DUNGEON SCRAWLS
You might die constantly in these RPGs, but at least it won’t be from an unidentified potion
I originally wrote this article with the idea of putting all of this year’s roguelites of note in it, but I stopped thinking that was a good idea somewhere around number 30. There are just too many good games that have been released so far and are scheduled for release later this year.
If you try to write something like that, you end up with a 5,000-word behemoth article that no one wants to power through for a half hour. And you know what? I can’t blame ‘em.
Instead, I’ve tried to roughly break the roguelites set for release this…
DUNGEON SCRAWLS
Metroidvania and Mega Man fans have a lot to look forward to this year when it comes to roguelite games
While the term RPG might be a bit of a vague grouping of game features aligned under one banner, platformers in contrast are pretty easy to describe. Are there platforms? Can you jump around? Is it all done in real-time?
There you go — you have a platformer. Sure, there are plenty of subgenres, but those vary in the details of the penmanship, not the broad strokes.
The rogue-lite parent genre certainly takea advantage of the well-known tropes of the platformer genre. …
DUNGEON SCRAWLS
ARPGs have some strong concepts being played with this year, but they might not hold a candle to some of the more unique titles
Shoot-em-ups (SHMUPs) and action-RPGs are a tried-and-true foundation upon which to build a rogue-lite.
Procedurally generated maps work really well in producing replayability — you’ll never know what the perfect angle of attack in any particular level will be. You can fit a wide variety of skills and items and characters and enemies into them. And permadeath or similar mechanics can lend an aura of tension to the whole bullet-hell thing that they often incorporate into their gameplay.
This year has already seen some exceptional releases in the SHMUP category, but there are even stranger releases, too. A casino game…
Slavery Economics
So many people advocate for you to write for free that I have to imagine they are suffering from some form of Stockholm Syndrome.
Tim Denning has some great pieces of writing. He has a wonderful way with words that expresses his personality and thoughts extremely well and has subsequently and unsurprisingly developed a massive following.
He also has some of the worst takes on the planet at times when it comes to compensation and writing, like some parts of this piece that he recently published.
It’s not that I think you shouldn’t write “for free.” It’s two things, really:
- You shouldn’t be uncompensated in your writing. …
IRONY MAIDEN
Why Metallica was interrupted live at BlizzCon by copyright-free music — and how they laid the groundwork for this to happen 20 years ago
There are a number of ironic song titles that Metallica has produced over the years that could fit an article title about this topic, depending on your perspective. “For Whom The Bell Tolls,” “Sad But True,” “Seek & Destroy,” “Am I Evil,” “Harvester of Sorrow,” and “Damage, Inc.” all seem to be applicable in some way, depending on how you approach recent events at BlizzCon as streamed on Twitch.
But I went with “The Memory Remains.” Why? Because, for many of us, the memory still does remain. We remember Metallica’s lawsuit against Napster in 2000, and we get to look…
Origin Stories
The surprising origins of some of the strange words we take for granted.
Ever wonder where certain words in the English language came from? And why some seem to make complete sense, while others just seem nonsensical? From portmanteaus to branding to the classics of literature, many of our words have similar entry points into the modern English lexicon.
Despite similar ways of entering the language, all of these words have a unique history. (Actually… all but 2 of them.) This article scratches that word-trivia itch that so many of us get when we hear a word and think, “That just sounds so weird, I wonder where it came from?”
Astroturf
Astroturf originally comes…
Debugging Tips
The easiest way to make debugging JS in your browser super smooth and easy on the eyes.
This is something I didn’t know about for a long time, actually. If you’re reading this, you probably don’t know about it yet. Or maybe you’re just looking for a refresher.
Either way, applying styles to JavaScript console output is super simple, extremely easy to learn, and it will provide results immediately if you do any amount of debugging in your browser.
The Situation
You’ve been at it all day. You have 3 different browsers open. You’re hunting some bug — it doesn’t matter what the bug is, all that matters is the sheer amount of console.log() output that is going on.
…
AI and machine learning algorithms are going to make endless amounts of never-before-seen content; they’re also going to take your job
Stories are conflict, and conflict is Discord
You could say it all started on a Discord server.
I occasionally like to write what I consider “meme-fic” — a few paragraphs in an offhand comment, tying together current events, genre tropes, and other meme-able concepts and topics. My tendency towards absurdist humor makes it incredibly easy to just mash up random stuff and turn it all into truly bizarre alternative-reality fiction.
I’m not the best writer. I’m probably not even a good writer. But I am pretty creative at times.
However, general creativity only gets you so far. I often find myself reaching a point halfway through writing…
Stanislav Petrov doubted the accuracy of an automated system — and then he single-handedly prevented global nuclear annihilation.
запуск! запуск!
The year was 1983, and it was early in the morning in a bunker near Moscow when the sirens went off. The word запуск was displayed in bold red letters. A man stood up and stared at the screen. Perspiration began to gather around his temples.
A short time later, the siren went off again, and the screen again indicated what it had previously — that a missile launch was detected.
And again it happened. And again. And yet again. The alarms blared. Flashing red letters demanded attention to anyone watching the display. …
Your words don’t have to be limited by generic, universal ‘advice.’ You can create dynamic content by mixing active and passive voice.
Beginner advice is for beginners
The passive voice is generally considered such a curse to writers that there now exist apps specifically built to locate and underline it with bright red squiggly lines. Think about that! Teams of developers creating tools that are devoted to automatically fixing a simple writing habit!
One of the first pieces of advice you’ll receive when you try to improve your writing skills is “Don’t use the passive voice.” While there is a lot of helpfulness in this advice for a new writer, it shouldn’t be treated as an eternal truth.
The passive and active voices emphasize the importance of…
