Prefer Composition over Implementation Inheritance
In a previous post, we learned implementation inheritance should be avoided. But, what can we do instead? Composition to the Rescue We want to be able to share code while allowing us to switch out different functionalities on the fly keeping us extensible. Without inheritance, what could we do to share code? Let’s use composition! …
Implementation Inheritance Is Evil
Author’s Note: PLEASE DONT FORGET TO READ PART 2 – PREFER COMPOSITION OVER INHERITANCE! – It describes the alternative! It’s what the Gang of Four intended when they made Design Patterns. THIS POST SERIES ISN’T ABOUT OOP BEING BAD – It’s getting you to realize THE TRUE POWER OF OOP – POLYMORPHISM (Interface Inheritance) with COMPOSITION …
Social Engagement Challenge – Week 1
My Favorite Books About Coding
Even with the internet around, books are great resources for learning about coding. Here are books I recommend. Clean Code I love Clean Code. It has so many small little tidbits that make code easier to read and maintain. Anyone who does any coding NEEDS to at least skim this book! My favorite tip: always …
Social Engagement Challenge
My whole life, I’ve lived in social anxiety. I’ve avoided countless conversations that could’ve benefited my life in numerous ways. Doctor visits, talking to my favorite musicians, professional meetings at work, asking questions in class, asking girls out, and the list of missed opportunities goes on and on. I consistently find myself in a state …
Zelda Breath of the Wild Summary Post
Survey Results: Breath of the Wild – Favorite Main Quest
What is your favorite divine beast quest in Zelda Breath of the Wild? What order should you play the quests in to enjoy the game the most? In March, I posted a survey on the Zelda subreddit. I published results related to dungeon order and difficulty here and results of how the master sword affected difficulty here. I’ve …
3D Platformers – How Game Design Contributed to their Downfall (and hopeful revival)
Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, Banjo-Tooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Spyro the Dragon, Mario Sunshine, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Sly Cooper, Psychonauts. After these games in the 5th and early 6th console generation, the 3D platformer as we knew it died off significantly. Games that continued their legacy ended up being wildly …
How Banjo-Kazooie Controls Difficulty and Player Flow
Controlling player flow is one of the most crucial aspects of a game’s design. Flow is what keeps players playing your game. As my favorite game, I’ve spent a good deal of my time in flow in Banjo-Kazooie throughout my life. Now that Yooka-Laylee is coming out this week, I wanted to analyze how Rare …
Analysis on Level Design in Banjo-Kazooie
In preparation for Yooka-Laylee, I wanted to talk about my favorite game. Banjo-Kazooie was an early 3D platformer created by Rare that has a very magical quality to it. It’s a game all about exploring open worlds and finding secrets. I want to explain some of the level design choices made that impact how players …
Breath of the Wild is not made for high-skilled players
In the beginning, it seems like Zelda Breath of the Wild is refreshingly difficult. People find themselves dying more often than most games, especially other Zelda games. I recently posted an article on how BotW keeps a wide variety of players in flow and managing difficulty is a large part of that. One thing I …
Survey Results: How the Master Sword impacts difficulty in Breath of the Wild
In Zelda Breath of the Wild, ever wonder when players get the Master Sword? What about how the Master Sword impacts difficulty of the game? A couple weeks ago, I posted a survey on the Zelda subreddit. I posted results related to dungeon order and difficulty here. Since then, I’ve had time to analyze the data …
Cooking and Eating in Breath of the Wild: Pros and Cons
In Zelda Breath of the Wild, items found along the way can be cooked together to create interesting combinations that improve various attributes when eaten including attack, stamina, temp resistance, and more. While there tends to be some complaints, cooking ultimately adds another layer of breadth to the game that ultimately gives players more choices …
Breath of the Wild: Why Durability is Worth the Pain
Durability has been the biggest source of contention in Breath of the Wild. Some players detest the mechanic, while others praise it. I’ll explain how this durability system is one of the crucial pieces that make Breath of the Wild such an amazing open-wold experience and how it sometimes feels like a necessary evil. Players …
Who finds Zelda Skyward Sword more enjoyable than Breath of the Wild?
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has achieved universal acclaim amongst reviewers and fans of the series due to its open-world gameplay and amount of interesting decisions the players can take at any moment. Its predecessor, Skyward Sword, has been a controversial title in the series due to its hit-or-miss motion controls and …
Survey Results: Zelda Breath of the Wild Boss Order and Difficulty
In Zelda Breath of the Wild, ever wonder what order people usually complete the Divine Beast Dungeons? What about which boss was hardest? Well, I surveyed Reddit /r/zelda to find out. This post is only 1/3 of the survey results. You can find more results from the survey here. The following results are based on 428 responses …
How Zelda Breath of the Wild keeps the player in flow
Flow is a state of mind where people are engaged in whatever they are doing completely. In games, players being in flow keeps them attached to your game and more unlikely to put it down. Players tend to be in flow when they are playing towards goals they care about using mechanics they care about …
Hello world!
Welcome to What’s in a Game! I’m starting this blog for a few reasons: Help myself and others learn game design through analyzing real-world games in depth Share my expertise in software engineering Encourage others to create the games of their dreams I hope to cover various topics related to what games are made of …