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Showing posts from July, 2011

[Inform ATTACK] Version 3 released

I am happy to announce Version 3 of Inform ATTACK. As always, the latest version can be found here ; if you specifically want version 3, click here . Code written for version 2 will generally be compatible with version 3, though you should check out the changelog below to see if any of the changes might interfere with your existing code. Updating to version 3 is recommended because it brings a more robust handling of readying and natural weapons. Version 3 also adds the "weapon damage bonus" property, which can be used to increase or decrease the damage dealt by weapons in a more flexible way than was previously possible with only the "damage die" property. (The base damage dealt by a weapon is now a random number between 1 and damage die , plus the weapon damage bonus .) Full changelog: Added "wield [weapon]" and "use [weapon]"' as synonyms for readying. Readying now applies to a visible rather than a touchable thing. A n...

On judgement

This post has been in the back of my mind for a very long time, but has recently been promoted to the front by reading reviews of The Witcher 2. I guess I should make it now, before a proximity with a competition I intend to enter may make it seem less disinterested than it, of course, is. Here is a typical discussion you'll find on the internet about a review of a game. A: This review sucks, because X . B: A review is just an opinion, man! It can't be wrong or right. C: No, a review is not just an opinion. D, E, F, G and H: You're really stupid! But C isn't stupid. C is right. If you write a review, you are not just giving an opinion. You are giving a judgement, and a judgement is something that aims to be reasonable and objective. There are standards to which a judgement must conform; and a judgement can fail to conform to those standards and be wrong . It is important to understand that this reasonableness and objectivity have little to do with the final ve...

Kerkerkruip design journal #8: an update on progress

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You may think my not posting about Kerkerkruip means that I haven't been working on it. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. In fact, I am very rapidly approaching the first beta: a feature-complete game with documentation, cover art, and hundreds of bugs! Talking about documentation, I am planning on recording a short introduction video. You will see me playing the game in gargoyle (the video captures a part of my desktop), and you will hear me explaining the basics of the Kerkerkruip system. Technically, this is very easy (using gtk-recordmydesktop); and I suspect a tutorial video can be a lot more fun than a written tutorial. There will also be written help, of course, for those who prefer it and those who wish to look something up. I just got permission to use the photograph I found on Flickr , so let me share the cover art with you: Perhaps the text on the right should be a bit more orange? Let me know what you think. I'm really looking forward to...