Speaks for the first time, A game story.

The first big update hits Pirates of the Asteroids in a few hours. A lot of changes. Added game mechanics, visuals graphics but most importantly sound.Throughout history music and sound have been an integral part of telling a story, be it around the fire or on stage. Even in the early age of cinema there was a guy playing piano who helped set the mood. In a game sound and music also has another important aspect. Feedback.

When it comes to the art of games feedback is essential. Sound cues tell you immediately what effect an action has. Getting hit = sound cue, picking up a health pack = sound cue, dying, well you get the picture. It is also has to set the mood. The melancholic of a loss of a fallen comrade, the stress of a boss fight. To get everything balanced is a difficult thing. You have to feel that its right. On its own a sound may seem appropriate but in one particular level the music may give false or disruptive feedback. Not good. Hopefully as we journey together through the development of this game you will get an understanding that there are many variables to consider. Of course you already knew this. But it feels nice show the work behind the curtain. The picture above is the first start screen. See what it looks like now.

Must fall to learn how to get back up... A game story

If you don´t fall you never learn how to get back up. If someone always helps back up you never learn confidence and tend to give up quickly in all matters. This is how it is in gaming today. Helping hands everywhere. Walkthroughs, strategy guides, youtube clips, forums, wikis. And if that was´nt enough the games are generally so simple that any frustration you may feel is aimed at the price and lack of longevity or a particularly difficult section that is so out of place you feel stumped. Try Gradius and tell me todays games are generally challenging.

Yes I know i am older an a bit grumpy but it does irritate me that games have to help me the whole way through. Can´t i just be allowed to find things out for my self. Most games have a difficulty setting but this often means more bad guys at a quicker pace. Gradius did that in 1985.

The game we are making has be noted as being extremely difficult. As it stands now this is due to lack of many important game mechanics. But the game will be very challenging and not for the faint of heart. We will give you the tools to complete the game but the journey is yours to make.

Learning to walk... A game story.

How long time does it take to make a game? How long is a piece of string? Difficult questions to answer. Well it takes as long as it takes is a good an answer as any. But you do need to set up a time table or at least a to do list. What does a game need to be a game? Well rules are probably the most import thing. All games have rules. And they don´t have to be fair either. In some games the rules are clear and some they are not. Sometimes the rules are governed by a judge or referee and sometimes the participants govern them selves. One thing is certain, once you step out of the rules you are no longer playing the game.

So why do Digi-games or any kind of game for that matter, take so long to be made. Well the key to a good game is balance. The balance between how the rules interact is crucial to making the game appealing, challenging and fun. Why play a game that is´nt fun? In digi-games the rules are governed by the game itself. And because of that there is a tendency to use a lot of rules and finding the a good balance in how they interact is near impossible. You also have to incorporate sound and music, high score lists, and so much more. There is also a risk of never finishing because you keep tweaking it. There has to come a time when you say "OK, it´s done".

Well our game is far from finished and the next major task is adding the first bits of sound. This enhances the gaming immensely(or so we hope) but the work is progressing quickly and it feels like it´s coming along nicely. I will keep everyone up to date through the discussions board,pics and updates on Facebook aswell as here. Comments, questions and suggestions are always welcome.

How a computer game comes to life.

Ever wonder how a game is made? From concept to graphics, sound, music, controls, to hopefully, total immersion? Well a couple of weeks ago a friend started to make a Digi-game. We talked about it. He wanted to know how to promote the game that is going use Facebook as its platform. As I am working with that right know with several companies and will be for the foreseeable future it felt like a very natural collaboration. Social gaming is very big right know and has the potential to generate money for independent developers so they can make investments in to there next project.

Gustav Nilsson is the developer of the game in question. Its working title is "The pirates of the asteroids" from the novel by Isaac Asimov. Along side the game he is also building a 2d graphics engine. So after talking a few times we hammered out a rough strategy. In a nut shell we are going to show the development of the game and the engine, code name Reaver, openly and updated regularly. This will be done on the Facebook page and the website(where the game can be played know) and through blogs. The game and engine are in very early stages of development.

We will be keeping you up to date and even take suggestions on improvements to the game. Here is your chance to see how a game is made from scratch. It may inspire you to make your own game, give you an appreciation for the work involved and hopefully have some fun playing the game.

When is a lot of social media too much?

There is a lot of talk about social media going on in Sweden right now and has been for a while. But now businesses are seriously looking into the arenas to as a compliment to other aspects of there company day to day such as support, marketing, testing and in house communication. This is growing in Sweden thanks to a wide internet access in the country along with good mobile internet connection through smartphones and apps(at least in my opinion). But the question is how many Social media sites do we want. Facebook has recently done many upgrades. So has Twitter. So has Myspace. But there are so many more. How many do there have to be? How many are comfortable? I would hazard a guess and say that they are going to start to thin out. And soon. A language and etiquette is already established in most social medias although there is still some way to go. Natural selection works quite well on the web. And fast to.

What do you think?