In game development we often want to reduce the amount of memory that is allocated on the heap. One technique is to use value types like structs that can be stored on the stack instead of the heap. But surprisingly the simple act of referencing a struct by an interface can lead to memory allocations and poor performance.
GM Tip: Room Descriptions
D&D is a game that happens in the player’s imagination. As the GM, it’s your responsibility to give the players enough detail that the world becomes real. I know that sounds like a lot of work, but it can actually be pretty simple to give the players what they need and bring the world to life. Much of this comes down to how you describe the environment to the players.
Why all game designers should play D&D
This past year, I’ve been playing Dungeons and Dragons – quite possibly the nerdiest game in the world. However it’s reintroduced me to a human part of game design that we tend to forget when working on video games. There’s just something about sitting across the table from your friends and seeing the reaction on their face when you switch the gold chalice with a baked potato in the arms of a sleeping dragon. Or when you are almost melted by said dragon’s fire breath and are clinging to life by one hit point. Tabletop games give us a kind of immediate feedback that all game designers should crave.
Git is Friend, Not Food
If you’ve ever looked at a commit message and thought “what the hell were they thinking?”, this is an ode to your pain.
