Timothy Best

I'm a game designer who loves stories and words and play | Design Daredevil @UltStudio_ | Opinions are my own | He/him.

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@TheOtherFrost Also it’s great having Beethoven and Dinosaur (and Massive Monster, etc), in the local Melbourne indie games social circles. They make it richer and deeper and more connected.

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@TheOtherFrost I think that successful indie scenes have studios of different sizes, $$$ and connections. They can help at those soup kitchens.

The difference between a funded indie and not-funded one can be one pitch at the right time, which makes this all pretty blurry.

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@ArturSmiarowski @DUSKdev Who would be the upper end of indie for you? Valve? Nintendo?

Feels like a “finance structure” definition rather one of game output … which feels a bit like eating soup with a fork.

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@DinkusDynamite @DUSKdev Fair enough. And Nintendo, I guess.

To me, there are probably a bunch of factors that would define an “indie” game. This feels too narrow to be super useful. But it has clarity on its side.

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@DinkusDynamite @DUSKdev I think Valve is a good one to really push this definition.

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@Xela67TFP @SterlingTheDev Are you talking about the game devs? They did okay with their first game, The Artful Escape.
I don’t know if the founder was rich growing up in Geelong in the 80s and 90s.
Sometimes, as a dev, you bet it all, but it’s much more better if you don’t have to.

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@V_rbatim @OddShacod @_idle_space_ I’ll Steelman it. Unless you can see the future you don’t KNOW if you are destined to be the best after this thread causes you to change your routines.

Steelmaning your determinism leaves the weakness of your assumption … unless you have a VERY reliable prophet.

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@AlphEatsCats @topoproc @wil_da_beast630 He did seek help.

It worked for him and was quicker than muddling through.

When you have nagging joint pain (and you can afford it) you go to a physio. And so on.🤷

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@x_facts_matter @ChristianHeiens I wrote style guides to be *technically correct* on this stuff as part of my job. It bores most people senseless.

Language nerds dig it, that's about it.

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@x_facts_matter @ChristianHeiens White is considered a catch-all category, not a proper noun. It isn’t a name of a culture or nationality.

French, Polish, etc do get caps.
It’s like “baller” (category) vs “LeBron James”.

Black when used as “African-American” is considered a cultural group, so it gets a cap.

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@voidrantsback Great news! Excited to see what you cook up! 🤩

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@Pirat_Nation Having a character look like a *literal sex doll* changes the story you are telling.

Does she lean in or out of looking that way? How does it affect her movement through the world? If you have sexy femme-fatale character how is that contrasted with the bad-ass protagonist, etc?

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@ProfBZZZ I’m not an academic, but I am a narrative designer and I see a useful analysis of storytelling mechanics in there, not absurdity.

String theory is absurd to most people (myself included), but we don’t expect PhDs in that to bring everyone along.

Peer coms vs public coms is ok.

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@Pirat_Nation People who like Han Solo and Ripley (with a dash of Vasquez and Driver)?

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@23_hunna_ @SantosSuperFan @dyingnome She's a scoundrel with a heart of gold who lost her (crime) family and is doing everything to try to find them. Was the kid of the group, now it's on her.

She shaves her head to take on a tougher persona to get it done.

C'mon, that's at least as relatable as a Space Marine.

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

You don't have to agree with all the cultural analysis or framework of a work to get something out of it.

But, understanding how a tool was used -- or might have been used -- can inform how you swing it around.

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

The English PhD hubbub is pretty on the nose.

As a professional narrative designer, niche study of making meaning is super valuable. It expands my craft and adds to my toolbox.

Sometimes, it's the weirdly-specific tool that you want to put the perfect finish on a job.

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@tdogextreme 🪖

[Timothy Best @TimothyCBest]

@miltimore79 @BoneJeni @yashar Tolkien was very progressive for his time. The “little folk” being the ones to change the world. The Fellowship being a diverse coalition of races and cultures. “But no living man am I! You look upon a woman.”

And so on.