#agameaweek

[pixelmancy-blog]

Crash_To_Desktop() - A Game a Week #13

Overview:

For this week, I decided to experiment with chromatic aberration as a visual feedback element (ala screen shake). Turns out, it looks really cool. Anyway, I couldn't decide whether I wanted to make a stealth game (ex Light) or action (ex Hotline Miami), so it ended up being a mix. Hack, shoot, and stealth your way to victory.

Download:

http://enathang.itch.io/crash-to-desktop

[pixelmancy-blog]

Jumpventure - A Game a Week #12

Overview:

Jumpventure is a game all about air-jumping your way past spikes. Using Q and E, hop you way to victory!

Features:

Jumping

Pixels

Death

Download:

http://enathang.itch.io/jumpventure

[pixelmancy-blog]

Iron Gaia - A Game a Week #11

Overview:

Decided to switch it up, and try my hand at a more abstract style. The result is Iron Gaia, where you wake up on an abandoned ship, and have to figure out what happened. While the game could easily be expanded to include an actual story, sfx, and hacking/combat, I think the cool visual style and attention to detail compliment the game well. Anyway, made this one quickly, onward and upward!

Download:

http://enathang.itch.io/iron-gaia

Expand for more photos

[curiallloses]

Starting to make a game a week

Hi there, I’m Curial, a passionate game designer, quite a bit inevitably entrepreneur, former producer in a small, cofounded, multimedia studio and right now and finally, a want to be indie game developer.

Yet how do someone becomes an indiedev? 

I tried that way about having an idea, some friends to work with, no budget at all and that willpower to kill your free time to get this idea done to became a great game. But it didn’t worked, it was an inspiring process with lot of usefull lessons but kind of a failing one I think manly for 3 reasons:

The idea was too much incomplete. It still seems great to me but I learned that an idea is great when you can not only explain but demonstrate it. Ideas are so different in every mind wether players or even its current devs but the game is something specific and this tangible material is what must be great itself not the idea. Users don’t play with geniouses devs ideas, they play with their games.

We weren’t a developer team, we were friends and dev colleagues. Even we respected our opinions and team roles we had different aspirations. I learned that a “garage team” it’s hardly a work team.

No budget and a flexible timing plan is an error. If there is no budget at least it is imperative to have savings so team can really focus part of its time in game dev and achieving milestones. Milestones are essential to control the evolving process of the idea, when you miss milestones your game idea becomes messy and hard to transform in a fun and playable game.

We were like an aspiring music band: It was fun, we loved to be part of it but with no net to save a fall, we were no prepared to be much serious and preferred to look for an stable job.

And I ended up with that feeling: you can only become an indie dev with a successful student project or winning the lottery.

Fortunately to me, there’s Gamasutra. When I’m low in gamedev confidence I always go to gamasutra where I find lot of inspiring articles about all game dev disciplines: production, design, programming, art… and found this Vlambeer’s cofounder Rami Ismail revealing article: Game A Week: Getting Experienced At Failure talks about the importance of demystify the power of the ideas and turn our efforts into the process. Not only learn and improve the process but enjoy it too.

Since this read I followed more people that talked or were conducting this practice and find MsMinotaur’s work who was making a game a week during a whole year and close to end talked about her experience un GDC ‘14. That seemed to me a huge enterprise but absolutely inspiring and I decided to start saving some funds and freeze my multimedia studio association to begin with it following this rules:

Make a game every week. Start the project after Monday 12:00AM and finish it before Sunday 11:59PM. It does not matter whether the game is digital or analog. It does not matter what you use to create the game. The only rule is to make a game.

Release the game every week. Whatever you make, whether it is complete, stable, polished or good, release it to the world through a website you specifically set up for this goal. Spread the link to the page of the game of the week on every social medium you own. Ask people to give you feedback. Wordpress or itch.io are quite capable of handling this.

Do not revisit a game. You can go back and revisit games after you’re done. You cannot work on previous week’s game or idea again the next week. This is not about exploring specific games, this is about gaining experience. If a game is so special it sticks for a while, you can work besides Game A Week or after you’re done. You still have to complete something else each week.

Try and avoid patterns in your work. Try and do something completely different each week. Instead of making digital games, try making an analog game. Instead of making an action game, make a puzzle game. If you find yourself in a pattern, take note of that pattern and break out of it for a week or two before deciding to head back. Make patterns a conscious choice, rather than an accepted and unquestioned reality.

Reflect. Spend each week talking to some people that played your game. Write down your findings in a journal (or in a blogpost). Write down what you made, what went right, what went wrong and what was interesting.

Making a game in a week is an achievable task even for one alone developer with not budget at all. Anyone can do a game in a week if doesn’t expect something great but in only a week, the dev will have thought an idea, design it, programmed, make some art, tested, published and take some postmortem conclusions.

I’ll start with this for 2 months (according science, humans need about 66 days to get a habit) and if my funds permit it, look to length for more time. Each week I’ll post a report from my game in this blog and mybe in a few months I find myself prepared to start an indiedev project again!

[agameaweek]

The Wolf Among Us

Telltale Games made a game adaptation on Bill Willingham's Fables comic series.  The game starts in New York before the comic series begins. You play Bigby Wolf (Big Bad Wolf) who is the the sheriff of the Fables. I like the gritty cell shaded style of the game, it's a nod to the comic style and it works great.  The game is a choose your own adventure, but it forces you to think on your toes, because if you don't choose an action, the game will continue without you, often with Bigby getting punched in the face.  All your actions have consequences as well, how you react to one character will determine how they will respond to you later in the game. I did not get to finish the game, even though it is pretty short, so I will be coming back to this when I finish it.  So far, great game, I would recommend!

[agameaweek]

Limbo is a side scrolling puzzle-platform game. The game starts without any dialogue or promps.  You begin by waking up in a forest not knowing how you got there or why.  You explore the world and run into a lot of dangerous creatures and creepy children that run off when they see you.  During our journey you encounter puzzles that get progressively harder.  And you die a lot... but that is okay, it's a learning experience and it actually isn't too frustrating.  This game is beautiful with how it's set up.  I love the artistic direction that was taken, the tone of the game is perfect because of it.  On top of the dark visuals, the sound design is fantastic.  The ambient noise in the game gave that sense of dread, and a lot of the puzzles you have to listen to the sounds they give in order to solve them.  The ending was kind of abrupt but I kind of like that.  At least in this case.

This game is beautiful, kind of dark, and a lot of fun. Definitely would recommend! 

[agameaweek]

I have been playing BattleBlock Theater on Xbox recently.  It's extremely hilarious and a great way to zone out when you don't want to think about writing a thesis paper... The game is cute, simple, and entertaining.  I love the sound effects of the game and the noises the little guys make are amusing. This game has co-op which can be a lot of fun, unless you get the asshole that just screws you over all the time (like in Magicka..uuugh) 

The way the game conducts its story is great, it's a bit like Bastion where the narrator talks throughout the game.  Though in BattleBlock the narrator usually makes sassy comments at your failures (which I love). 

[agameaweek]

I think I squeed and did a little jig of happiness when I got Ocarina of Time for my 3DS. I used to play the crap out of this game!  It has been way too long since I last played it on the N64 (which is somewhere in the black hole of my mom's basement)... Anyways!  The 3DS version is obviously a remake, and because it is on the 3DS they added 3D elements to the game (but I didn't notice that since I have it turned off all the time).  They also upped the graphics <3  

One thing that bothers me though it the movement control you get with the 3DS's slide pad.  That thing is so touchy and hard to be accurate with. I keep falling off ledges.  I wish you could use the D-pad instead.  Other than that, I have no issues with the game being on the 3DS.  

The motion control they added in the game is pretty neat and something I really enjoy. It allows you to aim by moving your 3DS around (pretty sure I would fail horribly at aiming using the slide pad)  It adds to the immersion and I think it's kinda fun.  I like that they have not changed the game for the most part, they left it alone (It's a great game, why mess with it?) I just hate when someone remakes a game and completely changes it and I'm like nooo stop! 

Anyways, great game, but we all know that. Definitely worth a buy on the 3DS!