Fred Z.

Responsive Storytelling An artform with an old history, and old techniques that are ripe for rediscovery

What does a bard in a tavern have in common with an early access gamedev? They know how to read the room.

I’ve seen the same on Facebook, and it’s infuriating. Adding a link to give a source in a discussion often gets your post auto-hidden, so people are just backing up their claims with screenshots of browsers, and it’s atrocious. Just supercharging the spread of misinformed nonsense.

Gateway

Delighted to hear @shutupshow.bsky.social reminisce about Amalur's "beautiful neon fantasy colors"! Always a pleasure to hear it fondly remembered.

If you liked it too, check out the now-funding board game featuring @seanandrewmurray.bsky.social, Amalur's lead concept artist!

www.cityofgateway.com

Player Investment: Break It Your Way Be willing to sacrifice tone for something unexpected and wonderful

Players love breaking your game, and it takes a brave designer to let them. The results can be horrible — and greater than you can imagine.

Roast sweet potatoes, garlic, and onions sprinkled with feta and creamy lingonberry sauce. Add in some fried eggs or marinated tofu if you want extra protein.

I’ve seen this trend at game studios when managers run them into the ground (like my experience with Curt Schilling at 38 Studios): they disappear from employees’ view for weeks and only send a stiff farewell letter. Probably because they can’t bear to meet the eyes of the people they screwed over.

NSA detected phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff

Is anybody ever gonna take a step back and realize the "Russia Russia Russia" people — derided as lunatic wine moms — were actually underplaying the foreign influence stuff, and the loud people who kept insisting it was all fake are now saying Jeffrey Epstein was kind of a cool guy?

Emergent Narratives: Finding Ghosts in the Machine Finding the stories that show up between the rules

How a simple walk with Dad took a bloody turn in Fallout 3 — and what it takes to make unexpected story moments in games, both from the designer and the player.

this is such weak baby behavior. just say whistles should be illegal because fuck you, that's why. trying to justify this by whining that your big brains can't handle loud noises is coward shit

Crowd is massive, now overflowing Congress Plaza and taking up a block-long stretch of Michigan Avenue.

Reminder: this event was only announced yesterday.

The Trade-Offs of Interactive Media What game writers give up, all in hopes of reaching a deeper connection

Interactive media requires writers to give up some control to the player. But why would a writer want to do that in the first place? And what does it require from the players who take that extra agency?

Only help I’ve found is to channel it into art/writing.

Any ideas how the format could be changed to avoid toxicity, or at least minimize it? A different reward incentive other than "provoking engagement" seems like one. Maybe removing anonymity? Limited posts or responses per day? (lots come with their own drawbacks, of course)

Do the Work The bones of a game, AI slop, and how an idea becomes reality

Game design, bones, and AI slop. Why it’s troubling when a studio head says they’re using AI “but it won’t be in the final game.”

(with thanks to @unburntwitch.com for inspiring me to write this, and to @jasonschreier.bsky.social for the original interview)

The Job Hunt: Design Tests How to take them, how to make them, and what good they serve

Oh hey, I got that same design test from them last year. Killed myself doing it in a week, then didn’t back for months until they unceremoniously dumped the application.

So bad it prompted me to write about how poorly design tests are used in hiring:

fredzed.substack.com/p/the-job-hu...