Posts with keyword 'design'

 
"Functional Specifications"
  Posted by IainPeregrine on Monday, October 05, 2009 06:20AM
Complete games faster, and recruit programmers more readily, by writing a Functional Specification for every project.
  3 Comments
"DevTalk: Multi-World Saving and Loading"
  Posted by Stephen001 on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 11:33AM
During this week's DevTalk article, Stephen will be discussing why a game might handle saving and loading of characters using MySQL.
  13 Comments
"DevTalk: Interactive Skills"
  Posted by Stephen001 on Monday, January 05, 2009 11:42AM
Ordinary verbs boring your players? Check out how datums could help you really put the player in their character's shoes! First of a series of articles on Anime styled RPG design.
  7 Comments
"Take Control!"
  Posted by IainPeregrine on Monday, October 13, 2008 08:07PM
Dream Seeker is sabotaging your game, but you can fight back!
  17 Comments
"Idea Breeding: Fun with Corpses"
  Posted by splattergnome on Monday, August 25, 2008 06:28PM
A BYONDscape Classic! Tarn grappled with the orc, trying to push back the arms holding the twin jagged blades …
  4 Comments
"Creating Games in BYOND"
  Posted by AZA on Wednesday, August 06, 2008 11:51AM
AZA introduces you to a design-focused method of creating games, while introducing newer members of BYOND to the community first.
  52 Comments
"I Thought You Were Banned!?!"
  Posted by Tubutas on Monday, July 21, 2008 09:49AM
Even in the best of games, there is that abusive/annoying/ noob person that you don't want in your game. You try you …
  23 Comments
"Where Do I Put My Code?"
  Posted by IainPeregrine on Monday, May 19, 2008 04:12PM
Does Dream Maker yell at you whenever you try to compile? Does that code you got on the forums not work in your game? This article may help.
  19 Comments
"It's a plot!"
  Posted by Gughunter on Thursday, April 24, 2008 02:46PM
A plot to make you think about plots! This will be of most interest to creators of RPGs and adventures. Puzzle games, …
  1 Comment
"How To Cheat Players"
  Posted by Abhishake on Saturday, April 12, 2008 08:20PM
An article on using probabilities to make sure the computer player has an advantage.
  9 Comments
"Roundup: Articles about Puzzles"
  Posted by Gughunter on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 07:01PM
Can't stand 'em myself. But many game designers are seemingly powerless to resist them! If you're one of those …
  3 Comments
"Is Mapping Teachable?"
  Posted by Foomer on Thursday, April 03, 2008 02:09PM
Some people believe that being able to create excellent maps for games isn't something that anyone can really teach you, it just comes naturally. I'm not going to argue whether that's true or not, but I am going to point out that there are numerous tricks
  13 Comments
"AI in the Field: Making NPCs Smarter Through Ignorance"
  Posted by Lummox JR on Friday, March 28, 2008 12:27PM
Make NPCs think more like players by imposing the same limitations.
  7 Comments
"Fire Your Level Designer"
  Posted by Lummox JR on Friday, February 08, 2008 02:05PM
Let the game build the world for you, and you can have as much fun exploring it as your players will.
  5 Comments
"Just Doing The Right Thing"
  Posted by Jtgibson on Thursday, February 07, 2008 12:26AM
Four tips on user interface design, with a focus on verbs and commands. Handy for everyone!
  3 Comments
"Auto-generate documentation for your game!"
  Posted by Gughunter on Monday, January 14, 2008 06:22PM
This is one of those BYONDscape Classics we're always going on about. Using this simple technique (and Python -- which …
"Fuzzy Logic In Your Game"
  Posted by Gazoot on Wednesday, January 09, 2008 08:02PM
A BYONDscape Classic! If you're including some sort of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in your game, fuzzy logic is a simple technique that can make your AI much more realistic. Try it out and keep your players guessing.
  7 Comments
"User-Friendly Games"
  Posted by Tiko on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 07:34PM
A BYONDscape Classic! Tiko offers a few suggestions about how to make a game that people won't flee in horror (or, if it's a scary game, one they won't flee for the wrong reasons).
  6 Comments
"Z-Tips: Helpful Help Files"
  Posted by Zilal on Friday, December 28, 2007 09:42PM
A BYONDscape Classic! Did you know 84 percent of BYOND gamers will abandon a game in the first two minutes if it doesn't have a help file? That statistic is fabricated, of course, but this column is classier than that. (Read on and see.)
"Design Documents -- Programmers' Bibles"
  Posted by DarkView on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 07:12PM
We're back from Christmas break with a BYONDscape Classic! Take a look into DarkView's approach to planning out a game.
  1 Comment
"All Rectangles Are Squares"
  Posted by IainPeregrine on Wednesday, December 19, 2007 07:24PM
This article anticipates your first objection! "Rectangles don't inherit from square; a square is a special type of rectangle." Read on and judge for yourself.
"PantsQuest II"
  Posted by Gughunter on Saturday, December 15, 2007 07:57PM
NEW! PantsQuest II is a short demonstration of one way to include "cut scenes" in BYOND games.
  2 Comments
"Collapse of the Federation"
  Posted by Gughunter on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 06:29PM
A BYONDscape "Classic"! Possible inspiration for a game of your own, with a bonus: Commodore 64 BASIC source code! It's... well, it's not quite as attractive as DM code.
  4 Comments
"The parent_type var"
  Posted by IainPeregrine on Friday, November 16, 2007 10:12PM
NEW! Learn about how, and why, you might want to tinker with BYOND's path tree. Includes a source code demo that's also a playable game -- B17: Solo Fortress!
  3 Comments
"The "GM" Curse"
  Posted by SilkWizard on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 09:34PM
A BYONDscape Classic! No doubt to many of our well-informed, up-to-date readers, the first image that comes to mind …
  12 Comments
"Learning From Success: Starship Catan"
  Posted by Deadron on Friday, September 28, 2007 08:08PM
A BYONDscape Classic! Ever heard of Klaus Teuber? He's one of the most famous game designers on the planet …
  1 Comment
"Cheating the Cheater"
  Posted by Mike H on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 08:33PM
A BYONDscape Classic! Two notes: 1) AirMapster is no longer AirMapster, but is still an active BYONDer. Unenviably …
  5 Comments
"BYOND Player Movement"
  Posted by Shadowdarke on Friday, September 14, 2007 09:10PM
A BYONDscape Classic! Contents Introduction Controlling Movement Speed Movement Timer Movement Accumulator …
  5 Comments
"Using Libraries: A Don't Do It Yourself Guide"
  Posted by Deadron on Monday, August 13, 2007 08:13AM
A BYONDscape Classic! This one comes from Deadron, and it's all about why you should be using libraries in your games …
  11 Comments
"O! Carina!"
  Posted by Gughunter on Monday, July 30, 2007 06:05PM
Foomer sends this link to a thorough analysis of a pretty popular game: The puzzle structure of Ocarina of Time …
  5 Comments
"Getting the players you want: Bartle's player types"
  Posted by Gughunter on Wednesday, July 25, 2007 05:22AM
I know I've posted a link to this classic article somewhere before, but it's probably high time to do it again: …
  6 Comments
"How to Fail at Game Programming"
  Posted by Deadron on Sunday, July 15, 2007 04:19PM
A BYONDscape Classic! How to Fail at Game Programming by Deadron How to fail On the BYOND forums we've seen dozens …
  12 Comments
"Z-Tips: Text and Background Colors"
  Posted by Zilal on Monday, June 25, 2007 06:35PM
A BYONDscape Classic! "Z-Tips" debuts with some handy pointers on how to customize the appearance of your text--and …
  3 Comments
 

 

 

Programming Help

Get Started - A quick overview of the tools available for learning to program in BYOND.

DM Guide - This is the first place you should look if you're new to BYOND's language DM. Some people call this the "blue book".

ZBT parts 1, 2, & 3 - Zilal's excellent tutorial series, teaching you the basics of how to get started writing games in BYOND.

Your First World and Step BYOND - Sample games that you can study to help you learn.

DM Reference - Handy for novice users and advanced programmers alike, this documents everything you need to know about the DM language.

Skin Reference - If you want to give your game a custom interface, this tells you what you can do with "skins" and how to work with them.

BYOND Resources - Demos and libraries you can download to help you with your creation.

Publishing Games

Publishing Games - A guide for putting your creations on the BYOND hub to share with others.

Recording Videos - If you want to find out how to make a video of your game and put it on YouTube or another site, this can get you started.

Keywords