Gamasutra Expert Blogs: From Better Achievements To Game Designer Frustrations

Author: by Staff

In our weekly Best of Expert Blogs column, we showcase notable pieces of writing from members of the game development community who maintain Expert Blogs on Gamasutra. Member Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while the invitation-only Expert Blogs are written by development professionals with a wealth of experience to share. We hope that both sections can provide useful and interesting viewpoints on our industry. For more information about the blogs, check out the official posting guidelines. Here are the top blogs for the week: This Week's Standout Expert Blogs Achievement Design 101 Greg McClanahan Greg McClanahan was not a fan of Achievements at first. Now that he's responsible for all of the Achievements on Flash community gaming site Kongregate, he has had to figure out exactly why some Achievements work, and some don't. Here's his rundown… Triangle Mesh Voxelization David Rosen Wolfire Games' David Rosen once again delivers a practical and accessible technical post, this time about implementing "Voxels," or "Volume Pixels" -- single cubes in a 3D lattice. Branding, Games, and Films Lewis Pulsipher It's well-known that your brand is closely tied to commercial success, but why? And how does that apply to games? Lewis Pulsipher looks at film, games, and fast food for an explanation as to how and why branding matters. Better to be Sexy than Worthy. Tadhg Kelly Simple Lifeforms' Tadhg Kelly argues that it's "better to be sexy than worthy." By that, he means that developers should aim to create games that are remarkable or unusual, rather than ones that seek approval from some entity. "Unusual is frequently where the fun happens," he says. Game Designer As A Dream Job? Anthony Hart-Jones Game designer Anthony Hart-Jones has what is supposed to be his dream job. But here he opens up about some of the realities and frustrations of being a game designer, from creative restraints to lack of substantial pay.