Larian Studios’ Post

If you're into strategy games and follow game developments, you'll love this. Manor Lords is a strategy based PC game (city building, large scale battles etc.) and is getting a LOT of love online. Why? - because it has been (up to a point) developed by a single developer using Unreal Engine over 7 years. The game has just launched and has over 66K members on its subreddit already. The developer Gregg 'Slavic Magic' Styczeń launched a trailer of the game in 2020 originally aiming for around 14,000 wishlists on steam. Manor Lords surpassed all expectations by becoming the most wish-listed game on Steam, captivating the hearts of over 3 million gamers worldwide. For those who grew up playing classics like Age of Empires, Age of Mythology, and Sim City, Manor Lords' trailer is a visual feast that shouldn't be missed. This project serves as a fascinating case study on indie game development, showcasing the power of community engagement and community-driven product success. Cheers to innovation and passion in the gaming world!

🎉 Exciting News! 🎉 I am thrilled to announce the completion of our latest project: an online version of the classic card game UNO! 🃏✨ Over the past few months, my talented teammates and I have poured our creativity and technical skills into developing this web game. It has been a fantastic journey, and we are proud to share the results with you all. Here's what we achieved: 🔹 User-Friendly Interface: An intuitive and engaging design that ensures a smooth gaming experience for players of all ages. 🔹 Multiplayer Support: Play with friends or challenge opponents from around the world. 🔹 Responsive Design: Enjoy the game seamlessly across various devices, whether on desktop, tablet, or mobile. 🔹 Real-Time Gameplay: Fast and dynamic gameplay with real-time updates. #Teamwork #WebDevelopment #GameDevelopment #TechInnovation #ProudMoment

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!

Accessibility in game design is a huge focus for game development teams everywhere right now - and not only because it’s the right thing to do 🎮 Below, Sebastian Long, founder of user research agency Player Research, shares his expertize on designing games for accessibility and why it's a game development fundamental. Link to the full article in the comments 🔗 #gamedevelopment #accessibility #gamedesign

"Remixable Foresight Games" Game Jam starts in just over one day! Sign up on itch.io to participate. This is a great opportunity to experiment and make a game, especially if you haven't before. This game jam emphasizes building on others work to make things that are helpful to the community! "Games can be fun and powerful tools for exploring possible futures. A great way to get started with game design is to remix an existing game. The goal of this jam is to encourage folks to create new foresight games that are intended to be remixed." https://lnkd.in/gVAJiRBk

The makers of No Man's Sky will simulate a whole planet for Light No Fire UK indie studio Hello Games is building something that it's calling "more ambitious" than No Man's Sky. The studio's next game is Light No Fire, and it brings procedural generation to an entire planet on an incredibly detailed scale. Light No Fire is an open-world exploration and community-building game set on a planet the size of Earth, blending RPG elements with sandbox survival. It's a multiplayer experience in an ancient and fantastical landscape, with climbable trees, hills and mountains, and secrets to discover at every turn. It's "the first real open world," according to Hello Games co-founder Sean Murray. Light No Fire has been in development for five years, by about a dozen developers at Hello Games. In the title's first trailer, it looks like the team took an entire planet from No Man's Sky and filled it completely with life, resources and mysteries. There's no release date for Light No Fire and no confirmed platforms, and the game was kept in complete secrecy until its reveal at The Game Awards on December 7. Given Hello Games' history with over-hyped marketing schemes, that's no surprise.

As Game Developers Conference 2024 approaches, we’re taking a moment to contemplate the event's theme: game preservation 🎮 “Games deserve the same respect and preservation efforts as literature, film, and music,” said Julien Proux, Executive VP of Art. Nick Burns, Head of Quality Assurance, anticipates a resurgence of old games, especially those not yet available on PC. And of course, we had to find out which old favorites the team would love to play on new-gen platforms. Luc Blouin chose Red Faction; Benjamin Paquette 🔜GDC believes old games represent the era from which they came, and as such, rather than bring them to new platforms, it is better to make new games inspired by older ones, like Sea of Stars. For more on GDC and game preservation—and to see which old titles the rest of the team would like to see born again—read this article 👉 https://bit.ly/3TitwBE To book an in-person meeting at GDC, head to our splash page 🌟 https://bit.ly/48JTu6L #Room8Group #GDC #GamePreservation

When I started in gaming back in 1997 I jumped into the AAA end of it and watched that side of the industry evolve from scrappy 20 person teams, up to massive multiple location teams employing hundreds of people.  My roles evolved as well. Level designers often wore multiple hats being expected to build levels, script enemies, setup combat, and mission flow. I’ve even created my static models for structures I wanted in my level. As the years went on design roles got more and more specific in AAA with designers being separated into specializations. Some studios having separate roles for level designers, mission designers, combat designers, and tech designers. My tasks became more and more specific as well. Companies started hiring producers to get the titles out even faster. On Return to Castle Wolfenstein I had one task every day. “Make my level fun” we’d pitch a plan of attack and jump in. Today tasks are prioritized in JIRA, given an amount of time to complete, and another task is waiting right behind it similar to an assembly line. After 8 years at Activision, 8 years at Raven, and 8 years at Ubisoft I began to look at indie devs longingly wondering if the grass was actually greener over there. So, in 2020 I jumped the fence and started doing contract work for indie teams. The scrappy game development was somewhat back, but it came with the price of instability. Since 2020 I’ve worked at 3 different studios. In AAA it was 3 studios in 24 years. When I worked on Return to Castle Wolfenstein there was an amazing feeling of excitement and discovery as you tried to pushing things to make the game fun. You’d create something and everyone would run to your desk to see how you did that? Or you get a call to come see something amazing someone else had done. Not because they had a task to do it, but because they were free to explore. This gave us all the responsibility to make the game as good as we could make it. We’d talk to the artists to get a certain asset or to the programmers to make something do something it couldn’t. It was an incredible time that immediately hooked me to stick with this industry through thick and thin. I know currently things are looking pretty thin. Our industry is now being driven by shareholders and profit margins. My thoughts go out to those looking for work. I’m also here looking for that scrappy team with the task of making the game as fun as it can be. If you’re team feeling scrappy send me a DM. I wish our industry a bright and profitable future for all roles. Bonus content: Here is youngster me, QA tester at id Software during the final hours of Quake 3 before release. 🤣

At Disa Studio, we're on a quest to redefine the gaming experience. So, what is The Wake? **The Wake: Where Mythology Comes Alive:** In The Wake, we breathe life into the rich tapestry of Norse mythology. Step into the sagas, where gods and giants walk the earth, and embark on epic adventures inspired by ancient legends. **A New Gaming Frontier:** But we're not just retelling tales of old; we're pioneering a new genre. The Wake blends the heart-pounding excitement of battle royale with the depth of role-playing games. It's an entirely fresh and immersive gaming experience. **A Mythic Team:** Our team consists of visionaries and game development experts who have previously worked at AAA studios. With their collective experience and a deep love for Norse lore, we're creating a world that captures the essence of these timeless stories. **Immerse Yourself in Legends:** The Wake is more than a game; it's a journey into the heart of Norse mythology. Roam the realms of Yggdrasil, interact with legendary characters, and partake in quests that are not just battles but sagas waiting to be written. **Avatars of the Gods:** You'll forge your own legend, take on the mantle of a hero, and confront the trials and tribulations set by the gods themselves. The power of the divine is within your grasp. **Join the Awakening:** We're building The Wake as an invitation to all gamers, from the seasoned veterans to the greenest of novices. Dive into the depths of Norse legends and emerge as a true hero. So, what is The Wake? It's a journey into the heart of Norse mythology, an exploration of new gaming horizons, and a grand adventure that awaits. We're redefining gaming, one saga at a time.

We all would have played video games🎮 or any puzzle games. Designers work hard to build games that are easy to learn but hard to master, carefully crafting the difficulty of each level so that we feel challenged, but never stuck. They use a trick called "early wins" to make sure we feel good at the beginning and  learn how to play. These early stages teach us the rules and tools of the game🎯, while energizing and motivating us. They also build momentum that holds our attention to the game. And guess what? this works in our real life too💡. It's like starting our day🌄 with a small success to get going. This would build momentum needed to conquer the whole day. Early wins are concrete and tangible, and they lay a foundation for the challenges ahead of each day. The easiest way to schedule an early win for ourselves everyday is ‘make your bed🛏’. Making our bed is an easy task with benefits. Within minutes of waking up we have already accomplished the first task of the day.  This creates a sense of encouragement and energizes us to do another task and another and another. It sets the tone for a productive day. So like the first levels of any video game, making our bed builds momentum for the day, momentum that we'll need to face the difficult challenges ahead as we conquer the world ❤!!