Deadlines Don’t Exist Anymore…

Well, I came back from that second interview from that game company. I told them I had already made commitments to graduate school, they were really nice about it and agreed I should finish school, and may skip the interview process a bit should I apply again next year. Also gave me some free swag, including their most recent game for PS3 (here’s a hint: it made over a billion dollars within the first few days of its release). Great guys, couldn’t ask for better people or location to work. UPDATE: Although, every other student I talk to says I’m an idiot for not holding out to try to get the job… but they don’t know my plans for indie development, my need for a “break,” my plans to use graduate school research for other means, or that the company agreed I was probably better suited for another position that was already filled. I might be making a huge mistake, but I think I know what I’m doing…

Also thought about game deadlines. One of the reasons I like game development is that there is a set product at the end, a final stage, at which point you ship out the final product, take a break for a few weeks, start fresh on the next project.

Not anymore.

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Make a Successful Indie Game Using Kickstarter… Criticism, Praise, & The Indie Gaming Community (part 5 of 7)

So you have a small presence on the Internet. If you are good at promoting yourself and using social media, you have a larger presence on the Internet. When you do launch your Kickstarter.com page, your presence will grow even further.

Let’s take a moment and talk about the ugly side of the Internet.

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The Types of Indie Games That Get Attention and Sell Well…

This just pisses me off. Sure, my indie game “James – Journey of Existence” is doing poorly on Kickstarter (http://kck.st/19wTNSh), and that’s largely because of how poor it looks this early in development. But it’s trying something new, and is trying to be meaningful. Then I look randomly online and find this game:

“Catlateral Damage”

(note: The following rage is based on believing this game will cost money as opposed to being entirely free-to-play upon completion. If this isn’t the case, please ignore this post.)

What is it? It’s a game (very obviously made in Unity3D) that lets you play as a cat in your owner’s bedroom. The gameplay consists of you trying to knock over as many things as possible in the room in two minutes. Get a high score.

What do I think about it? It’s a cute idea. But the gameplay is simplistic, the models are simple and crude, the cat’s animations are laughable. Basically, I (and I’m sure most other people) could make this game from scratch within a week. It’s a online free minigame at best.

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The Importance Of Communication…

Over the last few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of communicating with different people, both supporters and nay-sayers about my hand-drawn indie game “James – Journey of Existence.” Both with Kickstarter and this blog, among other social media sites, I’ve tried to post updates and respond to everyone. However, it has happened often with both sides that they would completely miss important information I’ve posted when writing a comment.

This has quickly become my biggest pet-peeve: making a comment before actually reading an article. This is very common, especially on video game news sites where the fanbase is as “passionate” as they are. I don’t mind too much if the comment is nice, where I would then kindly repeat what I’ve said elsewhere. But more than once, people have poo-pooed “James – Journey of Existence” and used examples to help back their claim.

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