#independentgamedevelopment

[pennyvalemedia]

Pennyvale Media – Embrace the Story, Empower the Storyteller

Find out more: https://www.pennyvalemedia.com/

[thefalconspade]

Presenting our first mobile game title!

Fairway now available for download on Google Play, let us know what you think!

[monriatitans]

#DrewDavidsonPhD #gameproduction #gamedesign #videogamedesign #independentgamedeveloper

[shoeshinegames]

Project Updates

     Trying to write a blog is like trying to write a four page Facebook status on something that other people care about.  It’s a journal entry used to represent your thoughts to the general public.  But, in doing so, you are creating an audience.  With an audience, you have to cater to their specific needs in order to keep them engaged.  Our society is very quick to drop something if it is not immediately entertaining.  Most of you have probably not even made it to this sentence yet.  But what is good about a blogger with no audience, like myself, is that I can basically talk about whatever I want!  So if you are still reading this, you can stop now.  The rest is just going to be rambles of my different projects, my thought process, and a puppy from Afghanistan.  RAMBLE ON!

Truer words have never been spoken

     So far in Unity I have created a couple of simple applications.  One is a physics based game, where the core mechanic is “keep-up”, where you use a paddle to keep a ball in the air.  The application keeps track of your score, and records your highest score.  The other game was a simple match game, where you flip over cards to match images.  Currently I’m working on another small game where you are catching falling objects while avoiding others.  NOW STOP!  Hold on a minute... I know what you are all thinking right now.  Where are they!?!  Why are they not #1 sellers on the APP store yet!?  Did I miss the midnight release!?  The answer to all of your questions is yes.  You did miss the midnight release.  And you called yourself my fan...

Actual picture of the midnight release...

     These games were never released.  And unfortunately, they will forever be unreleased applications.  I am learning Unity, and learning takes time.  But I am getting the hang of it.  It is a change from using UDK, as there is no visual script for the objects that you add into the world.  There are no dragging lines to connect up different sequences, or creating certain events, actions, and conditions inside of UnrealScript to then connect up.  It is all hard-coded in using JavaScript.  I have worked with JavaScript in the past, so it is just a matter of learning Unity’s spin on it.  Also, I am not looking forward to hardcoding in matinee, videos, or developing animations for my characters.  UDK had a very simple system to go about moving objects in the world during gameplay.  It will be interesting to learn what Unity has to offer in that regard.  I can’t say for certain which development kit I enjoyed working with more.

     Besides working in Unity, I’ve also been trying to play more games.  I am currently working through my slew of Steam games that I’ve acquired over the years through steam sales and humble bundles.  I have the Scrooge McDuck syndrome now of having just too many games to choose from.  

In fact, the remake of Duck Tales is also in my vault.  

     So I’ve been fortunate enough to have a little bit of time (about 3-4 hours a week) to dive into my pile of un-played titles.  Most are short, independent games to draw ideas from on my quest to find a theme for future games of my own creation.  I don’t want to draw inspiration from other games or create rip-offs.  Rather, I like to see the mechanics that these developers have created, and how they might have been drawn to creating that mechanic.  By doing so, my mind begins to brain-storm and I am able to craft my own mechanics to test in Unity.  For instance, I beat a game recently called Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians by developer THR3AKS.  

Quick and fun, just how I like my coffee

     It is a “platforming” game (think Echo the Dolphin platforming) involving your character interacting with various objects, each associated with their own sort of rhythmic beat or melody.  Portions of the game involve moving your player along with a certain beat in order to dodge obstacles or prevent from dying.  I thought this was an interesting concept, and it made me think of one designer who drew inspiration for a game by listening to music.  This method continues my brain down the rabbit hole, thinking of music which may inspire my creativity.  I have a few ideas that I have been tossing around, a few of which I think sound interesting enough to make into a full game once I test the mechanic.  Now the only obstacle is learning Unity!  

     I have also recently acquired a random dog out here in Afghanistan, and she is pretty rad.  She was on her last ounce of life when I came by her.  She was skin and bones, her fur was very nappy, and she was covered in flies and ticks.  She was obviously scared of humans as well, because when I approached her she would try to get away, but she was too weak to actually get anywhere.  It was heart-breaking to watch.  But she finally warmed up to me after I fed her a couple pieces of lunch meat and gave her some water.  After that, I gave her a bath in a mop bucket, and begin to pull ticks off of her.  And more ticks... and more ticks... all in all, I would say close to 50-60 ticks covered the length of her small frame and were all plump, meaning that had been draining her blood for days.  Luckily after the bath we were able to apply some tick/fly killing spray, and send her to a “vet” (Afghanistan vets don’t really count).  When she came back, she was doing even worse than when she left.  I was afraid she wouldn’t make it through the night.  She wouldn’t respond to anything, and she just stood in one spot of her bedding with a thousand-yard stare.  She had thrown up the food we gave her earlier, and was barely taking any water in.  I prepared my mind for the worst.  

     But the next morning, she was still hanging in there.  Her will to live is amazing.  Now, 5 days later, she is acting like a regular puppy.  Her recovery is amazing.  Although she is still way to skinny, she is starting to put on weight.  She has grown pretty attached to me, and follows me everywhere I go.  I left clothes on a chair while I went to run some errands,and when I came back she had knocked all of the clothes onto the around and was laying on them.  People on base have been very supportive, and plans are in the works to get her back to the states to live with one of the women who works here on her 40+ acres of land.  I would take her, but living in a town-home in Maryland would not compare to having 40-acres of land to roam across in Colorado, especially for an Afghan dog.  

     Well, it is time for me to get back to the grind.  And thank you, fellow reader.  Thank you for taking the time to read my ramble.

[shoeshinegames]

Shoe Shine Games

Welcome!       Ah yes, come in, come in.  Sit on down, rest your feet.  My name is Dustin Summers.  This is my humble little blog about independent game development.  I am not new to the world of video games, and I just recently graduated with my Game Design Bachelor’s degree in hand from Full Sail University.  So yeah… what I’m basically saying is that I am an expert in the world of making games.  Follow me if you want to learn all the tips and tricks that the big triple-A developers use in order to make yourself $$$MILLIONS$$$.  Besides, isn’t money the driving force behind everything we do?  Why are you reading this blog?  Because I promised you money two lines up!  Look!  I can see it!  I even put dollar signs around it, and bold text!!

You’d be happy too if a dollar bill landed on your forehead

      But I must confess, I only included that graphic above to grab your attention.  This blog will not be about how-to’s, to-do’s, or U2’s (the plane or the band).  Instead, this blog will be about my journey as a fledgling independent developer.  This blog will discuss my attempts at forming a business, learning new tools, creating games, and discussing what works.  I will discuss my production process as it happens, when it’s happening, and take suggestions from the crowd on things they might like to see!  I will blog about interesting articles I read, or about some of the lessons I have learned.  You might even occasionally get a blog about general pop-culture topics, because I’m rad like that.  Trials, triumphs, and tribulations… all can be found right here.  And isn’t that basically worth a million dollars?

Cheer up, kid. Those dollar bills were photo-shopped anyway.  

        Now that I lost the interest of 97% of the reader base, thank you to those few who are still with me.  Feel free to stick around, browse the website, and drop a comment below if you so please!  Keep on the lookout for my next blog, where I will be discussing my upcoming plans, my current situation, and will probably reveal the meaning of life to you! (DISCLAIMER:  I’m probably lying… or am I?)

Thank you for reading!

- Dustin Summers