How do some games feel like living, breathing places? In this episode, Sam, Edwin, and Jacky unpack the craft of worldbuilding! From rules and history to “show, don’t tell,” reactive systems, and why tiny details matter. 

 Chapters: 

00:00 Intro 
00:43 Worldbuilding 101: history, culture, and pre-player worlds 
02:01 Rules & logic: physics, magic, behavior, and consistency 
06:16 The Legend of Zelda’s evolving world 
09:33 Exploration & secrets: why optional spaces are powerful (Guild Wars) 
12:11 “Show, don’t tell” done right (symbols, architecture, NPC chatter) 
13:12 Skyrim details: books, memes, and mundane magic 
16:37 Minimal-dialogue storytelling 
17:34 UGC worlds: Roblox, Minecraft, VRChat, Fortnite 
20:18 AI, scale, and restraint: depth without homework 
22:20 Reactive worlds: reputation, choices, and environments that remember
23:57 Trust between devs & players 
25:30 Takeaways & outro 

🌐 Explore Gentleland Aegis:
A gamified dashboard meets city-builder, built for game developers and those who want to become one.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gentleland/gentleland-a-city-builder-meets-real-world-game-dev-journey

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