#ScreenshotSaturday! Chess Tactics RPG feat. More @tenpoundpixel!

In a previous post we looked at @tenpoundpixel’s Chess Tactics RPG pawn character artwork. As promised, this week we’ll look at the queen character portrait he’s created! Look!: Luminous! And illuminating too, as @tenpoundpixel gives us this .gif demonstrating his process: As we speak, Mr. Pixel is hard at work creating another set of astonishing

Bone Marrow Transplant By the Numbers

The Latest Work has come to a screaching halt because of my Bone Marrow Transplant. I recently spent 40 days in-patient, most of which was spent in isolation, some of which was spent in a plastic tent. It was all the mental torment of solitary confinement plus the physical pain of battling cancer. There are

Game Development Writing, Part 1

Game development and writing. Rarely are these distinct disciplines played in concert. In #gamedev, it is expedient to substitute objectives for story and caricatures for characters. Often sorry pastiche will be masqueraded as something seemingly original. Even in the AAA league, with budgets of many millions of dollars, developers will cut corners on story. My

Tutorial Tuesdays! – Object Pooling.

Object Pooling. In some ways, game development is a puppet show. You parade your characters across the stage, they hop about, and you swap them out for others. Obviously, unused puppets aren’t scrapped, they get reused. And you wouldn’t stitch together an entirely new puppet each time it needed to reappear, would you? Of course

This Will Change Your Life (By Making You More Productive).

To-do lists don’t work in creative careers. That’s because you can’t schedule inspiration. Here’s an alternative to to-do lists that will ensure you stay both creative and productive. First eluded to in Nickel City Pixels Workspace II! (as featured on Lifehacker), in this newest video I elaborate on my Gamified Index Card System. In #indiedev,

Marketing Mondays! Marketing for Indies – PR, Social Media, and Game Trailers

Equally at home in a Freebie Fridays post, this “tutorial” isn’t one of mine. But it is great! It remains one of my go to sources for all things indie marketing. Unfortunately, as good as it is, it is also really long and rambling. I’ve decided to rewatch it for my own edification while making

Developer Blog – VR Design Document Part 3

While a good deal of this post remains redacted, it should still serve its purpose as a sample design document. All will be revealed in due time! III. Narrative Synopsis Shoot stuff and avoid being shot. III. Game Mechanics “Space Blast” is a mobile VR [redacted for the time being]. The game is played [redacted

Financial Fridays! Some clarity.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/274500/discussions/0/405691491102673468/?tscn=1456139312#c405692224242982114 Upon reading its context will become clear. There is a chasm between what people think a game costs to develop (if you read through the comments, here’s a “developer” who thinks great games can be made on a budget of $0) and what it actually costs. Perhaps that’s more accurately this week’s theme: the