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How I Deal With Harassment, Abuse, and Crazies In General.
Whenever I write about a topic that upsets me, I calm myself by illustrating it with royalty-free, reassuring stock photos."People are a problem." - Douglas AdamsI get a lot of requests for advice from...
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Avadon 3, Announcing New Games, and Facing Your Inadequacy.
Aaaaaand ... we're off!We have just announced our newest game, Avadon 3: The Warborn!It's the final game in the series! At last, you get to end the war, pick a winner, and decide who lives and who...
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To Be a Pro is to Be Abused.
Trigger warning: Bears.I want to say a few words to young developers on the value of resilience and the growing of a thick skin.Slow down there. Hands off the keyboard. I an NOT talking about abuse,...
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No, Video Games Aren't Art. We're BETTER.
Do you think this should fill me with shame? Because it does not."When I was twenty, I worried what everything thought of me. When I turned forty, I didn’t care what anyone thought of me. And then I...
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We Released Avadon 3! (Also, a Few Words About Free Time)
Avadon is done. That's 5 years of my life, tied up with a bow.I don't always write controversial, widely-read blog posts that make people way, way, WAY angrier than they should be. I also make games.At...
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A Very Long Post About How to Become a Creator.
Even by my wordy standards, this page is super TL;DR. I suggest just reading it until I get to the bit where I plug my new game.It has come to my attention that quite a few young, aspirant creators...
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We Are No Longer Supporting Android. Sigh.
When I stare into its cold, dead eyes, all I see is my own failure reflected back at me.So I won't bury the lead in this blog post.As of the very near future, Spiderweb Software will be discontinuing...
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Writing Indie Games Is Like Being a Musician. In the Bad Way.
"Our game is called Mystik Spiral. It is an indie interactive aggression about the evils of conformist corporate culture. Coming on Steam for Windows and Mac and as an XBox One console exclusive."Over...
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Does Your Video Game Have Too Many Words? (Yeah, Probably.)
TLDR.jpg (Also note: This gigantic lore-lump is just for choosing your character's sex.)"Too long. Lose half.""Which half?""The half that you don't need." - Their FinestMy whole career has been based...
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Games Have Too Many Words: A Case Study.
In this chapter, I unwisely critique the work of my betters.I recently wrote an article about how video games have too many words. We designers don't properly edit our writing to make sure our words...
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Persona 5, Cartoon Cats, Depthless Evil, and Dating Your Teacher.
Strap in. This might get a tiny bit weird.I write long RPGs for a living. Yet, I am the most jaded RPG gamer in the world. I tend to hate playing them. Yet, I force myself to play a long RPGs, because...
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The Life and Merciful Death of the Fad Controller
Sorry, grandma. This doesn't exist anymore. I guess you should have bought more than the launch title.Over the years we have had console gaming, the perfect control mechanism for our entertainment has...
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Avernum 3, Remasters, and the Joy of Owning Your Work.
It's weird to see over four years of my life just sitting there in a lump.I've been making my little indie games for a living for 23 years. Being a greybeard in such a weird and young industry comes...
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I Settle All Video Game Arguments, Part 1: Game Reviews
There was a ridiculous controversy recently because a games journo was bad at this difficult game. All time spent debating it was time wasted. I am writing this so that such time-wastage never happens...
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I Settle All Video Game Arguments, Part 2: What Is a Game?
According to the rigorous definition of Game that I will provide, creating "dank memes" IS a video game.One of the painful things about being in the games biz for a long (LONG) time is that you see the...
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Cuphead, Cruelty, and Selling Unfairness to You.
Teacher, mother, secret lover.When charming indie megahit Cuphead came out, I watched a ton of it on Twitch. How could I not? It's so pretty!I wasn't planning to play it. I like to play one super-tough...
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We Released Avernum 3: Ruined World.
Seasons come and go. Pages fall from the calendar. And Spiderweb Software releases another game.In 1997, I wrote a hit game.It was called Exile 3: Ruined World. It and its remasters are the most...
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I Gave a Big Talk On Indie Games and It's Pretty Good.
Please enjoy this reasonably-priced hour of grumpy ranting.For a long time now, I've wanted to give a talk about the history of Spiderweb Software. It would be a combination of funny stories about the...
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Divinity: Original Sin 2 and the Rewards of Doing One Hard Thing Right
There will never not be a market for a solid RPG.I recently played indie RPG megahit Divinity: Original Sin 2. I went through it front to back, spending over 90 hours (Normal/Classic difficulty). It'd...
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We Did Our First Kickstarter! And It Worked!
Another journey begins. A long, long journey.For the fifth time in 25 years of doing business, we at Spiderweb Software are making a whole new game world (and new engine to go with it). Along with the...
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