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Dr Mark R Johnson

  • About
  • Publications
  • Games
  • Blog
  • Press
  • Speaking
  • Contact
  • CV

Blog

Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #33: Riddle Generation 4: Poems

April 12, 2025Game Design, Ultima Ratio Regum, Updates
Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #33: Riddle Generation 4: Poems

Hello everyone, welcome back! I do hope you all continue to enjoy the new fortnightly update schedule. After a few blog entries away from discussing the poetry riddle generation – this being the only type of riddle I’m promising to have released in 0.11, with the possibility of more if time allows – it’s time … Read More

Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #32: The Player’s Journal #1

March 30, 2025Game Design, Ultima Ratio Regum, Updates
Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #32: The Player’s Journal #1

Hello friends! Welcome back. I really do hope you have all been enjoying the more regular fortnightly updates recently. I’m pleased to say that – as of yet(!) – they are not stressing me out in the least, and are only helping to focus and drive 0.11 development. It’s good to have this fortnightly check … Read More

Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #31: Continuing Notes, Continuing Books

March 15, 2025Game Design, Ultima Ratio Regum, Updates
Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #31: Continuing Notes, Continuing Books

Hello everyone! Welcome back to the new and improved fortnightly URR blog update (for the time being, at least, though so far I can truthfully say that a slightly faster turnaround time has been only motivating, and not stressful – touch wood). Two entries ago I discussed in some detail the ongoing generation of the … Read More

Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #30: Tutorial Design

March 2, 2025Game Design, Ultima Ratio Regum, Updates
Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #30: Tutorial Design

Hello friends! This week I’m going to be covering a major addition for 0.11 – the implementation of a tutorial (and the replacement of the guidebook, too). This has been an exciting thing to develop because it really does signal this ongoing transformation from “cool detailed world without too much to actually do” into “game … Read More

Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #29: Riddle Generation 3: Poems

February 16, 2025Game Design, Ultima Ratio Regum, Updates
Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #29: Riddle Generation 3: Poems

Hello everyone! Welcome back. This week we’re going to be delving into the generation of one of the clue types, which is going to be the main clue type for the 0.11 release. In the screenshots I’ve shown off previously I just used some relatively simple placeholder generators in order to give a sense of … Read More

Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #28: Quest Design #1

January 25, 2025Game Design, Ultima Ratio Regum, Updates
Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #28: Quest Design #1

(I’ve just posted a full summary of the year’s dev work on Reddit – you can check it out here!) Happy 2025, friends! Welcome back to what promises to be (hopefully) a very exciting year for URR development, which is to say the release of 0.11, with a win condition! I’ve always loved that feeling … Read More

Some Games I Played in 2024 and What I Thought Of Them

January 5, 2025Commentary, Game Design
Some Games I Played in 2024 and What I Thought Of Them

Welcome, friends, to 2024’s edition of “Some Games I Played in [Year] and What I Thought Of Them”! It has been a good year. This year I wrote and published what is by far the most up-to-date and comprehensive academic summary of Twitch and game live streaming you’re going to find (now out, and if … Read More

Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #27: More Bug Fixing and 0.10.3 Release

December 14, 2024Game Design, Ultima Ratio Regum, Updates
Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #27: More Bug Fixing and 0.10.3 Release

Hello everyone, welcome back! As we move towards the holiday period it’s going to be a short-ish post today – but a productive one. Firstly, here’s a list of all the bugs and whatnot fixed in the last few weeks… Bugs resolved / polishes introduced: …and now, I’m pleased to say that 0.10.3 is out! … Read More

Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #26: More Bugs and More Polishing

November 22, 2024Game Design, Ultima Ratio Regum, Updates
Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #26: More Bugs and More Polishing

Hello everyone! Welcome back. Last time I unveiled a huge amount of the key features that’ll be appearing in 0.11 and the releases to follow, and so now we’re coming back down to earth a little bit to refocus back on the more everyday stuff. I’ve decided to try to get 0.10.3 released before the … Read More

Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #25: Riddle Generation 2

November 2, 2024Game Design, Ultima Ratio Regum, Updates
Ultima Ratio Regum 0.11 Update #25: Riddle Generation 2

Hello everyone and welcome! This is a really cool blog post I’ve been building up to for quite some time now, and I’m excited to finally show it off. To start with, longer-term readers will remember that about a year or so ago I showed off the initial steps in procedurally generated riddles – one of … Read More

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