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Joris Dormans

@jorisdormans.bsky.social

Game designer. Lead dev for Bane, Unexplored 2, and Unexplored. Also dabbles with board game design. Teaches game studies, generative narratology, and game design at Leiden University.

338 Posts389 Follower156 Folgt
Joris Dormans@jorisdormans.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Just back from a week 'buitenkunst' (an artsy summercamp for all ages) where I spent my time designing and soldering these 'bosbeesten': a set of 7 animatronic twig creatures you could jack into an arduino 'brain' built into a log. My collaborator Arjan Verschoor took these awesome photographs.

Joris Dormans@jorisdormans.bsky.social · 5mo ago

I've been working on and thinking about traps and hazards. An important quality I try to build into these features is the affordance to probe something before you interact with it. Case in point: throw something that is not you into this portal as a way to find out what it does... #gamedev #indiedev

Tommy Thompson@tommy.aiandgames.com · 6mo ago

I forgot to say at the time but I've always been fascinated by the great work in trying to apply machine learning to procedural content generation. Because PCG is often logic-driven systems that manifest from the thoughtspace of the designer. Where tacit knowledge feeds into algorithmic design.

Tommy Thompson@tommy.aiandgames.com · 6mo ago

It's not surprising that despite all the noise about generative AI we've yet to see anything really groundbreaking in creative areas. Because creative roles are where tacit knowledge is king. Where we struggle to define how we art and why. What made you think AI would be good at that???

Kyle Geske@stungeye.com · 6mo ago

"The underlying intelligence of a language model isn’t a function of its architecture, its parameter count, or the volume of compute thrown at its training. It's a function of the social complexity of the civilization whose language it digested." Compelling arg that AI is a tragedy of commons.

The Social Edge of Intelligence - The Ideas Letter

Simons challenges the dominant story of AI-driven efficiency, arguing that the intelligence powering today’s systems is built from accumulated human interaction. As organizations automate work and off...

theideasletter.org

Joris Dormans@jorisdormans.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Having fun introducing a classic Unexplored 1 & 2 enemy into Bane: Screaming Skulls. Nasty little flame spirits that took possession of a skull. It was a bit of a puzzle to figure out how their screaming lunge attack would work in turn-based combat. But I think this will work! #gamedev #indiedev

Joris Dormans@jorisdormans.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Look at me dodging all those magical discharges! Transposing 'myst' from Unexplored 1 & 2 to Bane. Myst is a magical gas that can violently discharge when hit by an arcane bolt causing a chain reaction. Instead of it being real time, Bane's Danger Mode handles the 'bullet time'. #gamedev #indiedev

Joris Dormans@jorisdormans.bsky.social · 7mo ago

This week I've been focusing on expanding 'mundane' interactions. One new cool feature is the ability to bury and dig up stuff. I mean, we have been calling Bane a 'sandbox rpg' so we had to have this, right?! What other cool actions do you expect to see in a game like this? #gamedev #indiedev

Mike Cook@mtrc.bsky.social · 8mo ago

I've written a book! Next Level: Making Games That Make Themselves is the story of procedural generation - the tech behind games like Minecraft and Dwarf Fortress. It's about how it works, the games that use it, and the art and magic behind it. Out May 7th, in bookshops: linktr.ee/next_level 🎲🔮

A picture of a hardback book on a washed blue background. The title is Next Level: Making Games That Make Themselves, by Mike Cook.
Joris Dormans@jorisdormans.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Been recycling features from Unexplored 1 and 2. Here's me getting obliterated trying to harvest some Pink Varo. The art is placeholder. The deadly plants fire vicious, quarrel-like seeds at you. For that reason I named it quarrellaurel, but I am open to better suggestions! #gamedev #indiedev

Joris Dormans@jorisdormans.bsky.social · 8mo ago

A big thanks to all the players who tried out Bane: Dawn of the Lost during NextFest! The demo will remain available. In fact you can expect there to be updates as we are expanding the features and content on our way to Early Access. store.steampowered.com/app/3194460/ #gamedev #indiedev

Bane: Dawn of the Lost on Steam

Control a group of heroes or join a party of friends online in this old-school, turn-based, procedurally generated RPG. Be clever and careful while exploring ancient sites. Cooperate to survive traps,...

store.steampowered.com

Joris Dormans@jorisdormans.bsky.social · 9mo ago

I pressed a green button today, and now the demo for Bane is available on Steam! If you are interested in party-based, procedurally generated, turn-based adventuring give it a go! Single-player for now, but that'll change soon! store.steampowered.com/app/3194460/... #indiedev #gamedev #procgen

Bane on Steam

Control a group of heroes or join a party of friends online in this old-school, turn-based, procedurally generated RPG. Be clever and careful while exploring ancient sites. Cooperate to survive traps,...

store.steampowered.com