Hey folks, I'm gonna keep this brief because there's really not much to say on the gamedev front. I'm just making this post to let everyone know that I'll be out on vacation over the weekend. We're going to the Smokey Mountains! I'm pretty excited :)
I'll have an announcement regarding this month's #1GAM game (hint: I plan to make it in RPG Maker). I think you'll be excited to hear what I have planned :)
See you when I return!
Showing posts with label personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label personal. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Games on the Menu #2
Hello hello everyone! I'm back again, but I don't really have too much to say regarding game development. I'll have a bit about that at the bottom of the article, but first, I thought this would be a great chance to talk again about the games I'm currently playing! I did this once before back in April, and I'm playing some different stuff now, so I figured I should update you all :)
As I said back then, I'm no professional reviewer, and I've kinda decided that I'm not really so much reviewing these games as I am trying to describe what I like about them and why you, the reader, might want to check them out. After all, I'm not going to play games I don't like for long periods of time, and these are all games I play regularly, which means that any "review" I might do would be pretty pointless since there's no chance of me saying the game is bad :P
Anyway, that aside, let's move on!
The Crooked Man is a horror/exploration game by Japanese indie developer Uri, who created it using the WOLF RPG Editor (which is kind of like RPG Maker). I love RPG Maker horror games (Ao Oni being far and away my favorite), so I had been meaning to try this out for a long time. I finally got around to playing it the other day, and it's pretty cool! I won't spoil anything, but safe to say, if you are into horror games, check it out. It's not really SUPER scary, but it's pretty compelling and interesting, and the monster is creepy. I'd probably have already beaten it by this point, but I keep forgetting to save for an hour or better at a time, and then dying, thus losing lots of progress. Always remember to save, kids!
Not too long ago, I busted out my NES for the first time in over a year, and had a look through the games I had to play. I had several that I had never actually tried (I had been given several cartridges a while ago, and wasn't playing the NES at the time). One that caught my eye was this early Rare title, Cobra Triangle. I gave it a shot, and I'm glad I did! Cobra Triangle is an isometric action game with shooting/racing elements. You pilot a speed boat through various levels and try to accomplish different tasks while watching the clock and attempting to avoid damage. It's very fun, and each of the levels is unique and well-designed. It is also SOOOO HARD. This game will whoop your rear end every time you try to play it, and then some :) It's very good though, and as long are you aren't put off by the difficulty in other classic games (Cobra Triangle is hard, but not the hardest on the NES and definitely not the hardest ever), give it play or two. I consider it to be an underrated title, along with some of my other NES favorites like Section Z and Legend of Kage.
Bastion is an action adventure game by Supergiant that was released way back in 2011 for Xbox Live Arcade. I remember seeing it there, back in the days of 360 yore, but I never tried it (I was too busy trying all those atrocious Minecraft knock-offs that were in the Indie Game section of Xbox Live). I finally got this game a few weeks ago on Steam, and I like it so far. The game looks beautiful, of course, and it makes for an engaging dungeon-crawler-esque game. I like the customization and upgrade options. It's a pretty good game all around.
So, that will about do it for this week's games :) But before I go...
So, here's my plan for #1GAM this month: I want to take part in a game jam! :D I've never actually done one before, but after having gotten some practice under my belt, I feel compelled to finally give jamming a chance. I want to take part in the LudumDare, but that isn't until the end of next month, so I've decided that instead I'll go for the One Hour Game Jam!
For those unfamiliar, the One Hour Game Jam is, just like its name implies, a game jam that lasts for exactly one hour, held every Saturday. At the start of the hour, a theme is announced, and the participants must turn in a complete (though almost certainly microscopically small) game after just 60 minute. This is a pretty extreme challenge to undertake, but I have a decent backlog of code that I can shape to fit any game I'm making. I observed the action this past week, and I'm looking forward to participating myself, either this coming Saturday or the next. Stay tuned!
Well, that should about do it for today. See you around! Remember to save your games!!
As I said back then, I'm no professional reviewer, and I've kinda decided that I'm not really so much reviewing these games as I am trying to describe what I like about them and why you, the reader, might want to check them out. After all, I'm not going to play games I don't like for long periods of time, and these are all games I play regularly, which means that any "review" I might do would be pretty pointless since there's no chance of me saying the game is bad :P
Anyway, that aside, let's move on!
THE CROOKED MAN
 |
| FREE HUGS! |
COBRA TRIANGLE
 |
| Now all that's missing is David Wise's awesome soundtrack! |
Not too long ago, I busted out my NES for the first time in over a year, and had a look through the games I had to play. I had several that I had never actually tried (I had been given several cartridges a while ago, and wasn't playing the NES at the time). One that caught my eye was this early Rare title, Cobra Triangle. I gave it a shot, and I'm glad I did! Cobra Triangle is an isometric action game with shooting/racing elements. You pilot a speed boat through various levels and try to accomplish different tasks while watching the clock and attempting to avoid damage. It's very fun, and each of the levels is unique and well-designed. It is also SOOOO HARD. This game will whoop your rear end every time you try to play it, and then some :) It's very good though, and as long are you aren't put off by the difficulty in other classic games (Cobra Triangle is hard, but not the hardest on the NES and definitely not the hardest ever), give it play or two. I consider it to be an underrated title, along with some of my other NES favorites like Section Z and Legend of Kage.
BASTION
 |
| Did I mention I'm behind the curve? Yeah, well, I am. |
So, that will about do it for this week's games :) But before I go...
So, here's my plan for #1GAM this month: I want to take part in a game jam! :D I've never actually done one before, but after having gotten some practice under my belt, I feel compelled to finally give jamming a chance. I want to take part in the LudumDare, but that isn't until the end of next month, so I've decided that instead I'll go for the One Hour Game Jam!
For those unfamiliar, the One Hour Game Jam is, just like its name implies, a game jam that lasts for exactly one hour, held every Saturday. At the start of the hour, a theme is announced, and the participants must turn in a complete (though almost certainly microscopically small) game after just 60 minute. This is a pretty extreme challenge to undertake, but I have a decent backlog of code that I can shape to fit any game I'm making. I observed the action this past week, and I'm looking forward to participating myself, either this coming Saturday or the next. Stay tuned!
Well, that should about do it for today. See you around! Remember to save your games!!
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Games on the Menu #1
Hello, internet people! This week, I thought I would try something different here on the ol' blog. Instead of talking about my #1GAM plans, I'm going to talk about what games I am actually currently playing myself! That's right, you get a glimpse into my wonderful and exciting game collection (read: Steam library)! Let's go!
The following are all games that I'm actively playing as of this week. I'm going to organize this in a listed format. All games are un-ranked and in no particular order. Under each entry, I'll spend a bit of time describing my feelings on the game and maybe reviewing it somewhat (note, I am certainly not a professional critic, just a guy who has played a lot of games. No representation is made that the quality of the game review presented is greater than the quality of the review presented by other reviewers ;P)
So, onward!
Mount & Blade is one of my favorite game series of all time. I've invested a LOT of hours into Warband, and I'm pretty much always playing it in at least some capacity. I play it one-player only and don't care too much about actually being good at it (shocker, I'm terrible), but it's somehow the ultimate time-waster for me :) I never get bored with it.
I just started Undertale a couple of days ago, and I'm absolutely loving it. The detail and care put into it is just astonishing to me. I love strange little RPG Maker games, and Undertale really puts me in mind of some of the best, such as Yume Nikki and OFF (note: I am, of course, aware that Undertale itself was made using Game Maker Studio). I could write a thirty-paragraph thinkpiece on Undertale right here, but not a lot can be said about this game that hasn't been said already. There's no way I can heap enough praise on this game, so I won't even try :) If anyone out there hasn't played Undertale yet - seriously, go do it. It lives up to the hype, and that's saying something.
So there's what I'm playing for the time being. I would like to start writing more about games I play, rather than just ones I make, so maybe expect to see more entries like this from time to time, dev permitting :)
See you in approximately seven days!
The following are all games that I'm actively playing as of this week. I'm going to organize this in a listed format. All games are un-ranked and in no particular order. Under each entry, I'll spend a bit of time describing my feelings on the game and maybe reviewing it somewhat (note, I am certainly not a professional critic, just a guy who has played a lot of games. No representation is made that the quality of the game review presented is greater than the quality of the review presented by other reviewers ;P)
So, onward!
MOUNT & BLADE: WARBAND
 |
| I call them my "Hammer Bros." |
Mount & Blade is one of my favorite game series of all time. I've invested a LOT of hours into Warband, and I'm pretty much always playing it in at least some capacity. I play it one-player only and don't care too much about actually being good at it (shocker, I'm terrible), but it's somehow the ultimate time-waster for me :) I never get bored with it.
CASTLE CLASH
 |
| The gang's all here. |
This is the main game I play on mobile. I've played Castle Clash on my Android for a little over a year now, and I usually squeeze in a few minutes on it here and there each day. My main account is F2P and has about 36,000 might. I have PD, Cupid, and SK, among a plethora of other legends. Most mobile games get boring to me really quickly, but CC is one I come back to time and again. Currently, I'm saving up shards to buy an Atlanticore to stick in the new hero totem.
UNDERTALE
 |
| Scenic locales! |
So there's what I'm playing for the time being. I would like to start writing more about games I play, rather than just ones I make, so maybe expect to see more entries like this from time to time, dev permitting :)
See you in approximately seven days!
Sunday, February 28, 2016
No News is Good News... Right?
Hi all! How has life been treating you in the approximately seven days intervening between my last blog post? My week has been pretty relaxing, actually. Since my last #1GAM game, Plitka, was released a bit earlier in the month, I have actually had a few days to not think about making a game for the first time in several weeks. Weird.
Consequently, this week I don't have too much to report in the realm of game development. I committed myself to a weekly blog post, though, so here is: this week's post!
But seriously folks, how about an anecdote of advice you might be able to make some use of?
I learned something over the course of the release of my last two games, Plitka (available here and here) and Cargo (available here). Even though I feel like both of these games are superior in virtually every way to my first game, Torso Ninja (available here), neither of my two most recent games have achieved anywhere near the number of plays as my first game. Mostly, I think this is attributable to the more eye-grabbing title ("Torso Ninja" is kinda worth a double take). It just goes to show, even little, free games need some level of marketing in order to be played by any real audience.
I leave you now with a bit of information on my upcoming #1GAM game for March. Though it is currently still in a conceptual state, my plan is to make it a browser based game (I believe more people will be inclined to play it if they don't have to download it). Stay tuned for more info!
Later!
Consequently, this week I don't have too much to report in the realm of game development. I committed myself to a weekly blog post, though, so here is: this week's post!
 |
| Hur hur |
But seriously folks, how about an anecdote of advice you might be able to make some use of?
I learned something over the course of the release of my last two games, Plitka (available here and here) and Cargo (available here). Even though I feel like both of these games are superior in virtually every way to my first game, Torso Ninja (available here), neither of my two most recent games have achieved anywhere near the number of plays as my first game. Mostly, I think this is attributable to the more eye-grabbing title ("Torso Ninja" is kinda worth a double take). It just goes to show, even little, free games need some level of marketing in order to be played by any real audience.
I leave you now with a bit of information on my upcoming #1GAM game for March. Though it is currently still in a conceptual state, my plan is to make it a browser based game (I believe more people will be inclined to play it if they don't have to download it). Stay tuned for more info!
Later!
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Welcome to Some Game Dev's Blog!
Hello, Internet!
My name is Erik Letson, and I am an aspiring video game designer. I have about five years of experience in programming small games for myself, and now I'm finally prepared to take the plunge and publish some of my (hopefully better) creations.
I intend to use this blog as a way to showcase some of my work and provide anyone who is interested with a bit of insight into what it is I do. Other things readers might expect include updates on games in progress, reviews and/or comments about the games I play, and possibly some of my thoughts about other topics as well. I also intend to participate in the #1GAM challenge hosted at www.onegameamonth.com.
If you're still reading, I'm glad I've been able to hold your attention thus far, and I hope that you'll enjoy what this blog has to offer in the future.
Now.... Onward to the future!
My name is Erik Letson, and I am an aspiring video game designer. I have about five years of experience in programming small games for myself, and now I'm finally prepared to take the plunge and publish some of my (hopefully better) creations.
I intend to use this blog as a way to showcase some of my work and provide anyone who is interested with a bit of insight into what it is I do. Other things readers might expect include updates on games in progress, reviews and/or comments about the games I play, and possibly some of my thoughts about other topics as well. I also intend to participate in the #1GAM challenge hosted at www.onegameamonth.com.
If you're still reading, I'm glad I've been able to hold your attention thus far, and I hope that you'll enjoy what this blog has to offer in the future.
Now.... Onward to the future!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)