DreamFeel

1st November. I've set myself a deadline, and it's not a coincidence that it's the final date for submitting to the Student IGF. Motivation!

I harbour no delusions; the short list for previous year's was largely made up of flashy 3D, team projects developd over months, and I have a under four weeks to make a highly obtuse game that I'm not even sure will work. BUT, if it is good enough to submit, I hope I can good feedback and maybe even a little press from it.

Also, my 3D 4th year project will have to be written up and submitted soon. I have no Plan B at the moment so I really hope, some lecturer will accept it! Apart from that I'm still in the preproduction stages of my other two indie games which I wonder whether I'll even be able to make alongside my college project.

I do think I have hit upon the dénouement for the final 2d game of three though, which I can't wait to make. Is it bad form to introduce a completely different kind of gameplay right at the end? That doesn't quite do the idea justice, but there's only one way to know for sure. >: )

Is any of these vague musings interesting to anyone but me? With luck, it'll be something to look back on! :D

Oh, and the first ever hospitable, extra-terrestrial planet has also been discovered. Only earlier this week another scientist announced there was 66% chance one would be found in the next year; I just hope he got to the bookmakers in time!

This is genuinely exciting stuff. According Mr. Hawking mankind's greatest priority should be reaching the stars, and not having all our eggs in one basket so to speak. The high likelihood that this planet is already home to some sort of life, probably not of the intelligent' variety of course, is amazing.

I wonder whether this discovery will have any ramifications in the wider world, politically or culturally. Or will it, as is most likely, be accepted as another rarely acknowledged, humdrum fact of our existence?

Ok, ok; here's the Fez footage! It's been a while but it still looks great. I like the addition of climbing, and the aesthetic of this level, but I hope the junk collecting is kept to a minimum. With luck, we'll soon learn about what Polytron have been doing for all these years.

After finishing my internship in Microsoft I hope I have time to finally go back and play all the indie & browser games I've bookmarked over the summer! Here's some of the games that caught my attention in the last week.

Graveyard, Graveyard Revolution

Created in only two hours for Klik of the Month by fellow Irishman Terry Cavanagh. Terry is probably best known for VVVVVV among a number of stand out smaller games. Since releasing that cheeky gravity flipping platformer early this year he's been remarkably busy experimenting with lots and lots of prototypes (sorry Chris Hecker) and collaborating with a number of other indie creators.

GGR is a play on Tale of Tale's The Graveyard, DDR, and Irish culture. It's clear that the gameplay is a bit broken, but the idea is so good, it'll probably be the most memorable thing you play all month. Inspired.

The Day

Created by Gregory Weir, perhaps best known for The Majesty of Colors, The Day is an interesting experiment. For your birthday you are given a set of cards, and sent out to play with the other kids. It's quickly apparent that things aren't quite right in this village, and it's up to the player to decide what course of progression to follow.

It's a bit crude, but it's remarkable how much atmosphere can be imbued in such an otherwise throwaway game, but more to the point, how creating wholly unconnected goals and letting the player do what they will can affect a game.

And last but by no means least:

Minecraft

Created by Markus Persson (who I have just discovered, thanks to Google Image Search, coincidentally looks a lot like Mr. Cavanagh) and already earning him hundreds of thousands of dollars a week despite being in Alpha. It's a phenomenon. In the last month it has been nearly impossible to go anywhere related to video games on the Internet and not come across Minecraft.

I tried it for the first time this week, and even in my little exposure, time very quickly ceases to have any meaning flying by. It's essentially a 3d, more immediate Dwarf Fortress, with all the unpredictable, player generated story telling, and player creation that implies, along with err.. an accessible instantly gratifying game.  I highly recommend Rock Paper Shotgun's Mind the Gap series of 'travel logs'.

 I think it can be best summarized in one comic by Penny Arcade.

Now to get back to work on the first of three in my magnum opus! >:)

   Following the incredible 'A Serious Man', the underrated 'Burn After Reading' and 'No Country for Old Men', Joel and Ethan Coen are on a hot streak. The trailer for their first outright Western looks promising; at the very very least Roger Deakins' cinematography will be unmissable. Not to mention the return of Jeff Bridges, and Josh Brolin, to the Coen's unique visions.

I like the use of slightly unnerving singing, vaguely reminds me of "O, Brother...", and Hailee Steinfeld certainly appears compelling enough to drive the film.

   As my final year of college gets under way, now is as good a time as any to begin posting regularly.

Leaving Venice in the morning

I should probably post a pretentious and forced quote about fresh starts here. Hmmm...

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.” 

- Seneca