GB per disc — and will likely use it.

Haha the Reggie flash just makes it perfect.

Once per day is definitely too strict. I can and have gone for weeks without internet connections on numerous occasions, for example when moving home or when switching provider. During those periods it's even more vital than ever that I have a games console on hand to combat the immense stresses of being without online connectivity. I'm sure for most people it'll very rarely be a concern, but it's when it does become a problem for someone it's likely to become a real problem. I know a few people (including my other half) who don't actually have internet connections at home because the monthly bill is a bit much — they do all their web browsing through their phones' 3G instead. Yet these same people happily enjoy gaming during their free time at home, something they'll not be able to do with the Xbox One by the looks of it.