Steve The Game Dev Guy

The Fright Knight Chronicles for MiniLD #27

2011-06-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

What a fun weekend working on The Fright Knight Chronicles for the MiniLD #27 game jam event. I decided to do something really simple and fun. I went for a basic choose your own adventure style game. This let me do some html5, some retro pixel art which I love doing, and some vintage square wave sounding music. I will admit, doing the music has become my favourite part.

Back to work on iPhone stuff tomorrow though. This sure was a nice break for a change. These events really help I think. Sparks the creativity when you just have fun with it all.

Want to make your game have a retro Nintendo look?

2011-03-04T17:18:00.000-08:00

Want to make your game have a retro Nintendo look to it? Start by using the same color palette. I made this one using the original RGB index values.

It would be cool to see a game jam based on using this palette only.

Have fun making games!

Made a GDC chiptune track called Sensor

2011-03-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

I was really inspired to make a track for GDC. Everyone has been posting such great content. This is for everyone there and for everyone who could not make it this year.

My Game Development Tools

2011-02-25T15:22:00.000-08:00

These are the tools that I use everyday for my game development needs. I use an iMac and a Macbook.

Xcode integrated development platform.
GarageBand streamlined digital audio workstation and music sequencer.
GIMP the GNU Image Manipulation Program.
Git fast version control system.

For my FenderQ Development Studio website I use,
OpenBSD multi-platform 4.4BSD-based UNIX-like operating system.

Playing too much Nintendo you end up feeling a bit fuzzed

2011-02-24T10:57:00.000-08:00

On my way into the next game

2011-02-21T17:08:00.000-08:00

I have made all the initial design decisions and am currently working on my next game. Last night around 4:00am I finished the first track for the game/album. I am really happy with it.

It has been awesome getting into the theme, market research, soundtracks, movies, art etc. Once I have totally absorbed a concept, it makes it really easy and natural to create the music, art and stay motivated to make it through any programming challenges I may face.

Really excited about this music site

2011-01-26T17:20:00.000-08:00

It is called bandcamp and it allows you to sell your music/albums etc. You just need a PayPal account and you are ready. I like that you don't have to pay to sign up or anything crazy. I put the Universe64 soundtrack up today. Now I want to make a game concept soundtrack album, I think I might just do that.

Universe64 game released!

2011-01-12T13:26:00.000-08:00

Universe64 is now released and you can get it on the App Store. The hardest part about making a game is finishing it, I can understand that now. What an adventure, a lot of late nights for sure. I am so happy. Now to let people try it out, and do my best to listen for constructive feedback.

Score functionality for Game Center

2010-12-21T20:49:00.000-08:00

Today I got a good part of the score system complete so that I can now tie it into Game Center. I am planning on implementing leaderboards and achievements to add a social element to my game.

It was great to chat a bit with Jacob Schwartz last Sunday at The Moon Under Water while enjoying some tasty beer. He shared some of his experience using Game Center with me, thanks Jacob.

Software Brittleness + Software Release Life Cycle

2010-12-14T19:17:00.000-08:00

Programmers can learn a lot from old proprietary legacy software. They can learn about software brittleness. This explains why the end-of-life product exists in the software release life cycle.

So there is this restaurant and they decide to cook a turkey. Initially the turkey is in the oven cooking. Eventually there is a point where the turkey is cooked to a perfect golden brown, a turkey everyone wants to enjoy. Over time left in the oven the turkey starts to burn. It no longer resembles what people want. As the restaurant soon learns they need professional help to fix this. They hire a real chef to come in and help them. The real chef tells them they need to cook a new turkey.

Trying to fix a burnt turkey by putting spices or fancy seasonings on it does not make for a great chef.

Inventory management system

2010-11-18T00:26:00.000-08:00

Most of the inventory management system is now complete, as I end my 14 hour work day.

This means that the majority of the core game functionality is complete. This puts me at a point where a lot of playtesting can take place. Getting to this point really helps build motivation to continue forward, and finish the game.

Now for the rest of the 10% which is in fact 90% when you consider everything. Details man! details!

What I love the most about Hex games

2010-11-02T18:45:00.000-07:00

Chris Kaitila wrote this great article today.
The Joy of Hex – hexagons in game programming

Brandon Bey who is working on Small Galaxy: Greedy Station asks,
"What is it about Hex games that you love the most?"

I think what I love the most about hex games is the challenging gameplay. The tactical and strategy elements. It is easy to defend a square yet a lot harder to defend a hexagon. The hexagon is also great for exploration since you have increased direction. When you add in turn based elements your choice becomes that much more important, of value.

I am reminded of games like BattleTech and all the Mech style turn based games. Also games like the Steel Panthers series. An isometric cube can also be perceived as a hexagon shape like in Q*bert. I am also reminded of cool sci-fi interfaces from the 70s.

/me thinks of a "Fight the hives, save the queen" kinda game, sorta like SimAnt, but based off a honeycomb. That might be a different twist.

Friday night out playing music

2010-10-30T02:01:00.000-07:00

Just got home from another great time out playing guitar. I am so happy that I finally found a sound that is me when it comes to the electric guitar.

Tonight I am checking in on my Restaurant Story and working on some of my tracks with technoBox.

Sweet! Save and Load is complete

2010-10-28T23:15:00.000-07:00

I just finished getting the fully functional save and load working like I wanted. Now no matter where you are, when you quit you return exactly where you were, and with all your game data.

Now to enjoy that beer I have in the fridge.

Keeping the right stuff in the right places

2010-10-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

I am working on save and load functionality right now, as well as having objects capable to create and destroy themselves easily for memory considerations.

Most of my game design is coded using a Model–View–Controller architecture. My save and load functionality is actually a lot easier than expected to implement as a result of this.

Band practice tonight!

2010-10-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

I am finishing work early today to get my gear ready for band practice tonight. I love my Fender Stratocaster and Princeton Reverb amplifier.

On a more acoustic note, an EL-00 can save you like $2,500 bucks if you are looking for a Blues King. That is of course if sound is what you care about more than a brand name.

Indie game dev, the one man show

2010-09-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

You get to be the artist, musician, programmer, designer, quality assurance, project manager, marketing, sales, and most importantly the team leader who keeps everyone motivated and on schedule.

Gimp + Synth = Art + Music

2010-09-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

So I have been working a lot with Gimp recently. This is a really powerful piece of software once you learn to use it properly. It has been very stable for me too, not crashing once, although I am using it on Mac OS X. I have a lot of artwork to do and it is helping me get it done.

I have also been looking at the new Roland GAIA SH-01. Although it can create some cool and classic sounds, I don't believe it comes close to the true warm sound of a 100% analog synth like say the Moog Little Phatty Stage II.

More artwork awaits my attention.

I just put up some of my music clips

2010-09-22T13:28:00.000-07:00

I have been asked about some of my music. Most of the music I played is lost in time, in those once smoke filled bars, except for those cassette tapes buried in that box downstairs and my wonderful memories.

I have a few guitar videos on YouTube aka LuckySmackTracks, I recently just put up new music clips (8bit Groove and Foo-techno) of my electronic style on FenderQ Development Studio.

Check em' out!

Home sweet home

2010-09-20T03:49:00.000-07:00

I am now back from OrcaJam 2010. What an amazing event.

What did I personally get out of it?

A wealth of new friends, business insight, technical knowledge and mostly inspiration. The time I was there really helped push my iPad project forward. Right now I am reflecting on it all. I am looking at the work I have done while there and feeling really happy about it. I have refined features, new music, new artwork, and optimized programming code to make what comes next that much easier to get into.

I also am thankful to have seen so many cool games and ideas while I was there. Indie game developers are really pushing the industry forward in my opinion. They are taking on the challenges and the risks with creativity and technology to do what I feel the bigger companies cannot afford to do yet.

Much thanks to Andy Moore and Fieran Emerald for putting this all together.

Late night game mechanics + playtesting

2010-09-19T01:50:00.000-07:00

So I just finished being amazed, watching some really insightful playtesting. The game Infested Planet has so much cool going on in it, it blows my mind. What really impressed me was the level of detail in which it was being cared for when it comes to game mechanics. I can honestly say I learned a lot from getting to sit in and watch. Quality playtesting is what I saw here. Andy Moore playtesting while Alex Vostrov (the games creator) was next to him.

Also, yesterday Andy talked about game analytics. They can be totally useful to help you get some hard facts about how people are playing your games. One of the sites he mentioned that provides this sort of thing is Playtomic.

Oh yes, and tonight I have been talking to a lot of people about social elements in gaming, and have come up with an online leaderboard and achievement solution for my game, which I think will add great value.

I got to see Chris Whitman make great progress with his game tonight too. He is working on an iPhone/iPad dev project like me. What a productive environment.

I am SO going to need to get some good sleep!

Live from the OrcaJam 2010!

2010-09-18T21:31:00.000-07:00

So I am on day 2 of being at OrcaJam 2010 and it is crazy awesome. I have been working on my iPad game, and already have made great progress. I am in a conference room filled with game developers from all around. Most people have all flown in by now. Last night I coded until around 4:30AM. Tons of talented programmers, artists, musicians and writers all around me. 48 hour game dev challenge w00t! (I will definitely need to sleep by the time this is over).

Got my Macbook running Snow Leopard for Friday

2010-09-15T22:30:00.000-07:00

I decided to upgrade my Macbook to Snow Leopard tonight. I am going to OrcaJam 2010 this Friday and wanted to be able to work on my iPad game while I am there.

Switching to something new!

2010-09-15T16:22:00.000-07:00

For the longest time I have been hosting and writing my own web pages. I finally decided to switch to using something that gives me the 'candy' look and feel.