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The City-Builder Edition Monday, June 20, 2022

An Interview With Oskar Stalberg, by Tommy Thompson, Game Developer

Townscaper is a small game, with big ambitions. A city builder in which players can simply add or remove a block from the game world. With this limited toolset, you can craft everything from idyllic seaside towns to a horizon spanning metropolis. A procedural generation engine running under the hood caters to the unique topographies players establish and refines the world with each new action taken. But how is it capable of expanding, and rebuilding the world with such consistency? While also introducing fun and novel ideas for players to discover on their own.

For this case study we’re going to explain the different level generation systems that power Townscaper and the AI principles they derive from. Plus I sat down with the game’s creator Oskar Stalberg to gain a stronger understanding of how it all works and his aspirations in designing the game. In order to truly understand Townscaper, we’ll be taking a journey through Stalberg’s career and his previous work. Because the secrets to the game’s success are hiding in plain sight, in everything else that he has built to date.

How Apple Is Updating Mobile Device Management, by Ryan Faas, Computerworld

This is one of the most significant WWDC announcements for enterprise and it’s good to see that Apple has been thoughtful in deciding which features to add or update since most of them tackle areas that were difficult, time consuming, resource intensive, or tedious. Apple is not just addressing enterprise customer needs, but demonstrating that it understands those needs.

Writing One Sentence Per Line, by Derek Sivers

Not publishing one sentence per line, no. Write like this for your eyes only. HTML or Markdown combine separate lines into one paragraph.

Why is it so useful?

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I'm still having quite a few flu-like symptoms, while the ART results are still returning negative. And I am having strange dreams: discovering a lot of things I forgot to do at work.

This is no fun.

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Thanks for reading.