Tag Archives: indie

An Apology To Full-Time Workers With Passion Projects

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I haven’t written a blog post in about two months, which is the longest I’ve gone since I started this site. The reason is simple: I have a full-time job now.

What bothers me the most about this is how much I’ve given up to make a living. I barely spend more than a few hours each week on making games anymore. Not long ago I had the opinion that no game, no matter how big or small or size of the development team, should take more than a couple of years to make. My experience now gives me a whole new appreciation to full-time workers who make games in their spare time.

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Dust Scratch Games is coming to Windsor’s 2016 Comic Book Syndicon!

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I went to too many events last year. And I’ll probably do so this year too.

To start, I’ll be at the Comic Book Syndicon on February 14, 2016! Come see us in the St. Clair Centre for the Arts in the heart of downtown Windsor from 11am to 5pm. Tickets are only $5! Organized by our local comic expert group Comic Book Syndicate, not only will you see local comic artists, merchants, crafts-people and cosplay, you’ll see tables for things not advertised on the site, like a game developer or two (me!), Windsor’s own Hackforge technology group, and St. Clair’s animation club!

Only a few minutes away from where I live, I couldn’t pass this up. I only have my two released games to show, but I’ll be working live on my computer on the animation for a new game to come, letting visitors see how the process happens! For more information, visit their official page: http://comicbooksyndicon.com/


 

Bad Game Design (By Example)

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I’ve released two indie games in the last year: “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth” and “Unfinished – An Artist’s Lament.” I’ve taken (and helped teach) University classes in game design. I have a large collection of games, some played and some not, but am familiar with their advances and can point out good and bad elements in each. All together, I think I have a good understanding of good practices in game design and making a fun and/or meaningful experience.

However, understanding is different from doing. While some players do appreciate my games, they have many flaws that have been pointed out. The gravity of these flaws on the overall experience would be lost on me had I not released my games to the public and received feedback. So in this post, I’ll go over some of the lessons I’ve learned in how NOT to do game design, using my games as examples. I hope this will be useful to me in the future, and I hope it provides insight to new indies and students as they build their first games.

unfinished_gameplay

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Update v1.04 For “Unfinished – An Artist’s Lament”

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Firstly, thanks in part to both Steam and the PWYW deal on IndieGameStand, “Unfinished – An Artist’s Lament” has broken even, recouping it’s development costs, only two months after its release date. Given that those development costs were solely for the soundtrack, perhaps that isn’t a huge feat. After the recent sale (ending in about 10 hours), I can say Steam has also sold over 600 copies of the game so far, which again is small but a good milestone for me (fingers-crossed for 1,000 sold by 2016). I sincerely thank all of you who bought the game, your support and encouragement has been kind. Anyway, I promised an update, and have finally released it. It doesn’t change much, but can still be significant to those who have already played it. The details of what is in the update (and what isn’t) can be seen below.

"Unfinished - An Artist's Lament" (v1.04): new GUI, collectables, and more

“Unfinished – An Artist’s Lament” (v1.04): new GUI, collectables, and more

 

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The Downside of Game Bundles and Sales

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If someone asked me whether or not they should sell their game in a bundle, I would be inclined to tell them not to. This wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been a hypocrite: as we speak, indiegamestand.com has my newest game “Unfinished – An Artist’s Lament” in a PWYW deal until September 17, 2015. This is only about 40 days after its release on Steam. All the same, I probably won’t include “Unfinished” in any other game bundles like I did with “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth,” and here’s my reasoning why.

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