Tag Archives: project

Public Game Testing (Part 1)

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I showed off my latest unannounced indie game, as well as a couple other projects, to help promote my University at a local mall. I like volunteering at events like these, but doing so over the next few months also gives me fantastic opportunity to ask general people what they think of my work.

Of course, being in the middle of a mall doesn’t guarantee many will stop to see you. The entire University probably had about a hundred people stop to see the exhibit, about a dozen of which stopped to see my work. And the results?

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Some Cool Crowdfunding Projects (May 2014)

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Oops, almost forgot about showing off new crowdfunding projects this month. I’m very busy, and should have more to say in the next several days. Anyway…

Interestingly, Kickstarter.com added new categories for the “games” section. Put it to good use as you search on your own.

Also, I continuously get frustrated when people on indiegogo.com ask for people to fund “them” rather than ideas or projects, saying that “they are full of potential but don’t have any money,” etc. The site really should implement a review process before letting just anyone put crowdfunding projects up.
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Deadlines Don’t Exist Anymore…

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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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How Long Does It Take To Make A Good Game?

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Video games are difficult and time consuming to make. Every year, we hear of Hollywood films costing hundreds of millions of dollars, and we see credits at the end with thousands of names. Games are more complicated than that: they often require all the narrative, audio and visual prowess that films do today, and also require programming expertise on making these worlds interactive, further adding to the complexity.

But how long does it take to make a game?

“Duke Nukem Forever” reportedly took 15 years of development time. And yet, we see several games from large publishers (“Call of Duty,” “Assassin’s Creed”) get made in under a year. What’s the difference?

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What Have I Been Up To? (“The Great Penny Robbery”)

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I haven’t made a post in a few weeks. Why? Because I had exams. I am a student after all. Thankfully, that’s over, and I can focus my time on important things for the next few months.

But I’ve done a lot in the last few months, too. None of it is really important or “complete,” but some of it is actually pretty darn impressive given the short amount of time it was completed in.

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