Game Dev Weather Report - 04/05/2012

To finish the catchup here's the status of everything I'm working on right now. Seven! :O

One More Cup of Coffee - I finished a version of this unusual music game back in December. It was almost certainly an unsuccsessful experiment, players were totally lost. The core game concepts were so unusual and they weren't communicated very well, but I've had ideas of where to take it next. I started working on it again a couple weeks ago but it felt wrong scrapping all the content and particularly the ending I had written.

Shortly afterward the new ideas morphed into a new game, what is currently called Isis. Only a few days ago I got the IGF feedback on this experiment, and it was really constructive and interesting, inspiring me even with Isis to get a chance to go back and polish this sometime soon for public consumption. There's bits I still really like.

Isis - This is my newest project, no pictures yet! Hopefully will take the audio experiments of One More slightly further but also more understandable. Really excited to work on it and at the moment it could go lots of different ways but alas I don't have much time to experiment and finish before deadlines!

To get this pic explained and read about the other 5 (!) games click on. :)

Click to read more ...

Beggar, Beats, Baby & #MolyJam2012

A short post on the recent molydeux game jam last month which was fantastic.

I've been running game jams in Dundee since December and the biggest to date was the recently finished #molyjam based on the crazy tweets of Peter Molydeux from the 30th of March to the 1st of April. We are totally indebted to the enormous amount of organization that went into this around the world to pull it off at such short notice, and I feel grateful to play a small part in this rolling ball of awesome. Check out the website here with all the games.

For pics, more info on the jam and our finished game Beggar, Beats, Baby click on!

Click to read more ...

Offices, Pirates, Whales and Space Whales!

6 Hour Pirate Kart Game: AAHYOURFACEISONFIRE!!

The next catchup post begins at the end of February with the GDC Pirate Kart Weekend. Developers all over the world tried to make as many games as possible to show at GDC. I feel pretty strong about the Pirate Kart ethos that anyone can and should make games, rather than the tiny subset of the world who do at the moment. Ian Bogost's Gameomatic is interesting and I eagerly anticipate Anna Anthropy's book 'Rise of the Videogame Zinesters'  (just released in the UK woo). There was also a Kickstarter to help the latest Pirate Kart get floorspace at GDC and I was lucky to have a game based upon an idea of mine created by Alan Chatham. A game about whaling, hardship and existence. FUNTIMES! http://openchord.org/Whaling/

More about AAAH & my semester two project Space Whale after the jump!

Click to read more ...

Cambridge Game Jamming, Berlin & Flash

I've decided to break a humongous catchup blog post into a few manageable chunks! First bringing us from January to the middle of Feb. :D

In January we finished The Lost, our WP7 haunted house game. I was happy with how it turned out, having made some small but nice changes to the gameplay during the holidays and bringing it back to a more arcade-y experience, closer to the original vision. Level design by Isabella Wang, audio by Cam Goold and the wonderful art was done by Rosie Henderson who is currently a cutting a trailer! Find more info and some pictures here.
Image by Pete Angstadt For more on this picture (that's our game!) and TigJam 6 in Cambridge read on!

Click to read more ...

Sand & Snow: Thoughts on Journey

I was initially reluctant to play the game, to turn Journey from a mythical idea into a memory, regardless if it would fit the abstract idea I had in my mind or not. As I write this I’m now mere moments from completing the ‘game’; I can still feel my heart in my chest. That Journey has rendered me, someone who exists from minute to minute by subsuming himself under constant idle distractions, quietly mute and thoughtful is quite a feat. Over the next few rambling paragraphs I’ll touch some of thoughts swimming around and attempt to circle what made those two and a half hours special.

Click to read more ...

Catchup & Music of the Year: Part Two

Phew! That took a little bit longer than I expected. Much has been happening recently and I hope to write a big ole blog post to recap what I've up to and all the games I'm working on right now (five! with more on the backburner/frontburner).

Before that I have a post about Journey which I played and was blown away by very recently. I was compelled to write about initial impressions while I was still experiencing a sudden wave of thoughtfulness on finishing. If you want something actually clever and well written I suggest reading Ian Bogost’s thoughts on the game. He looks at it from many angles, but I particularly like his take on the rarity of watching an artist or collection, Thatgamecompany, in games mature and change against a fixed background rather than adapting to evolving technology. Anyway!

This is the second half, about 49 mins, and the first is here.

Listen on soundcloud here. 

Track thoughts after the jump!

Click to read more ...

bbbbb: Beep Brrp Bing Bang Bosh

Woo, I've finished a new game. Quick Ed: And now a finalist! :)

A joint effort by Stephen Lingham, Sam Gross and myself with this first version made in a week. While I have already finished The Lost earlier this month, and more on that and my new university project soon, this is a game I can actually share with the world. Which is always nice! 

More info and links after the jump!

Click to read more ...