ENTERING A GAME JAM

Short life Update

I'm officially only doubly employed, and in a much better position starting this year than I ended the last; and so I've joined a Game Jam. Because only being doubly employees with two academic essays to write and three custom orders resting on the work bench, I'm sure to have enough free time.

I'm using Tom Francis's "Make A Game With No Experience" youtube Game Maker series as a blueprint for my submission and between everything I'll try to keep track of my progress. 

This is just a quick post to help boost the My First Game Jam's signal and a little encouragement for anyone else looking for that extra little push to get them working.  

And because this is too short of a post I'm going to ramble some in the form of a list.

While I've never finished a project, there is some advice I can offer.

10 MISTAKES TO AVOID MAKING YOUR FIRST FAST AND DIRTY GAME

Or

10 REASONS THIS WRITER HAS FALLEN FLAT ON HIS FACE TRYING TO MAKE GAMES

1. REMEMBER IT IS FAST AND DIRTY

People new to game making fall into this pit without even noticing, it's knowing when to cut your losses and call what you have done. It won't be perfect, that's what Game Jams are all about, so don't worry about making it looked polished. Just like when you write your paper the night it's due, first get a completed draft, then work out your most egregious errors, and keep working away at those for as much time as you have left on the clock. Fix the game breaking bugs, play it though to make sure everything's triggering how it should, and slap something like art over the top of it.

2. FUN TRUMPS SENSE

You'll find alot of indie games fall into the trap of making a game "by the blueprints". Designing and writing events into the game because that's what the creator expects to be in this or that sort of game. Firstly it leads to a dull same-ish genre piece we've seen and mostly forgotten about, and secondly it leads to you accidentally plotting out something that is out of your league. The rule of Keep It Simple Stupid, has never been more applicable and the simplest you can get without fault is a game where, regardless of how short or how badly drawn, the play is fun. This is your first game, don't concern yourself what happens after the queen is taken, or why she's taken, or who you even are for that matter until you already have boxes onscreen that are coded to damage, jump, and follow each other around; and all of those actions are fun. It's a harsh lesson, but if walking and shooting, or whatever, doesn't feel engaging and responsive to the player, if the thing the player has to do in the game doesn't feel rewarding, nothing else can save that game. Do not worry if the dragon showing up makes sense until the act of shooting it is fun in itself.

3. FUN IS SIMPLE

Where rule 2. is "don't design the game before you have the gameplay", rule 3. is "Keep Gameplay Stupid." Complex code and mechanics will do you no good when you're trying to iron out gamemaking bugs for code you've just learned. You are new to coding, you are new to game design, you have a very quickly approaching deadline; look for the simplest game type to code with the simplest tutorial series you can find. The mantra of the gamemaker; simple to learn, hard to master, is your friend. Not just because complex inputs and mechanics take more time trying to animate and balance for your game, but because what you might think to be one of the simplest features is in-fact a metric assload of code that you are sooo not ready to tackle. If you cannot find a tutorial for a feature you want, cut that feature out of the design, this is not your swan-song, this is your very first game for a Game Jam. You can explore whatever features you want later when you've gotten the hang of making an actual game. Recognize what the bare minimum of what you want your players to experience and find what you need to do that, be prepared to simplify or change it. Walk and then jump, or shoot, or punch. Try to make something that only needs the wasd or arrow controls and then one or two other buttons, after that you can explore, even then I wouldn't until the enemies and game features like restart or exit are coded in.  

4.LINES ON PAPER

Art could very well be on your list of "things I'm not good at" but that doesn't excuse you from having to get around to making games. You don't need to wait for a fancy tablet or until you've taken art classes, you have the internet at your fingertips for one, there are more drawing tutorials then there are coding tutorials. And secondly this is a game jam, no one is expecting 3d models or photo-realistic drawings. The mind is an amazing and simple thing, just put two circles on a shape of any sort and image is suddenly recognized as a face. Make the circles a third the proportion of the now "head" and make one eye smaller then the other and congratulations you've made it cute. Now add any sort of other facial distinguishing features, like animal noses or ears, and you've reproduced the household aesthetic of a 5 something billion dollar title. Good art may be difficult to master, but art in itself is easy, forget whatever anyone else told you. As Garfield in his Saturday morning cartoon once said; "It's just lines on paper." The art should be as simple for you as doodling pixel art in paint, feel free to do just that in fact.

5.USE A TOOL YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH

This isn't the time to be experimenting with a new image or sound editor, much less any new game creation software. Something you've already doodled or tried tutorials with if and whenever possible. This also means to know your design, and know when your tool just isn't suited for that purpose. Yes you could make a 3d game shooter with gamemaker or contruct, but the result is going to be comparable to The Mona Lisa made of Macaroni, impressive in it's own right, but it will always be just a lesser version of the original. 

6. STUCK WITH CODE, ASK THE DUCK

7. SURROUND YOURSELF
The upside of having all of social media a tab away resting at your fingertips is that, despite all of the possible distractions, you are able to 100% capable of mingling with your peers. You'll be able to watch other developers work and see their approach to problems, learn little new tricks that someone does with their code, or at the very least you can pick up the hotkeys and shortcut ins and outs of your program. The easiest way to keep yourself inspired in your craft is to surround yourself with others in the thick of their own craft, leave yourself little reminders of why you love doing whatever it is you do and witness others to keep that creative clockwork turning. You might have one idea for what to do to spice up the mechanics you got from this or that tutorial, and suddenly you see something completely out there done by someone else that gives you this awesome idea that was just so simple you don't know why you didn't do it before.

8. INJECT YOURSELF
It's never enough to just sit on the sidelines, and as long as you're using the duck method appropriately and not just coming to spam forums with questions as they arise, a community of craftspeople will just as gladly lend a hand with a question as they would gladly receive help when they truly need it. Everybody is there because they love what they do and they want nothing better than to hone their skills and have their work become as good as they can possibly make it. Do not be shy, it doesn't matter if you're still working on finishing your first, anyone whose had the experience of completing those first few games understands what position your in, especially under Game Jam conditions.

9. JUST DO IT
Yesterday you said tomorrow, ect. ect. There is no time like the present, if you know what you want to do, do it. If you know what kind of game or what tutorial you want to use, start. If you just know what you want it to look like or you're stuck after getting your basic movement down, start doodling, always be making something. I don't necessarily mean call in sick an lock yourself in your room. But build productive habits, keep to a strict regimen of so many hours a day, whenever you find yourself thinking of or figuring something out, don't save it for later. Get up and do it. If you can't do it, write it down in a notepad. It's remarkable how many game changing ideas you'll forget by the time you sit back down with the folder open. Plus writing the psudocode will help you work out in your mind how all the parts go together and make learning the code and fixing the bugs easier, the more familiar you get with your code the easier time you will have getting it to do what you want.

10. AVOID UNNECESSARY DISTRACTIONS

 ... It's a curse of the hobby to be on the same device we spend all of our leisure time on, but productivity is a habit learned through repetition like any other. Set daily goals and milestones to keep yourself on track and give yourself something to hold yourself to, when you get something done quicker then you expect move onto the next task, some thing will take longer then you expect and you're going to want all of elbow room you can make for yourself. It's great to be able to pump out a game in a week or two when you're chasing deadlines; but to do the work when no one is holding you accountable, when you're at home and ready to relax, that's the kind of diligence that makes a enthusiast or hobbyist into a craftsman. That being said, I'm going to jump back into the thick of it. Expect screenshots soon. Also.. don't do what I just did, if you're going to keep track of stuff kept it short, keep it simple. Screenshots and small blurb write ups if you need something to keep the creative juices flowing.    

Keep going indies, big dreamers, and risk takers.

For Dreamers

It really sickens me the number of drafts I see in my post list, and how many of them are basically empty. Tons of articles, started, not finished.

Getting back into the swing of things is rough, school, work, relationships, there's always something. And really that's just life, learning to deal enough to move past the low times is essential and part of everyone's development; keeping true to yourself and keeping good people around you in the process is part of true happiness. And of course all of this is very difficult, though entirely worth it.

To bring this back around to topic. It's really hard to keep going with all of those dreams. This is why we aspire and hold those successful and happy people we see in life in such high regard. The only problem there is we see these more successful people and instead of seeing inspiration so often we get the "Man I could never be that good." gut response and don't try. Unless of course, we actually have no idea the level of work and dedication that's gone into their success, which is where we respond with "Bah, what a idiot, I could do that and be famous." Which is two parts incorrect, one part obvious.

Bit of Reality

And here is my point, the I could do that is where you succeed. That's all there is too it. Add on the assumptions on how much work is actually behind the success and the assumption that you'll wind up famous and you're horribly mislead. You can't know how much work goes into, making a game, writing a novel, creating an internet show, whatever, until you actually do that thing. And you'll never know how much goes into doing that successfully until you do it to completion, and then continue doing it, while enjoying yourself. If you hate what you are currently doing, then you're doing it wrong. Not to say you're doing the wrong thing, but you're doing it wrong. Living the dream is not about the endgame, it's good to have goals and strive towards them, but if the goal is too high for you to feel good about yourself while striving for it, then you're not living the dream. Every goal, every project, ever path, has set backs. Some harder then others, but you will eventually hit all of them. The key to success, is not staying down when you've tripped over the first, dozenth, or millionth set back.

The key to successfully being successful (actually having the enjoyable lifestyle you dreamed of) is not living for the lifestyle, but for your passion. If you see yourself taking entire days just to write the next best selling novel or spending hours behind the computer to be hailed as the next genius video game designer; then you're going to be miserable and you probably won't be very good at what you do. That's because it's only the people who care about what they're doing, instead of comparing themselves and their work to others, are the only ones with the mindset to focus on carry on through the hardships and the setbacks; because they see they're doing what they love, that's what makes them happy, and that's what they go to when times are rough. Of course these people make it look easy, they have the right mindset. Instead of living for their goals, where only in achieving those goals does someone feel fulfilled; they live for their art, where in simply partaking in their art that someone finds joy. Now this might sound like hippy talk, we've had so many people in our lives insist you can't live off dreams, that you need to work for this "backup plan" before going out and doing what you want. All of that I find defeatist and nonsensical for 4 simple reasons.

1. If your goal in life is to have a solid "backup plan" to your dreams, then you will be miserable. 

Because not living with something you truly feel is your propose, is miserable. This is why boring adults have children and then feel better about themselves, because they want and need propose. (not implying that parenting is an empty replacement for any higher cause)

2. Living the dream does not mean being ignorant of reality. It does not equate to quitting your job, leaving your family, and living as some hobo painting the faces of celebrities onto sneakers on the street. It means gearing your life and actions towards self fulfillment while maintaining your responsibilities. Paying the bills, being a parent. Continuing to be in the life of those that care about you. Every action is an investment; measure the cost and return of time and money put in and how much joy and profit you receive out of it. No it's not all about the money, but if what your doing is burning a hole in your wallet/purse to the degree you can't life comfortably and need it as an escape from your situation, then you need to be mindful of your spending with your financial situation. (this is where the comparison of games and drugs come in) If you have student lones you have no business flying out to Florida on vacation with friends or buying two of the next gen consoles, unless you get a serious discount and budget the rest of your year to make up for it. It's about finding a balance between a lifestyle you and your family can feel content with, while doing something that makes you feel better about yourself.

3. There is too much offered in life to assign yourself to "plans" for the future. So much will happen, some opportunities will never present themselves meanwhile others will bombard you daily. Being attentive and listening will show you how much the world has to offer on a daily basis, being honest to yourself will let you see what you should/can do to better yourself, and acknowledging you might be wrong and you probably have more options then you think will let you take steps outside that comfort zone and live a life and be happy when you didn't think you could. Don't limit yourself, simply be honest with yourself. It is only when we are dishonest with ourselves that we end making decisions we will one day look back and regret.

4. Yes it is true that we are only assigned one lifetime, and careers are years in the making. But that doesn't mean after you picked a career in high school or got promoted at your day job that you're stuck in one destiny. There is no such thing as a point of no return. That doesn't qualify wasting years of your life doing nothing with the 'plan' to turn it all around down the road. It simply proves no one is truly lost, they're just ignorant of their standing. It can take only a second to find your feet and then the light. You don't need to force yourself to be content with a life you don't want to live.

So all of you who think you're no good, or that you've fallen too low, know that you're wrong. Know that the only thing that's stopping you from finding your footing is the fog of your own self doubt. That true honesty and having a passion can be light enough to clear an easy path. And that the path is never easy, but when you know you love it you don't notice the effort. And know that the fact you can start off and do this without effort is proof that you are strong and have the potential, and therefor all the requirements to live a dream. So never give up. Even when it's hard and you don't want to continue for the strain, reach out; there are others with your dream that have been in you low and will gladly lend a hand, because they know only thing worse then finding yourself in those low places, is seeing someone just lay there.

Good luck to all of you.

Ouya... soon to be [M]

OUYA Revisited 

Well, it's been a while and this is soon to hit stores. That's right the 

$99 game console with the free to play market base has been realized. But, really, how realized is it?

The premise of the Ouya's creation is that game consoles don't need to be big and expensive to run games, and that games don't need to cost you an arm and a leg to purchase -could even be free, and that you should be allowed to mod and hack the crap out of whatever item you've paid good money for. Which, to anyone that understands economics, is a very tall order. And the Ouya was designed to set out to create and fill this non-existent space in the market. The idea was that with Android the console could be small and inexpensive, with a free development kit smaller and indie developers would flock to the Ouya and end up creating a flood of top notch titles, and with these titles and the console going for cheap chips the gamer demographic would turn to Ouya as a sort of console Steam on steroids. What went wrong? Well, first the Ouya isn't actually as powerful as the current Android phone you probably have. And second it's competing with the WiiU out, the PS4 right around the corner, and the whatever-Xbox over the hill. 

It's less powerful then all of these and does not have the line up we assume -and more importantly trust with our money- are coming from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. On one hand the Ouya is far cheaper than these other consoles and now that Bioshock Infinite is out nothing seems to be massively grabbing the attention of the consumers right now. This could actually be the perfect time for the Ouya to come out. 

This whole, middle-market indie hot spot plan could really work, especially with the Triple-A Industry in the place it is and this supposed "crash" on it's way. This middle ground market will be the next big thing, if it's from the Ouya though, is still to be seen. This industry -like every industry- thrives on the social buzz of it's products, without the marketing the triple-A titles get the Ouya will inherently have less of a social buzz. Especially without the exclusivity of any high-profile IPs that other consoles have, by comparison the Ouya will inevitably fall into the background. But of course this is all speculative, nothing like this has ever happened before, and the Ouya's unique production and background alone set it apart from the corporate competition  so comparison is pointless, right? Wrong.

Along with it the units shipped to all of the kickstarter benefactors, Ouya is selling in Gamestop right next to the other consoles. It is designed and marketed as an answer and alternate to the higher priced models. In this consoles history, along with recognition as a trail blazer, the Ouya will be compared to the other consoles of the time. Something to note though in this industry is that in the long run a console's worth is not measured souly by the technology under it's hood or even necessarily the money it made compared to this history of all consoles; but by the quality and diversity of its software library. Where the big producers put massive amounts of money and man power into making a handful of titles each year and an even smaller proportion of that will be remembered in the following months the worth consumers place on their three-four hundred dollar device ends up behind the value of roughly ten, fifteen games. Even less if those titles are offered on other preferred more accessible overly useful platforms, say, a computer.

Don't get me wrong, I'm enthralled producers are taking more time and spending serious resources trying to create better products, that is the only way this medium will grow and stretch to its full potential; plus it adds a hard precedent that the smaller studios will have to compete with when creating their own interactive experience. But the time and energy put into creating the moreover lackluster product we see time and time again coming from the triple-A companies does not satisfy the demands of the customer; DLC and patches are only prolonged distractions that are sad attempts to make up for rushed workmanship or to hold the communities attention long enough to ensure they'll be excited for the announcement of the release of the next installment. When none of this works -in most cases- the community looks to satisfy their demands elsewhere. This elsewhere, tends to be Steam, or the digital indie community in general. Plain and simple, customers are more likely to drop ten dollars on three games than fifty on one. And this is where the Ouya has the upper hand. The WiiU has been out for a while now, and how many games have been released for it? The Ouya is not even out yet, and will have a confirmed library of over 500 titles! That's downright unheard of, imagine how many more developers will pick up the Ouya as its community grows. If we're assuming at least the people that backed the Ouya on it's kickstarter page are going to purchase one, you have 65,000 buyer market; which all sounds very profitable, but they've got this whole free to play market base. What's stopping this from just shriveling up from lack of income? We have no idea how that will turn out, nothing similar has ever happened before.

Well actually we have seen this before, and we've seen it succeed. Well not a platform, the Humble Bundle is a pay what you want series of indie game collections that are digitally distributed. Of course the designers give incentive to pay a little extra, if you pay more then the average you get extra titles or features; similar to how the Ouya has free to play with fees for extra features or bonus content. Even while customers are given the choice to pay a single cent for a handful of games the Humble Bundles have, as of February 2013, raised over 33.2 million dollars, with a good percentage of that going to charity. And this did not start off as the pinnacle of the mainstream indie games, these were the awkward and niche genres, the puzzle games and the sidescrollers. This didn't start with never before or exclusive titles, the most mainstream game on the first bundle was World of Goo; a game basically everyone already had, probably pirated. Still the Humble Bundle distribution continues to thrive and brings out more new, exciting, and different titles each sale. The Ouya not only has a chance, but it's very existence makes a pretty strong argument. The Ouya trusts and respects the customers, it trusts the customers to back products and producers they enjoy, it respects the customer's choice to alter a product they've paid for. Most important though, in my mind, the Ouya looks at its customers as friends, instead of as enemies or sheep. And that's something we need more in this industry.

 This was Steve Bullin with a revisit of the Ouya, if you like what you saw or you'd like to see a review of the actual product follow or subscribe to the blog, I will be purchasing an Ouya and reviewing hardware and software later on. Have a good day everyone,(I'm a liar) and don't forget to be awesome. ^^

 Links- Humble Bundle, Ouya