Next Game Project: DragCore

     Today, I'm excited to announce DragCore! An arcade style game where you trap and destroy space-faring enemies in an electric field by dragging your finger across the screen! You control four voltaic drones in space to coordinate attacks on threats from space. Tap on enemies or drag a box over a group and watch them all explode into space-bits!

     This little guy is the game I initially planned to be my first iOS app. I had to get a new Mac and all my data for it didn't survive the transfer. Luckily I still have the SDL version I made with Code::Blocks and C++ back in 11th grade.

     Obviously that header app icon is a place holder and I'll be posting a video of the SDL version soon. The final product will be very different and with multi-touch the gameplay will be a lot more fluid. This game project is going to teach me about polish and making stable, easy-to-navigate code. Most of all, I hope people find this game fun, addictive, and worth showing to friends. Let's see if I live up to that a couple months from now.

Mach-Arena: Game Elements

 

     The game elements document basically elaborates on things I put in the mechanics  one. It goes into detail for each power-up and also explains the new concept my group came up with for customizable ships. Take a look at it below the break.

Mach-Arena: Artificial Intelligence

     One of the trickiest things we'll have to do for Mach-Arena is the pathfinding and other AI behavior. We are torn between making the AI adaptable and have set difficulties and have decided to create a system that allows us to easily change our minds later when we find out which one is more fun. Take a peek at my group project's brains by clicking on "More"!

Android Semi-Exclusive

     With TriGrid, it's ads, with Candy Shop Catch it's iPad game loop breaks from random resolution errors. The big picture here is iOS giving me trouble after trouble and Android being smooth sailing start to finish. From here on out, Android is my main priority. If I find decent success, I'll spend however long I need to in order to get an iOS port working. That mostly applies to my two latest games. With the ones I'm making next, I have a new strategy in mind...

Current Plans: Juggling College, Money, and Game Development

     Money is getting tight and my apps are not bringing in much income. Likely because they were made by an amateur and lack the polish of elite games. My very next goal is to change that. Another problem is school tuition becoming unbearable. I have to find a way to open up some breathing room so I can graduate sometime (no way my parents are gonna let me out into the world without job security). 

     Take a look at the survival plan I've been thinking about beyond the break.

Questions An Indie Should Consider

     Yesterday, I was doing some deep thinking about what it takes to survive as an indie developer. Especially as once with little experience and money. I kept coming across the same responses from professionals in the business and indie developers in general. It basically comes down to practicing your skill until you make a breakthrough. You need to know what you're doing and be able to improve yourself.

     If you're going to be an indie, you should be able to answer these questions easily right? So I answered them just to see if I could. See if you can do the same below the break.

Mach-Arena: Game Mechanics

      After loads of arguing and a pile of note cards, my group settled on game mechanics and a control scheme for Mach-Arena. We figured two control options and a radio button would be best. Check out what the game will be like after the break.  

Mach-Arena Introduction

     In case you're wondering if my college project Mach-Arena is dead, it's not. We just aren't starting class projects until next semester after we finish our Unity lessons. This semester is about building all the components of a Game Design Document (GDD) and putting them together. You can see the Concept Document here.

     So far 4 papers have been written for this game and submitted for a grade. My personal hopes are to finish it in time to be able to show it off at the upcoming BYOC at my college in May. Today I'm going to start posting the documents my group has made so far. 

    Check out the Introduction page for Mach-Arena below the break.

A College Student's Game Development Process

     My way of doing things is certainly evolving over time. I often try to find new ways to do things more efficiently and it's starting to pay off. I was able to make Candy Shop Catch in 5 weeks as opposed to my other mobile games which took multiple months each.

    I think of it as another aspect of game development I'm practicing: production. I'm improving my art, programming, and design skills, so my production skills should be no different. Check out how I get things done by tapping that "More" button below!

A 10th Grader's Game Development Process

     I find myself getting more efficient with this whole game making thing over time. Back in 10th grade I had no idea what I was doing, but was happy to finally have a general direction to run in. I found out games were made through programming, took a few Java classes, and went to Google for the rest.

     I figured out lots of things on my own, like object oriented structures and game specific things like animations, health bars, menu flow, music playback, and collision detection. What never crossed my mind back then was listening to how others created games. If I did, I'd know about certain things that just don't work and could have side-stepped a lot of problems. Also, my code would be legible.

Take a peek into the mind of a 10th grade developer in training after the break.

Making Games Prettier

     Now that I've gotten the hang of making mobile games, I've been looking at my apps and comparing them to the others on the market. Until this point I've been looking at poor examples and striving to be better than them. Now I'd like to look forward and see what little touches I need to add to stand next to some of the best. I've made a little list for myself to review for my next few apps in order to improve their quality.
 
      Take a look t it below the break.

Making School Relevant

     I doubt I'm the only one who finds school boring. I suffer from narcolepsy every time I hear about working at a generic IT job or sit in a class that I can't relate to anything involving the games industry. Most college students either don't know what they want to do and be or do know what they want but only chose it for the money. I'm not one to trade happiness for a guaranteed paycheck, and the thing I want most is the thing I'm most passionate about. My psychology teacher even asked me the other day "What's your special talent?" And I answered "Game development. I am an artist, I love bringing my ideas to life, and I'm willing to tear the world apart to do what I love most."

Wildcat Comic-Con 2013

 
     My school hosted a Comic Con a while back and I figure it's about time I talked about my first convention. Going to the Wildcat Comic Con was a fun, interesting, and educational experience for me. I got to meet people like author Jerry Craft and voice actress Erica Schroeder in the same halls I normally sip milkshakes in. It felt pretty surreal waking up that morning and seeing a crowd of costumes stroll by as I hunted for french toast. It was a great way to start a day of surprises.

Persevering Through Self-Doubt

     Everybody gets down on themselves sometimes. I definitely do. Sometimes feedback hurts (a lot), even when it's said jokingly, but the feedback wouldn't exist if there wasn't something behind it all. There is  room for improvement and you should always be trying o better yourself at your craft. You just may need to think positively for a bit to pick yourself out of the dumps so the fumes don't keep you from seeing where you could go next.

Empathy With Characters

     Games are a lot more intense when you care about what happens. It can make the difference between a chore and an activity. While I'm playing Pokemon Y I'm noticing small details that really make it shine for me. One of those details is the empathy I feel for the monsters I send out to fight for me. They're more interactive than ever and turn your friendship with them into a game mechanic.

Making Fish Feaster - Part 3

     Once I had a game up and running all I needed to do was add some pretty fish and ambient sounds. I thought it would take me a few weeks at most. Maybe even a month, I did have a lot of fish to make after all. I also wanted to scale them all for each size the fish could possibly be. Pixel-by-pixel perfection. My game was going to be beautiful. Oh how foolish I was...

Making Fish Feaster - Part 2

     The first thing I did with Fish Feaster was make solid colored boxes in MS Paint to prototype. The actual fish graphics were made after I had the game working perfectly. It was a long and tedious process, and one I won't let myself fall victim to again, and I'm very pleased with the end result. A cute fish game that's fun to play. Find out how it came to be below the break.

Making Fish Feaster - Part 1

     Last August I set out to make my first iPhone game. It was going to be done quickly. It was going to be a port of a game I made in C++ with SDL. It was going to make thousands of dollars. It was going to rule the app store. Then reality came smashing down and smacked those expectations down to size. After having my first game erased, I started on what would have been my second project instead of enduring the frustration of starting the first one over. That second project was a game I called FisheatFish.

Next Game Revealed! (Game #3)

     Candy Catch Shop is on it's way to iOS and Android by the end of October and I'm finally ready to talk about it! Catch the description of it after the break.

Pokemon X & Y Refresh the Franchise

     So, Pokemon is making a comeback huh? Well, it never really went away. This franchise has been going strong since I was born and something like that won't vanish without a lot of effort. No matter how popular it is though, there is no denying that a lot of people have burned out on good ol' Pocket Monsters. I was one of those people until a few months ago.  Looking at this game, I see a lot of my gripes being dispelled. If you loved Pokemon as a kid but feel sick of it now, I think I can teach you something that will let you relive those happy old times again. (At least as far as the games go.)