Max Nichols
@maxnichols.bsky.social
He/him. Game designer. I make worlds that you want to explore. Sr. Tech Design in AAA. Prev: Bungie, Turbine. I run @HyruleInterviews.bsky.social
Blog: namelessquality.com
Portfolio: maxnicholsdesign.com
Blog: namelessquality.com
Portfolio: maxnicholsdesign.com
I think the single most important design decision in the entirety of Destiny 1 or 2 was when they built the inventory/quest screens to be interactable during loading screens
Not talked about almost ever, but it was so damn important to the loot game
Not talked about almost ever, but it was so damn important to the loot game
November 11, 2025 at 2:02 AM
I think the single most important design decision in the entirety of Destiny 1 or 2 was when they built the inventory/quest screens to be interactable during loading screens
Not talked about almost ever, but it was so damn important to the loot game
Not talked about almost ever, but it was so damn important to the loot game
Reposted by Max Nichols
spell idea: steal door.
fires a bolt which creates a door in the first wall it hits. removes a random door from elsewhere. there must be a closed door somewhere in the current map.
fires a bolt which creates a door in the first wall it hits. removes a random door from elsewhere. there must be a closed door somewhere in the current map.
November 10, 2025 at 10:32 PM
spell idea: steal door.
fires a bolt which creates a door in the first wall it hits. removes a random door from elsewhere. there must be a closed door somewhere in the current map.
fires a bolt which creates a door in the first wall it hits. removes a random door from elsewhere. there must be a closed door somewhere in the current map.
I just love it when politicians vote in favor of people dying because they can't afford healthcare
Even more than usual, I mean
Even more than usual, I mean
November 10, 2025 at 2:27 AM
I just love it when politicians vote in favor of people dying because they can't afford healthcare
Even more than usual, I mean
Even more than usual, I mean
I've never played any of the Inazuma Eleven games, but this looks pretty damn good
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9UO...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9UO...
『イナズマイレブン 英雄たちのヴィクトリーロード』ファイナルトレーラー 1
YouTube video by LEVEL5ch【公式】
www.youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:22 AM
I've never played any of the Inazuma Eleven games, but this looks pretty damn good
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9UO...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9UO...
Gaming Alexandria is a huge deal in game culture preservation. Incredible organization. Probably the single most important group this side of the VGHF
I reference their work constantly for @hyruleinterviews.bsky.social!
I reference their work constantly for @hyruleinterviews.bsky.social!
Hard to believe it's already been ten years that Gaming Alexandria has been around. Here's a (late) article about our history, as well as special thanks and small blurbs from others of what Gaming Alexandria has meant to them. Here's to another ten years! www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2025/11/g...
November 9, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Gaming Alexandria is a huge deal in game culture preservation. Incredible organization. Probably the single most important group this side of the VGHF
I reference their work constantly for @hyruleinterviews.bsky.social!
I reference their work constantly for @hyruleinterviews.bsky.social!
HAH, someone finally did it:
One of the shonen anime this season had a series of drawn-out multi-episode battles
And one of the characters lost patience and finally just drew a fuckin’ gun
One of the shonen anime this season had a series of drawn-out multi-episode battles
And one of the characters lost patience and finally just drew a fuckin’ gun
November 9, 2025 at 7:51 PM
HAH, someone finally did it:
One of the shonen anime this season had a series of drawn-out multi-episode battles
And one of the characters lost patience and finally just drew a fuckin’ gun
One of the shonen anime this season had a series of drawn-out multi-episode battles
And one of the characters lost patience and finally just drew a fuckin’ gun
Reposted by Max Nichols
Oh, I also apparently wrote a TWO PAGE letter apologizing for bad grades (gonna be real, I had ADHD bad and was unmedicated) and then had the audacity to quote Linkin Park at the end. 😂 Past me was kind of cringe…
November 9, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Oh, I also apparently wrote a TWO PAGE letter apologizing for bad grades (gonna be real, I had ADHD bad and was unmedicated) and then had the audacity to quote Linkin Park at the end. 😂 Past me was kind of cringe…
I got to listen to some truly hilarious dramatic readings of 8-year-old-kid X-Files fic
Apparently I wrote X-Files fanfiction as a kid and I had no idea until my mom dropped off a million relics of Paige off at my house… It wasn’t good fanfiction either, sadly.
November 9, 2025 at 2:17 AM
I got to listen to some truly hilarious dramatic readings of 8-year-old-kid X-Files fic
The new game almost immediately establishes some copout retcon shit to justify reusing more of Tears of the Kingdom’s assets without having to actually do the hard + expensive work of portraying the history hinted at in the game
I am not a fan of the fact that the last two Hyrule Warriors games have gone back to try to fully portray an ancient, mythic time from the backstory of their respective mainline games.
Dispelling the unknown with the low-quality known is a bad thing! Stories need unknown edges
Dispelling the unknown with the low-quality known is a bad thing! Stories need unknown edges
November 8, 2025 at 6:17 AM
The new game almost immediately establishes some copout retcon shit to justify reusing more of Tears of the Kingdom’s assets without having to actually do the hard + expensive work of portraying the history hinted at in the game
Brutal, lol
The only other composer for SMG is Mahito Yokota, so when Miyamoto says this he is saying it about a very specific person’s work.
Yokota is a big Kondo fan
The only other composer for SMG is Mahito Yokota, so when Miyamoto says this he is saying it about a very specific person’s work.
Yokota is a big Kondo fan
![Iwata: Compared to Kondo-san, you may not have worked on development of The Legend of Zelda that long, but you've been playing it forever, right?
Yokota: You can say that again! Talking about it could take forever! [laughs] I love The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time beyond all reason!
I have, of course, played all the Zelda games since the first one, and played them all the way through, but Ocarina of Time was an eye-opening experience to how great video game music can be. I played song after song on the piano.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:f2mmt5cpordy27x4kx4ng5u2/bafkreiblrzbs5gyvzk6bxrugaxqjai5lmwzomrpyloow5mgxjst7f4ffcq@jpeg)
November 8, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Brutal, lol
The only other composer for SMG is Mahito Yokota, so when Miyamoto says this he is saying it about a very specific person’s work.
Yokota is a big Kondo fan
The only other composer for SMG is Mahito Yokota, so when Miyamoto says this he is saying it about a very specific person’s work.
Yokota is a big Kondo fan
Yeah.
There's no way that the delay is because of the union busting. The timelines don't line up. The cost of the delay is probably measured in tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.
Even if the (evil, blatant) union busting DID hurt dev this much, it would take longer for them to recognize it.
There's no way that the delay is because of the union busting. The timelines don't line up. The cost of the delay is probably measured in tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.
Even if the (evil, blatant) union busting DID hurt dev this much, it would take longer for them to recognize it.
Fuck all union busters but trying to draw a line of causation between the delay and the seemingly illegal firings is agenda-driven reporting that is extremely unlikely to be accurate.
November 7, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Yeah.
There's no way that the delay is because of the union busting. The timelines don't line up. The cost of the delay is probably measured in tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.
Even if the (evil, blatant) union busting DID hurt dev this much, it would take longer for them to recognize it.
There's no way that the delay is because of the union busting. The timelines don't line up. The cost of the delay is probably measured in tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.
Even if the (evil, blatant) union busting DID hurt dev this much, it would take longer for them to recognize it.
I consider “player fantasy” to be useful shorthand for certain types of creative direction.
I think it has big limitations though; it’s hard to push past what the players have already seen elsewhere if you’re cleaving too closely to referential thinking.
I want to work on games with deeper visions
I think it has big limitations though; it’s hard to push past what the players have already seen elsewhere if you’re cleaving too closely to referential thinking.
I want to work on games with deeper visions
Weigh in nerds!
Do you find it helpful to discuss "player fantasies"? Does the term fill you with disgust? Do you have a good handle on what it means?
Do you find it helpful to discuss "player fantasies"? Does the term fill you with disgust? Do you have a good handle on what it means?
I am writing something about "fulfilling player fantasies" in games. I would appreciate any thoughts people have on the subject (positive or negative - is this a valuable concept?), talks or papers discussing or popularizing this sort of rhetoric, etc etc
November 7, 2025 at 12:52 AM
I consider “player fantasy” to be useful shorthand for certain types of creative direction.
I think it has big limitations though; it’s hard to push past what the players have already seen elsewhere if you’re cleaving too closely to referential thinking.
I want to work on games with deeper visions
I think it has big limitations though; it’s hard to push past what the players have already seen elsewhere if you’re cleaving too closely to referential thinking.
I want to work on games with deeper visions
Reposted by Max Nichols
GOOD NEWS! Researchers have developed a cancer vaccine that has shown STUNNING results, PREVENTING up to 88% of MULTIPLE aggressive cancers by harnessing dual-pathway nanoparticles that train the immune system to recognize and destroy tumor cells. In some cases, it COMPLETELY prevented metastasis.
November 5, 2025 at 5:00 PM
GOOD NEWS! Researchers have developed a cancer vaccine that has shown STUNNING results, PREVENTING up to 88% of MULTIPLE aggressive cancers by harnessing dual-pathway nanoparticles that train the immune system to recognize and destroy tumor cells. In some cases, it COMPLETELY prevented metastasis.
When used as a buyer's guide, really any review is only useful inasmuch as the author's tastes align with the reader's.
It's a finicky art for sure, but there's definitely value in varied tastes being represented amongst reviews
It's a finicky art for sure, but there's definitely value in varied tastes being represented amongst reviews
November 4, 2025 at 7:22 PM
When used as a buyer's guide, really any review is only useful inasmuch as the author's tastes align with the reader's.
It's a finicky art for sure, but there's definitely value in varied tastes being represented amongst reviews
It's a finicky art for sure, but there's definitely value in varied tastes being represented amongst reviews
Reposted by Max Nichols
"Max loved Zelda, no one can dispute that. My theory as to why he was often forgetful or absent minded is because Max learned how to navigate more mundane tasks on auto-pilot so that he could devote more of his brain space to thinking about Zelda at ALL TIMES."
November 3, 2025 at 11:35 PM
"Max loved Zelda, no one can dispute that. My theory as to why he was often forgetful or absent minded is because Max learned how to navigate more mundane tasks on auto-pilot so that he could devote more of his brain space to thinking about Zelda at ALL TIMES."
Whoops
I accidentally donated all my Destiny Collector's Editions to goodwill, lmao
I accidentally donated all my Destiny Collector's Editions to goodwill, lmao
November 3, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Whoops
I accidentally donated all my Destiny Collector's Editions to goodwill, lmao
I accidentally donated all my Destiny Collector's Editions to goodwill, lmao
Trying to identify this artist/NPC designer who worked on Skyward Sword.
None of the credit databases list anyone with the family name of “Kinouchi”, nor is there anyone in my own database, which covers all Zelda games. I wonder if this name got mistranslated?
The quote is from Hyrule Historia.
None of the credit databases list anyone with the family name of “Kinouchi”, nor is there anyone in my own database, which covers all Zelda games. I wonder if this name got mistranslated?
The quote is from Hyrule Historia.
November 3, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Trying to identify this artist/NPC designer who worked on Skyward Sword.
None of the credit databases list anyone with the family name of “Kinouchi”, nor is there anyone in my own database, which covers all Zelda games. I wonder if this name got mistranslated?
The quote is from Hyrule Historia.
None of the credit databases list anyone with the family name of “Kinouchi”, nor is there anyone in my own database, which covers all Zelda games. I wonder if this name got mistranslated?
The quote is from Hyrule Historia.
There are a number of things about working underneath Shigeru Miyamoto over the years that sound bad to me, especially around work/life issues.
But one thing he does NOT do is try to own every creative decision. He empowered his teams. There are many examples, but this is one of the clearest
But one thing he does NOT do is try to own every creative decision. He empowered his teams. There are many examples, but this is one of the clearest
Miyamoto on the "interesting misunderstanding" of Kakariko Village, 1999.
Source: The Hyrule Journals ( @javedlsterritt.bsky.social )
#Zelda
#OcarinaofTimeQuote
#MiyamotoQuote
www.hyruleinterviews.com/24441fe961fd...
Source: The Hyrule Journals ( @javedlsterritt.bsky.social )
#Zelda
#OcarinaofTimeQuote
#MiyamotoQuote
www.hyruleinterviews.com/24441fe961fd...
![PEOPLE:
- Shigeru Miyamoto, age 46. Producer of Ocarina of Time.
QUOTE:
Miyamoto: [We had] been working in the flat world of the Famicom, so we tend to think about the flat layout of the area first, but real villages are different. When I watch TV programs or actually visit villages, I often see that many of them are located on slopes. There are fields, houses, and mountains in the background.
So, in [Ocarina of Time], we decided to create a village with ups and downs. The image I had in mind was terraced fields, a waterwheel, and a winding path leading down to a well at the bottom, but what actually ended up being built resembled the form of a staircase [laughs]. But I thought, “This is good too,” and the designer made it on their own, which led to an interesting misunderstanding.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2e7f2uvcguv4d5qxqnyjmk32/bafkreiem5ddynevtbgylbhr66qozjbhrmhrqrcry6ufkf2p5e5zhwky2pm@jpeg)
November 1, 2025 at 5:19 PM
There are a number of things about working underneath Shigeru Miyamoto over the years that sound bad to me, especially around work/life issues.
But one thing he does NOT do is try to own every creative decision. He empowered his teams. There are many examples, but this is one of the clearest
But one thing he does NOT do is try to own every creative decision. He empowered his teams. There are many examples, but this is one of the clearest
Idea: bullets apply physics force. You can’t kill but must instead knock enemies off the edge or into traps.
Enemies balance and distribute weight in different ways and at different points in their (it would have to be procedural) animation, so it’s a bit of a puzzle each time
Final boss:
Enemies balance and distribute weight in different ways and at different points in their (it would have to be procedural) animation, so it’s a bit of a puzzle each time
Final boss:
November 1, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Idea: bullets apply physics force. You can’t kill but must instead knock enemies off the edge or into traps.
Enemies balance and distribute weight in different ways and at different points in their (it would have to be procedural) animation, so it’s a bit of a puzzle each time
Final boss:
Enemies balance and distribute weight in different ways and at different points in their (it would have to be procedural) animation, so it’s a bit of a puzzle each time
Final boss:
Reposted by Max Nichols
On Saints Row we had a debug npc named Skinballs (lol) that was literally just four spheres wrapped in different shades of skin texture so we could test lighting for different skin tones during development. But teams need to plan for that kind of testing with intentionality, and not enough do.
October 31, 2025 at 3:23 PM
On Saints Row we had a debug npc named Skinballs (lol) that was literally just four spheres wrapped in different shades of skin texture so we could test lighting for different skin tones during development. But teams need to plan for that kind of testing with intentionality, and not enough do.
I am not a fan of the fact that the last two Hyrule Warriors games have gone back to try to fully portray an ancient, mythic time from the backstory of their respective mainline games.
Dispelling the unknown with the low-quality known is a bad thing! Stories need unknown edges
Dispelling the unknown with the low-quality known is a bad thing! Stories need unknown edges
October 31, 2025 at 7:12 PM
I am not a fan of the fact that the last two Hyrule Warriors games have gone back to try to fully portray an ancient, mythic time from the backstory of their respective mainline games.
Dispelling the unknown with the low-quality known is a bad thing! Stories need unknown edges
Dispelling the unknown with the low-quality known is a bad thing! Stories need unknown edges
All this talk of baseball has got me thinking about the incredible, dynamic, mesmerizing character designs and art of @mosqi.bsky.social
This is what baseball is like, right
This is what baseball is like, right
October 31, 2025 at 5:29 PM
All this talk of baseball has got me thinking about the incredible, dynamic, mesmerizing character designs and art of @mosqi.bsky.social
This is what baseball is like, right
This is what baseball is like, right
Now that I’ve finished FFT, I find myself wanting more, and to compare…
Hmm, which to play next… I don’t think I ever played FFTA2. I have played Knight of the Lodis, but not for almost 25 years. It was actually the first of that style of Tactics RPG I ever played.
Hmm, which to play next… I don’t think I ever played FFTA2. I have played Knight of the Lodis, but not for almost 25 years. It was actually the first of that style of Tactics RPG I ever played.
October 31, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Now that I’ve finished FFT, I find myself wanting more, and to compare…
Hmm, which to play next… I don’t think I ever played FFTA2. I have played Knight of the Lodis, but not for almost 25 years. It was actually the first of that style of Tactics RPG I ever played.
Hmm, which to play next… I don’t think I ever played FFTA2. I have played Knight of the Lodis, but not for almost 25 years. It was actually the first of that style of Tactics RPG I ever played.
I remember how, back in the aughts, I kept trying and failing to enjoy Dwarf Fortress. I finally had to have @joelcpelletier.bsky.social come to my dorm room and _teach_ me how to play it, over several hours.
I wonder if I need to do something similar to learn how to enjoy Crusader Kings 3
I wonder if I need to do something similar to learn how to enjoy Crusader Kings 3
October 31, 2025 at 7:07 AM
I remember how, back in the aughts, I kept trying and failing to enjoy Dwarf Fortress. I finally had to have @joelcpelletier.bsky.social come to my dorm room and _teach_ me how to play it, over several hours.
I wonder if I need to do something similar to learn how to enjoy Crusader Kings 3
I wonder if I need to do something similar to learn how to enjoy Crusader Kings 3
Reposted by Max Nichols
So, today I'm announcing a new book project... and doing a call for papers: crpgbook.wordpress.com/2025/10/31/t...
It's an anthology of video game history outside the usual US perspective - an accessible & exciting panorama of different realities - and I'll pay 300 USD per article.
Please share :)
It's an anthology of video game history outside the usual US perspective - an accessible & exciting panorama of different realities - and I'll pay 300 USD per article.
Please share :)
The Video Game History Expansion Pack – Pitch your story
Today I’m putting my money where my mouth is and launching a new project — a book focused on game history outside of the usual North American perspectives.
crpgbook.wordpress.com
October 30, 2025 at 11:11 PM
So, today I'm announcing a new book project... and doing a call for papers: crpgbook.wordpress.com/2025/10/31/t...
It's an anthology of video game history outside the usual US perspective - an accessible & exciting panorama of different realities - and I'll pay 300 USD per article.
Please share :)
It's an anthology of video game history outside the usual US perspective - an accessible & exciting panorama of different realities - and I'll pay 300 USD per article.
Please share :)