Weekly Links #100
How time flies. It feels like just a few months since I started this
newsletter in order to keep the momentum going, but in fact it's been
two whole years. Well, guess it worked after all: I'm yet to miss a
week, apart from the breaks I take before every Christmas, and readers
actually seem to kinda like it. One new reader did complain about the
new, shorter format, but the brevity makes it a lot easier for me to
write all this stuff every week. Wish it wasn't necessary.
On with the news, which aren't nearly as many as a major anniversary
edition deserves. The big one this week is that Nethack had its first
new release in 10 years. Which means the world's most famous
roguelike has now been in active development for 28 years and a half!
How many other games can boast comparable longevity... and for that
matter enduring popularity? Thanks for the tip, @irinarempt.
Another nice thing this week is a list of resources about personal
games (see my comments on Tumblr). It's a topic you
won't see mentioned on this blog very often, mostly because our focus
is on the "how" of making games, not the "why". But the same tools
that enable people from any background to make games without becoming
programmers can be used by those who are programmers to make their
work easier. And considering how hard it is to make games that can
compete on the market in 2015 (even Undertale wasn't as easy to make
as it may seem), every little bit of help matters. So it's definitely
worth looking that way.
Let me end with yet another classic game retrospective: Lords of
Midnight as seen by Hardcore Gaming 101. As usual for them,
each game in the series is discussed in depth, along with ports and
spiritual successors. Even if you're a fanboy of the series (as I am),
the articles might contain a surprise or two, so give them a read.
And with this, I leave you to enjoy the holidays. See you next year!