Only a Game

Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing

The IGDA's Game Writers Special Interest Group has produced a sequel to the book I edited (Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames) entitled Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing. The new book is edited by Wendy Despain, whose consultancy Quantum Content is part of the International Hobo family, and who sits on the executive panel of the SIG. I received a copy of the book from Wendy when I met her up in Yellowstone Park before leaving the States, and enjoyed reading it on the plane back to the UK. The new book is a great supplement to the first one, with lots of useful information and advice from professional game writers covering a wide variety of interesting and useful topics. But don't take my word for it - there's a review on Slashdot which also praises it.

Small Steps

Still a long way from being comfortably settled in, alas (haven't even received our boxes from the States yet) so expect limited blog service for the time being. Here's my plan for now:

• Wednesday (Games): I will start posting Wednesday posts this week, and ensure I have something game-related up on Wednesdays from now on. It might be shorter posts to begin with, but we have to start somewhere, and since most people coming here are interested in game design and the like, this is the obvious choice to focus upon for now.
• Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: If I have time, I will post on these days. Otherwise, full service will have to wait until things have settled down a little further. Watch for future announcements.
• Comments: I will respond to all comments as usual.

Thank you for your patience!

Bye Week

Alas, I'm not even remotely ready to begin posting in the traditional manner... These international moves cast a long shadow and there is much that still needs sorting out. If all goes well with the delivery of our transatlantic boxes this week, we can see if I can get rolling next week. Until then, enjoy the silence!

New Poll: Non-violent Role-Playing Game

I've put up a new poll which asks whether or not you would consider buying a computer role-playing game which offered you the option to play either violently or non-violently. I'm sure many players can deduce the secret meaning behind this poll, but for now I shall say nothing. If you want to comment on the poll, this is the place!

Have a great weekend everyone

Results of Poll 9: Volume of Content

Big Two: Update

Since publishing rules for Big Two (Choh Dai Dee) back in April, has anyone given this card game a try? Let me know in the comments!

Comments Log

Since I'm replying to more than ten comments, I thought I'd log them here for anyone wondering if I've replied to them. Here's the articles I've commented on today, and who I responded to:

• Only a Game (Beau)
• Intellectual Property (Tim Carter)
• Malone on Curiosity (zenBen)
• Olympic Politics (Beau)
• Thought for Food (a thinking man)
• Plagiarism in Videogames (Admiral Frosty, Pyr0, Holly)
• Black Squirrel! (Brad Holweger, Jenn, Neil, Lynn English, Victoria Companero, Emily)
• Moorcock's Metaphysics 4 (roger)
• Moorcock's Metaphysics (Duncan)
• Skimming the Internet (Rik)
• Curse of the Ring of Death (jaime reina, Neil)
• Transmission Ends (Daniel B.)
• Universal Disclaimer (i'm right)
• Big Two: Rules (Maddie)
• Ratcheted Progress (Dan)
• The Power of Words (Johnathon)
• Faint Life Signs (Corvus, Peter)

Faint Life Signs

After weeks of travelling adventures, I am now back in Manchester, UK, and adjusting to the transcontinental shift as best as I can. I doubt I'll be back into posting as usual for a few weeks yet, but I'll try to catch up on the comments this week at the very least, and take it from there.

Apologies to anyone who emailed me while I was away: owing to a nasty email accident, most of the messages I received in the last few weeks have been deleted by an overzealous spam filter. If you sent me something in the last month, you might want to send it again.

See you in the comments!