I’ve been on a pretty bad string of luck for, oh… I’d say for the last 10 years or so. I’ve worked on many failed prototypes throughout my career but frankly those are meant to fail early and often. Where the wound cuts deep is when you build something that you truly believe in and it barely makes a ripple. It hurts when you agonize over every insignificant detail of your passion project, over the course of many years of your life, and your efforts are judged and cast aside in 2 minutes or less. » Read more..
Archive for April 27, 2012
Event Report: East Coast Game Conference 2012
Another year and another conference is underway. Before you continue reading this post, be sure to check out my impressions from last year’s event. It will save me a lot of typing.
Why would I say something like that? Well, to be perfectly honest, not a lot has changed this year it seems. The formula is essentially the same though I will admit that the content feels a bit more polished overall. There is quite literally only 1 talk per profession per session block. Don’t like the one and only programming talk for that hour? Well, you better start liking business development or education. » Read more..
Category: games
Game Design Killed the Author?
I suppose this post is a little bit of the “video killed the radio star” but I’ve definitely noticed something about the reactions to my latest works. The last two or three years of my life have been spent juggling game development and writing a novel. The video game universe and the novel are one in the same, and they briefly cross paths at one fateful moment. A single event is witnessed by two strangers who never meet but they shared that moment from different perspectives, one within the novel and the other within the game. » Read more..
Category: retribution, writing
Decal Creator News
To the developers who have recently contacted me for trial copies of Decal Creator for the latest version of Maya,
Thank you for inquiring about Decal Creator. Unfortunately, Autodesk’s obsession with breaking plug-ins with each release of their software has put me in a position where I can’t afford to support all versions all the time. I do have the source code license available if your studio is interested in purchasing that but I would suggest trying a previous version (like Maya 2011) if you have a copy available at your studio.
The source license is quite affordable for any development studio, small and large. Also the license is a site license which means you can compile and distribute to all of your artists within that studio without additional fees. Of course, having the source code also means you can simply rebuild Decal Creator whenever your studio purchases the next copy of Maya.
I can promise you that it would cost a while lot more than my asking price to pay an engineer in your studio to develop a comparable tool.
I apologize for the inconvenience, but I just don’t sell enough units to keep buying every copy of Maya that comes out.
Thank you again for showing interesting in Decal Creator…
Category: art, programming
Ashlands: Retribution has Shipped!
Retribution is available now! http://bit.ly/ITT0yV
There are so many little subsystems within Retribution that it is hard to keep track of them all sometimes. The augmentation system is probably the most obvious, allowing the player to upgrade their ship over time. With that, there is a kind of leveling system that works hand-in-hand with the augmentations. On top of all of that, there are layered features like high score tables of course, but also also gamer trophies. Taking high scores even further I’ve circumvented the limitations of Xbox LIVE Indie Games with a global ranking system. This system allows players to use their phones and tablets to easily submit their scores to a global database on the web. From there, anyone can see if their score was enough to make the short list of the top players in the world. I think it turned out pretty well, considering the limitations that I had to work with.
Sprinkled between all of the big systems that I already mentioned are the micro decisions in the game. Each enemy has a unique behavior, giving their patterns a very old-school feel. The combinations of those patterned behaviors is where things get very deadly. Some of those most deadly enemies are the ones that do not directly charge after you. Leaving some enemies unattended is a regretful decisions and other enemies are generally harmless, even if they are unpredictable. This unpredictable nature however is what makes them difficult to read and can result in unexpected collisions. Blending these enemy classes into a completely dynamic and chaotic play-field makes for some intense moments.
Oh yeah! I almost forgot the Overdrives (like I said, a lot to keep track of). This is a huge part of staying alive in Retribution. Not using your Overdrives is a sure way to die early and often. Learn the strengths of each Overdrive and when to use them. This is the key to living longer and scoring high.
If you purchased the game, check out the Special Features. There is a bunch of great commentary in there and a list of all the trophies in the game.
Category: games, retribution, XNA
Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires
It seems like every year that there is a new crop of evangelists who are standing in line to preach about the end of the world as we know it, only so they can someday say, “I told you so.” Every year, they tell us how this will be the year that PC’s suddenly cease to exist or that consoles will not survive another cycle. They tell us that phones will overtake the market and nothing but the imagery of crying babies and shattered dreams for entertainment on our large home screens will be left in the wake of their fiery long tale. Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria! » Read more..
Category: games
Follow Your Dreams
Follow your dreams.
I often wondered why people said that. It sounds like a reasonable bit of advise, but many times following our dreams can lead us to a life of near poverty since most of us probably dream of doing whatever we want, when we want. That kind of life is reserved for a short of list of people in this world, so what do the rest of us do? Does it still make sense to follow our dreams? » Read more..
Category: games