DreamFeel

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.

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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. 

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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! 

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I do one of these for fun every year, so I thought it might be nice to post about each track here. You know, for posterity or something. :| ;)

This is the first half, about 47 mins, and the second should follow within the week.

Podcast available on soundcloud here.
Or as mp3 here.

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Much against my better judgement I took a few days away from Uni work to lovingly finish the game.

The game now consists of an intro stage, introducing the singing concept and the story; the forest snow, whereby a boat goes down a river and two people talk; the caves, full of cave paintings, minimalist Glass-indebted piano and much more interested singing scales; and a final, short outro sequence to put a nice bow on the whole affair.

More info and pics after the jump!

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I don't believe I actually ever mentioned my team project here yet!

At the start of term we were given three titles to create a mobile game around. "The Lost" is a arcade-action game where you control Henry, a phantom bellhop, who must scare the guests of a 1930's hotel by interacting with objects, writing on the walls and making chandeliers crash in order to survive. As our spirit scares more people he becomes more and more powerful, gaining the ability to use more and bigger objects. The player must avoid the priests at all costs andfinally become scary enough to make the ballroom chandelier crash bringing the night's festivities to a dramatic close.

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I made a short gameplay video of my rhythm-action puzzle game Beat Box last weekend, which you can check out here:
It's on hiatus at the moment but I hope to get some free time in the new year to finish up for a late February release.

I also did a few more presentations recently including one on 'The Early History of DMA Design' which I'm very happy with. I thought it would be a lot of fun to bring it alive by recreating Lemmings! So, much unnecessary but enjoyable time later, I finished an interactive game that took the lemmings past (4) important stages in the company's development (and ppt slides) over which I narrated, here's a piccy:

I'd love to polish this up and upload a playthrough with commentary sometime soon.