Rick Lane

Incredibly jealous that Jeremy got this (excellent) interview with Emil. Green as a super mutant.

A screenshot of text cropped from a PC Gamer webpage that reads as follows: I write all of my videogame scripts in Scrivener, unless there's an actual tool, which is rare. I wrote all of Void Bastards in Scrivener. I wrote all of Ghost Town in Scrivener. A lot of it is just because it can organise text in a really useful way. It also has screenwriting format, which is easy for actors to read from. It's mainly because, unfortunately, game engines like Unreal have literally no narrative tools. I think the great shame of videogame engines is that they do not ship with any form of narrative tool. It's a disgrace. Even if you are a sound designer, you can work within Unreal's very basic sound design tools to put sounds in, and most people have a desire to work in Wwise because it's a standardised tool. There is no standardised tool for a narrative designer or a writer in videogames.

Cara also made a Very Good Point about how poorly served writers and narrative designers are by videogame design tools.

Cara Ellison, senior narrative designer on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 before Paradox switched developers, discusses her love of Troika's original RPG: 'Everyone on the team helped really m... The narrative designer of Void Bastards and Ghost Town walks us through what's on her PC.

In this week's Disk Cleanup, @caraellison.bsky.social took me on a tour of her PC. We talked about Titanium Court, Bloodlines, Vertigo and David Mamet's penguins. www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/ca...

Help raise £30000 to Coming Together to Support Our Family in a Time of Crisis or Supporting Our Family Through Loss, ICU Care, and Recovery – JustGiving Crowdfunding Iʼm raising money to Coming Together to Support Our Family in a Time of Crisis or Supporting Our Family Through Loss, ICU Care, and Recovery. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.

I just want to give a bump to the fundraiser for Patrick Dane's family as they deal with the long aftermath of the horrific car accident that took him away from us all. They need it for the enormous costs incurred. Time off work. Fights. Hotels. Etc.

www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...

I continue to be fascinated by the phenomenon whereby an expert engages with any of the LLMs on their field of expertise and is instantly horrified by the wrong answers, and then goes on to use it for things they are not experts in as though it won’t be just as bad for those.

Well then. After 9 years my role of Editorial Director at Eurogamer/IGNE has been made redundant. If you’re reading this and feel I have a lot of valuable experience (I do), I’m keen to explore any opportunities (full time, consulting, other) in the games industry. I am great.

To everyone making the same Matt Badlose joke, I implore you, please continue.

Could it be? A nugget of purest green?

Metacritic has sent a reminder email to all games site editors/publishers which is pretty strong, and great:

Craig Charles @CCfunkandsoul 26m X Earlier today I was informed of the passing of @realrobgrant.i am in total shock.He was one of the funniest people I've ever met. A visionary. My heart goes out to his family and friends. The impact he and Doug had on the course of my life is immeasurable RIP ROB

I've been a huge Red Dwarf fan all my life. Sorry to bring bad news to RD fans who may not know yet.

PC Gamer magazine's new issue is on sale now: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 Plus, Solasta 2, Resident Evil Requiem, Terra Invicta, Mewgenics, Going Medieval, Forza Horizon 6, Duke Nukem 3D, gaming mousepads, and much more, too

The latest @pcgamer.com magazine is out now, with world exclusive access to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4. Plus, Solasta 2, Going Medieval, Forza Horizon 6, Resident Evil Requiem, Nioh 3, Duke Nukem 3D, Mewgenics, gaming mouse pads, and much more, too. 💥
tinyurl.com/3hnnn7sm

truly some bottom-rung stuff to staff your site with AI when games freelancers will already turn in 2000 words for an egg sandwich

Oh it's gorgeous. So sleek. Much shiny. Very analogue.

On this subject, I just finished The Invincible, which is a very pleasant slow burn sci-fi adventure.
The writing lets it down a bit, but the visuals and atmosphere are immaculate. And it's done and out in 7 hours. Peak unc game.

Nothing has excited me more about Resi Requiem than hearing it is just 10 hours long.

Voice actors discuss what it takes to bring a grand adventure like Crimson Desert to life We speak to the cast of Crimson Desert and other acclaimed voice actors about how the job has changed over the decades, and how a good performance helps bring games to life.

Here's a L A R G E feature I wrangled together digging into the state of play in videogame acting through the lens of Crimson Desert, with insights from CD's key cast members as well as Jennifer Hale, Ray Chase, Robbie Daymond & Emma Gregory. store.epicgames.com/en-US/news/c...

One of the most satisfying buttons I've ever clicked.

When my last publisher went bust I thought this book was destined to be out of print forever, but infinite thanks to the folks at Lost in Cult for bringing it back to life.

New chapters! New insights! New full colour illustrations! Lavish production values! Beautiful typesetting!

Right now, Hyperfixed has 3,244 premium subscribers. My back of the envelope math says if we can get 1500 more, just 1.7% of the audience for an average episode, we will be in great shape. Thank you so much.

An image of Sarah Bond presenting in front of an Xbox logo

The Xbox shake-up has been explained, via great reporting.

- Phil Spencer's retirement was planned
- Sarah Bond led "this is an Xbox" as her core strategy - which has been a catastrophic, brand-killing failure
- Staff say the writing was on the wall and are "relieved".

(Read more at The Verge)

Hello! Just a wee note to say that my email spam filter is Hulking out for unknown reasons and smashing emails left right and centre, even from decades-long contacts. I'm looking into the problem, but in the meantime I'm keeping a close eye on my spam folder so I WILL receive any emails you send.

Voice actors discuss what it takes to bring a grand adventure like Crimson Desert to life We speak to the cast of Crimson Desert and other acclaimed voice actors about how the job has changed over the decades, and how a good performance helps bring games to life.

Here's a L A R G E feature I wrangled together digging into the state of play in videogame acting through the lens of Crimson Desert, with insights from CD's key cast members as well as Jennifer Hale, Ray Chase, Robbie Daymond & Emma Gregory. store.epicgames.com/en-US/news/c...

Nightdive Studios' Stephen Kick has 8,544 hours in Dota 2, and just clocked his 5,000th win: 'I think it's made me a better leader' The CEO of the remaster specialists guides us through his gaming library.

This week's Disk Cleanup is with @nightdivestudios.bsky.social's Stephen Kick. We talked about Witchfire, Plants vs Zombies, and his transformative time in Dota 2. www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indus...

Nightdive Studios' Stephen Kick has 8,544 hours in Dota 2, and just clocked his 5,000th win: 'I think it's made me a better leader' The CEO of the remaster specialists guides us through his gaming library.

This week's Disk Cleanup is with @nightdivestudios.bsky.social's Stephen Kick. We talked about Witchfire, Plants vs Zombies, and his transformative time in Dota 2. www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indus...

the worst thing for me is. Imagine you lost a bunch of expert carpenters and you had to learn carpentry from scratch with no teachers, no youtube. That’s what the industry is currently doing. just getting rid of the folks who know the craft, and retaining the folks who know how to parasite

"Some of you may be concerned about my nickname 'The Bone Gnasher.' Let me assure you, there will be no bone gnashing on my watch!"

Well I feel reassured.

With new blockbusters taking longer and costing more than ever to make, and nostalgia never a more powerful currency, shuttering a proven specialist in remakes and remasters is frankly insane. Casting out a team of such deep technical expertise and, more crucially, such broad institutional knowledge — Bluepoint doesn’t just know its own tools and technology, but also those of the studios whose games it has modernised, from Sony Santa Monica to Naughty Dog, Team Ico to FromSoftware — is simply inexplicable. Pretending there’s nothing for Bluepoint to work on, when the market for remakes has never been bigger and the long-rumoured, widely coveted Bloodborne remake has reached Shenmue 3 levels of mythicism, is unbelievable. Everything about this decision, from top to bottom and viewed from any and every angle, is ridiculous, baffling, an affront.

On Bluepoint

newsletter.hitpoints.co/361-pointless/

Absolutely wild story, not least because the support team's responses also appear AI generated.