Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:19:00 GMT
You know, I’ve been waiting for something like this for a long while! The Uzebox is an open-source homebrew retro game console based on Atmel’s AVR 8-bit general purpose microcontroller. Its creator, “Uze,” has designed the system to be simple, but relatively powerful, so that hobbyists can easily put together their own system. Games can be programmed in C, using free software, and are compiled with the kernel and then flashed directly onto the main chip.
“AVR Megatris,” the Tetris DS clone Uze developed for the system, looks and sounds pretty good! The Uzebox supports 256 simultaneous colors onscreen, a 240×224 (40×28 tiles) screen resolution, a 4-channel sound engine, a MIDI In input port, and 2 NES joystick ports. It also has 4k of RAM and an overclocked speed of ~28.6 MHz.
The source and schematics are both available for download on the Uzebox website, under GPL. This would make a fun, and nerdy, weekend project. I’d love to see people develop games for this thing!
(Source: Brandon, via insert credit)
Posted in Homebrew, Videos, Developers | Tags Uze | 34 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Sat, 23 Aug 2008 02:39:00 GMT
Guys, I’m very pleased to announce that TIGSource and Flashbang Studios are teaming up, like Batman and Superman-styles, to throw the first-ever TIGJam – a three-day creative pow-wow in the red-hot Arizona desert. Bring your projects to work on in the company of your fellow indie developers, or start new ones! For those of you trying to meet the November 1st IGF deadline, this might be a great time to get some feedback. For everyone else, just be ready to have fun, make friends, and create some cool stuff. Sleep is totally optional.
There is a $50 registration fee, which will help keep the brass monkeys, soda, and snacks flowing during the jam, and will also cover the post-jam celebratory dinner and ensuing party on Sunday. Space is also somewhat limited, so if you’re serious about attending, sign up soon! Head here for online registration, as well as more detailed directions.
We’re hoping this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful tradition. Look out for more info (and possibly some surprises) as the date approaches. Depending on how many people decide to show up, lodging should be free or cheap. We’ll let you know.
Hope to see you there! Let us know what you think!
Posted in Nerd Love, Community, Developers | Tags FlashbangStudios | 64 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:26:00 GMT
Okay, this is way too much fun – OmniLudiCon is a free browser-based game development tool that lets you make and share one-screen games (or collections of games) with other players. It comes with a 5-game tutorial that shows off some of the possibilities of the engine. There’s a platform game as well as games that emulate Zelda, Pong, and Asteroids.
The editor itself is extremely simple, and basically just lets you mash together various standard game entities. But if ROM CHECK FAIL (TIGdb) taught us anything, it’s that game mash-ups can be frickin’ amazing! Plus, the limitations of the program make it perfect to screw around in – I whipped up the above game in a few minutes and had a great time (it is possible to beat, by the way).
Unfortunately, the collision detection is a little sloppy, so it’s easy to get caught on objects and “teleport” around them. But, as with all games, you can use these glitches to your advantage. In a way, it gives you, as the developer, more possibilities for creating challenges.
Cool idea! I’d love to see more stuff like this.
(Sources: Tim and Auntie)
Posted in Highly Recommended, Browser Games, Developers | Tags ZaratustraProductions | 17 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:43:00 GMT
Gamasutra has a nice little write-up of Telltale co-founder and CEO Dan Connors’ GCDC talk on the episodic gaming biz. There’s nothing particularly revelatory there, but it’s a nice summary of what they do. And there are some interesting tidbits like this:
20 percent of players who buy a first episode next buy the whole season altogether, says Connors. Without providing specifics, he also said “most players” buy the whole season at once directly from Telltale, while “retail is the most powerful content-mover out there.”
Telltale recently released the first episode of their Strong Bad game, titled “Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People.”
Posted in Business, Community, Developers | Tags TelltaleGames | 5 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:18:00 GMT
DrPetter, the creator of sfxr and 116 unfinished games (and some pretty cool finished ones), put out a free music app that’s been floating around in an incomplete (but functional) state for awhile. musagi is a sophisticated music editor and synthesizer that I warrant could compete with commercial music editors should DP decide to rub out a version 1.0. It certainly feels intuitive and easy-to-use for even a newb composer like myself.
There are a few rough spots in the program, but most can be worked around. For example, I had problems loading songs until I realized that it was the “Parts Window” that was screwing it up and making it crash. Once I made sure to close that before loading songs, I was gold. Diamond Rider “remixes” flowed from me like fine brandy.
Anyway, I’m hoping that this post will help inspire DrPetter to clean musagi up, because it would most certainly be a boon to all of mankind. Also check out his article repository, where you can find some learnin’ words about sfxr, musagi, and sound/music in general!
Posted in Music, Community, Developers | Tags DrPetter | 23 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:16:00 GMT
Alright! Gamma 3d, the highly-anticipated sequel to Gamma 256, has been announced! Gamma 256 was an extremely successful indie game party hosted by Phil Fish and Kokoromi. Users were asked to submit low resolution games, and some awesome stuff came out of it, as well as one of our most beloved memes (hint: “pidgeon-hunter-killer”). You can see photos of the event here, courtesy of Mr. Ivan “toastie” Safrin.
The call this time is going out for games that use stereoscopy. In other words, games you need red-and-blue 3d peepers for. Submissions are due by October 15th, and the actual event is taking place on November 19th, in beautiful Montreal. As usual, TIGSource is proudly hosting the official Gamma thread, for all your Gamma discussion.
See you there!
Posted in Community, Developers | Tags Kokoromi, PhilFish | 51 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:14:00 GMT
Cliff “cliffski” Harris certainly caused a stir recently when he went around the interwebs and asked software pirates why they, you know, do what they do. Harris, the developer behind Kudos, the Democracy games, and other “real life” sims, drew some interesting (if not necessarily epiphanic) conclusions from the hundreds of responses he received. Your mileage may vary.
Probably the best thing to come out of this is the resulting discussion of piracy and its roots, including a great (and slightly heated) thread on TIGForums. I’m also glad to see that Cliff is being so proactive about his troubles, going as far as to say:
I’ve gone from being demoralized by pirates to actually inspired by them, and I’m working harder than ever before on making my games fun and polished.
That’s definitely the spirit!
(Image Source: NineInchNachosII, via Flickr)
Posted in Business, Community, Developers | Tags PositechGames | 35 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:41:00 GMT
2d Boy’s Ron Carmel (pictured at right with Kyle Gabler) wrote a great opinion piece on Microsoft and Xbox last month, titled “What Microsoft Needs To Change To Satisfy Indies.” In it, he tackles the controversial terms of Microsoft’s Xbox Live Community Games service, like the 10-30% royalty cut Microsoft can take (without asking), should they choose to help you promote the game. At the end, Ron encourages devs to seek out channels that offer better terms, more straightforward policies, and higher royalty rates.
The one thing I would have liked to see in the article is a quick breakdown of all the other platforms he mentioned: WiiWare, PSN, Steam, and Greenhouse (2d Boy’s World of Goo is currently being developed for PC and Wii). But otherwise, it’s a great read for anyone interested in these services. There’s some interesting discussion in the comments, too.
Also, as counterpoint, here’s an interview with Microsoft’s Boyd Multerer, published shortly after Ron’s piece came out. It obviously paints XBCG in a more favorable light.
Posted in Xbox 360, Community, Developers | Tags 2DBoy | 10 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:39:00 GMT
The latest Penny Arcade strip is about Braid! As far as I know, this is the first indie game they’ve mentioned directly in a comic, which is pretty cool. I personally enjoy PA so I’m glad to see them promote indie games through Greenhouse, PAX, and now the strip itself.
In the post accompanying the strip, Tycho/Jerry sums up the whole pricing thing for me pretty nicely:
I wrung four and a half hours out of the finished product, coming into contact with genuinely huge concepts that hum with stradavarian fullness. You’re mad about five dollars? What? Shove your five dollars up your stupid ass.
Well, okay, maybe not that last part. At least not until rear ends start vending Cactus Coolers or bus tickets. What a waste, otherwise!
But in all seriousness, the pricing issue is another compelling problem for developers, especially an indie who can set his or her own price. It’s especially compelling because it’s become obvious that for some people (perhaps most people?), the price somehow enters into the equation that determines a game’s inherent worth. A game that costs more than it should cost becomes a worse game. Should that be the case? Should that idea be reflected in game reviews? I suppose it depends on whether the goal of the review is to help you make a purchasing decision or whether the goal is to evaluate the merits of a video game.
In Aquaria’s case, Alec and I priced the game at $30, $10 above what I guess is the “norm” is for downloadable PC indie games is, because that’s what we felt it was worth. We considered a lot of factors, from the quality of the game, to the effort we put into it, to plain ol’ numbers like how many hours of gameplay and how many assets we created. A lot of people felt it was worth what we charged, and a lot of people didn’t, which is fine. But some people took the pricing personally before they even played the game, which I’ll never truly understand.
I think the problem is that no one knows how much a game should cost, or how we should value games. Is a good, short game better than a mediocre, long game? What are pretty graphics worth to good gameplay? What about indie versus mainstream? Like with almost EVERYTHING about games, it’s just not as clear-cut as with other types of media. The industry is too young, and it’s just plain different, too.
But to quote Tycho once more:
You read a lot (in incandescent threads devoted to the topic) about how ten dollars is the “sweet spot” for Live Arcade titles, and that may be the case, but we should entertain the idea that its creator wasn’t trying to make an “Xbox Live Arcade Game.” Perhaps he was trying to make a good game, the best game he could, and Microsoft’s Broadening Initiative For Digital Content was the last thing on his mind.
In the end, I don’t think it makes sense to compare games to anything other than what you think is a good game. $15 is more than most XBLA games. It’s also about how much a 2-hour movie or an ironic t-shirt costs. I guess the question is… so what? What do you guys and gals think?
TIGdb: Entries for Aquaria, Braid
See Jonathan Blow’s explanation of Braid’s pricing after the jump:
Read more...
Posted in Comics, Cartoons, and Illustration, Business, Community, Developers | Tags BitBlot, JonathanBlow, PennyArcade | 125 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:07:00 GMT
Eternity’s Child, a once promising-looking indie game, got slammed recently by Destructoid and the game’s developer, Luc Bernard, responded, er, slightly ungracefully to his critics in the comments under the post:
P.S I’m drunk and why i take things personally is because its my baby
I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to continue this train wreck, but like Kieron Gillen (Rock, Paper, Shotgun), I think there’s a good lesson here on how to handle criticism as a developer (including the unfair, thoughtless, and/or overly cruel kind). I see Jeff Minter and Denis Dyack’s names being bandied about in threads like these all the time and it makes me sad that such talented and influential individuals are now thought of as poster children for bad behavior (unlike, say, certain people who might truly deserve it!). I can’t see much value in these public arguments and there are certainly plenty I’ve been involved in that I wish I hadn’t been!
Also, I’m curious… if the game is so completely broken, how did it end up on Steam?
Posted in Community, Steam, Developers | Tags LucBernard | 61 comments
