I started new secret side project few months ago, hint here…

This is again one of the biggest development processes I’ve been involved. Here’s a screenshot:

It’s bit on the small side, so I can zoom a bit: (2x and 4x zoom)

Still not clear enuf? Here’s the 8x zoom:
(click to open in new window)

We’ll expect to have more detailed information around the end of January 2012.

This also means my card game is most definitely being released during the last quarter of 2011.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 6th, 2011 at 9:29 am and is filed under Game Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

View the original article here

9 common elements of a successful (indie) game project

By checking my own games projects and games created by other developers, I spotted 9 common elements that many of these projects had (or should have had…). Here’s my list of 9 items, in no particular order. If you cover 7-9 of these, I think you greatly improve your odds of a creating a fine product, in comparison to having only 5-6.

#1 – Scope
Indie game devs need to think about the scope of the project. I know all game projects start small, and they then have the danger of growing into huge gigantic several year taking projects. Watching the scope is important. Splitting the game into episodes, using procedural content, user generated content, not getting too attached to creating huge asset piles (artwise, graphicwise) all need to be considered. Scope is important. Too small, and game is too simple. Too much and it’ll becomes too big mess to handle.

#2 – Money
Money can fix many things. I wasn’t too thrilled about having budgets, but at later age I think it might be good idea to have some sense about what range you are willing to take. Is it 10 bucks, 100 bucks, 10 000 bucks or 100 000 bucks gives some rough idea what will be possible and what won’t be possible, saving you precious time when you need to consider different features.

Money can also be used to cover areas you are not good at, which in return might save you a lot of time.

As a sidenote: it’s perfectly okay to go with zero budget too. The worse the graphics, the greater the story when your game becomes the next hit…

#3 – Time
Very important. If you don’t have time to make games, then your chances of making games drop to zero. Here’s a post about 100 ways to be more productive. It’s from year 2008 and still pretty valid if I may say so.

#4 – Skill
You need to be skilled in something. I’ve always thought that being a skilled in programming is the most important part, as I believe programming is most work. With new and easier to use tools, I see that graphically talented folks have more opportunities to create fine games.

Besides these, a solid understanding of game design is a pretty good idea in case you plan to make the game any fun. Understanding some fundamentals just simply makes decision simpler, when you have some more understanding on why something is or isn’t fun. (Book of Lenses is a good starting point by the way).

#5 – Motivation
If you are not motivated to create your game, it shows. Motivation is hard thing to have. One simply gotta be willing to spend countless hours doing something, working in the dark. It’s persistance.

If the work you do is fun, no matter what is the final result, then you probably are in the right track on this.

#6 – Momentum
I’ve noticed that if I don’t work on my game for some time (let’s say 2 weeks, for example when having bit of summer holiday), it’s always harder to come back. When I eventually come back and continue, things are fine again. It’s just that keeping up the momentum is important. You don’t finish a marathon by sitting down every few hundred meters. You gotta keep pushing, keep going and keep the momentum going.

#7 – Twist
I like to believe that fine indie games also need something unique, something different. Some sort of twist that makes them different from what we’ve seen earlier. I don’t know what that might be, but if there’s something special in the game, it makes a good story. And who knows, maybe even a fun experience too.

#8 – Release
Second most important part of the puzzle (#9 being perhaps most important). By releasing your game, you’ve reached something truly important. Continuing from here gets easier. If you plan to do multiple releases, that’s fine (and recommended too).

By doing release (or releases) you make your dream come more true.

#9 – Polish
Perhaps the most important part of a successful indie game: polishing. It’s the hardest part: fixing nasty bugs, adding features, honing features, changing things, getting rid of some of the bad stuff, getting better art, getting better sounds, spending tons of hours into very many things…

… and then you really have something great in your hands. And perhaps others see it too.

If you have some items to add to this list, please feel free to comment the blog post.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 5th, 2011 at 8:50 am and is filed under Game Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

View the original article here

How to get funding for your project (Kickstarter and 8 Bit Funding tips)

I’m currently backing couple of projects through Kickstarter and I must say it feels good. From currently backed projects, the Mojang’s story is something where I actually might catch a thing or two professionally, and GameTunnel was the place I loved to go and hope to see it resurrected (or somehow merged with IGM).

Even though the sums I’ve given have been small, together with other backers they make decent sums. It gives me a pretty good feeling knowing that I’m contributing to the scene in this way too.

Here’s some of my tips for getting funding:

Person/story behind the project is more important than the project: We all have cool game ideas and everybody knows *their* game idea is the best one. Trying to convince others to support your cool game idea is tough… unless you find a good angle. Check the projects I’ve backed. Mojang’s story is amazing and they want to share their success story. Saving Game Tunnel (“the old famous indie site wants to raise from the grave”) makes a catchy story. If you are interesting person, or have interesting story to tell… then share it. The product in itself is not that interesting. Provide enough of options to choose from: You can have $10 and $100 and even $10 000 options (and everything between… and beyond) and this gives possibility for people to choose how much they want to donate. On each level, give something more. Make the offers better and better on each level. Give physical stuff: if your game can offer something physical then consider arranging giving it. It can be a physical copy of a magazine or creeper toy… whatever it is, consider giving one to people who select higher levels of funding. Give credit & thanks: consider giving credits or putting people’s names in the finished product. My name will be on that Mojang story movie (yippee!) and it’s just great. Give advertising: If you have a website, consider giving advertising for people who support. Advertising can be anything from “thank you blog post for all people” to “banner ads” or “reviews about your product” and so on. In the indie scene, indies look opportunities to get more publicity and if you can help them, they just might take the bait.

Bonus tip: “consider the payment method”
There are several places that offer funding system for your products and consider the different options before choosing one to go with. Here’s two funding places:

Kickstarter (accepts Amazon only, they take 5% of the funds raised – if 100% funded) 8 bit funding (accepts Paypal, they take 5% of the funds received after paypal charge, if at least 50% funded)

Please notice that I have used Kickstarter just twice and haven’t yet received my stuff (since projects aren’t completed yet), so I don’t know how trustworthy or reliable these systems are. People seem to use them, so I’ve taken the chance. When it comes to money, it’s up to you to check this.

Also, notice that since 8 bit funding accepts Paypal, for some people (such as me) it might be more likely to donate money from my Paypal account rather than my credit card (maybe that’s just me).

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 6th, 2011 at 7:47 am and is filed under Game Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

View the original article here

FarmVille Sneak Peek: Leprechaun House building project menu

by Brandy Shaul, Posted Feb 21st 2011 8:37PM

Last week, we brought you a sneak peek of an unreleased treehouse in FarmVille that fits into the upcoming St. Patrick's Day theme. Thanks to a new unreleased image, though, we've learned that this Treehouse is apparently called the Leprechaun House, as you can see above.

Interestingly, this preview of the building's menu seems to only represent four of the five stages of growth that we spotted last week (if the green dot at the far left represents the starter frame we'll likely receive for free). Could Zynga be deciding whether or not to scrap one of the four upgrade stages to help us start collecting items (presumably Gold for this year's Pot of Gold) more quickly? Additionally, in this image, there is room for a fourth building item, other than the three that we're used to - those being the Wooden Boards, Nails, and Bricks. Depending on whether or not this image is a place-holder, we may need a fourth ingredient to build the Leprechaun's House. Our guess would be Watering Cans, but that's totally up in the air at this point.

We'll make sure to let you know all of the details about this new Leprechaun house as soon as we know more, so keep checking back.

In the meantime, share your speculations on this new item with us in the comments. How many building stages will it have? What is the mystery fourth ingredient? Let us know what you think!
Bookmark this site!

Tags: farmville, farmville sneak peek, farmville st. patricks day, farmville unreleased, FarmvilleSneakPeek, FarmvilleSt.PatricksDay, FarmvilleUnreleased, st. patricks day, St.PatricksDay, zynga

Email This

View the original article here