Ross Marabella

I'm always slightly amused when game design discussions get heated, because it betrays a perception gap between What We Do (incredibly difficult technical art) and What We Offer (entertainment). For example, how long did your team spend on fine-tuning the animation design and player feel of hero movement? How many rigorous debates were had over the balance of animation expressiveness versus input responsiveness, and how that weaves into the overall user experience and product promise? Add those hours up, and multiply by the emotional intensity of said conversations. Now compare the size of your playerbase to that of a game where you click a banana. (spoiler: your game has less players 😅 ) Maybe you're overthinking it. Maybe most of us are! Embrace the jank. 🍌 Have a banana.

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Creating games is very difficult. And building games is challenging. The process of build requires to compile the code and all the data required in the game in a specific sequence involving many dependencies. As such monitoring the outcome is essential, but not sufficent. What if we were able to predict the outcome of a build ? What if we were able to decrease the required computing resources while increasing our iteration capability ? #Ubisoft #Ubisoftlaforge #innovation

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Do you want to level up your game dev team? Do you want to learn some of the magic that makes some of the greatest games? Alex's course is a great place to start. And if you have designers on staff you think would benefit, I highly recommend this bootcamp. #bootcap #gamedesign

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👶 Game producers = great parents… ? 🎮 Problem-Solving: Working with different partners/audiences with varying comm methods. 💬 Empathy/Sympathy: Seeing the world through other viewpoints. Interpreting signals! 🧘‍♂️ Stress Management: Resilience in the face of constant pivots & uncertainty… Are you a creating clarity or chaos when having to clean 💩? 📅 Organization: Scheduling routines and adjusting when your plan goes south. Have a mitigation? That helps! Game production = solid parenting prep! 🌟👾🍼 #parenting #chaos💩 #empathy

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At Uncapped Games I'm helping to develop my favorite game I've ever worked on professionally by far... and surprisingly it's an RTS. This is surprising because I (unlike nearly the whole team who are RTS powerhouses), have basically no RTS experience at all. Fire up Super Smash Bros and I may have a shot to impress, but RTS has been a huge - and fun - mental shift for me! ...and somehow, I've gotten pretty good! (At our game at least 😅). Very excitingly, we're on the schedule to say more about our game at SGF ( https://lnkd.in/e5uDTwZp ) in June, but now, kicking things off so to speak, we've put out a really cool documentary that explains some of our philosophies, hopes, and goals. If you're an RTS nerd - or just curious to learn more, check it out: https://lnkd.in/eQpxP3WZ

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There's no single right approach to a feature or a game. I learned this lesson early on at Playrix. Years ago, I reviewed a new feature prototype for Fishdom. It was complex, experimental, and heavily inspired by another game. After playing, I felt the prototype missed the mark. The feature didn't evoke the desired emotions like its reference. So, I prepared detailed feedback: • Pointed out the flaws and differences • Suggested changes to align it closer to the reference I was confident my feedback was perfect. I thought I found the only "right answer," as if it was a math equation. Later on, my mentor looked at my feedback and said: 💬 "Anton, your feedback boils down to remaking everything from scratch to get closer to the initial reference. While that may be valid, did you consider finding something that works well and could be developed in a new direction, even if it’s not like the reference?" 💬 I was stunned. I hadn't considered another way except following the reference. And in the end, the team indeed found a different path for the feature. Since then, I've always reminded myself: There are always multiple paths to solve the problem. None are absolutely right or wrong.

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This Rift Wizard descendent has me. I'm enamored with its scope, which seems to break down into... • Trigger-based RPG buildcraft (90%) • Roguelike progression loop (6%) • Literary dark-fantasy lore (3%) • Everything else that makes a video game (1%) This solo-dev delivered excellence in precisely the parts of these games that I love by absolutely punting art, animation, sound, and I bet by consequence a ton of engineering. It's a lesson in focus—a demonstration of what scope-creep costs the projects we never finish or which ship cluttered or underbaked. If those ratios above even approximate your priorities, this indie title is worth way more than the chump-change it's asking for.

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I like sharing the good news about the video game industry (because I know many people have been burned by working through it). Although, as a whole, the industry is expected to continue growing year after year. What do you think this means? The concept of diversity becomes the inevitable truth. Growth encompasses variety and innovation, bringing a richer palette of stories and experiences. This transformation is driven by a new wave of creators who are not just making games but also crafting cultural bridges. A fantastic example is the upcoming game 'Rooster', which celebrates Asian heritage in a deeply authentic way. The team behind Rooster has a shared vision of representing this culture through fun and accessible gameplay experiences, which aligns beautifully with broader industry trends toward inclusivity and representation. It seems like they love what they do to boot! If there was a clear path to surviving the video game market while also enriching the social impact of gaming, IMO, it would be to get behind and champion these vital initiatives. #diversity #equity #inclusivity #asianheritage #rooster

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Wise words from a wise man. If you're looking to start up a studio, check this out

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4 years ago I started an animation and game development studio called Future House Studios. We've delivered content for Hasbro, Marvel, Disney, and many more. Here's what I learned: (I hereby evoke the power of LinkedIn emoji checkbox lists!!!!!!) ✅ Quality work -- both technical and artistic -- is the lifeblood of the company. Deliver a great product. ✅ You have to know when to say "yes" and when to say "no." You can "yes" an organization all the way into oblivion. ✅ You have to hire talent that is self-driven to solve technical challenges, make amazing art, and manage their own work output. You can teach some skills, but you can't teach drive. ✅ Some people will row hard, and others will sit in the boat waiting for others to row them. Identify who is who as quick as you can, because your clients will notice when someone is not rowing. ✅ Save for a rainy day. ✅ Build the best team you can. Everyday, I'm glad I get to work with problem solvers that can build almost anything in games, tv, film, and themed entertainment. Here's to 4 more years! And then 40 more! Future House Studios #animationstudio #gamedevelopment #vfx #tv #film #mobilegames

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The level I created during a level design art test for my Portfolio pipeline module.

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In this video I help another student of art out with thinking differently about his thumbnails, adding emphasis that going back and forth, changing things around is exactly the point. Share it with someone you think it could help! #feedback #arthelp #coach https://lnkd.in/dvCtzMcc

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2nd Book Progress – Be so good they can’t ignore you   This week has been great. I have been fleshing out my other significant character in the development team: an ambitious Senior Level Designer from Italy who is free-climbing in her free time. She is going to have a major story arc in the book. On her journey to becoming a team leader, she has faced several difficult problems in the past that carry over to our current project. She has a reputation of focusing mostly on herself and her own achievements. She is very controlling and wants to get into higher positions for the privilege and power they offer. This is also the main reason why her former team leaders had kept holding back on giving her more responsibilities, especially with regard to leading other team members. Naturally, this made Simone feel somewhat bitter to the point where she feels the company owes her a promotion. At this stage she joins project leader Angelo and his team to lead the level design department there. This is a great opportunity for her, and with Angelo’s guidance, she starts to thrive. A few key things he tells her are that your leaders need to understand what kind of leader you would be if they were to give you this chance. Therefore: 1️⃣ Focus on others and elevate your team members over your own achievements. 2️⃣ Lead before you officially are a leader. 3️⃣ Do remarkable things for the project. 4️⃣ Be so good they can’t ignore you. Once she internalizes these points, she starts changing her behavior and immediately sees success and recognition from the team. When the pandemic hits she really begins to shine. Her wits and adaptability ensure a great working environment despite the new challenges of working from home. She even surpasses Angelo in making sure everyone feels valued, cared for, and able to perform at peak efficiency. This, truth be told, is the best compliment you can get as a leader. When someone in your team becomes better than you.   #gamedesignimpossible #writing #gamedevelopment #gamedesign

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Having a blast with the new #UE5 experimental Slate Post Buffer for #UMG in 5.4 https://lnkd.in/gAYH3xUa Charles-Etienne Gouin was asking for a tutorial on Retainer Box Material Effects in Unreal, and this is the same concept but includes the Game Scene! Most of the effects in the little video breakdown can be applied to a retainer box material as well, except for blur. The example is designed evoke the use a dream like sequence to both blur + distort the UI and game scene. There's a video breakdown here and more effects like background blurs, chromatic aberration, pixelation, etc... https://lnkd.in/gQswnTVf

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One phrase that keeps coming up from big game publishers when trying to justify their layoffs and cuts is this, "the market is oversaturated." They're intelligent enough to identify that fact and blame it on enhancements to technology and accessibility, but they don't appear to have been intelligent enough to acknowledge that their habitual hiring/firing practices have contributed directly to the market's oversaturation that is now harming their growth. I can almost guarantee that every one of you reading this knows multiple people who have started their own indie studios, joined an indie studio, or become solo developers following the disillusionment they experienced due to the current widespread job insecurity in AAA games. These companies have identified the problem while simultaneously contributing to the problem, because the ability to think in terms of short-term financial gains does not equate to the ability to think in terms of human behavior. Unless employment in AAA becomes truly equitable - and I'm talking about what will take years of shows good faith, of creating and maintaining steady full time employment for everyone across the board (that means doing away with a lot of temporary contract work), that means no more leaving the creators out to dry - the future of games will belong to Indie developers. There will at some point be a decisive shift in power if there is not active, intentional, and equitable change made by the people in positions of power. I'm not saying this with hope that the indie devs will win out above AAA. Not at all. I want both to thrive, and to everything there must be a balance. I've been far more enmeshed within and therefore very hopeful about the future of AAA games throughout my career, and I still dream of a world in which AAA game devs on every rung of the ladder have steady and unshakable lifelong employment within that world. It IS possible, and it HAS been possible. But as long as greed is at the wheel, that dream will not become a reality outside of independent studios. And that's just the truth of it. What can you do? In whatever capacity you are able, do what you can to create a more honest, decent, and equitable world. You can do this in your company, you can do this in your personal life with the people you meet. Take every little opportunity to do something good, because every good act plants a seed. We simply haven't had enough little good acts, and that shows up in in society in big, big ways. Peace to you. -B

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When I design board games, one of the things I really value is TIME. Specifically, "downtime" when you're just sitting there waiting for your turn. It's bad enough waiting around, but it’s even worse when you’re hanging out with friends and would be committing a social faux-pas if you'd whip out your phone. Plus, any attempt at a good chat is often cut short with a “Hey, it’s your turn!” So, a few weeks ago, I decided to shake things up with a new take on the classic best-selling game "Citadels," where normally everyone picks roles from the same deck one by one, trying to guess and counteract each other’s selections. I kept asking myself, "How can we cut down the wait times?" I thought about giving everyone their own deck or maybe adding side tasks while waiting. But what really hit the mark was splitting the role selection into two parts. My idea is the following: First, everyone picks a color from their own deck (Red, Blue, Yellow, Green). Then, we take 1 out of 4 smaller decks, each tied to one of those colors and holding just a few roles. Next, you choose one of three roles inside the deck you're assigned. If more than one person shows the same color in the previous stage, they then take turns picking from that color’s mini-deck. This setup cuts down the downtime by something like 75%. The game MEGA CORPS is set in a cyberpunk sci-fi world where players are entrepreneurs building their own space corps, juggling logistics, product development, branding, and security. Super excited right now, just waiting on the first physical prototype, and we'll start playtesting in a few weeks!

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Tip for publishing consideration submission to Midwest Games... tldr - Send info through our portal (https://lnkd.in/gWtKgpuU), not through email (or LI). I get that it's a little counter-intuitive...you might think you want to put your info right in front of the sourcing decision influencers' faces. But it's actually a disadvantage - especially those of you who are agents throwing multiple titles at us at once. The submission portal goes right to our database, and that database is there for a reason: to keep an organized and consistent record of all submissions in one place. I look through there all the time. I'm reminded of titles I may have overlooked or need to go back to consider as circumstances change all the time. We rarely, if ever, make immediate decisions or even quick deep review/consideration. Our factors for consideration shift regularly. I do not review your particular email regularly, or at some point even remember you sent one. I go to the database. Connection via other channels is good. Discussion about your game over other channels is good. But having your core game info in those channels is not good. Please use the submission portal!

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For this week's article, I wrote about the different studio sizes in the industry, how they've changed over time, and why "AAA" and "Indie" have lost all meaning beyond maybe just "Big" and "Small".

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Inclusive design, as defined by Google, involves methodologies that create products accessible to people of all backgrounds and abilities. My exploration of this concept began with conversations with Women in Games deepened through insights from Jenna "Jennissary" and Améliane F. C., and expanded during a memorable podcast episode with Community Clubhouse Worldwide. This episode (coming soon!) which is community focused features an amazing panel that included the insightful Anna Wright. The benefits of adopting inclusive design are clear: it opens our games to a broader audience, enhances the user experience, and expands market reach. Yet, its implementation is not as widespread as one might expect. This realization sparked a question: Why isn't inclusive design more universally embraced within the industry? It's a question I'm keen to explore further, as we consider the vast potential that inclusivity holds for gaming. #inclusivedesign

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