the online ramblings of a generally confused game designer

Friday, April 27, 2007

Reunion hits Alpha!

yay! all in the name really

I now have a build of reunion which goes from opening to ending (that's where the new videos are from). I'm currently testing it with just about everyone I can find. I'm afraid there'll be no pre-release build put online for this project, as it kinda backfired with my last game, the media coverage for the game started with the beta, and had fizzled out by the time the game was actually finished.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the testing process has been the offer by some of the staff at Blitz Games (whom i visited a little while ago) to play through the game and give me their opinions. I've recieved loads of advice on pacing, level design and difficulty curves, which has led to direct changes in the game already. These guys (and gals) have been a massive help, and given me a bit of a wider perspective on the project.

So all in all, good progress so far, the game is still pipped for a May release, and I'll post again soon

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Reunion Gameplay 3

whatcha think?

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Women in Games

Amazing

really amazing

Such great work... here are some links

http://www.kariina.com/ great musician, really kind about Reunion

http://maryflanagan.com/ a force of nature.. brilliant, plus I had the unenviable job of following her.. then my demo fucked up... long story

http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/ArchIntranet/group.aspx?rid=1874730&p=1&ix=67&pid=17&prcid=5&ppid=1 amazing team, doing some really cool work

http://www.1up-zine.com/ drool.

all in all an amazing experience, far too much stuff to write about. All the speakers blew me away. visit www.womeningames.com again and click every link

As for my presentation.. It went well, I only got 8 out of my intended 20 minutes.. due to a massive computer balls up (not my fault) and resulting bouts of embarrassment (completely my fault). despite all this, people liked the game, and were really supportive. I have lots of business cards and lots of follow up conversations to have with people. It's amazing to get that kind of support after sitting in a darkened room coding for a couple of months. Suddenly a career actually making videogames doesn't seem like such a far fetched idea.

Thanks for reading.. I'll blog again soon :) xxx

p.s. if you are new, enticed by a business card, please leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you...

Monday, April 16, 2007

wii no more

:(


It's very dissapointing, but the game engine just won't work on ninty's kit... it seems it uses a version of flash that can't handle my lighting engine. Sadly there's no easy solution except, well, starting again.

On the upside... the PC version is coming along nicely. Really looking forward to showing it off on Friday. I've looked back through the last few posts and seen a distinct lack of screenshots.. well here's an update...

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

long time no blog

Wow, it's ages since I posted. Long time readers will know this is a common issue for me when I get my head down to work. So much new stuff to talk about...

The game
Development is going well, I'm halfway towards finishing the sound engine, so all the needed footfalls, music and environmental stuff is falling into place. The game engine has also been streamlined so as to run faster and more stable on more PCs. The game's lighting system does mean that higher spec PCs will run it better, but it's also scalable so it can be played on computers that are a few years older. The opening musician section is also done, so there's some neat electroplankton inspired note pulling to be enjoyed. All in all I'm well on track to my planned May 10th release date

Blitz
The youtube videos of the game got a bit of attention, and got me invited to Blitz studios to chat about the game and take a look around. Blitz is an awesome british game studio with loads of games on all systems (reservoir dogs, spongebob squarepants and the Krusty Krab, Sneak King), and I got some really good advice on the game. I even got to meet Phillip Oliver, one half of the Oliver twins, creators of the Dizzy games. Everyone was really supportive and I hope the game lives up to their expectations.

Women in Games
The official unveiling of the playable game code is in a couple of weeks time, I've been asked along to the Women in games Conference (http://www.womeningames.com/) to demo the game and introduce the project to a raft of new people. A great oppurtunity to spread the word on Reunion, I can't wait.

well.. I think you're all up to date now,I'll post again soon. Tommorow is the first Wii test, fingers crossed it works... we shall see...