Tag Archives: project

An Update From Your Friendly Neighbourhood Gamedev

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I should write more posts. Especially this month, there have been a ton of new announcements.

Those video game awards 2014 were cool, although the only big announcement I got from it was that Nintendo’s new Zelda for Wii U is worth buying a Wii U for and that Nintendo might best Sony and Microsoft in 2015. Sony’s new PSX happened, and a few cool demos came from it. Street Fighter V is PS4/PC exclusive, and doesn’t look that great, albeit it looks like what SF IV should have looked like, instead of those awkward jagged poly-models everyone said looked incredible. New game “Drawn to Death” looks like good fun, but it tries to mimic pen-drawings with computer models and cel-shading again. Similarly, that new Guilty Gear game is out this month, and also uses 3d models instead of painted 2d ones.

I mention those last few games because I can’t help but feel disappointed. They would all have looked better if they utilized styles similar to my work, where you literally use hand-drawn sprites/cels in 3d environments.

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The Big Book of Ideas

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There’s one thing that concerns me with a lot of indie developers, filmmakers, inventors and artists, especially when they first start out. They have a great idea, a REALLY great idea, and know that once they make it real, they will be rich and famous.

I certainly didn’t have such high expectations for my first indie game, which was good. I expect many people, if they ever do finish out their ideas, reach a similar state. Even for the really good ideas, many of them never see the success they deserve.

So what do you do? Simple: never rely on a single idea, and go back to the book.

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Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

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Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, everybody! Don’t ask me why Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving are on different days…

And I should have mentioned this sooner, but my sites have a few small upgrades. You’ll notice a different background here, and you’ll notice the site for “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth” has changed dramatically to look much better. It’s a shame I did that weeks AFTER releasing the game, months AFTER trying to promote the game. But perhaps this’ll help me make sure any future sites for future games look better from the get-go.

"Drew and the Floating Labyrinth" : it's amazing what a couple changes to the site makes...

“Drew and the Floating Labyrinth” : it’s amazing what a couple changes to the site makes…

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Review of “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth”

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Disclaimer: I am the developer of this game. Which makes it a conflict of interest that I would write a review. But given a lack of written scored reviews elsewhere, I felt it best to write something to make sure people know what they would be getting into should they buy the game. It also acts as a release for me, a psychological exercise after releasing my first game. In the meantime, there are a variety of preview posts and playthrough videos online that I encourage you to check out.

A variety of puzzle types in this platformer, all not too challenging.

A variety of puzzle types in this platformer, all not too challenging.

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PAX PRIME 2014: A review and afterthought from a indie developer

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I went to PAX PRIME 2014 in Seattle, Washington about two weeks ago to show off my small indie game “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth.”

About “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth:”

“Drew and the Floating Labyrinth” is a hand-drawn 3D puzzle platformer. The fact that it IS hand-drawn, not using cel-shading or any other fancy renderer, but still in a 3D game, makes it unique, and is one of it’s highest selling points. It follows Drew in a mysterious, barren and simplistic environment, made up of invisible levels that require you to look for clues of safety before you simply walk or jump. Therefore, the gameplay mechanics are very different to typical platformers and also a point of interest. Throw in great music and voice acting (not provided by me, and hence why I can confidently say they actually ARE good), and you have my first complete independent game that I am actually proud of (past attempts were barely fit to be called student projects). And I wanted the world to see it, not to sell well, but to show that traditional animation still had a place in media by putting it somewhere they wouldn’t expect for something new.

Have you seen a hand-drawn character in a 3d game before?

Have you seen a hand-drawn character in a 3D game before?

Wait… how did YOU of all people get a booth at PAX PRIME?

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