Hola! Another day another episode:
Most everything in this episode I've covered in some way or another on this blog, mostly how the VO got processed a little too much. I also address another concern that a lot of reviewers had - the lack of save slots! I did try and lobby for them, but I was successfully convinced that they would be "too confusing" for the casual audience.
In retrospect, I still wonder about this. Would they have been as daunting as the market research led everyone to believe? It's hard to say. When you think about it, not many games use multiple save slots anymore. It's just gaming dinosaurs like me who enjoy the security of having them.
-Dave
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Emerald City Commentary (part 3)
What a great excuse to update my blog every day. Here is part three:
A bit of a followup. As you can see from the thumbnail, one of the characters looks like a certain former Alaskan politician that I'm sure you all are aware of. It was a total coincidence. The character had been designed six months before Sarah Palin came on the scene.
In August of 2008, I was visiting my parents in Virginia. Since I had a deadline and I'm a stupid nerd, I brought my laptop along to get some work done. They were watching the television when John McCain's running mate was announced. I brought up Glinda's image in the game, turned my laptop so my parents could see, and said "Check it out. The game has political commentary now."
I'm also still quite proud that the whole Betsy Bobbins thing didn't get nixed. Perhaps I was too subtle.
-Dave
A bit of a followup. As you can see from the thumbnail, one of the characters looks like a certain former Alaskan politician that I'm sure you all are aware of. It was a total coincidence. The character had been designed six months before Sarah Palin came on the scene.
In August of 2008, I was visiting my parents in Virginia. Since I had a deadline and I'm a stupid nerd, I brought my laptop along to get some work done. They were watching the television when John McCain's running mate was announced. I brought up Glinda's image in the game, turned my laptop so my parents could see, and said "Check it out. The game has political commentary now."
I'm also still quite proud that the whole Betsy Bobbins thing didn't get nixed. Perhaps I was too subtle.
-Dave
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Let's Play My Own Game: Part 2
I've gotten some nice feedback from various sources, so I've decided to make this a daily thing! I'll be posting these LPMYG vids until I finish the game. And I think I'm going to call this "Emerald City Commentary" from now on.
A bit of a followup. I have NO IDEA how the whole missing textbox thing happened. Every version I played on my computer had the textbox, but somehow the game shipped without it. I vaguely remember PlayFirst QA telling me that a lot of the description text wasn't voiced, and I vaguely remember replying that PlayFirst had told me to do it that way. They didn't mention that the textbox was missing, but if they never saw it in the first place, maybe they never knew it was supposed to be there?
Oh well. It'll remain a mystery. It happened, and it's a bit too late to fix it now.
-Dave
Friday, August 19, 2011
Let's Play My Own Game
For awhile now, I have become fascinated with the whole "Let's Play" phenomenon on YouTube. For the uninitiated,, here's the gist: someone plays a game and records themselves doing it. While they play the game, they give a running commentary on what they see and do.
When I first came across one of these videos, I couldn't believe it was for real. But yes. Apparently it is, indeed, a "thing." There's thousands of them. There are even several Let's Plays of my own games out there (and a special shout out must go to Resulka, who I think has Let's Played my entire catalog), which pleases me to no end.
Eventually it got into my head to try doing a Let's Play of my own, but instead of playing any random game I decided to play a game that I developed myself.
I chose Emerald City Confidential because, of all my games, I probably have the most to say about it. It has an interesting genesis. PlayFirst (a casual game developer) approached me (a old school point-and-click developer) to make a game for them. Their goal? To make a point-and-click style game for the casual audience. We came from two totally different mindsets, and the road to finishing this game was an interesting one to say the least.
Anyway, here's the first episode. In this first episode, we learn how to pick up and use a crowbar, why dialog options can be intimidating, and the story behind the quest gems.
Please let me know in the comments if you find these interesting! I'll probably do more.
-Dave
When I first came across one of these videos, I couldn't believe it was for real. But yes. Apparently it is, indeed, a "thing." There's thousands of them. There are even several Let's Plays of my own games out there (and a special shout out must go to Resulka, who I think has Let's Played my entire catalog), which pleases me to no end.
Eventually it got into my head to try doing a Let's Play of my own, but instead of playing any random game I decided to play a game that I developed myself.
I chose Emerald City Confidential because, of all my games, I probably have the most to say about it. It has an interesting genesis. PlayFirst (a casual game developer) approached me (a old school point-and-click developer) to make a game for them. Their goal? To make a point-and-click style game for the casual audience. We came from two totally different mindsets, and the road to finishing this game was an interesting one to say the least.
Anyway, here's the first episode. In this first episode, we learn how to pick up and use a crowbar, why dialog options can be intimidating, and the story behind the quest gems.
(If the video is too small, click the "YouTube" button on the lower right to zap yourself to YouTube")
Please let me know in the comments if you find these interesting! I'll probably do more.
-Dave
Friday, August 5, 2011
Placeholder art: The big reveal!
Wow. Has it been almost a year since I posted this placeholder art image from Blackwell Deception?
A knotty pine wall! Can't you feel the excitement and pulse-pounding gameplay leaping off the image? Aren't you PSYCHED? I know I am.
How awful of me to leave you hanging for so long. You all must have been tearing your hair out trying to figure out what it was. This could be a wedge of cheese, or a network of tunnels, or a box of bagels, or even...
On another note, remember when I said on this blog that the game would come out in April? Ha ha ho. This is why I don't officially announce release dates anymore. But, the game is almost finished and I can safely say that the game is coming very, very soon. On September 14th, we will be making our official announcement, with a PR campaign and trailer and website and everything. So set your calendars.
-Dave
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Your game sucks! (and how to respond)
So did you hear about Duke Nukem Forever? After twelve years of development hell, it finally arrived on store shelves to the fanfare of almost universally negative reviews. And how did the PR firm behind the game spin this development? By throwing a childish, angry hissy-fit. Suffice to say, this was bad news for PR firm Redner Group, who was dropped like a hot potato by game publisher 2K Games.
It was a facepalm moment, but one that made me think about all the times I've been tempted to do the very same thing. This might be shocking to hear, but there are people out there who don't like my games and will eagerly declare their feelings on reviews and public forums. The desire to leap into the fray and defend your work is great, but is it a good thing to do so? Well, it depends.
Keep your dignity
As an indie game developer, the best weapon in your arsenal is your reputation. If you get the reputation of being a prima donna who can't take criticism, then you will never be taken seriously. So if there's a nasty message on an internet forum (or negative review about your game) and you wonder if you should respond, think carefully about how it will effect your reputation. Remember, once it's out there, you can't take it back. You don't want to be this guy.
You won't change their mind
Seriously. Don't even try. I know it's tempting. Maybe they are playing it wrong, or they are approaching it with the wrong mindset, or they just don't "get it." It doesn't matter. Nobody likes being told what to do or what to think, and your customers are no exception. Don't believe me? Try debating politics sometime. No matter how logical your response, no matter how well thought-out and persuasive you might be, it is not going to matter. You're not going to make a person "see the light" and magically love your game. It just won't happen. If anything, it will just cement their belief further and make you look defensive and insecure. And on a public forum, that is magnified tenfold. So don't do it.
Reply when it benefits you
Here's a hypothetical example. A customer buys your game, installs it, and gets an error. Pissed off, the customer goes to their favorite game forum and rants about how your game doesn't work. They call your game cheap and you a rip-off artist. You, the developer, see this post. The customer's problem is a very common one and you know exactly how to fix it. So what should you do?
This is the only situation where I'd advocate responding publicly. There is no better opportunity to show potential customers that you can remain dignified under pressure and give great customer service at the same time. Keep cool, respond politely, and explain how to fix the problem. Congratulations, you've kept a customer, and probably made a few more to boot.
As for reviews, the only time I'd advocate responding is when they get something factual wrong. For me, this usually happens when they spell my company name wrong! (it's spelled with a J, darn it)
Remember, it's the internet
People who are otherwise normal, functional adults will say hurtful and stupid things simply because they can. Folks who enjoy something aren't as inclined to jump on the internet and rave about it as those who hate something. Remember that you can't please everybody, and you'll be fine.
-Dave
P.S. I know I said I'd write more about demos in this post, but with the whole Duke Nukem thing happening I wanted to remain topical! Next time. Promise.
It was a facepalm moment, but one that made me think about all the times I've been tempted to do the very same thing. This might be shocking to hear, but there are people out there who don't like my games and will eagerly declare their feelings on reviews and public forums. The desire to leap into the fray and defend your work is great, but is it a good thing to do so? Well, it depends.
Keep your dignity
As an indie game developer, the best weapon in your arsenal is your reputation. If you get the reputation of being a prima donna who can't take criticism, then you will never be taken seriously. So if there's a nasty message on an internet forum (or negative review about your game) and you wonder if you should respond, think carefully about how it will effect your reputation. Remember, once it's out there, you can't take it back. You don't want to be this guy.
You won't change their mind
Seriously. Don't even try. I know it's tempting. Maybe they are playing it wrong, or they are approaching it with the wrong mindset, or they just don't "get it." It doesn't matter. Nobody likes being told what to do or what to think, and your customers are no exception. Don't believe me? Try debating politics sometime. No matter how logical your response, no matter how well thought-out and persuasive you might be, it is not going to matter. You're not going to make a person "see the light" and magically love your game. It just won't happen. If anything, it will just cement their belief further and make you look defensive and insecure. And on a public forum, that is magnified tenfold. So don't do it.
Reply when it benefits you
Here's a hypothetical example. A customer buys your game, installs it, and gets an error. Pissed off, the customer goes to their favorite game forum and rants about how your game doesn't work. They call your game cheap and you a rip-off artist. You, the developer, see this post. The customer's problem is a very common one and you know exactly how to fix it. So what should you do?
This is the only situation where I'd advocate responding publicly. There is no better opportunity to show potential customers that you can remain dignified under pressure and give great customer service at the same time. Keep cool, respond politely, and explain how to fix the problem. Congratulations, you've kept a customer, and probably made a few more to boot.
As for reviews, the only time I'd advocate responding is when they get something factual wrong. For me, this usually happens when they spell my company name wrong! (it's spelled with a J, darn it)
Remember, it's the internet
People who are otherwise normal, functional adults will say hurtful and stupid things simply because they can. Folks who enjoy something aren't as inclined to jump on the internet and rave about it as those who hate something. Remember that you can't please everybody, and you'll be fine.
-Dave
P.S. I know I said I'd write more about demos in this post, but with the whole Duke Nukem thing happening I wanted to remain topical! Next time. Promise.
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