FEATURES

Stacking

Stacking, a matryoshka nesting doll- and silent film-inspired adventure game, is one of the results of Double Fine's big experiment; to break its larger teams into smaller chunks, allowing for more directors, more (smaller) games, and more visions. This model has proved Double Fine's saving grace, but was not without its pitfalls.

10 Years of Salary Surveys

Game Developer has been conducting salary surveys for 10 years now. With that much data, we presumed some interesting trends might result. This feature is the result of that analysis, showing ultimately that while individual disciplines have fluctuated, by and large industry pay has remained relatively stable.

Always Online

In the past, some studios developed online and offline features separately, due to SDK differences and myriad other issues. With Insomniac's first multi-platform game Overstrike, the company has integrated its systems, and now, author Peter Kao says, "we are all network programmers."

Balancing a Big Huge RPG

Western-style open world RPGs have proved immensely popular in recent years. RPGs are huge undertakings on their own, and Ian Frazier shares his tips for balancing an open-world RPG, employed in the creation of Big Huge Games' new game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

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