Gmu Rob Dieterich Game Design

Robert Dieterich's Blog

Gamer, game dev, and father. Not necessarily in that order. Worked for nearly a decade in Tokyo as a game programmer, now back in the States.

CEO and founder of Skyboy Games LLC. Currently working on getting an MA in Computer Game Design from George Mason University.

Skyboy Games Website: http://skyboygames.com/

Skyboy Games Dev Blog: http://skyboygames.com/blog/

My Twitter: @nobunagaota

Skyboy Games on Twitter: @skyboygames

Skyboy Games on Facebook: http://facebook.com/skyboygames

Member Blogs

This article examines sales data from 2005 to 2015 and assesses the idea that the tastes of Japanese and American gamers' in PC and console games have diverged over the years.

It seems like a paradox but it just might be true: most programmers can't read code (effectively). For many programmers it's much easier to write code than to read it. It's also more dangerous. So, what's a poor coder to do? Learn to read, of course!

Implementing multiplayer (online or local) in a game introduces many design issues not present in a single-player game. Many of these issues seem minor at first, but can have major implications if not handled carefully.

Mini code reviews at check-in time can help prevent bugs and spread knowledge around large programming teams. By using a short and informal review process you can get many of the benefits of code review without a large time commitment.

In many SHMUPS(shoot-em-ups), bullets are the real stars of the game. Here are some tips for making your SHMUP bullets stand out.

Robert Dieterich's Comments

Comment In:

[Blog - 04/17/2013 - 09:33]

Really great post, Jools r ...

Really great post, Jools r n r nHearing how you approached researching the DS market was really informative. While I often hear advice along the lines of find a niche in the market , it was refreshing to see someone specifically address how they actually went about identifying then targeting ...

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[Blog - 10/03/2012 - 11:23]

Thanks I 'm glad you ...

Thanks I 'm glad you liked the article. r n r nMultiplayer experiences are great, but they definitely bring lots of issues beyond the ones I mentioned. In general, I think we 're pretty good at figuring out the big issues like how to multiple players are handled in a ...

Comment In:

[Blog - 09/13/2012 - 09:21]

I 'm glad you find ...

I 'm glad you find the advice helpful. r n r nI was a little worried that these tips would seem too obvious. But, looking back, I realize that each tip stemmed from a time when I had implemented something and it just didn 't work. It 's funny how ...

Comment In:

[Blog - 09/11/2012 - 10:08]

Great post, Luke. I 'm ...

Great post, Luke. I 'm really looking forward to the rest of the series. r n r nAnd timely too. I 've been developing using XNA for a while and have recently been considering a move to Unity. I knew theoretically it should be possible to port an XNA game ...