Blogging for the point of blogging.
Ok, then. It’s been about one week since my indie game in development, a hand-drawn 3d puzzle platformer called “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth,” was listed on Steam Greenlight (see that page here). I hesitate to write about it yet, since I’m sooooo close to reaching 1,000 “yes votes,” but the visitor count has slowed down to a crawl, so I won’t get there for at least a few more days.
Have you seen a hand-drawn character in a 3D game before?
What is IndiE3?
Most people already know what E3 is: one of the largest video game advertising outlets in the world. They show a variety of AAA and indie games, most of which from the biggest companies and publishers in the world. But what about the rest of the indie community? There are thousands desperately trying to find their place to shine, most of which actually deserve it with great games worth playing. But as expensive and limited in time as E3 is, it feels exclusive against these people.
And so, IndiE3 was born in 2014, days before E3 began, through a couple comments on Twitter. It blew up into a (somewhat) huge event, with hundreds of indie games on show, dozens of panels by fans and professionals on a variety of topics, and over a thousand people tuning in to the live streams. It was a revolution, and one indie gamers and devs have been waiting for a long time.
Ah, another E3 has come and gone. Well, technically it only just started, but the press conferences from the big companies and all the big announcements always start the day before the convention opens to the public. The Electronic Entertainment Expo is known as the largest gaming show of the year, with millions of viewers. Despite that, I’ve talked with other people who actively play games, and even employers who are technically in the gaming industry, and most of them still have no idea what E3 is. It’s still a time for the hardcore and truly dedicated, and not nearly as mainstream as one would think, even if updates in gaming this week will be read more than updates in any other entertainment medium.
Some game development updates on “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth”.
First, realized that people have different input methods with computers. It’s one of the many reasons why computers are worse than consoles to develop for, because you have no idea what the gamer has with their computer rig, even if there is potential to make a better experience on PC than anywhere else. I’ve already had gamepad and keyboard+mouse+scrollwheel made, but also updated controls to work without the scroll wheel, best for people on laptops for example. I really should consider some form of touch controls too, just in case (but won’t until the very end). I probably won’t update the demos continuously with fixes like this, but we’ll see. Thankfully, Unity3D makes it really easy to update input methods: you can “define” a input button, then define several versions with the same name, each with its own real keyboard or gamepad button. Nice.
Also tried adding more color to Drew: her red hair.
E3 2014 is almost upon us. The world’s biggest gaming and digital entertainment expo, it’s the place where game announcements, trailers and gameplay will be revealed all in the same week. I love this time of year.
I’m frustrated though, because it seems nearly every game has already been leaked or officially revealed weeks before the event: a new “Call of Duty,” a new “Battlefield,” new “Homefront,” new “Mortal Kombat,” and others all have official trailers or logos already out. What’s left to reveal? The excitement is partially taken away, and I’m hopeful that there are still a couple surprises worth watching for.
