The online blog of Simon Halliday
Play my version of Pong on itch.io here One of those old discussions about scope came up recently at work, so I was interested to see how long it would take to make something in as small a scope as possible. So I made Pong, you can play it via the link above. It probably … Continue reading I made Pong
Here’s a thing I bought recently. I’ve never been a collector, but recently felt a strange urge to acquire something for myself (and shelf) that had plenty of influence and meaning for me from my childhood, as well as having an influence on my career. Mike Singleton's Midwinter feels like the culmination of the innovative … Continue reading Midwinter
No, not 3D modelling, and no not catwalk modelling either. But rather the way in which we represent intellectual property, narrative themes, and real world roles in games. Modelling therefore, in the context of game design from here-on refers to how a game implements the themes and actions of the original narrative or real world … Continue reading Modelling in Game Design
There is no such thing as a perfectly balanced game. Or at least so I’ve heard, from various sources. Thinking about it makes sense though; Chess, Go, and even Noughts and Crosses (Tic-Tac-Toe) for example, both rely on one player starting first, despite each player having precisely the same tools at their disposal, being restricted … Continue reading Starcraft II – A Study in Balancing Asymmetrical Design
‘They say never meet your heroes, but shooting them in the face with a double-barrelled shotgun is probably a good way to break the ice.’ I’m paraphrasing slightly, but that comment by a friend on a recent Facebook post of mine basically summed up the events of last Saturday, and it was glorious. Last week … Continue reading Deathmatching John Romero
Quadratic Bezier Curve Demo by pyman I’m enjoying some of the maths that goes in to scripting and thought I’d branch out a bit by trying my hand at mathematically formed curves. I made this in GameMaker and you can play a demo of it in the link above. The code’s not actually too tricky … Continue reading Quadratic Bezier Curve Demo
I have a new PC, and it's a little bit silly.
The intended fantasy of a game can be pretty powerful. And sometimes that fantasy is something you didn't even know you wanted. I didn't always know that a game could make me feel like a powerful general, able to conquer their enemies with not just fast fingers but fast thinking. But in 1992, huddled around … Continue reading Dune II
The mesmerising space ship docking sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey captures the wonder of the depth and breadth to which human progress has achieved by its enormous contrast between a scene of early man and its rapid cut to the display and majesty of technological and cultural achievements of spaceflight, music, and communication. Everything … Continue reading Elite: Dangerous
I've had mixed feelings about World of Warcraft over the years and I think it mainly has to do with what I get from it. I'm a dreamer and a wanderer, I like being thrust in to a huge open world and given the freedom to explore. So, given the Bartle test I would almost … Continue reading World of Lorecraft
An Invert Look 