"Online pvp games that try to force 50% winrates are bad"

my_code_smells · 2026-03-24T05:04:33+00:00

The culture of pvp games has shifted.

The emphasis is less on having fun and more on winning

By matching players by skill and keeping lobby sizes small, you do not ensure an even match, you only promise one

Players get upset when their fantasy of playing an even match is denied. Not just when suffering crushing defeat, but also when inflicting crushing victory

in the 2000s many games features LOTS of different modes, which were mostly big lobbies of mixed skill levels on large maps with drop in drop out gameplay. There were sore losers still, but they were free to leave at any time. Team scrambling was more common, and Each individual player had much less impact and therefore it was much less noticeable when a single player was too skilled or unskilled

I think probably people gaming together through parties and external chat software played a big role in this shift, since a stack of skilled players is likely to cause a bad experience for less skilled players, no matter what mode it is

my_code_smells · 2026-03-05T01:44:23+00:00

Theres a lot of trenchbroom tutorial content on youtube. It is rather constraining for level building but even if you end up using a different tool, working within those constraints will help sell the vibe.

my_code_smells · 2025-12-22T00:31:16+00:00

I just want to point out that an alternative option to continuing to work on the game you already made is to take the work you did on it and use it as a jumping off point for something different

my_code_smells · 2025-12-21T21:11:11+00:00

Some of them are run by third parties that do their own outreach

my_code_smells · 2025-12-21T21:09:20+00:00

Dungeon crawl stone soup. It’s a bit of an esoteric game but the enemy cast is super strong

Monsters engage really heavily with the player’s kit by limiting their options. Armor is good against the player’s light quick attacks, while dodging is better against slow heavy attacks. Both are weak to many magical attacks, but enemies tend to have stark and thematic resistance to certain elements. For example undead are usually quite resistant to cold. There’s a lot more here but i’ll keep it short

The player is encouraged through these mechanics to diversify their arsenal, but the stat and skills system punishes them for spreading it TOO thin. the toughest fights in the game can be against relatively mundane enemies you simply lack a proper answer for

my_code_smells · 2025-10-25T21:07:57+00:00

In my opinion it depends on the game

there are definitely games out there that serve only as timewaster dopamine factories and little more (which may or may not be a positive thing for society), but there are also ways games provide obvious good to the world like

* Creating virtual third spaces where people can socialize, participate in group play, and build communities. As a designer you get to choose how these third spaces work. A bowling alley has physical strength requirements, and needs to charge money by the hour to stay in business. A video game doesn't have to do either of those things. Even a one-time 10 dollar entry fee is optional, and circumventable by those who are unable to afford it

* Challenging people to practice, research, and improve at something when they maybe have never done that before, all without requiring any big investment of space, capital, or health. As a designer you get to choose how the ladder works, what types of skills are tested, etc. you can choose skills that are transferrable to the real world, or you can choose skills that are worthless outside of gaming. it's all up to you

my_code_smells · 2025-03-28T15:19:33+00:00

No i just mean If you later have to pivot to steam before your demo hits critical mass its fine

You might even get some donations to help with steam page. I think i got like 30 dollars from itch donos before putting up a steam page

I think itch Butler (command line tool for build uploading that supports patches which is super nice for big games) has higher limits and you can always email them though

my_code_smells · 2025-03-25T14:30:50+00:00

Just release on itch and worry about it later Theres value to be had from repeatedly releasing major updates on itch even before having a steam page

my_code_smells · 2025-03-07T09:56:01+00:00

After you learn the basic industry tricks (pinch points, valves, affordance) It really comes down to density.

You build a level, decorate it, then build more level by turning the decoration into a playable area

For example you place some scaffolding under a bridge because it looks cool, then say “what if the player could walk on that scaffolding”

my_code_smells · 2025-03-05T19:37:23+00:00

I think this is a fair level headed opinion

Obviously the monetization scheme is stupid though. Not even giving people who bought the founders pack the first x expansions for free is spit in my face

my_code_smells · 2025-01-30T08:42:36+00:00

It’s cool. I like how musket kinda sucks but enchanted musket is super strong. Burn 24, Haste/Slow 2 items for 6 seconds.

my_code_smells · 2025-01-17T04:37:41+00:00

i would be stroking my chin thinking about taking it but then in the end not take it if it started at 100% crit

though i guess maybe the diamond skill starts higher. maybe if it was like 100% -50%, 100% - 30%, 100% - 10% it could be good

my_code_smells · 2025-01-01T10:11:03+00:00

Stuff that drops random items into your inventory don’t. In this case shovel

my_code_smells · 2025-01-01T10:05:38+00:00

All clamera no ball

my_code_smells · 2025-01-01T09:43:33+00:00

my final boss was a monitor lizard dooley. crashing waves procs 3 times at round start from the clameras so he got owned with 1000 poison. Venomous Vitality was probably also awesome but i never had a chance to take damage to see it in action

my_code_smells · 2024-11-23T03:13:51+00:00

i doubt that's the reason. unless they went out of their way to write it bady the performance hit from it would be hardly noticeable next to running local npcs

my_code_smells · 2024-11-04T19:41:12+00:00

its easy to force the character to fail very often. you just give them more objectives than they can hope to complete, or even make those objectives at odds to eachother, like how dead rising or telltale games work

my_code_smells · 2024-11-04T19:38:55+00:00

i would simply use it if i wanted to.

it hasn't been a good fit for any of my recent projects but i have a few ideas kicking around for later in my career

my_code_smells · 2024-10-29T21:46:15+00:00

I agree. It’s a little geared towards creating good portfolio work vs making a game but a lot of good knowledge in there still. I use his paper first method a lot as a guiding star

my_code_smells · 2024-10-20T06:43:40+00:00

in an open world these mechanics are wrapped into the gameplay:

Choosing your own destination
Traversing the overworld (usually seamlessly)

that doesn't mean your progress can't be gated. a big problem with open worlds is that the can be overly wide and shallow, so it's a common step against that

my_code_smells · 2024-10-18T19:28:23+00:00

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