Starry Hollow Games

Fueled by donuts and a drive to make great games, DinoByte Labs is a London based indie games start-up, currently developing Midli http://kck.st/2vDsCWR DinoByte LTD since 2015 

[starryhollowgames]

Come meet us at @kidzanialondon on the 13th of October for the #KidPreneurAtKidZania festival! Louise will be teaching some great workshops about what it takes to be a #gamedev, from where you fit in the industry, to how to design your game for the right audience. Find more info here: https://buff.ly/2zGOBhS #CountdownToKidPreneur https://www.instagram.com/p/BobZf_rllmv/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zlsuhe1ip798

[starryhollowgames]

Taking part in Inktober 2018?  

You could win a free Midli game code & be featured (and credited) in "The Making of Midli" book! Just draw your adaptation of our main character Heli and tag us in your art! References and more info can be seen on our website HERE!

[starryhollowgames]

Our co-founder @louibyte did a really personal interview on the awesome platform MEYVNN on balancing running a gaming studio with having anxiety. Check it out HERE!

[starryhollowgames]

Want to test games? We are looking for new DinoBits to help shape our future games! Next week we will be sending out a test for our upcoming game Midli, so make sure to sign up before the 22nd of August to take part and have your opinions heard! https://www.dinobytelabs.com/join-dinobits 

Perks of signing up to DinoBits include exclusive previews of unannounced projects, beta invites, your name in game credits, in-game bonuses, access to forums and more!

[gamedevinspo]

Silver Pavillion (Toshi Yoshida)

[versacetbh-blog]

i literally dont talk to anyone unless they talk to me first

[viewtiful-kim-deactivated202105]

NPC Energy

[rah-bizzle]

Recently I was in a public place, chatting quietly with my friends, and this unattended child came out of nowhere and asked me to clarify one of the things I’d said. So I explained myself to this kid, and as soon as he got an answer, he turned around without saying anything and continued on his way. It really felt like he’d just walked up to me and pressed A. 

[starryhollowgames]

3 Years, 3 Lessons! | DinoByte Labs | Games Studio | London, UK

It's already been 3 years since we started our startup adventure! We want to share 3 lessons we have learned as entrepreneurs!

As we celebrate DinoByte's birthday week, we decided to look back on the 3 biggest lessons we've learned about running your own business! Hopefully they can help some of you get motivated!

[matthewonart]

Non-Boring Environments that need Fantasy Representation

Tropical Rainforests

Scrubland/Dry Forests. For extra effect make them the sort that burn very often; some native plants never germinate until after a fire, and some animals not only rely on fire to smoke out prey, but may even start them themselves.

Savannas/Tropical Grasslands

Temperate Rainforests. I almost didn’t include this bc New Zealand is covered in them, and that’s where they filmed Lord of the Rings. But tbh, no one really knows about them, so it belongs here

Taiga Forests

Barren Tundra, perfect for some extreme seasonal dichotomy

Polar Ice Sheets

Desert-Grasslands (arguably the same as Scrubland but Australia’s good at adding its own twists)

Barren Desert

If you like Cacti, look at American Deserts like the Sonoran

Salt Flats

Soda Lakes and Alkaline Lakes

Madagascar’s Karst Limestone Formations

Madagascar’s Spiny Forests

Madagascar’s Baobab Forests

Madagascar’s Subhumid Forests (Madagascar is cool as hell ok)

Danxia Landforms

Badlands/Mountainous Deserts

Steppes and Highland Prairies

Flood Basalts

Newly-Formed Islands, still rife with Volcanic activity

Now for Underwater Environments, sure Coral Reefs are cool.

But there are SO MANY other kinds of environments for aquatic settings, it’s unbelievable:

Seaside Cliffs

Archipelagos. Not just Tropical Island chains like Polynesia (Moana anyone?) but also Coldwater Archipelagos like the Aleutians.

Tidal Flats

Bayous/Cypress Swamps

Tropical River Basins, AKA Seasonally Flooded Rainforests

Mangrove Swamps/Deltas/Beaches

Kelp Forests

The Open Ocean

Coastal Seabeds

Rocky Beaches with Tidepools

And there are a LOT more I could name but this post is already obscenely long as is, if you’d like to toss in your own go right ahead, but my point is if you limit yourself to European Deciduous Forests you’re a wimp.

[locktheraven-deactivated2019121]

May I interest you in Conan Exiles?

[starryhollowgames]

Here's a look at Eric's world from Midli 🌊 Last week we showed it off to our lovely Kickstarter backers, and as always we love the support we are getting from our community! Which world are you most excited to see next?

[adventuresinjoyland]

people make a very loud fuss about ~learning to code~, but as far as I can tell writing code is just:

you can describe what you want in 10 words? ok cool split that into 10 different tiny steps

step 1

step 2

what the fuck was the name of that function

thanks google

step 3

check what variable names you used in step 1

step 4

what the fuck was the name of that function

thanks google

check the variable names in steps 1, 2, and 3 just in case

realize step 1 makes no sense, go back and add comments everywhere so you remember what the fuck you were doing

step 5

WHY DOESN’T IT WORK

realize you reused a variable name from step 3

yes you checked but you forgot while you were commenting

change the variable name

IT WORKS

step 6

add three extra dimensions to your brain so any of this makes any fucking sense

step 7

WHY DOESN’T IT WORK

retype the same thing

IT WORKS

step 8

thanks google

look up, seven hours have passed, when was the last time you stood up or ate or blinked

two more steps to go

is that it, am I coding now

[starryhollowgames]

This week on Kickstarter we gave you a little intro to one of Midli's lost spirits Nicholas! Get to know him here, and check out this concept teaser for his world, based on mirrors and reflections! We can't wait to show you more when #Midli is out on iOS and Android!

[starryhollowgames]

We really loved our Team Dinobyte enamel pins from @badgebase! Those of you who ordered through #kickstarter should be getting them very soon! We can’t wait to see what you think so make sure to use #teammidli so we can see your posts!

[starryhollowgames]

Midli backers! Did you see our latest project update? We’re hard at work getting all the rewards finished, and have already started shipping some out, so expect to get yours soon! Those of you who haven’t ordered physical rewards can still do so here: https://buff.ly/2Aug4EB

[starryhollowgames]

Have you remembered to fill in the backer surveys we sent out for #Midli on @kickstarter? We are just about ready to ship everything out including these signed prints!

[starryhollowgames]

Finishing up the Midli #kickstarter rewards! Wax sealing is harder than it looks on YouTube 😅

[starryhollowgames]

Get to Know Robert Mai, Midli's Composer

Robert Mai joined the DinoByte team back in September as the composer for our upcoming game Midli, and we pestered him with 21 questions to help you get to know him better!

How did you end up working with DinoByte Labs, and what exactly do you do?

I wanted to start writing music for video games and decided to browse Kickstarter for potential projects. It wasn’t long before I came across Midli, and immediately fell in love with the story and beautiful artwork. I immediately started pestering DinoByte with emails and music samples, and after a couple of weeks of talking back and forth and sharing ideas, it was clear that we shared the same creative kinship. Luckily, they decided to bring me on board, and the rest was history!

What was your favorite game growing up?

I grew up in the age of old-school N64 platformers, so it’s a tough choice… I would say a three-way tie between Super Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie, and Rayman 2, although if forced to pick, Rayman 2 is closest to my wacky sense of humor. However, my favorite game of all time is Majora’s Mask, although I just started playing that a couple years ago so it doesn’t really count.

Which games composer inspires you?

My favorite video game composer is Austin Wintory, hands down! I listen to his albums for Journey and ABZU once or twice a month, if not more, and his whole body of work is just sheer brilliance. I also love Grant Kirkhope, Koji Kondo, and Peter McConnell. Currently obsessed with the music from Cuphead. Previously obsessed with the music from Ori and the Blind Forest… bring on the sequel!

Biggest video game character crush?

Samus Aran. I guess I’m just really into strong, independent female characters that wield guns and attitude, heh heh.

What’s your favorite thing about working on games?

The freedom of unbound creativity! I love being able to create music that has structure, that is able to take on a life of its own without having to support dialogue, scene changes, or editing cuts, and yet is enormously critical to the atmosphere of the game world. Being able to explore my own musical voice and write something so intensely personal and intimate is an untold blessing. And being able to collaborate with wonderful people that share my geeky interests is icing on the cake!

If you could be teleported into any game world, which would it be?...

READ MORE ON DINOBYTE.COM

[starryhollowgames]

Our artist James did an AMAZING concept of Heli in human form! Those of you who backed Midli on Kickstarter can get this as a phone background! And we still have a very limited number of postcards and pins left on our IndieGoGo so hurry over there if you want to snag one!