Currently doubling back and smiting bog witches and dark druids in Baldur’s Gate 3. (if you know, you know)

Hey Designer,

Welcome to issue #12 of Signposted!

In this issue we’ll be discussing curves in games AND kicking off the official Signposted book club!

In the best of series, we’ve got some fantastic pieces:

• Ketul Majmudar is back with an analysis of the combat design of the Lizard boss fight in Spiderman 2

• Jon Ingold is discussing narrative design systems and separating event tracking from character knowledge.

• Steve Lee returns and is walking you through early stages of how he builds levels via Doom

• GMTK is discussing Super Mario's Invisible Difficulty Settings

• Emily Short is discussing Narrative AI with the Game Design Round Table

And in this issue’s poll I’m asking what is your most anticipated game of 2024?

If you enjoy Signposted please be sure to share it so more people can enjoy this content! 😁

Thanks and let’s get into it!

Bi-Weekly Analysis and Updates

First we’ll be starting off with more information on the Signposted Book Club which just launched. Then we’ll dip into curves and some of their most common uses.

After each there is a quick breakdown of the most important points for anyone in a rush.

Official Signposted Book Club and Discord

With this issue we’re officially kicking off the Signposted book club! 🎉

The community voted and we’ll be reading Game Balance by Ian Schreiber and Brenda Romero.

Join the discord to get all the details and grow with me, then check below in the quick takeaway section for an overview of how it’ll work.

Quick Takeaway:

• With this issue we’re officially kicking off the Signposted book club!

• We’ll be reading Game Balance by Ian Schreiber and Brenda Romero

• We’ll meet weekly online for an hour to chat about our thoughts regarding the chapter

  • I’m looking at the week of February 12th for our first meeting so that gives you 2 weeks to get the book (exact day of the week and time is TBD but will be decided in the discord this week)

  • This part is optional but I’d like it if you could make it

• In addition to these weekly meetups, there will be a forum where I’ll list discussion questions for each chapter

  • Book Club members can comment their thoughts in the forum and we can continue the discussion there

Game Design Concepts: Curves

In this carousel I’m discussing some of the most common curves and the systems you’ll typically see them in.

Quick Takeaway:

• Curves are a great starting point when you’re trying to plot the relationship between two systems within the game

  • Frequently you’ll see these as Xp > Level or Power > item cost

• Linear Curves

  • Linear curves are best used when items have a 1:1 relationship, like the cost of 1 durability to gold on a specific item in Diablo 2.

    

• Exponential Curves

  • An exponential curve is frequently used for the price of XP for leveling. Dark Souls 3’s curve is influenced by an exponential curve.

  • It creates the experience of cheap levels early on and expensive levels later. This allow your early players to make quick progress and have a good experience.

    

• Logarithmic Curves

  • A logarithmic curve is frequently used when planning player level to time to level up. Most RPGs use a version of this.

  • This creates the experience of quick level ups early on when the player is still learning. And slower progression later when they’re grinding for power.

    

• A note on Curves

  • Remember, these curves are starting points for each of these kinds of systems. Designers will typically do a bit of tuning to make sure they fit perfectly for their game. So while they may start off as these curves, frequently the final version looks a little different but keeps the same general shape.

This Issue’s Community Question

The Best of Game Design

The Best of Written

Understanding the combat design of Lizard boss fight in Spiderman 2

By Ketul Majmudar

Ketul is back with a deep dive on the Lizard boss fight in Spiderman 2. He starts off asking the question of what is a good boss fight? He then dives deep into the timing of the anticipation, recovery, interrupt, and risk/reward elements of each of the boss’ moves. He ends by bringing it all together to discuss the takeaways from analyzing this encounter. It’s deep, if you enjoyed Spiderman 2 or boss design, you’ll definitely enjoy this article.

Changeable Minds

By Jon Ingold

Jon talks about the narrative systems behind the hit game Overboard! and the process Inkle uses to make narrative games with high player agency. In the wake of Baldur’s Gate 3, being applauded so heavily for its robust player agency, I think this is a great read.

The Best of Video

Watch me design a Doom level (text and layout sketch)

Steve Lee

Steve Lee starts walking viewers through his process of creating levels. I enjoy this video mainly because it shows off a lot of the unspoken planning behind level design (LD). So much more goes into it than playing with blocks in a world. If you’re interested in LD, or you want to take a look at someone else’ process, I think this video is very interesting.

Note: This is the first video in a series where he walks through the full process.

Super Mario's Invisible Difficulty Settings

By GMTK

GMTK needs no introduction, in this video he explores how the super Mario games handle adjusting difficulty. This was a topic I was giving a lot of thought to after playing through Wonder and I’m really glad he got to it.

The Best of Audio

🏆 Issue #12 Scott’s Pick 🏆 - The Game Design Round Table - Emily Short

By Dirk and David

Emily Short is no stranger to being featured in Signposted, so it’s no surprise that when the Game Design Round Table interviewed her I’d be taking a listen. In this podcast she discusses A LOT of her process for designing narrative systems throughout her career. It’s VERY informative and quite entertaining to hear more about how she thinks about writing narrative.

And that’s it for Signposted #12. Thanks for reading!

Scott

If you enjoy Signposted please be sure to share it so more people can enjoy this content!