Having previously been disappointed by the information available on the topic, this is my attempt at categorizing different ways to implement 2D platform games, list their strengths and weaknesses, and discuss some implementation details.
posted by Artw on May 24, 2012 - 33 comments

The Valve Employee Handbook [PDF]. An oral history of computer gaming, with Sid Meier (Civillisation I - V, Pirates!, Railroad Tycoon) and Ralph Baer (Pong, the Simon platform), from Vice TV's Motherboard. Also: interviews with classic computer game programmers: Eugene Jarvis (Robotron: 2084, Defender), Jeff Minter (Gridrunner, Revenge Of The Mutant Camels, Gridrunner, Llamatron) and many more, together with the Giant List of Classic Game Programmers. (Previously, a decade ago).
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul on Apr 21, 2012 - 28 comments

Within Minecraft’s blocky world, he has spent about 100 hours so far on a re-creation of Azeroth, the enormous setting of Blizzard’s massively multiplayer game, World of Warcraft (WoW). His name is Ramses. Here's an interview he did with Games Beat. You can see his forum posts here. And there are pictures. [more inside]
posted by hot_monster on Feb 12, 2012 - 34 comments

Why developing the acclaimed video game L.A. Noire was a seven year nightmare for its 100+ (uncredited) developers that resulted in an investigation by the International Game Developers Association. [more inside]
posted by Foci for Analysis on Jul 1, 2011 - 37 comments

"I can tell you right now there is no I in A.I., and nor should there be." Veteran game programmer Mike Diskett (Syndicate, Magic Carpet, GTA IV) offers his thoughts on response mechanics, and how fuzzy logic can fail to account for the fog of war.
posted by Smart Dalek on Jun 24, 2011 - 38 comments

Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python: PDF
posted by vostok on Feb 22, 2010 - 45 comments

In a revelation that, to some, is on the order of realizing there is (or isn't) a god, it turns out that all the dungeons in The Legend of Zelda were part of the same enormous map. This seems to have some sort of transcendental importance that I can't quite put my finger on. [more inside]
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Oct 28, 2009 - 91 comments

flixel is an ActionScript 3 framework abstracted from Adam Atomic's raster-based games, including FATHOM (previously) and Gravity Hook. [more inside]
posted by archagon on Jun 5, 2009 - 33 comments

From the Infocom treasure trove: Milliway's, the unreleased sequel to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
posted by matthewr on Apr 18, 2008 - 43 comments

Level editor for Super Mario World.
You'll need a SNES emulator and a Super Mario World ROM.
(Ctrl+right-click to insert objects.)
posted by Tlogmer on Oct 20, 2005 - 19 comments

...when Jesus appears in your texture maps.
Ok, this is old news (been there since 1996), but from my own game programmer point of view, this site is hilarious, in a bittersweet way.
It's been down for a while, only available through the wayback machine, but recently got online again.
It might even be informative for all nerdy mefis, since latest news prove games programming stay as a modern slavery icon.
Might be NSFW if you're working on 'in trouble' game project.
posted by denpo on Nov 30, 2004 - 11 comments

Guess the Name - Apparently I was the 10th person to think of Turner & Hooch.
posted by Witty on Sep 15, 2003 - 82 comments

Call it the 0.5k. Like a certain widely-heralded Web design contest, the Minigame competition pits clever programmers against each other to see who can do the most with the least. But instead of Web pages, these competitors create games for obsolete 8-bit computers (Atari, Commodore, etc.) in two weight classes: 2K and 512 bytes (!).
posted by jjg on Oct 18, 2001 - 5 comments