tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71009526423696373162024-03-05T22:07:20.972-08:00Fourth Dimensional Gaming Dev BlogRob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-46082845644920587132012-05-01T17:14:00.002-07:002012-05-01T17:14:17.788-07:00Diverging from the normChanging the name of the team to Divergent Gaming and going with a new site. Details to follow. Thanks to anyhow who supported Fourth Dimensional Gaming.Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-87593217550534848992012-01-09T22:29:00.000-08:002012-01-09T22:39:30.318-08:00New DirectionHere's the deal. I haven't written in a while and while those are conceivably the most common words posted on a blog after a long period of inactivity, I assure you that I have had my reasons. So, loyal legion of viewers, you probably have a few questions, (I'm just pretending that I have viewers) and I seek to answer all of your inquiries to the best of my abilities.<div><br /></div><div>Are you still making games?</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course I am. In fact we are finally making TTown. I deal with people on a daily basis that make a career out of finding new excuses not to do anything with their lives, but I promise that we will press on and finish the game we conceptualized a long time ago. To be honest, I put it on hold in order to find a job that would pay the bills first, which leads me to the next question you undoubtedly have. </div><div><br /></div><div>What else are you doing these days?</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm glad you asked that. I am currently employed as a staff writer for Azubu.com, a major gaming portal and journalism site. You've never heard of them, but you will come E3. Apparently some mega rich dude is backing it and as we all know, an excess of liquid cash is the stuff dreams are made of. In addition, I am the site manager of a Diablo III sub-site under the same company. So yes, I am even more anxious about the impending release of D3 than any of you (unless you really are planning to make a fortune selling Rotting Chestplates of the Bear in the auction house for $$$.) In addition, I have written a few episodes for a secret webseries that will never happen due to a lack of friends that have any discernible interest beyond the fortunes it will make them. </div><div><br /></div><div>If that weren't enough.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have a wedding to begin planning for, an engagement ring to pay off, bills up my already smarting asshole and a whole other slew of mental issues pertaining to the inevitability that is growing older.</div><div><br /></div><div>Enough for now. Going to watch a movie since I can't sleep.</div>Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-48484743824499588002011-06-18T12:00:00.000-07:002011-06-18T12:05:55.371-07:00Game #4<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZh6xhwmeKdnuStCABS2I-djqcEFZfYJ675s5HxzQFUvT4qPP8b9RoP4SWI3YuTdbA4i2XLPM2Tq_-iRto8q3_Z3JlrUYOsaV_a_iP1GB5U3SBuSZxaaXBrcCqTiupaVjZcItHcMqXprXy/s1600/BoxArt.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZh6xhwmeKdnuStCABS2I-djqcEFZfYJ675s5HxzQFUvT4qPP8b9RoP4SWI3YuTdbA4i2XLPM2Tq_-iRto8q3_Z3JlrUYOsaV_a_iP1GB5U3SBuSZxaaXBrcCqTiupaVjZcItHcMqXprXy/s320/BoxArt.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619638056776386354" /></a><br />So I broke my collaboration for one game so my co-founder could work on the RPG. The result is Who is the Best : Competitive Math. It is currently in review and I'm startled by how positive the feedback is. This is arguably the most simple game I have programmed, with maybe "Ninja Stole My Bike" being on about the same level. I have little to no expectations for the game, although now I'm leaning more towards "little expectations" since the feedback has been so overwhelmingly positive. I'm also hoping that putting the #1 player on the cover of a future update will help push the game. Can't wait to see how people do at the Global Challenge. If the game does well, even remotely, I will turn this into a fun little series of games. The game is inspired by the Brain Age classics, and since I am a big sucker for them I wanted to do something similar. I'm trying to get away from gimmicky games for a while, since they really weren't doing that well for us anyways. This time I was just going for old fashioned fun. For all the viewers out there, my estimate is that a score of 21000 will be just about enough for the #1 spot after 30 days. <div><br /></div><div> </div>Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-29867938214667898162011-05-27T12:31:00.000-07:002011-05-27T12:34:14.520-07:00RPG<div>I decided against showing the entire overworld at this time since I'm afraid that the 3 people that read this blog will tell EA and they will steal it. Therefore, I am including a few close up shots of the game that we are working on.</div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuvvX555bic45DCrKgDkxMFWxlYNXdQsxw7qZTwbn8BctbWb1OKMWcvjnqDzibhkyLQiZ1zKVWKb3mEW9U8wo6gRluvEjzSw2sKBjuBEiL_OubSGtVpHpxdGYJ9bBPVi05yH8Q8nE0n_Qj/s1600/Light%25232.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuvvX555bic45DCrKgDkxMFWxlYNXdQsxw7qZTwbn8BctbWb1OKMWcvjnqDzibhkyLQiZ1zKVWKb3mEW9U8wo6gRluvEjzSw2sKBjuBEiL_OubSGtVpHpxdGYJ9bBPVi05yH8Q8nE0n_Qj/s320/Light%25232.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611481410049176386" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5aTSPQs6EokSnB0rIksBgiK7q9-_EnKZkpjr5-WzIk3Irg5rk0mT2_fLTaMDVoyvocS6xEVJiMiSKriQKYi92uhpRt-4bmDi1s6h49r8wd0wDanh02esL2sGV9FwvWTxXAXwntncDuOp/s1600/Light%25231.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5aTSPQs6EokSnB0rIksBgiK7q9-_EnKZkpjr5-WzIk3Irg5rk0mT2_fLTaMDVoyvocS6xEVJiMiSKriQKYi92uhpRt-4bmDi1s6h49r8wd0wDanh02esL2sGV9FwvWTxXAXwntncDuOp/s320/Light%25231.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611481291498335298" /></a>Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-1207434198817800012011-05-25T15:30:00.000-07:002011-05-25T15:54:27.924-07:00Kotaku Pt 2 - Microsoft Freeze Pt 5320 - Other Random NoiseWe got on the Kotaku's favorite list and normally I'd be reporting on what that did for our sales, but since the Top Downloads list has been frozen for the past two weeks and the entire channel was down today, I really can't tell. <br /><br />I tried to contact the editor of Kotaku to possibly write something about it, but I haven't heard back. They're probably really busy. <br /><br />Microsoft treats us like a fucking joke. Let that by known. They don't give a shit that some of us are trying to become successful making games and applications. The pick your own release date is only going to lessen the problem. What if Game team A waits until the current freeze is over to release their game, only to have the list freeze again when they launch. <br /><br />The pick your own release date hasn't stopped approximately 35 games from releasing during the current nonsense. Those 35 games will most likely never get the opportunity to get onto the Top Downloads list, and it looks like some of them would have deserved it. The sweeping epic "Sex or Love" has a lot of ratings and surely would have been on the TD list, and probably lost a bunch of sales because they weren't. I've been writing about this problem forever and I'm sick of it, and I wish I could leave the indie channel, but it's the only place to release on a console right now. Looking forward to the next form letter from Charles Cox or Nick Gravelyn saying that they are investigating the problem. Go shoot yourself in the foot, it's a database query. <br /><br />Here is the link to the Kotaku article. Almost 50k views, unreal. Thanks Kotaku, you guys are the best. At least someone shows the indies some love. <a href="http://kotaku.com/5805236/we-got-microsoft-to-promote-the-red-ring-of-death-and-our-other-xbox-live-indie-favorites/gallery/1"> Kotaku article<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></a><a href="http://kotaku.com/5805236/we-got-microsoft-to-promote-the-red-ring-of-death-and-our-other-xbox-live-indie-favorites/gallery/1"></a><a href="http://kotaku.com/5805236/we-got-microsoft-to-promote-the-red-ring-of-death-and-our-other-xbox-live-indie-favorites/gallery/1"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></a><br /><br />So we're making an RPG. I'm tempted to post the world map, or at least portions of it. I'll get back to that when it's finished. When will it be finished? To quote Valve: "It's finished when it's finished."Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-6267549705222197472011-05-05T05:21:00.000-07:002011-05-05T05:32:25.486-07:00KotakuThe Red Ring of Death has been out for almost a week now. I didn't think that we going to get any huge press, but we did. Kotaku, one of the biggest gaming publications on the internet, and also one of my personal favorites did an article on our game. I felt the article was more about the title and us sticking it to Microsoft as opposed to the game itself, which they felt was "conventional". It really made me regret not putting the Red Ring in an earlier level, but he's the fucking boss. Still, for all you home viewers, the Red Ring of Death is the last boss in the game. I should have Castlevania:SotN'd it and put him right in the beginning, but hindsight is 20/20. <br /><br />The article is here: http://kotaku.com/#!5798788/xbox-live-indie-games-hit-with-the-red-ring-of-death<br /><br />I am super motivated right now, and hopefully now with a semi professional team of vagrants, we'll be able to do something good on its own merits, without having to rely on internet memes and gimmicks. So, with that I announce the title of our next game..."Super Zombie Bros: An Avatar "Do it yourself" MMORPG...Craft".....eh, sorry. <br /><br />There is a next game, but I'm just going to pretend I'm the king of all things Indie RPG like Zeboyd and not announce it yet. I'll announce it when I'm sure that I can actually do it. Saves me some potential embarrassment that way.Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-12976902206955189912011-04-27T11:32:00.000-07:002011-04-27T11:59:15.415-07:00The Red Ring of Death (no not the thing that happens when an XBox overheats)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKWM7P3VR-XACwCA4dFhY7cbul4cuSpLISCkGsa577oVB5T06I4acN9akFrzfRICM-RDx6nu82U6feLZvDgepObLgyWIxw_LEPsDooF31OQrxLykXpFQwy5FSFmylLa-v1KTcXiTOjjATa/s1600/RRODSS2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKWM7P3VR-XACwCA4dFhY7cbul4cuSpLISCkGsa577oVB5T06I4acN9akFrzfRICM-RDx6nu82U6feLZvDgepObLgyWIxw_LEPsDooF31OQrxLykXpFQwy5FSFmylLa-v1KTcXiTOjjATa/s320/RRODSS2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600339065915696770" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5mE9vMybD2IbiG9yORoJO1D-H_ku5XhRoibgET-0-TqLmagguc73qbd6DOLWA6M5pYw9vWxf_PW9hJy7Uk4dp0MRcgu2kPFVWLzudhxImy7wzkTi4S23wIbCceLKmbkFM1yyNZfKuTn6v/s1600/RRODSS1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5mE9vMybD2IbiG9yORoJO1D-H_ku5XhRoibgET-0-TqLmagguc73qbd6DOLWA6M5pYw9vWxf_PW9hJy7Uk4dp0MRcgu2kPFVWLzudhxImy7wzkTi4S23wIbCceLKmbkFM1yyNZfKuTn6v/s320/RRODSS1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600339061192736994" /></a><br />We have another game coming out. It's mostly through the review process and there is a chance that it will drop today. It's called the Red Ring of Death and ultimately is a satire of a Microsoft headache. <div><br /></div><div>Dear Microsoft lawyers. In no way is this game an attempt to slander your name. Since we never have original ideas, we rely on internet memes to create games that have instant name recognition. We feel by using the term Red Ring of Death we will only be helping you guys make more money. </div><div><br /></div><div>Anyhow, enough of the aside. The game is far more complex than the last one, which looking back, was a bit of a joke. It was created in exactly two months, and in my estimation will need a small patch once it's released, but mostly for my own satisfaction. I think the framerate could be a little bit tighter in some places and there are a few minor bugs I'd like to see gone. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, what did we do right and what we did wrong.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, I don't exactly know yet. That's best reserved for when I see how the game does. That is, if it comes out at all. The Microsoft legality issue with the cover art and the title does concern me. It's not that we're ripping off anything, it's that Microsoft is going to do what they want, and I have no power to stop them. Would be terrible if all this work went down the drain. Let's hope for the best, I did my best not to cross any lines, but still be referential. </div><div><br /></div><div>On a happier note, you can see some screenshots of the game. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-15889475806759910532011-03-24T10:29:00.000-07:002011-03-24T10:48:54.008-07:00Lacrosse fans manipulating the systemI make no qualms about it, I don't really like it when people throw all their numbers in my face, especially if they're doing really well, and some minor incident happened that may or may not have slightly disrupted said numbers. <div><br /></div><div>When you make a very solid indie RPG you should be proud and I'm very impressed by these people. It's hard to do, it's risky as hell and the rewards may just not be worth the effort. When you think that you should be thanking the academy for what you've done, it changes my opinion a little bit, but I still hold these teams in high regard. Anyhow, the company starting the uproar on the forums is Zeboyd and the topic in question is the College Lacrosse team manipulating the ratings system. </div><div><br /></div><div>I really want to like Zeboyd. Their RPGs are simple fun and lack any real depth in combat and gameplay but I still think they're a big accomplishment for an indie team of 3. They give you a lot for 3 bucks, I can't deny that.</div><div><br /></div><div>Right now Robert Boyd is pissed off because the guys from the College Lacrosse team asked their 175k fans (seriously, how many people like Lacrosse and own an XBox - I would have guessed about 15, but I guess I was way off) to rate their game high. Some overzealous fans took this to a new level and rated other games above College Lacrosse with 1 star. When you're an indie this matters because you don't have that many ratings to begin with. Anyhow his game dropped from 6 to 11 or so. Didn't really seem to have any discernible effect on sales, but I understand why one would be a little bit upset. I'm still surprised at all the attention the topic is getting, considering it's hardly on par with what's been happening with the top downloads list freezing all the time. </div><div><br /></div><div>My opinions on the matter - nothing really. Nothing is really going to be done about this since it seems minor. Anything that is done is going to impede the democracy of the system. If your parameter is rating and you only allow people who have bought the game to rate it, it's a simple statistical bias. Ok, so game developers don't ask your fans (like most of us even have fans) to down rate other people's games. I'll make sure the next time I release (should be fairly soon, but that's for another post), to tell everyone "Please rate our game high but don't rate other games low." Yeah, that will happen, and because other people are so responsible and ethical that they are going to make this a priority. People who down rate are morons, and I wish they wouldn't, but if they really want to, they're going to. There's no real solution that makes everyone happy and it's a minor enough problem that the community (and really just a small subset of the community) should just learn to live with these unforeseen, circumstantial and above all, tiny problems.</div>Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-42705222943207788332011-02-20T10:17:00.000-08:002011-02-20T10:45:34.843-08:00Long Overdo Update<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9FcsFhYMo5g10Tdp61jNWy4AP15bqCuyAoZ0Iu2HBQH50HHc3l-eA7kWEOPehQLQcWknNQI-KtzSFJQiC3h-36UIsKT3wgQRSqIeMLiIlqGt8Eby-xvgoXTIBC4las3PTZ1v_EP56lbj/s1600/NSMB4.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9FcsFhYMo5g10Tdp61jNWy4AP15bqCuyAoZ0Iu2HBQH50HHc3l-eA7kWEOPehQLQcWknNQI-KtzSFJQiC3h-36UIsKT3wgQRSqIeMLiIlqGt8Eby-xvgoXTIBC4las3PTZ1v_EP56lbj/s320/NSMB4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575839477975197026" /></a><br />Ok, a lot has changed in the past couple of months. Sadly, I decided that we were not ready as a team to make the RPG that I had envisioned. We were losing motivation, spending too much time trying to figure out little details instead of working on the big picture. Also, the people on the team weren't committed enough, partially out of disillusionment due to the scope of the project and partially because the people we brought in from the outside were not reliable. <div><br /></div><div>I put out a challenge to the team: Let's make a game, any game, in a month. We started Jan 3rd and finished the wonderfully titled "Ninja Stole My Bike" exactly one month and 4 days later. It came out on Feb 10th due to the peer review process. </div><div><br /></div><div>That was great, the title was just ridiculous enough to give us the sales recognition that we didn't deserve. I say that because, the game is a fairly simple, but somewhat humorous, reaction game. A ninja, steals your bike and your pizzas and you chase him through New York. There are obstacles along the way, set out in a completely linear fashion. You eventually knock the ninja off the bike using tomatoes....but the ninja gets one of his friends and he steals the bike. Rinse and repeat. </div><div><br /></div><div>The game got off to a great start. First two days we had more than 5 times the sales than Acupwnture had over its first two days. Then....</div><div><br /></div><div>The Xbox Live Indie Channel Top Downloads list froze. Ok, I thought, not a big deal. It usually gets fixed in a day, so maybe we won't be as high up on it as we deserve. Then another day past, and another and before all was said and done it was frozen for an entire week. By that time we were far enough down the new releases list that we wouldn't get a good spot on the list. When the list was updated we were number #43 based on about 1/3 the sales we had gotten the first day. After that we were in the low 50s and still are, just outside of the list. This is crippling, since we lost the money we deserved last week and any residual income from not being exposed on the list. </div><div><br /></div><div>If that wasn't enough, the sales figures for the game were screwed up by Microsoft for the past couple of days. I can't even see how the game is currently doing, outside of the top scores list.</div><div><br /></div><div>This has been disheartening to say the least, and being an aggressive person I have gone bonkers. I have posted in the forums, and have gotten over 50 responses from other disgruntled nerds. I have put in a Connect issue and have written a personal email to Microsoft. </div><div><br /></div><div>The forum thread is here: <a href="http://forums.create.msdn.com/forums/p/75904/462051.aspx#462051">http://forums.create.msdn.com/forums/p/75904/462051.aspx#462051</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://forums.create.msdn.com/forums/p/75904/462051.aspx#462051"></a>I will update when I know more. Suffice to say I don't like losing money and I will not go down without a fight. Rest assured, I will at least make an attempt to contact the big gaming publications that support us in hopes that they will publicly expose this issue. <br /><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-1718753552742362592010-10-07T15:34:00.000-07:002010-10-07T15:40:46.168-07:00UpdateThe overworld map is in the process of being revised. We realized that the mountains, while a good start just weren't cutting it. Also, I think we need another grass type to give the illusion of a worn road. Icons have to be updated as well but overall I'm pretty pleased with the work my artists have done. <br /><br />Building a tile set is an insane amount of work and I feel that my level designer is just sitting around with his thumb up his ass waiting for them to be done. I think by next week we'll have all the dungeon sets done and just have to work on the town sets, which are invariably the hardest.<br /><br />The code is just that...code. It's a lot of code, and it keeps coming. I decided early on that this would not be coded as one project and not hardcoded in any way. I wanted it to be as flexible as possible and more importantly reusable for future projects. Easier to upgrade then to start anew.<br /><br />I build a custom processor for all the xml files. It was a big headache but thankfully I understand how it works and is fundamentally done. Most of our future files will just be processed through that, and it helps to make the game engine more robust. I think my running count is about 5 projects and 50 classes, and I expect that to triple. Oh well. I'll post some screenshots soon.Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-52746784057691711612010-09-30T12:22:00.001-07:002010-09-30T12:33:21.474-07:00Screenshot MadnessOk, here is a couple screenshots from our upcoming RPG using our in house tile set. The first two are of the world map and the next few are of some monster types. Hope you enjoy:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA5AkbXc06VmoMTausPgoIqRbTVp9xKubQdCf8sbUPfwPKk_MBnjChLzAoxJ9vRaK9ycOPCx9EPh56Scqb-kAJI0Xt0vawZKvCgaEmN6ceyd89aBYW9m_vBCc7cIndRn3Pe__voBg_uRV4/s1600/SS1+copy.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 175px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA5AkbXc06VmoMTausPgoIqRbTVp9xKubQdCf8sbUPfwPKk_MBnjChLzAoxJ9vRaK9ycOPCx9EPh56Scqb-kAJI0Xt0vawZKvCgaEmN6ceyd89aBYW9m_vBCc7cIndRn3Pe__voBg_uRV4/s320/SS1+copy.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522789516467233458" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Wow, what's with that huge shadow in the background?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfE3fhUakxBe9Vp8pRvoGTPCLCxMkD4Zb-oGu-awt9RjcdXqByz4VZtD5wEbc25w-bJBdyXWdZq8Caqqg6xg9YygsdPvQ6uNGp3LEMxvSJHwf-Y56fzZdDELhu4QkOBENvwVxLz4sD3zny/s1600/SS2.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 177px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfE3fhUakxBe9Vp8pRvoGTPCLCxMkD4Zb-oGu-awt9RjcdXqByz4VZtD5wEbc25w-bJBdyXWdZq8Caqqg6xg9YygsdPvQ6uNGp3LEMxvSJHwf-Y56fzZdDELhu4QkOBENvwVxLz4sD3zny/s320/SS2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522790085150046866" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Looks peaceful enough.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWWSnADX5BW_VYXvNhdOmMGBI7juQ57JvRCJq-yzom851dQvGjlK0ISPiXM1K2jRBSNO9cGmapMxva1oeSwibCYjcLmtwfRrNKxSaBg2r3OnHVwYMrfR54E7-vOMVeeSKf-qLZOqRgAoXp/s1600/040_mechitech.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWWSnADX5BW_VYXvNhdOmMGBI7juQ57JvRCJq-yzom851dQvGjlK0ISPiXM1K2jRBSNO9cGmapMxva1oeSwibCYjcLmtwfRrNKxSaBg2r3OnHVwYMrfR54E7-vOMVeeSKf-qLZOqRgAoXp/s320/040_mechitech.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522790995535717842" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Hope he's on our side.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCizBAvOJ9goSaV6iG2mGXMZG0vOscXAhNjhat4_4jqYkCJB5cunwf_9Zw5MVX1PDlObkyJe21j4WyCeJTn2SHSbcOCj9qCY4XHxa7xH0vWVXIR76CEp3X9t1xMcLnj5AOOY53AiTNAGo/s1600/027_Lotar.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCizBAvOJ9goSaV6iG2mGXMZG0vOscXAhNjhat4_4jqYkCJB5cunwf_9Zw5MVX1PDlObkyJe21j4WyCeJTn2SHSbcOCj9qCY4XHxa7xH0vWVXIR76CEp3X9t1xMcLnj5AOOY53AiTNAGo/s320/027_Lotar.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522791253910060274" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We'll be sending Blizzard a check.<br /><br />So there you have it, just a few images of the game in progress. Development is going fairly well, I am currently developing the combat engine, and will post my experiences as we go along. I don't anticipate the combat engine to be anywhere near easy, but we'll see how things turn out. Cheers.Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-5409676703335987412010-09-25T22:49:00.001-07:002010-09-25T23:33:22.770-07:00Analysis - why Breath of Death VII was a success and Aphelion was notAfter reading the very useful post-mortem posted by Zeboyd recently, I have decided to do my own analysis as to why I believe BoD VII sold over 30,000 copies and is still regularly selling over 50 copies a day versus Aphelion which has topped off at approximately 3 - 4,000 copies.<div><br /></div><div>To put this in perspective one must first look at not just sales but the time to reward ratio as well. BoD was made in about 3 months. It was sold for $1. Lets say for convenience sake that it will continue to sell approximately 50 copies a day for the next 6-7 months. I'm using this fairly optimistic estimate because I believe that once they release their next game, sales for the original will spike for a short time. For all intensive purposes that is another 10,000 copies, and will bring the total to 40k. That is approximately 13.3k copies per month spent working on the game multiplied by a factor of 1 = 13.3k.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'll be optimistic and use a 5:1 ratings to sales ratio for Aphelion and say that it sold 3.5k copies. Over the next 9 or so months I think it will sell about 2-3 copies per day and top off at about 4k copies. It took about 1.5 years to develop and certainly was a more ambitious project than BoD. That's about 220 copies per month spent working on the project, but since it was sold for $3 its factor is 660. </div><div><br /></div><div>The ratio between the two games favors BoD by a factor of 20:1, a huge margin. Why is this? Aphelion was a very ambitious project and is a nicely put together RPG, yet it falls far short.</div><div><br /></div><div>1) Price point - This I think is a misconception. Although the trial to sales ratio's are generally lower on the $3 games, they are not an overwhelming amount lower than the 1:3 ratio required to make up the difference. The main benefit of pricing at $1 is that you will sell to 3 times the amount of people and still make a comparable amount of money. However, I believe that if a game is just that good, it will sell more than enough to have been the right move financially. Beat Hazard, RC-Airsim and Kodu game lab come to mind. All fantastic games, all high conversion rates, all big movers. I'll say price point was a slight advantage for Zeboyd.</div><div><br /></div><div>2) Box art - This is where I think BoD blew away Aphelion. The box art for BoD is just perfect upsell for an indie game. It has a title that makes you scratch your head but also identify with an RPG. If that isn't enough it essentailly tells you "look this is an old school funny RPG so buy it". Perfect! The box art is also reminiscent of an 8 bit type of cover, something of a hybrid beginning the NES and Sega Master system box art. I'll go ahead and say this is an overwhelming advantage for Zeboyd.</div><div><br /></div><div>3) Marketing - Another strong point for Zeboyd, because they didn't shamelessly plug the game but instead used their love of games and influence in big forums such as Penny Arcade to casually mention that they were coming out with a game, and the game is influenced by a love of old RPGs. They got the right reviews at the right times and maintain a nice website that updates their status, reviews other indie games, talks about the trials and tribulations of making a game and just feels human. I really didn't know much at all about Aphelion and finding information about the game was available but fairly sparse, although Zeboyd did review it. Zeboyd also is very active in the xna forums, where lunatic studios made more of an appearance when they needed a review. Large advantage Zeboyd.</div><div><br /></div><div>4) Ambition - BoD is not really all that ambitious. Don't get me wrong, that game was probably more ambitious than 99% of xna games, but it was fairly straight forward in terms of RPGs. A text based combat system lacking animations, no sub interior maps for inns and shops etc, nothing really event driven outside of dialog, the story was fairly simple. However, what they did they did to perfection and the message of the game was completely clear. Also, I believe that less is more. The clearly defined purpose of an old school retro parody RPG resonated very well in the game. I got what I expected and that's just fine. Aphelion did not grab me during the trial period. Ok, we're on a ship and the shit is about to go down so we have to get the hell out of dodge. I've been there a 100 times and Phantasy Star has done it better every time. Also, Aphelion was just too damn ambitious. It looks pretty good, and plays fairly well, but it just feels a little off overall. The characters feel like they are sitting on a completely different level than the backgrounds, the combat animations don't have enough frames and the menu systems kind of replicate Mass Effect, but I don't know if they were aware that the menus were one of the biggest flaws of the first Mass Effect. Zeboyd made an 8 bit game that looked better than any 8 bit RPG ever and had a more robust combat system than say an early Dragon Warrior game. So although not as ambitious BoD was made in about 1/6th the time and was an exemplification of that era. Aphelion just looked like a mediocre hodgepodge of the 32-128 bit era. Big advantage BoD.</div><div><br /></div><div>4) Story/Humor - To be frank, BoD did not have much of a story, nothing memorable at least, but what it did have was laughs, and it had them early and often, a big upsell during the trial period. Humor is a decidedly mixed bag in an RPG, but I think they were effective at selling it for the most part. It's clear that these guys have played their games and other gamers can identify with people like them. Aphelion really wasn't funny at all, not that it intended to be and the story was pretty standard fare. I don't think it sucked at all, but I wasn't enthralled by it. I'll say that humor won't always work, and that any RPG is going to benefit the most from a strong story and engaging characters, but this is still a fairly large advantage for Zeboyd. </div><div><br /></div><div>5) Gameplay - BoD is fast paced, pick up and play, and generally just an RPG on crack. It worked. I felt the combat was somewhat unbalanced, but they acknowledge this on their website and it's nowhere near terrible. It's hard to balance all those numbers, believe me we're finding out the hard way. The leveling system was quite good as well. Aphelion was just a little too complex for the average xna guy. </div><div><br /></div><div>6) Music - Good music in BoD but fairly good music for Aphelion too, this is probably a wash.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ok, that's a wall of text but I feel this is worthy of analysis since they're the only two true RPG's on the market and that just frankly sucks. I hope that others come out with some in the next year or so. My guess is that they'll be 5 by the time we release, with CSTW being the 3rd. Light's End is almost an RPG, and is pretty cool for what they were trying to do, but nowhere near conventional. Everything else in that category really just isn't anything beyond a prototype or something that marks itself in the wrong genre. After this analysis it seems pretty clear to me why BoD did so well. If I didn't mention it already, the title for BoD makes you think RPG and the title Aphelion makes you think nothing really. You're better off just putting the letters RPG on the box art and shipping it out at this point. </div><div><br /></div><div>To the future of RPG's. By the way, our overworld tileset is done and I'm furiously making the final version of the world map. I'll put some screen shots up shortly. Maybe even some monsters to go along with it. </div>Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-30837422365321575682010-09-05T10:15:00.000-07:002010-09-05T10:29:42.888-07:00Some lessons learned.There are a few things I have learned thus far in the making of an RPG. My hope is that some of these lessons will help other upstarts get going in the process.<br /><br />Do not make an RPG before you have a fully fleshed out Game Design Document. Some games can get away without having one, this one cannot. Also, realize that you are going to have to revise it over and over again, but don't get too hung up on the revisions, or discouraged that it always has to change. It's just a fact of life. <br /><br />Have a good project management system. It's likely that a team making an RPG on any significant scale will not to able to do so alone. Establish a team, call your talented friends, look online, hire out if you have to, just get a team. Once you have the team make sure that the team is somewhat organized and at least one person knows what is going on with everyone. We use dropbox for all of our shared documents and it's kind of a nice way to get access to documents on the fly. The 2 gb limitation on the free account might get annoying, but probably not for projects on this scale. <br /><br />Make a database. I would suggest looking at old tabletop gaming books and see how they establish themselves and base your database off of that. It should include the entire bestiary, with fleshed out descriptions, statistics (both explicit and derived), the amount of experience and gold they will give once defeated, who they can be grouped with, where they can be found and what they drop. Don't forget about all the special attacks and magic. A lot right. Yeah. Too bad the database also needs all advanced stats for your own characters, including a lot of projections about what level they will be at certain points of the game, taking into account the golden path player and the endless grinder. Look at how much gold the party will need to optimize their gear in the next town and base the enemy drops off of that. It really goes on and on and these are just a few tips. Our database ended up being about 15 sheets, averaging 30 columns and 60-80 lines. x * y* z = a hell of a lot.<br /><br />If you guys have a local team, and I highly recommend this, have meetings. Meetings once every two weeks or so are good for morale, and also lets the whole team know what everyone is doing. It's also a good workshop opportunity where you can pick one task that needs to get done and do it collectively. Which brings me to my last lesson learned.<br /><br />You probably have an assigned task on a team, but don't be afraid to dip into other things. We are indie after all. The hierarchy should be grounded but at the same time somewhat flexible. Sometimes your story writer has to work on the tileset, fact of life.<br /><br />Last thing, take breaks after you established something. Go to the bar, don't get too wasted if you have to work tomorrow and talk about how great this game is going to be and how much it's goin to change your life. Talk about your dreams to move to LA and get hitched to some movie star. This is the time to do it, since reality will check in when the buzz checks out. <br /><br />There have been like two RPG's on XBLIG that I have a great deal of respect for. I think both teams will be successful, and our goal is to not 1-up them, but to compliment them and maybe establish the platform most well known for zombie-avatar-fortune cookie-ninja killing-massage apps and turn it into at least a respectable place for RPG's.<br /><br />As we get closer to completion, Ill post the game design document we have as a reference tool for new teams, and perhaps even the database upon completion.Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-79346667420434698172010-07-07T06:17:00.001-07:002010-07-07T06:27:02.235-07:003 star hellAcupwnture got mixed reviews. I admit I knew there would be trouble with the difficulty, even after I tweaked and retweaked it. I totally fell into the "well I don't think it's too hard, so what if I made it" fatal trap of game development. I think the game makes for a somewhat complicated 8 minute trial but a good experience once you get past that, and even a great one for Puzzle Fighter fans. On top of that, no one really wants to buy falling block games anymore. So all in all what we have is as relatively high rating for an indie game, a good conversion rate and terrible sales.<br /><br />I don't like the way Microsoft handles the indie games, plain and simple. The top rated list is a list of 20 games and always has been. At one point there was 200 games on the market and the top 10% got on there. Now there are 1100 and growing rapidly and only the top 1.8% get on there with the bar being set at 4.25 stars. So does that mean in three years, games with ratings of 4.5 or higher, despite how old they are will still dominate the list, making it almost impossible for new games to get on there? Shouldn't the top rated list be converted to the "All time great" list and have a seperate top rated list with say a 3 month turnaround. Give some of the great 3.25 -3.75 star titles a chance to shine, because many of them are worth playing but never get a chance to sell any copies beyond the first 3-4 days.Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-53664238618128740082010-06-27T21:34:00.000-07:002010-06-27T21:44:47.512-07:00First MeetingToday we had our first RPG team meeting. There were a lot of ideas and I'd rather have too many good ideas than not enough. It's interesting managing a bigger team. You start off with just yourself and the idea that making a game would be a cool idea. You start doing stuff and then realize that there's other stuff that goes into making a game that you can't do. When I discovered that I couldn't really draw, I started thinking, "Well maybe you can make a game with 2 people." 2 eventually evolved into 4 and we were able to make a game with good graphics, sound and logic. Still, we made a game that was a bit too hard and complicated for our own good. If there is one thing I would encourage it's don't just make a game that you would want to play. Also, have strangers try out your game, friends are too biased and give you a false sense of thinking that your game is great, when in fact they're just so proud of you for accomplishing something cool. Another problem is that my friends are all very good at games. When some of them were having trouble beating easy on multiple attempts I should have listened to the alarm going off in my head. <br /><br />Anyhow, now 5 people has turned into like 7-8. I want to keep it about here until we feel the need to really do big games, but for now I'm comfortable managing this size team. The meeting was awesome, and not just because of all the ideas, but because of the respect people gave each other. Everyone felt comfortable speaking their piece. The open forum is a scary thing, because often times it just descends into disaster. If you don't understand the personality types in the room you're going to be in trouble.<br /><br />Alas, playtime is over, and it's time to work. These things always start off really fun, especially when the ideas are loose and free-flowing, but now there's a lot of work to be done. Still I'm not quite dreading making a map editor, before this meeting I kinda was. <br /><br />On a side, if you really want to get your mind off everything, watch an episode of Fringe. I mange to get so involved in that show that I stop thinking about all the stress that comes with making a game.Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100952642369637316.post-53380606090802327172010-06-22T08:53:00.000-07:002010-06-22T09:24:29.436-07:00Welcome<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_PPivLHvzn8r8ErLULjI7Us80PuwhArUMP9moCy3XgAGJv49_Va6nf_m5gYXlDZc63AoOrQdrAADZ3lje0dEiM3SWixAL6bSheHVLZWDLMY-ziZUyQnkZ7RDigwgfZQ9vw8wzM6gvbcCX/s1600/screenshot+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485629483710436514" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_PPivLHvzn8r8ErLULjI7Us80PuwhArUMP9moCy3XgAGJv49_Va6nf_m5gYXlDZc63AoOrQdrAADZ3lje0dEiM3SWixAL6bSheHVLZWDLMY-ziZUyQnkZ7RDigwgfZQ9vw8wzM6gvbcCX/s320/screenshot+1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Welcome to my game development blog. I hope to share some insight into the process of making games and share our own trials and tribulations throughout the process of making our second XNA game. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>A little background. I have a masters degree in Computer Science and a BA in english. How that happened, I do not know. I first started wanting to make games about 10 years ago as a sophomore in college when a few friends of mine were obsessed with the game Super Puzzle Fighter II turbo. It was one of the last games to really be played in the arcade where you had a bunch people lined up, finding unique ways to throw a quarter onto the console in order to play next. It was also the last time that I was able to beat those Rutgers kids in any video game. I wanted to make the game better, and reduce the luck element, so I had an idea. Fast forward 10 years and the game came out. It looks like the image at the top.</div><div></div><div></div><div>What I should have said is, "Hey, maybe I shouldn't make a puzzle game in ten years because no matter what I do, the market is supersaturated and no one will care." Still, at least I have a game for me.</div><div></div><div></div><div>The next game will be an RPG, which is a completely foolish endeavor for a second game and more well reserved for a fourth game. But, I don't care, and while releasing Avatar Fortune Cookie is tempting, this seems a little better. And guess what, there is actually a market for these games. That game Breath of Death VII did really well, and I have to say it's the best $1 RPG I've ever seen. Funny, quick and unique, even though I can faceroll my way through combat and it looks like a early prototype version of Dragon Warrior and Phantasy Star. A solid first effort though, and a team with the potential to have a long lasting effect on the indie games community.</div><div></div><div></div><div>I'm starting the tile map today and will be having a meeting of the minds on Sunday in a chaos format. What that essentially is is a chance for everyone to speak there piece about what they think should go into the RPG. Then it is my responsibility to crush dreams...no, forget everything I said. </div><div></div><div></div><div>I am making a promise not to lose my sanity this game, this blog will determine my success. I will not be completely successful at maintaining that, but I think this team will be successful in delivering a quality RPG.</div>Rob Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03292916994479173043noreply@blogger.com0