Game Design/Writing Articles Options

[Modesty]

http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/farp/writing.html

http://www.gamingw.net/

http://www.gamasutra.com/

http://www.gamedev.net/

http://www.costik.com/nowords.html

The 36 (+1) Dramatic Situations
http://www.sff.net/people/julia.west/CALLIHOO/ideagen2.htm

The Grand List Of Console Role Playing Game Cliches
http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html

Peter's Overlord List
http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html

Seventh Sanctum (Try out the writing section)
http://www.seventhsanctum.com/

Game Design Document Template
http://www.designersnotebook.com/ctaylordesign.zip

http://gamedesignreviews.com/
Game design reviews blog. It has very interesting posts in it, that usually discuss game design and how some games succeeded in a certain aspect, or failed in it. For example, they go over Sword of Manas equipment system compared to Final Fantasys equipment system, and why one works and the other doesn't.

http://www.sloperama.com/advice.html
Collection of article for game designing FAQ by an experienced game designer,Tom Sloper.
Read it if you seriously want to be a game designer.

http://modestystudio.blogspot.com/2008/03/...-cutscenes.html
I wrote a blog about Cutscenes and storytelling in games. It was a long boring day at work.

http://random-battle.com/
Going over a bunch of topics, though I believe it's more focused on MMORPGs.

http://modestystudio.blogspot.com/2008/03/...-cutscenes.html
I wrote a blog about Cutscenes and storytelling in games. It was a long boring day at work.

http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/.../16-04/pl_games
Ted Castronova's 5 tips for Making Games that don't SUCK!

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050418/kane_01.shtml
I highly recommend this book. It's genius and written by a crazy/unique individual.
I also recommend Tom Sloper's website, but it was already posted earlier.

My reference for game making:
http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Making_a_Mod

The No Twinkie Database
I'm amazed this wasn't here already. Seriously. Every alleged game designer on this site should read this. It's pure design gold.
P.S. No, I don't care if this is a necropost, because it's a pinned topic that isn't locked. If a mod sees this and wants to lock it, think very carefully about the intended purpose of this thread.

I have an article to share: Slippery Slope and perpetual come back

A listing of articles specifically on writing, with great topics for character development, setting, fantasy writing, and tips for teenaged writers.

What you Don't Say...Say's It All

An interesting point on how to tell your story without minimal Tweet like Dialogue.

[Braska]

The following, from the Grand List of RPG Cliches" are absolutely fricking hilarious, and things I've actually wondered about myself from time to time playing games:

Local Control Rule
Although the boss monster terrorizing the first city in the game is less powerful than the non-boss monsters that are only casual nuisances to cities later in the game, nobody from the first city ever thinks of hiring a few mercenaries from the later cities to kill the monster.

SERIOUSLY right. An annex to this would be, isn't it highly convenient that every new character who joins the party just so happens to be either at the MC's level or very close, within 1 or 2. It seems a little odd that Towns and Dungeons are accessed in order from the weakest to the strongest as you go.

And Now You Die, Mr. Bond! (Beatrix Rule)
Fortunately for you, the previous rule also applies in reverse. Rather than kill you when they have you at their mercy, the villains will settle for merely blasting you down to 1 hit point and leaving you in a crumpled heap while they stroll off, laughing. (This is, of course, because they're already planning ahead how they'll manipulate you into doing their bidding later in the game -- see Way To Go, Serge.)

To continue with this rule, isn't it highly curious that the big bad main enemy sends his minions against you in order from weakest to strongest, thus giving you a natural curve by which to get strong to the point of actually being able to challenge him/her/it and win at the end? Frankly if I was the bad guy, I'd have my 2 strongest guys run around killing even the smallest of my enemies. That way you don't have issues 40-60 hours of gameplay later

Law of NPC Relativity (Magus Rule)
Characters can accomplish superhuman physical feats, defeat enemies with one hand tied behind their back and use incredible abilities -- until they join your party and you can control them. Then these wonderful powers all vanish, along with most of their hit points.

HAH. I remember griping about exactly that the first time I played CT. After my initial 10 minute period of OMFG Magus is so badass, I was like ....wait a sec, wasn't he WAY stronger than this before? And why do I have to relearn all the spells he just fried me with less than 5 hours ago :s