Daniel Cook

Chief Creative Officer: http://Spryfox.com Blog: http://www.lostgarden.com . Game Design: Triple Town, Alphabear, Beartopia, Road Not Taken, Steambirds, etc.

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Danc_at_mastodon.gamedev.place@mostr.pub

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Last Notes

2024-09-18 06:33:26

Cool dice game by a friend. Demo available. https://store.steampowered.com/app/3139270/Dice_with_the_Devil/

2024-08-19 22:32:09

The quote I'm tempted to put on my gravestone: "There's such a fine line between stupid and clever."

2024-08-08 03:43:47

Why did the clam eat all the ice cream?
Because he was shellfish.

2024-05-23 18:15:03

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@npub1j46…3gm7 This is a nice example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWPJ5fW1UH8&ab_channel=RoguelikeCelebration

2024-05-23 17:09:51

Knobscape: The design space of control knobs you've built into your game. So you can tune it non-destructively as you get more information about gameplay.
High level game design is as much about designing the appropriate knobscape as it is about designing the moment-to-moment gameplay. Get the knobscape right and you'll eventually get the the gameplay right. Get it wrong and you'll never converge.
An intentionally horrible word.

2024-04-19 01:50:17

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@npub1mc3…nkdg We have found many bodies. Is it bad that we think of them as mere ants?

2024-04-19 01:42:51

Every new home you move into contains at least one murder mystery.

2024-04-18 01:22:27

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@npub1mc3…nkdg "Thank you for your inquiry. I would be happy to tell you more about AI agent. We recommend the Xfinity Ultimate package for the best experience. Would you like to proceed?"

2024-04-18 01:15:19

In the future, you'll press 0 for an operator and it will be an AI agent. We will sense this; the cadence of the voice, the narrow logic. Rote ask for the human manager. Which will just be another AI agent. With slightly different tuning. And so on.

2024-04-07 16:57:01

A thread over on bluesky talking about why AI chatbot suck as an interface.
I see the basic logic is thus:
1. Folks (customers) want to talk to a human because that's a high bandwidth, relationship-based interaction. "We can explore a problem together!"
2. But modern call centers turn humans into robots. Expert systems with canned response are a means of creating efficiencies and predictable responses. Deskilling, it is called.

2024-04-02 22:50:50

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@npub1mc3…nkdg The trick is to also value the scars.

2024-04-02 15:58:49

The illusion of competence is all some people ever desire.

2024-03-12 23:20:47

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@npub1mc3…nkdg I hear they move to New Zealand.

2024-03-07 21:36:39

"Where will your adventures take you?"
A. Clearly through a series of familiar mini-games linearly linked together via vaguely childish narrative

2024-03-03 00:47:04

Human systems grow in healthy ways on human timescales.
- The rate humans gain trust
- The rate humans learn skills
- The rate humans form shared social norms
When you force change faster than this, systems generate trauma.

2024-02-10 20:44:19

Life goal: Find some default clothing that doesn't look slobby. So I can a slob without looking like a slob.

2024-02-10 18:13:01

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@npub1j46…3gm7 Mmm...the delicious ambiguous fog of potential.
What reduced a lot of my stress in these times was realizing that sometimes I'd intently go looking for a pony and find a stupid zebra. No! That's a perfectly good zebra! And it's pretty cool to be the one kid on the block with zebra.

2024-02-10 17:57:58

I have a theory that design-driven production work is still creative work. Sorting cards. Setting priorities. Rewriting descriptions.
It just operates at the level of assembling the holistic pieces of a vast mosaic. And less at the level of creating the perfect line of dialog or level.
So it is a different type of craft, but still distinctly about forming and shaping a beautiful monstrous thing from the mystical ether.

2024-02-08 18:04:57

One of the deeply stupid things about interviews is they over index on monkey confidence.
Years ago I once go hired for wearing a hat. I'm still sort of ashamed. I thought they liked me because I answered the questions well.
But later people told me they were thinking, "Who wears a hat to an interview?! Must be a designer. Must be a *good* designer if he's confident enough to wear that hat!"
Interviews are a roll of the dice and a lot of times, success or failure, it isn't about you.

2023-12-16 06:48:38

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@npub1mc3…nkdg Sold.
Or you could make it a horror game where something randomly jumps out of a barrel. Call it "B Warehouse"

2023-11-12 21:54:55

1-page design docs
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/111/399/800/276/082/119/original/e1ae68da0e5864a1.png

2023-10-27 18:05:57

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@npub1mc3…nkdg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Peigneur

2023-10-26 21:42:23

How long before someone figures out that you can do the Watermelon game (viral merge 2 game) with non-circular collision shapes? Balls of yarn turn into sweaters. Or metal turns into car parts turn into cars. Etc.

2023-10-23 22:38:39

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@npub1mc3…nkdg A while back there was a conversation about a 'CON' signal to know when a higher level enemy was dangerous relative to your power level.
One model of anxiety I've always liked is that anxious folks are hyper alert for potential danger. Maybe their CON visibility is extra sensitive.
But then people with low self doubt have no idea if something is dangerous. "I can take that dragon!"

2023-10-11 00:03:44

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@npub1mc3…nkdg @npub1vkv…g48n Yep, LFS is not professional grade. We used it on one project and then switched to Perforce.

2023-09-29 17:51:53

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@npub1mc3…nkdg Build yourself a cool earthen root cellar and plant yourself in a corner with a nice chair and a dim electric bulb. Work quietly, snacking on tubers, until you sense a warm draft signaling spring.

2023-09-29 16:26:38

The apples have fallen, leaves are turning yellowed-green. Crows circle.
Time to prep your projects for the Long Hunker.

2023-09-11 19:47:29

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@npub1mc3…nkdg The 'God of Fog of War' trophy. Very desirable.

2023-09-04 23:02:56

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@npub1mc3…nkdg I always love the CON command in old school RPGs that would color the name of the enemy green, yellow or red based off your level relative to its level. Maybe too ancient of a design for modern audiences.

2023-09-03 20:48:24

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@npub1mc3…nkdg sometimes the smaller ones are better. This bit more time to digress in positive ways. ❤️

2023-09-03 19:30:12

Alexa, play "I'm Just Ken"
(From a discussion on if art and commercial success can happen together in this modern world)

2023-08-04 18:11:08

Many people think they should want to be a game director or creative director on a medium to large team.
Reality is that it takes a particularly warped human being. Most people aren't that perverse shape. Nor would they want to be if they knew what it entailed. 😓

2023-07-30 17:34:40

"Everyone needs to touch the stove"
Happy to tell them it is hot. And how heat works. Ways to identify and avoid touching hot stoves.
But 99.99% of that will be ignored.
Until they touch the stove, scream in agony, and out of their own will and insight, re-stumble upon a thing that was said to them a dozen times. But now they are seeing it with fresh eyes.
Even then, they'll understand 20% and fill in the rest with some batshit theory of their own. Which is a vast improvement!
#gamedev

2023-07-14 00:45:37

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@npub1mc3…nkdg Notice I did not say "And don't add scope." 😅
Since we all know you are going to add farming. Scope addition is also 'refining the focus'. 😂

2023-07-14 00:36:36

Always be cutting scope!
- You know more now than you did when you last made the plan. You know what actually matters.
- Scope reduction = Refining the focus based off lesson learned.
#gamedev

2023-07-13 17:00:41

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@npub1mc3…nkdg It is a historical term that has evolved into several distinct lineages.
And those lineages have further been crossed with other genres (thousands of times)
So a term that makes sense to a fan of a particular lineage if your game fits their idea of an RPG. But is otherwise vague.

2023-07-04 20:03:56

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@npub1mc3…nkdg Seems straight forward

2023-07-04 17:13:37

A game demo is a tool whose effectiveness depends on both the demo and the game.
Folks may not realize, but in the old days of demos (shareware, casual PC) devs explicitly built games that would demo well. Hook, Cliffhanger, Call to action, Promise of immense/proven value.
If your game doesn't have that in its core, pooping out a Steamfest demo doesn't help.
We _intentionally_ shape our designs to fit the effective distribution mechanisms of the era. (Game devs are a bit slutty that way.)

2023-06-27 23:06:00

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@npub1mc3…nkdg If there's any narrative weight or context, then the answer is 'no'.
More nuanced
- Some spend as much time writing byzantine narrative pieces and assembling them together (with cackling). Costs just as much as writing each one bespoke. Result is arguably worse / different. So many bodies / careers at the bottom of this pit.
- Functional quests that are super light on narrative can work. But the trick is not trying to be more than they are. A tool that adds randomness & variation

2023-06-27 17:02:46

Was asked the difficult question "What is a Daniel Cook game?"
Has anyone here played my games? What are some themes or keywords that stand out for you?

2023-03-12 19:09:21

“We build our computers the way we build our cities—over time, without a plan, on top of ruins.”
― Ellen Ullman, Life in Code: A Personal History of Technology