paltastudio-blog

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Here. Check out our new logo.

Awesome right? :D

[paltastudio-blog]

Welcome to Caribe.

There's been a couple weeks when I wrote about the closing of the DeNA, the studio I used to work for and the consequent lay off of all my former colleagues.

That was a hard news that hit me hard, but, of course, it hit harder on the people that were directly affected by it. One day you are on this fancy and valuable company, with a regular payment coming into your bank account, with some benefit and health care. And now you are jobless and much about life have to be figured out.

Specially for those who live in a south american country, like Chile, things are a little more complicated, because that are not many positions available to work with game development in this part of the planet.

I have been checking on my friend, and some have managed to get new jobs in different areas, and that really makes me happy about future in general.

And looking at the bright side, as I suspected, that lay off was a little push for some people that already wanted to make something new, and feel like they are part of something they have voice.

And after all that said, I have the joy to share that a great friend reached me out, and after a brief conversation over coffee, has joined me to endure the future of developing a new studio, that makes cool games people will enjoy playing it.

Carlos “Caribe” Ruiz is an ecuadorian friend which I had the lucky to cross path and work together for over four years. He is also a former client engineer from DeNA, a programmer with tons of experience, that is now a official member of Palta Studio and that will adds a lot to the quality of Palta Studio.

When I created Palta Studio, I wanted to make it an open place for friends that vibe in the frequency of freedom, creativity and passion, and Carlos is pretty much the vibe itself.

Welcome Carlos.

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Technical advices from our lead developer (formerly an app/web dev).

Disclaimer: This is a great text I took from Made with Unity blog. Original post can be found here. I decided to repost it, just so I know that everybody that follow us also get to read this.

LESSON 1. THINK ABOUT THE FINAL PRODUCT FROM THE BEGINNING.

Back when we started, we just wanted to make a demo of the gameplay, so we went for the basics implementation of the main character systems, like physics, inputs, behaviours, etc. for over 6 months. Before we knew it, and having over 2 levels already finished, we realised that we didn’t have a solid architecture, there were no player states, no managers, no tools, and everything was a bit of a mess, so we took a step back and spent about one month redesigning our architecture. So basically we did the following steps:

We divided the principal functionality of the game in many controllers:

GameManager: Controls the principal connections of the game, the game manager knows the actual state of the game and gives away the responsibilities to other managers.

SaveManager: Controls the saving functions and loads the files from the cloud.

AudioManager: Controls the volume, also plays and tops the audio clips.

AchievementManager: Knows what achievements are unlocked and how to unlock them all.

NotificationsManager: Sends messages and works as an intermediary for sending messages through the game.

We also put some effort on creating “tools” using the Unity Editor, this tools allowed us to test the game with certain ammount of coins, abilities, achievements, life, killed enemies and so on.

Word of advice: So before you get excited about doing that vertical slice and have some fun, you should design a solid architecture of how everything in the game is going to interact.

LESSON 2. THINK OF PERFORMANCE AND OPTIMIZE YOUR GAME THROUGH THE WHOLE PROCESS:

Initially, we used 3D low-poly models for most of the objects in Flat Kingdom scenarios, we that way we didn’t expect to hurt performance that bad... but we were wrong. After the first part of level 1 was completed, the game was running dead slow in some computers, that and other problems led to change the 3D models for 2D sprites, so we had to reassemble the level again. This time performance was a lot better, but again, after finishing about 3 levels we realised we used huge sprites for the backgrounds and none of them where power of two, so they were not compressed, we had to change almost everything again.

(This is a GIF, watch it here)

Word of advice: Always try to optimize your graphic resources as soon as you get them, that way you won’t waste time and time in the later stages of development.

Here are some tips about optimizing your game that we learned through all the process:

The “Profiler”, your best friend. Don’t hesitate to use it as the first step in your optimization process.

The easiest way to optimize for us was looking again at the scripts, a lot of the ones we did in the beginning used algorithms that had unnecessary steps or loops, like we had algorithms where we initialize, find, create or destroy Game Objects, using lots of resources of the game. We realized that we could make better instructions in one loop, and discard others loops, and this improved the performance of the game.  Also, we learned that some methods like FindGameObject(), SendMessage(), Enum.toString() are resource-heavy.

Use the memory wisely, in Unity we can’t manually free memory, but you can make things easier for the Garbage Collector. We recommend you consider the fact that classes generate Memory Allocation when you are creating each one. We can use structs since they are faster than classes. If you don’t know the difference between classes and structs, I recommend you this tutorial.

Always avoid using real physics unless your game really needs it, Real physics are heavy for processing, for example, at first we used real physics to move the player. At the end, we opted to change everything to Character Controller and simulate all the external forces.

Avoid moving static objects, this is heavy on processing too,  if you are going to move an object, userigidbody. Since moving static objects forces the physics engine to recalculate the physical world all over again.

LESSON 3. ALWAYS BE AWARE OF THE TIME NEEDED TO CODE AND TEST EVERY NEW FEATURE.

This is our first baby, we want it fun and perfectly polished in every corner, so everything you add to the game implies loads hours of code and hours of testing. At some point we wanted more levels, more abilities, sidequest characters, NPCs, epic boss fights on each level, and spent one more year of development, of course we had to fix tons of bugs, and spent hundreds of hours testing we didn’t plan, and time is money, maybe you cannot offer everything in your first game. But try to choose carefully between features and gameplay, always being aware of how much time you would need to spend.

LESSON 4. DON'T REINVENT THE WHEEL, IF IT IS GOING TO SAVE YOU SOME TIME, USE PLUGINS.

At the start we wanted to do everything by ourselves, the water physics, how we saved the data, the localization manager... then we realized that there were plugins already available in the Unity Asset Store that could simplify our coding process. We ended up buying some of these and saved tons of time, so before you try to reinvent the wheel, check out the Asset Store! Maybe somebody else already took the time to implement system to build some of the features you want in your game.

We recommend you the following plugins, from all the ones we used:

Platform Builder (We used this plugin to make all the platforms of the game).

Easy Save (Cross-Platform Secure Save data with Encryption).

Smart Localization (Easy to setup localization plugin).

Cinema Director (Easy to make in-game cinematics).

LESSON 5. ALWAYS TEST YOUR GAME WITH YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE:

At first, we made a couple of demos to invite people to come and play at the studio, it took us about 8 months to deliver our first decent pre-alpha, I mean, we were learning and doing, all at the same time, trying to build a game with complex dynamics, player physics, inputs, level design and so forth and so on. So the day to test that pre-alpha came, and we thought the game was going to be a bit hard but very user friendly... we were wrong, again.

Here you have a couple of early pre-alpha gameplays:

Flatman - Demo! by lady wasd.

Flatman by FireWolfe206.

We found simple things like jumps, secret areas, and the gameplay in general were not very clear and obvious and turned out to be a lot harder for our users, a couple of reviewers made Youtube videos and they couldn't finish the first level! Since then, we tried to test with people every time we had a new level or a new feature, so while they played we were in the back watching their movements. Looking out and taking notes of every point in they had trouble with. In the end, the game turned out a bit easier but a lot more user friendly. We tested our latest builds in 3 events in Mexico during 2015, and lately at PAX South and the GDC, in conclusion, we can say the users understood the mechanics and the general game concept much faster! Thanks Gustavo for sharing your knoledge and making such an inspiring text.

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The wise man and the cow

“Sometimes our dependency on something small and limited is the biggest obstacle to our growth”.

These are not my words, but part of a tale about a cow and a wise man. I am not sure you know it, but, long story short, the tale goes about a very poor family that were pretty much dependent on the milk provided by a tired cow. One day a wise man throws the cow down the cliff and ended its existence.

A few years later this family prospered and became rich and happy. The death of the cow made all the family to look for some other ways to survive and found skills they didn’t even new they possessed.

Last week a cow of many was put down. The company I worked for was shut down and many talented friends are now jobless. I have managed to contact a few, and besides the obvious shock, I think they kind of felt it was going to happen.

Of course this was a big bump on their lives. Many have a family to provide and a secure income is not always easy to get. But, to say the truth, that was just a job, and many other are just across the street for them.

This words now go to my fellow friends: You are super talented, creative and intelligent people and there won’t be missing opportunities for you.

But for many,  they are actually seeing this as little push forward that life is giving on them. They are ready to start working on that personal project they always wanted, and they have the means and the people to work on them. So, actually, life is now giving them an opportunity to explore new options.

And for those who don’t want to depend on cows no more, I’ve got to say: let’s make new things, even if they are not big. But let’s make it with our heart and passion.

The cow is gone. Let’s build a farm.

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So, today I am starting a new series where I want to share the resources I have gattering to improve my game learning.

Mostly the stuff I am sharing is already posted somewhere else, but still, I felt like sharing these as they are super good.

So, let’s start with some articles about Game Desing.

1. The GDCVault’s free section (Video) contains many talks from the Game Developer Conference itself. There, you can find some of the best insights on game creation from some of the most experienced or popular developers in the gaming industry. While Gamasutra offers text-based content for those who prefer that, the GDC vault is focused on videos and slides. Note that the GDC vault is being archived on its new Youtube channel. With a few videos released every week, this is a great place to discover fresh talks from the industry leaders.

2. Pixel Prospector is a reference as far as game creation resources are concerned. This website offers a complete, free guide to marketing your game, as well as long lists of finely categorized resources. From the same author, you can find The Big List of Youtubers. Is is a list of content creators who cover video games classified by their spoken language and preferred genres. You can also find multiple lists of video game journalists on PixelProspector’s VideoGameJournaliser.

Pixel Prospector features a pretty comprehensive step-by-step guide to indie game marketing.

3. Extra Credits (Video) is a popular YouTube channel filled with short, specific videos about game design. It also features game recommendations and pleasant history lectures (soon on Khan Academy). The content is insightful and tends to follow the gaming industry’s news stories. Because of that, Extra Credits is a great place to get a quick sense of how the game creation world is evolving.

4. Three Hundred Mechanics is a neat pick shared by a developer friend. The author, Sean Howard, went on a quest to design and write 300 game concepts. In each entry, he documents his ideas and sometimes algorithms or his design process. His website explores numerous ideas and genres, and is quite inspiring. The mechanics exposed there feel pretty original overall. I especially dig the procedural category, as it’s usually hard to find content in that domain. A companion website called Three Hundred Prototypes features a few HTML5 test games that correspond to some of those concepts.

5. Donjon is more of a niche entry. It is both a playful and a useful website for RPG creators out there. It contains a variety of specialized text and value generators to release you from your creative block. You… can create dungeons, shops with randomized descriptions and locations, get lists of names, calendarsyou name it. Donjon even offers specific tools for fantasy games, Dungeon and Dragon inspired games, and sci-fi universes. Although it’s probably meant for tabletop game players initially, it is always useful if you’re working on an RPG.

The next entry is for lovers of the platform genre out there.

6. Scroll Back: The Theory and Practice of Cameras in Side-Scrollers is a Gamasutra article that breaks down elements of a controller’s design for a platforming, side-scrolling game. It offers a deep analysis of the implementation of player controls. It talks about specific techniques to achieve a tight feel. It is not a very long paper, but it is one of a kind I wish I would see more often.

Bonus: The Game Accessibility Guidelines is a website dedicated to Game Accessibility, as its name suggests. It provides a list of design guidelines to improve the feel and the ergonomics of your game to expand the audience you can reach. They are organized in 3 categories, based on both the difficulty their implementation represents and the amount of people they can affect. You can find a lot of excellent, all-purpose tips there. For more information on game accessibility, we have a dedicated article on the topic.

That´s it for now. I hope you enjoyed and I will be back soon. David.

Originaly posted at: http://blog.gameanalytics.com

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What NOT to do when starting as an indie game developer

A while ago I stumbled upon a talk submission form for an event called The Developers’ Conference. It’s a gathering of people who want to learn a little bit more about topics like architecture, digital marketing, Arduino and others. Sure enough, games were going to be discussed there too.

The event was close to at least four universities that have game courses, so I thought many young faces would show up. Right after I saw the submission form, I started thinking what I could tell those people that want to be a part of the game developing scene here in Brazil. It didn’t take long before I realized I wanted to share with them the things I messed up on the past two years and maybe help them be more aware of some of the tricks you can fall for when you are too eager or too optimistic to do something.

When my talk got accepted I wanted to validate my arguments with other people’s own experience. That was something I didn’t have time to do and this post is an attempt to fix that. What this post is not, however, is a receipt to follow blindly. Feel free to disagree with me and bring your ideas to the table.

Here’s what I’ve come up with:

1. Do not fall for survivorship bias.

For those who may not know, survivorship bias is the tendency to consider only successful cases when analyzing market data, behavior, etc. It even influences warfare.

How does that apply to game development then? Well, when I started, I remember being really optimistic and enthusiastic about building an iPhone game. I was reading article after article of developers that were making good money out of the App Store and I thought maybe I could get some bucks myself. I didn’t stop to think things through and it did not go well.

“Resistance outwits the amateur with the oldest trick in the book: it uses his own enthusiasm against him.” – Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Take your time. Think of the obstacles ahead. Talk to people and ask for advice. Analyze every option. Then take some more time. Only after that make a choice and never look back.

To know more about survivorship bias I strongly recommend reading this.

2. Do not start with a complex idea.

I see a lot of guys that want to start out doing things like an FPS. They seriously want to start doing that. They have only the basic skills, but that’s what they want to do.

When these guys sit down to actually do the job, they are easily defeated. That’s because they don’t realize the amount of energy you need to put into a project and they have even less idea of their own professional capabilities.

I am not saying your first game cannot be an FPS, but you have to consider all the things ahead. If you choose an FPS, it will take really long before it is finished and it will be on the market alongside Call of Duty. Isn’t it better to start with a smaller project to get under the radar of the press and fellow developers earlier?

For me, the smaller the better. But, no matter the size of the project, I like to read this piece by Tommy Refenes every once in a while. You have to divide your project in parts, tackle those parts individually and every now and them step back and enjoy the progress you made.

3. Do not make a simple idea complex.

Do not overcomplicate things. This happened with Little Red Running Hood. If you start thinking about adding stuff, stop and evaluate if those things are really going to improve player experience and if they sit well with the core mechanics.

I found that the two next items on the list are important agents on avoiding adding useless stuff to a game you’ve been working on for months. You can also read more about this here.

4. Do not skip the prototype phase of development.

So, how do you keep from adding useless things to your game? You do this kind of thing on a prototype. That’s why it is important not to skip prototyping, specially when you’re really eager to start making something. It’s an opportunity to let your big creative brain run on overdrive.

By making a prototype, you can find out if the mechanics created really work by their own. You can also get folks to play your idea and get decent feedback to improve it. Yes, you will probably need to improve it.

Discover if your game, in its simplest form, is fun before investing months of your time developing it.

5. Do not forget to make a GDD or write your ideas down somehow.

Ideas have this weird behavior. Sometimes they run away and are lost forever. Other times they mutate… it can be to something better – which is cool -, but they can also transform into something nastier than their original version. Writing them down is a way to avoid such messy scenario.

When working with teams there is also this strange thing that happens sometimes. You can try to explain your idea to me and I can choose what to listen or twist it somehow. Or maybe your explanation isn’t clear enough. When the time comes to actually implement it, it won’t turn out as you expected. Hopefully, a well documented idea can solve this situation.

A GDD also makes things easier when there is need to bring someone new to the team, specially if the person is working remotely. It gives a full perspective on the game.

6. Do not underestimate the power of good planning.

Deadlines are awesome. Most of the things done on this planet have only been accomplished because of them. Without them, we feel too comfortable and a comfortable creative mind starts wandering. Before you realize, you’re taking double the time to complete simple tasks.

Other positive aspect of good project planning is that you are able to focus on one thing at a time. You don’t have to worry about those awful bugs, because you will have the proper time to deal with them later.

Some people might think that’s only for larger teams or projects. That’s OK. In the end, if you sit down every day and do the work you need to do, it all falls into place. Me? I like a good old fashioned deadline.

7. Do not leave marketing to the last months of development.

Legend has it that when Brazilian cartoonist Maurício de Sousa started drawing, his father told him that there was no problem with that, as long as he learned how to sell his creation too. Thankfully, he listened.

Here is something I see most of indie game developers around me doing: they focus exclusively on the technical aspect of making a game, without even thinking about how to get it in front of larger audiences. Not even to play test the things they make. They worry about it much later, when the project is near the finish line. Alexander Bruce has some great insights on how that can lead toobscurity.

Hopefully, as the industry matures, beginner indie developers will become more aware of that and will start getting word out earlier and saving bigger budgets for marketing.

8. Do not play test only by the end of the project and/or only with friends.

Like stated before: it is best to have large groups of people playing your game as soon as possible. You followed the advice provided here and built a prototype? Show them to strangers on the street. Go to events with the latest build of the game and get as much feedback as possible. After that, make some adjustments and go to the next festival.

9. Do not start on the mobile market.

This one is the one I get most of people disagreeing with me. It’s the first item on this list making young developers see everything optimistically. The real truth is: the good things on mobile are far less numerous than the bad things going on on the platform.

Seriously, if you are starting, with no fans, no press awareness and no big money to invest on marketing, forget the mobile market. This is something I learned the hard way. I saw months of hard work fall into the limbo of the App Store. Obscurity is a bitch.

Even if you forget the discoverability of games on the mobile market being all messed up, I really don’t think you should start there. There are easier and faster ways to make and distribute games. Part of the reason we didn’t play tested Little Red Running Hood accordingly was the fact that it was hard for us to send the app to people outside of our friend circles.

I realize there are two sides for that discussion and that there are down sides to any market, but I will remain encouraging people to start reading more about the problems of mobile and all the stories of other developers who fell for the mermaid’s song.

10. Do not forget the budget for attending events and festivals.

Hands down, this is the best way to show your game to other people and starting networking with other developers and press. These are creative minds that gather on the same place at the same time because they love games. That’s inspirational. At least I heard. I was stupid enough to consider only submitting my game to these festivals, but never thought of showing up in person. When I realized the benefits of attending these events, I had no money to do so.

11. Do not ignore the fact that you are part of an industry.

Starting out on any industry is hard. It is even harder if you are blind to all the topics and people that are relevant in the business. Luckily, this is the easiest tip on the list to follow. Just check this list Rami Ismail wrote with some interesting twitter accounts on the gaming world (don’t forget to follow @tha_rami himself). Don’t have a twitter account? Fix that now, it’s free!

12. Do not wait for a diploma to start making things.

You are not studying to be a doctor, lawyer or engineer. Maybe if you were you would have realized something most of my colleagues at university don’t.

You want to work in a certain field? Start thinking of your career early.

Stop throwing that unfinished project away at the end of the semester. Stop doing things for grades. Stop doing things for love, too. Do it for your career. Love your career itself. Become a professional and finish things!

13. Do not hide those things.

I know for a fact that there are a lot of people around me doing things related to game development. However, I know very few of those people and even less of their games. Why is that?

If you are working on a game and you hide it from people, you are being selfish. You are keeping them from having fun. You are also overconfident. Before spending more time working on the awesome idea you had, how about you let us play it and them we can give you feedback?

I am currently trying to organize meetings with developers to get something going. If you are a local indie working on a game, please get in touch. It isn’t hard, just click on the icons on the top of the blog. If you made it this far on the post you are truly persistent, therefore I would like, not only to play your games, but also to personally high five you.

Originally posted at https://rogerpaffrath.wordpress.com

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So, why the rush?

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Spiring images So this isn’t one of those long and thoughtful posts, but a sense experience that will bring pleasure through images. Again, this life of individual entrepreneur hasn’t been that easy.But still, things are moving forward, and I wanted to shade some light on those who doesn’t give up. How? Looking at some beautiful and inspiring art references I have been looking at for my game. I hope you guys enjoy as I did looking for this bad guys. Have a great week Sources: http://knkl.deviantart.com/ http://rossdraws.deviantart.com/ https://www.behance.net/mazokpixels http://jtangc.tumblr.com/ https://www.behance.net/goganga http://kirokaze.deviantart.com/ http://www.irkallagame.com/ https://mobile.twitter.com/ThePixelkiwi

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Shaping up!

Last weeks I had super busy dealing with non game related issues.

It is a shame how life gets on the way when you are really wanting to do the things you want to do.

But, at least, after making a very important decision of making a F2P game, I had to investigate a little bit more to make sure I am making a fun free-to-play, instead of a greedy one. I really want people to have fun, and, if they think they happy time is worth a few bucks, there you go, buy something from the game.

Enough said about money, I start exploring some game mechanics, specially the ones I like.

Hey, this is my first game, I am not going to re-invent the wheel. So, please don’t judge me, but I will get some cool game out of the store, and explore its potential as free-to-play.

I think I have a few options, but haven’t come to a decision yet.

There is so much on the plate, and I want to make sure that my big company, of one person, will be capable, in terms of time, to delivery the game.

And, since the last post and after talking to some dear friend, I start getting some external and needed support to make this game come true.

Again, I will share more news about those in the near future. I just want to come to terms with these BELOVED people, about the game we will make together and maybe, finally, I will have something more concrete to share here.

So, keep it up with me. Good things will come true.

Sincerely, David.

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What game to make? When the time comes, and you get the energy to start your own business, is time to deal with the real world and try to think in the most objective way.

That means that, even knowing I have a bunch of game ideas up in my head, still, I won’t be able to build the next Half Life (c’mon Valve, where is HL3?). 

Feet on the floor, let’s see what are my strength, and the kind of game that will fit better my skills.

For years I was the Lead Software Engineer at DeNA West, and mostly the time I dealt with Free-to-Play games for mobile, and took care of the server side of these games.

That already tells a lot of the type of game I should be playing with in my first attempt to make a brand new game.

I know the risks of making a F2P game, as it carries some bad reputation on the Indie World.

But honestly, I need to take the risk, but I have to try to have some control on them.

The difference is that I am not tight up to a giant corporation that have the requirement of making tons of money.

I need to make enough money to pay the friends that will help me and the bills to continue to make games.

That means I won’t make greedy game, as, my real concern is to make people happy and enjoy the things I do.

So, bottom line, my first decisions is that: I will make a F2P mobile game. Now, what game, and how I gona make it. Well. I need a little more time to figure it out :D

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A new journey has begun!

After many years as a Lead Software Engineer at DeNA Games in Santiago, I decided it was the time to take my shot on the industry, and try to create my own business.

Not that I didn’t like my job. But there is always a time in your life where the will of making what you love grow so big in your guts that you need to bring it out.

This is how the Palta Studio, an indie game studio of an only man, but blessed by the support of many friends, was born. A Studio that is here to create the games to make people happy.

I have no idea where this little journey will lead me to, but I wanted to share it from day one with the world! So this is why I started this blog. 

So please follow me on this crazy adventure. I can promise I will share as much knowledge and good stories as I can.

“If you are facing in the right direction, all you need to do is keep on walking.” - Buddhist saying

This is the first step. Let’s see how far we can go.

Sincerely, David!