When you’re playing a game with a consistent and tight world design, you don’t even notice it – unless, of course, you’re a designer, in which case, you notice the shit out of it for all the right reasons. Everything from the scenery to the costumes to the music to the sound design should all be unified, equally contributing to a single concept that ultimately fades to the background because it’s just so damn natural. (“Elder Scrolls” games tend to do this well.)
Art and Industry News
The Shape of Things
No, I’m not referring to the play by Neil LaBute. Today I’m talking about Kurt Vonnegut’s theory of the universal shape of story types. According i09, Vonnegut believed “stories have shapes which can be drawn on graph paper.” This was his thesis for his anthropology degree at the University of Chicago. However, his teachers told him the idea was too simple, and according to Vonnegut, too much fun. Not long after, he left the university without completing his degree.
5 Ways to Prepare for Ragnarok
Well, we once again came away from a predicted apocalypse, and this time it was from the Vikings. Their mythology set the end of the world for Saturday, Feb. 22, and fortunately, it didn’t happen. At least, I don’t see rivers of blood or warring gods. However, I thought it might be fun to go ahead and play around with Viking lore. So next time we face imminent destruction, take a look at these tips for surviving Ragnarok:
The Pen and Needle 