Steven Ma

Game Designer @JamCityHQ | My hobby is listening to smart people say smart things. | Fighting Game Acc @DeotayDeity | ♥️ @Sketchderps

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

@SonicFox I interviewed with these guys once for a job and they were all incredibly nice and clearly talented. They even paid me for my time doing the Design Test and to this day remain the only studio who has done so. Great people, hope they land on their feet!

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

@Zanahorio9 @Loritwt @ShadowTohsaka Depending on the game, you'll find different reasons, which you'll have to think critically about to find and understand where the opportunities lie. Design between genres can be so varied and different, that there are infinite reasons so long as you have the skill to find them.

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

@Zanahorio9 @Loritwt @ShadowTohsaka An example that doesn't involve nerfing a dominant strategy is to nerf something that isn't particularly good but is stifling something else to allow more design space to better the game. An example is in a card game where a tech card is making an archetype weaker than needed.

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

@Sketchderps @DeotayDeity Love you babe
You'd make a cute worm

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

Something I really liked about DOOM (2016) is how ammo was pretty scarce and you really had to use it with purpose. You had to choose to fight enemies with subpar weapons to conserve your important ammo for other enemies in the fight, and I liked making that decision on the spot.

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

I finally got around to finishing both DOOM games and DLC and honestly I liked DOOM (2016) way more than Eternal. In fact Eternal's DLC has been one of my most infuriating gaming experiences in years just from enemy design alone (e.g. requiring very specific weapon mods to kill).

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

As a whole though, DOOM is fun but disappointing to me because at no point do I feel like I'm pushing through whole encounters. I'm mostly strafing around or away from them and running around the map. Maybe the phrase "push-forward combat" has wrongly set my expectations.

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

Instead of doing basically anything in Dallas after spending the whole week there, I created a new "TT"RPG system.

I made the right decision.
There is no convincing me otherwise.

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

@AustinWidmyer What's even more of a shame is that Colossal Swords are annoying to play with later in the game. Bosses are crazy fast later on, and you have to wait around forever before you get your single hit in lol

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

@AustinWidmyer @SifuGame Yeah, from reviews it seems like it's a lot harder than I thought it'd be, but it's made by the same people who made Absolver so I figured the combat would be tight and interesting.

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

@FawningOverU Hmmm yeah seems like a digital version of the regular game. I'll see how it turns out, always wary about Konami trying to squeeze money out of me lmao

Hard sell honestly though since so many emulators already exist that give all cards for free.

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

@DanaLoud My studio is doing an NFT game and I am in pain.

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

@Sam_A_Jamm Ohno

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

@A2ZOMG I think turn-based RPGs especially work well, but yeah, I feel like so many action games are just inferior on mobile. It's not even just straight up ports though, so many games developed just for mobile are trying to be PC/Console games instead of playing to their strengths.

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

I'm pretty sick of mobile games using the touch screen as a controller stand-in. There's so much design space available that would fit mobile a lot better.

Unfortunately I think consumers mostly want to port PC/Console experiences, instead of letting mobile be it's own medium.

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

@AustinWidmyer Don't forget to beg passing Mages for Conjured food and water.

[Steven Ma @SheerTravesty]

@AustinWidmyer That was in fact, my entire experience playing in Elementary School as a Paladin, so I think you're doing fine lmao.