Happy Halloween

My offering this year:

An Open Letter to Capcom

Dear Capcom,

First of all, thank you for the great many games I've loved over the years, and thank you moreso for using your old splash screen theme from SNES era in Duck Tales: Remastered. I was immensely thrilled to hear it again.  Thank you for the great franchises born under your wing.  However it seems several of them have lost their way without their original creators still on board.

I want to talk to you about Mega Man.  This was one of the greatest series in gaming, but we haven't heard from the Blue Bomber for much too long, as evidenced by the Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter that I'm certain you're more than aware of.  Just in case, let me tell you the final total from backers: Four million dollars.  Let me say that again.

Four. Million. Dollars.

The fans are clearly still here, and we clearly long for a grand return of Mega Man.  Mighty No. 9's Beck may be his weakness though.  Beck may kill the Blue Bomber.  Please don't let that happen.

I recall reading an interview with a producer at Capcom who talked about Mega Man Legends 3.  He said the reason we're still talking about that fiasco was that it was so public, that you announced the project so early on, then cancelled it just as publicly.

That's not why we're still talking about Mega Man Legends 3.  We're still talking about it because we want to play that game.  We want to give you money to make this game.  We want this game to happen.

Beck will clearly dominate the space Mega Man filled as a 2D action platformer come April 2015, leaving you only a year to get some big Mega Man news rolling.  Why not bring back Mega Man Legends 3?

As an action RPG, you won't face direct competition with Beck, which means you won't have to ship a game before Mighty No. 9's release. The genre has been lacking lately, and you'll fall into a lull between Zelda's.  Gamers will be aching for a proper Mega Man game as well as a solid 3D action RPG.  Now is the time to get that ball rolling.

You could even try Kickstarter for this project to really gage public interest.  You'll need either a crack team of veterans or a fresh team to hand the project to. Fresh eyes that grew up with Mega Man could really play at the indie heartstrings,  even within a large company such as yourselves.   Just think, the veterans of tomorrow given a great start.

Think about it Capcom. We love Mega Man. We miss him.  Let him out for a grand adventure.

DM Tips: Fun and Balanced Encounters

Introduction! I've seriously tried writing the intro to this eight times and hate every version, so let's jump right in. Balancing encounters (for challenge and fun) really falls into three parts: Planning, on-the-fly, when the dice misbehave.

Planning Encounters:
1. Don't use one big monster. It never works well. Single monsters go down too quickly or not at all. In the latter, you're asking for a party wipe. Bosses can have minions to run interference, just give the party more than one target to give them something to do.
2. The books have a fair number of tools for planning balanced encounters. Use them.
3. Try to have enemies that mirror the party's abilities. The rogue wants to flank and sneak attack. The warriors want to crush skulls in melee and fell foes en masse. The ranger wants to take out key targets with precise attacks from afar. Clerics heal, mages incinerate things.
4. Error on the side of too many too weak enemies rather than too few stronger enemies. It feels more heroic to charge in and cut down five goblins rather than spend the entire battle dealing blows to a single ogre.
5. Plan varied encounters. Something tense to glue everyone to the edge of their seats followed by a much easier encounter to build confidence is rather effective.   Look up the Star Wars tension graph for how you should plan encounter challenge levels. (Moderate, easy, moderate, slightly challenging,  easy, slightly challenging,  tough, moderate, and so on).
6. Keep notes to avoid cross-referencing to a minimum.  You're driving the game, try to keep from pulling over to check a monster's AC or attack bonus.
7. Plan for variations. This ties into the next part - you want to be prepared with a slightly different encounter if things start going poorly for the party.

On-the-fly counterbalancing:
1. If a monster goes down too quickly,  give it an extra 50% to its hit points to make the fight last longer. If the party is struggling, go the other way. The players don't know the monster's HP, so this is one of the best tricks. If the party knows this type of monster's HP (roughly) then give an in game reason for the difference (e.g. it has deep cuts from a previous battle).
2. When setting up a battle, decide how many enemies to send at the party then.  This shoild vary from your original plan to balance for the party's current state. If the last battle was tougher than expected, take an enemy or two out of the picture to give the players a breather.  Again,  this works great because the party doesn't know what you planned,  so they won't notice the difference.
3. Battle is too easy?  Additional enemies are easy to write in (they heard the battle and came to help their friends).
4. Battle too hard? If you fudge numbers, don't give any indication that you did so.  Better yet, don't fudge numbers (maybe ignore a poorly timed critical hit).  If you suddenly start rolling poorly every time the party is in dire straits, they'll know. Players don't like this. It removes all tension from encounters. Let bad things happen - just don't go for the kill out of spite.  Remember, they can always run away... if they're not trapped.

Bad dice:
1. When a player consistently rolls crap, give them another roll every once in a while.  "Your deity smalls on you, granting you another chance. Roll again." Or maybe, "You strike hard against the bugbear's shield, throwing off his guard. You may take an attack of opportunity." This seems to contradict my advice, on dice fudgery, but players appreciate when you throw them a bone from crap dice.  The dice can ruin their plans - and their fun. Just don't do it all the time.
2. When you consistently roll crap, suck it up. You're not the hero here. Unless it's a battle between NPCs that should be awesome at what they do. In that case, why the hell are you wasting the players' time by rolling?
3. If you consistently roll well, let the players hurt. If it will be a wipe, start plotting how they survive that doesn't involve fudging the dice. They were captured, rescued by NPC, saved by divine intervention, whatever. If all else fails, give them a one-time do-over of the battle (divine intervention?). My point is there are better ways to avoid a party wipe than removing all sense of danger by clearly fudging rolls.

See you next week.

DnD 3.5e House Rule: Fate Points for d20 - The End of Natural 1?

I've recently been playing in a Pathfinder game.  During this last session, nearly half of my rolls were natural 1.  As a player, this was awful.  As a player, poor rolls are just awful.  You're running along, acting the hero, then the dice turn against you.  Suddenly, you're a bad parody, slipping and tripping and throwing your weapon across the room.  From hero to jester in the roll of a die!  I've never seen rolls this bad, but it really drives the point home.

It just seems wrong.

Also recently, my friend has been discussing the Fate system with me.  Fate points are particularly intriguing, allowing a player to take control of the situation and more directly influence the narrative.  By spending a fate point the player calls upon some aspect of their character to act without rolls (or with high bonuses to rolls) to drive the story momentarily.  This is a really great concept, and one I'd like to adapt for d20.

Wait, doesn't d20 have something like this called action points?  These are similar ideas, but action points rely on further randomness.  They're also overly complicated, honestly.  They have several uses, roll some number of dice that depend on your level, and your pool doesn't regenerate in any way between leveling.  Usage is confusing, so action points go unused.

Since I don't think my gaming group would enjoy taking direct control of the narrative, I'm going to use fate points in the following ways, blending them with the use of action points:

• You may spend a fate point to gain a +10 on any d20 roll.  With this usage, you may spend multiple fate points to increase the bonus.
• You may spend a fate point to use an ability that is out of daily uses.  This includes class features (such as Rage, Bardic Music, Wild Shape, Turn Undead, Smite, etc.), feats, and spells (you may "recall" any one spell that had been prepared that day per fate point spent).

That's it - a simple usage to allow the players some control over what happens to their characters when the dice go bad, but how does this relate to natural 1?  When a player rolls a natural 1, they are awarded a fate point.  Whatever happens, at least there's some solace that their luck will even out a bit, but is it enough?

Should natural 1 be automatic failure?  Should natural 1 result in spectacular failure?  These are deeper questions that have long-reaching effects.  One of the primary responsibilities of a DM is fair and consistent ruling.  Ruling that natural 1 may not result in the occasional spectacular failure could prevent some amazing stories coming from the table.  Ruling that natural 1 always results in failure guarantees groans when the dice go south.  This is certainly a table-by-table basis, but the introduction of fate point should lessen the blow for poor rolls.

This is something I'll be trying out starting tonight, so we'll see how it goes.  I'll have to update this post once I have some evidence of how well this works out and what needs to be tweaked (such as how large should a fate pool be).

See you next week.

Hatsune Miku Project Diva F

There were very few games at PAX my wife was intending to play at PAX.  Hatsune Miku Project Diva F was one of them, but the line was consistently long enough to deter us.  However, since the game launched before PAX, there was a demo waiting on the PlayStation Store.  We played late into the night - hours consumed by this distinctly Japanese rhythm game, or rather, it's demo consisting of three songs.

Project Diva is one of those games you just don't expect to see released outside of Japan.  The entire game centers on J-Pop vocaloids.  However, this niche focus is largely what makes the game stand out.  All the aethetics are built to that cute/anime theme.  The visuals are vivid and alive, and a lot of work has been poured into giving the vocaloids personality.  The soundscape is fully complemented by the music videos and menus.  In short, it all looks and sounds right.

It feels right, too.  The gameplay is challenging and deeper than the Dance Dance Revolution predecessors - or it just feels that way because the designers clearly built the interactions specifically for the PS3 controller. Aside from the usual push/hold <button> at the right time, flicking a control stick acts as a fifth button. Then there are the strong notes.  These require pressing a button and matching directional button at the same time.  This seems like nothing special,  but its usage is reserved (in most cases) for when the vocaloids hit those notes they need to belt out or when you hit the emotional high of the song.  It really pulls you into the song, and there's just nothing quite like landing a series of notes with a strong note finisher.

On top of an excellent rhythm game, there's plentiful customization.  While playing, you unlock further songs and earn Diva Points to buy new outfits and accessories for your vocaloids.  Each song allows you to choose and customize your performer, which adds a nice personal touch to every video.  There's a fair assortment of these outfits and items, ranging from cute to sexy to kind-of-slutty to goofy.  Accessorize however you want, the game won't judge.

There's also a feature where you can visit the vocaloids in their room to give them gifts and play games with them (rock-paper-scissors), but it feels creeper-y.  It's like the voyeuristic version of The Sims.  However, certain items are unlocked by leveling up your affinity with each vocaloid, requiring you to play this part of the game for 100% completion.

Finally,  we get to the editing tools. The toolset is extremely powerful and more than a little overwhelming.   You have an incredible amount of control, and I'm sure there will be some amazing music videos from die-hard fans.  However, anyone with a passing interest will likely be too intimidated to try their hand.

What Project Diva amounts to is an excellent rhythm game with several features built purely as fan service.  The controls are slick, intuitive, and approachable for newcomers, yet the incredible challenge of higher difficulties will keep advanced players more than entertained for hours on end.  There's absolutely no reason not to try the demo, so give it a go and find out if this game is for you.  Even if it sounds like something you wouldn't like, take the time to try it.  At the very least, you'll have a unique gaming experience, and at best you'll discover a new game you love and some excellent earworms.

TL;DR: Try the demo now to find out if you'll love it.  Buy it if you do.
Most Like: Final Fantasy Theatrhythm

See you next week.

Re: PAX 2013

This marks my second year of PAX.  While I certainly enjoyed it more this year (having not just been laid off), it really felt like there was a lack of excitement.  There were no "must play" titles.  Not even the new consoles drew my interest:  The Xbox One is a system without a soul (due to the great redaction of features/requirements), and the PS4 is only a marginal improvement for the end user (developers on the other hand...).  So what was worth checking out?

Crypt of the Necrodancer
The Indie Megabooth is the shining jewel of PAX.  It's the home of games you didn't know existed - the type that are truly exciting and interesting.  Topping that list for me is Crypt of the Necrodancer, a rhythm-based dungeon crawler with an excellent retro aesthetic and astounding sound to back it up.  It's beat-based turn system drives the player to constant action, demanding "flow" level concentration, instantly putting the player "in the zone."  I wholeheartedly recommend this one, so go preorder it now.

Tengami
This zen point-and-click (touch?) adventure is a wondrous work of beauty.  The game plays like a pop-up book (such that any scene could be made into a physical, functioning page).  This is one of those games that sells you on the visual style, and it's just a fantastic world to explore.  Absolutely worth a look, and I'll definitely be getting it on Wii U early next year.  However, you could get it for iOS later this fall.

Neverending Nightmares
Horror is my thing.  I haven't tried the demo yet, but the looping trailer was enough to make my skin crawl.  This is the game about the developer's own struggles with mental illness, which promises a unique experience.  If that's the sort of thing you're into, go back this one.  If not, try the demo, available on their Kickstarter page.

Honorable Mentions
Armello - Turn-based strategy with for iOS with awesome antrhopomorphic animal characters.  Too bad I don't have an iPad.
Repopulation - An MMO that structures what quests you get based on your actions.  Certainly intriguing.
Legend of Dungeon - Think New Super Mario Bros as a procedurally-generated dungeon-crawling beat-em-up.  With hats.  Keep an eye on this one (or maybe buy it while it's in beta).

Paint and Take
Aside from the excellence of indies, my favorite part of PAX was Reaper Miniatures' free paint-and-take: Pick a model, paint it, and take it home.  Simple, fun, and a great marketing idea.  It's the equivalent of getting the free Magic the Gathering deck in your PAX swag bag.  You get to try it for free, and they might earn a new loyal customer.  I'm totally sold on their paints now; they dry fast and mix well.  The bottles utilize spouts (similar to a super glue bottle), which works much better than a simple paint well.  They'll be doing a Kickstarter later this year, so watch out for that if you like giant bone creature minis.

Sorry for the late post yet again, but I forgot that PAX was coming up.  I'll get back on schedule this week.

See you Friday.

Gamer Bushido Virtues

Last week, I had a lot to say on respect. I thought I would have enough content to warrant each virtue its own post. I don't.

Respect
Gamers come from all sorts of backgrounds and gene pools.  They are all human and deserve to be treated as such. More over, they should be treated as a comrade in arms, regardless of heritage, upbringing, or lifestyle. Games are for everyone.

Treat others with the respect they deserve, and demand the respect you deserve.  We are all here to play.  Give your respect freely until you have reason to revoke it. Welcome new players with respect, and our community will flourish.

Loyalty
As a gamer, you belong to a fellowship of players.  Do not betray this comraderie, and, more importantly, do not betray the game creators that make this community possible.  They should have your respect and admiration for their great sacrifices made on a daily basis. Be loyal to them.

Stand up and defend them for the work they do, even if you disagree with their decisions. Don't like the sorceress design in Dragon's Crown?  Good, have your opinion. Don't like that your favorite weapon in Call of Duty will have its damage decreased by a hardly perceivable amount in the next patch? Feel free to get sad, even mad, but understand that game design at such a minute scale is intensive work that has been thoroughly playtested. Even when the publisher mandates a feature into a game, stand with the developer. They will deliver the best game possible under their constraints.   If a feature prevents you from enjoying or purchasing a game, write to your developer to voice your opinion in a calm and respectful manner.

Do not pirate any game under any circumstance (see Extra Credits for the one and only exception). Getting laid off because your studio doesn't make enough money is devastating, and studio closures scatter amazing talent.

Finally, do not ever threaten any gamer or game developer in any capacity. I shouldn't have to even say this, but some people are just less than human. Deny these monsters the rank of gamer - they are not worthy.

Honor
Do not game the system. Be it the integer overflow in Diablo III, the dance-to-disengage from SWTOR, or EA's new return policy for digital games, do not take advatage of games, developers, or publishers.

Do not cheat in multiplayer, and obey house rules (e.g. no Oddjob in Goldeneye, no overshield in Halo, no "power overwhelming" in Starcraft).  If the developer left cheats for you, enjoy them honorably - in single player or when cheats have been declared fair game.  Play fair.

Do not rage against quit. Admit defeat in the time honored tradition of "gg" - "Good Game."  End all matches this way, regardless of the victor.  Lose with grace.

Honesty
Be true to yourself.  Whether you like or dislike something, do not deny your feelings. Be prepared to explain your opinion in a well-formed response.

Do not "go easy" on a less skilled player without their request.  To do so is disrespectful. Respectfully offer a handicap if you feel it is warranted.

Benevolence
Be kind. The world has a very poor opinion of gamers.  If they saw more good works, such as Child's Play, maybe our public image would improve.

Be kind to new players. Welcome them to our community. Offer to help when it is timely, and offer constructive criticism if they ask. Be helpful, but do not mandatr their actions.  Let them choose how they want to play the game.

Courage
Have the courage to stand up to adversity. Stand up for games, gamers, and developers. Do not suffer disrespect of yourself or others. Stand tall and proudly proclaim you are a gamer.

Have the courage to be honest, to do what's right. Have the courage to wait until you can buy the game instead of pirating it. Have the courage to hold your angered toung.

Finally, have the courage to admit your short-comings.  Have the courage to improve.

Rectitude
Be righteous: Do what is right, always and without exception.  Act respectfully, even when you're in a bad mood and losing the match because a new player on your team doesn't know what they're doing.  Be honest, even when your opinion is not the popular one.  Do what's right, now matter the circumstances.

Gamer Bushido Virtues: Respect

Edit: This ended up being one big post instead of seven. Just skip ahead for all seven bushido virtues. 

Gamer culture has become toxic.  I know we can do better (back in my day...), so to that end I offer you this seven part series applying the virtues of Bushido to gaming.  Why Bushido? Because chivalry is dead :)

What are the seven virtues of Bushido?
-Rectitude
-Courage
-Benevolence
-Respect
-Honesty
-Honor
-Loyalty

Respect thy fellow gamer
Respect your fellow gamer's choices.  Just because they choose not to use the mathematically proven best build/load out/whatever does not warrant disrespect.  Maybe they have found a trick that works better than the "best" method known.  Maybe this method just works better with their play style.  Maybe they just find this method more enjoyable to play.  Whatever their reasons, do not harass them about their choice.

Respect your fellow gamer for who they are.  Gamers can be male or female or anything in between or outside of that.  They can be of any skin color, sexual orientation, creed, name, or any other variable of human.  If non-humans ever become gamers, let them have their fun too.

Respect your fellow gamer regardless of skill level.  Brandishing a new player to a game as a nub/n00b/newb/etc. will only exclude new players from getting into what you love - which will shorten its lifespan (especially in these days of online games and server shutdowns).  Why is LoL more popular than HoN?  Because new players were welcomed, not shouted at with such vile filth that they found something else to play.  On the other side of this coin, do not insult a less skilled player by going easy on them unless they request it.

Respect your fellow gamer's tastes.  Maybe you like Sony and the like Nintendo.  Maybe you like CoD and they like Battlefield.   Maybe they like RPGs, JRPGs, Puzzlers, Horror, Facebook games, or mobile games.  Whatever game they like, letting them enjoy it will not make you enjoy your games less.  Respect their tastes, and be open to discuss quality.  I enjoy Mr. Mosquito for its unique and wacky experience, but I am also one of the first to admit it's an awful game.

Respect your game developers.  Game development is a long and arduous task that is riddled with bureaucracy.  Do not send hate mail their way.  Do not send death threats their way.  Understand how much of their life they pour into these creations.

Respect the non-gamers. They have their own past times and hobbies.  If they don't understand games, they won't want to if gamers treat them poorly.  If all they see is the exclusive and toxic culture we have now, why wouldn't they think less of us?

See you next week.

Review: New StreetPass Games

Nintendo recently decided to beef up the 3DS StreetPass Plaza, adding a myriad of new puzzles, plenty of hats, four new games, a new interface, and some optimizations to boot.  While the new games cost $5 each (or $15 for all four), it's a small price to pay for a set of games that give you reason to keep your system with you.  It works out to about 30-60 minutes of play time every time you check your StreetPasses, which can easily work out to 20 hours of gameplay just to complete the main goal of each game, and 40+ for full completion.  However, since play sessions are broken up, it doesn't carry the same commitment as a RPG of comparable length, allowing you to just play and enjoy the fun.

Mii Force
Starting out as a 2.5D scrolling shooter, this game approaches bullet hell as the difficulty ramps across the missions of variois themes.  You play as the commander of Mii Force, a galactic defense squad akin to Star Fox, but wih questionable choice in weaponry. Your StreetPasses become pilots of ships-that-are-guns called pods.  That person's favorite color determines which weapon you acquire, ranging from lasers and missiles to bouncing balls and buzz saws.  Each weapon has its pros and cons, but some seem useless when compared to others; the bomb hits its target, the bounces off to explode a second later - after the enemy has moved on.  Each mission has a set of three goals above completion: Target score, Collect the five gems, and No-hit clear.  These add to mission replayability, giving you a reason to retry missions instead of pushing through the campaign.

However, there's a core design flaw that makes this game overly difficult at times.  Since pods are both weapons and health,  your firepower and survivability are directly correlated to the number of people you've StreetPassed.  For anything beyond the first set of missions, you'll want at least three pods, which can be hard to get if you don't live in a tech-savvy metropolitan area.  You can spend StreetPass Coins to hire mercenaries of a random color or certain people in your history, but this only works so well. With a cap of ten coins earned in a day and several other games to spend these on, its hard to convince yourself either cost is worthwhile.

Overall, Mii Force is fun when you have enough people StreetPass queue, but obnoxiously difficult when you don't.  It's a cool concept, but that design flaw keeps this one from really shining.

Flower Town
Probably the most different of the StreetPass games (and radically different from what you see in the AAA spectrum of brown and gray shooters),  Flower Town is a game about relaxing, gardening, and just having a good time - or it would be if the game would stop reminding me of that every time I start it up.  You play as a gardener, growing plants qith friends and trying to earn the rank of Master Gardener by growing twenty different breeds.  There are many more than the twenty you need, so, as expected and designed, it's not too much of a challenge.  Aside from growing flowers, you can arrange your garden, talk to the people you StreetPass, visit the mall for supplies (seeds, flower pots, gardening plots, and stuff to decorate your garden with).  There's also a job system where you can grow a flower based on the description of what a client wants (and the law that is the job-giver's suggestions).  It's actually refreshing to see this amount of depth in a game with core mechanics that have nothing to do with defeating enemies or saving princesses.

However that's probably the nicest thing I have to say about this game.  All in all, Flower Town is incredibly frustrating.   The tutorial takes up roughly ten play sessions and consists of forced actions, so if you happen to want to do something with the flower you just grew when it comes time to plant the next tutorial flower, too bad.  You have to grow that flower now, and you can't put it down until it's grown - which prevents you from turning in a flower for a job, rearranging your garden, or collecting more seeds from the flower you just finished growing.  Every time you play the game, you have to go through eight screens of text before you can actually do anything, and another three if you pass someone you've passed before (after they introduce you to special mechanics involving such a person).  It's a perfect example of a game that keeps you from playing itself, and it makes it all the more frustrating because of the intent of a relaxing experience.

Warrior's Way
Conquer the world one country at a time in this rock-paper-scissors strategy game.  You lead an army into battle where you assign troops to the roles of calvary (rock), archery (scissors), or infantry (paper).  During the battle, you choose which of these three units to attack with in each of the three rounds.  Whoever has the most troops in a skirmish wins that round, but these numbers are modified by advantage (calvary halves the troops in an opposed archery unit), random terrain (high winds forces a disadvantage on archery units, even against infantry), and special troops (barbarians reduce an equal unit by 2/3, or 4/5 if they have the advantage).  It's simple and quick, but  can be fairly strategic at times.

You gain troops through StreetPasses.  Owners of the game become monarchs from afar, and you can choose to greet them peacefully for a chance they will give you troops or attack them to forcibly take troops.  People who don't own the game are allies who always give you troops.

As you progress, you gain castle upgrades that award more mercenaries from StreetPasa Coins  or new abilities, such as spy (determine what type of unit your opponent will send next round), deepening the strategy.

Overall, this is probably my favorite game  of the bunch, but I am biased due to the strategic elements mixed with the gambling of taking on armies larger than my own.  The design is undeniably solid while progressing, but I do worry waiting to gather a larger army may get dull - if I ever need to do that.  The game balances based on your current troop count, so pressing through with a smaller army seems to be optimal; if you are stopped to build a larger army, you'll only need a few thousand troops instead of tens of thousands.

Monster Mansion
Certainly the beefiest of the four, this game involves exploring a haunted mansion by gathering puzzle pieces from your fellow explorers trapped in the house.  Each piece lays down flooring in that person's favorite color.  Creating rooms large rooms  of the same color awards the player with loot, but each new color becomes a new room where a monster may be waiting.   Find the stairs to move onto the next floor, or stay to fill the current one.

Monsters trigger an active battle system where you must manage your weapon's energy level while attacking and defending. Some weapons offer charged attacks and special abilities to help defeat your foe.  Winning earns experience points for your current weapon and gems used to further upgrade weapons.

Monster Mansion clocks in as pretty excellent. It's quick to play, simple and variably strategic (I put in a lot of thought into where to place pieces to maximize room size, but there's nearly as much to be gained from numerous small rooms).  I've nearly beat the core objective of the other games, but I have no idea how many more floors there are in the mansion.  All in all, it's a great micro-RPGish game to play when you've got a few minutes.

Conclusion
Even though Mii Force is a bit flawed and Flower Town can really get in the way of itself, I strongly suggest getting the bundle of these games.  $15 is a pretty small price for a fresh breath of air to the entire system. These games can all be fun, and I know others count Flower Town anf Mii Force as their favorite of the few.  In the end, they're all fun, and you're more likely to play these games than $15 of Steam sales.

See you next week (for real this time).

Where Did I Go?

Back in June, I decided to play through Majora's Mask a second time.  Despite this being my favorite game of the series, I'd only played it through once before, when it first came out.  During my first summer break of DigiPen, I had tried a second play through and nearly finished the game, but once sophomore year started up, all time instantly vanished and Majora's Mask ended up back on the shelf.  Finally, I can say I've replayed the first game I preordered.

Also in June, I happened across the first book in the Legend of the Five Rings: Clan Wars series.  In the time between high school and DigiPen, I fell hard for the L5R world and card game.  My friends found the first couple books in the by-then-dated series, and before moving to Washington I had found the third.  Then DigiPen happened, and the journey was left unfinished.  After re-reading the Scorpion book in June, I had to finally wrap this loose end up.

That's what I've been doing instead of writing for the last few Fridays.  I've been focused on wrapping up loose ends from years passed instead of announcing to the internet that I haven't been working on my game much.  Part of this is just clearing the cobwebs off my to-do list, but the deeper purpose is soul searching and acceptance.

A majority of my year has revolved around coming to terms with myself - accepting that I'm only a man and that there are only 24 hours in the day, accepting the decisions and mistakes I've made, accepting who I am and really coming to terms with what that means with who I want to be.  Recently, this has included reflecting on who I was and trying to find the unending perseverance that defined me.

Currently, that search has led me to closing open loops in my life - beating down my game queue, getting back into reading, and digging into my project backlog.  I've got a few big ones that are/will be in the way of game development, but they've been weighing me down.

What does that mean for my little soapbox here?  Basically, I'll get back into weekly updates, but more along the lines of discussing games and gamer culture instead of progress reports.  I've a couple topics up my sleeve, so we'll see how that goes.

See you next week.

Majora's Mask

(Yep, nothing new - started watching Unity videos, but life is getting in the way.  Instead, here's some thoughts on Majora's Mask.)

I consider myself lucky to be attending an open event next week to discuss game design with the general topic of bringing a game to rant and rave about (some aspect loved, another hated). To that end, I'm reaching into the intersection on the Venn diagram of one of my favorites and what I'm currently playing: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask for the N64 (henceforth refered to as MM, since I write these things on the bus using my phone).

All around, I consider MM a thoroughly excellent title and my favorite of the 3D LoZ games.  To this day, the visuals hold up, despite the lack of polygons and low resolution of textures.  What Nintendo lacks in quantity, they make up for with overflowing quality. The art is stylized, unmistakable, and remains beautiful. The graphics are superb overall, and I'd suspect even the most hardcore Call of Duty fans could appreciate the visuals.

The sound quality is up to Nintendo's usual phenomenal standards, such that any expressive animation is matched by the accompanying soundtrack and effects.  Every action is tied to satisfying audio feedback, and the music is both haunting and beautiful.  When the world nears its final moments, the bell's toll over a deeply  chilling track that really sells the weight of the moon falling.

The story breaks from the general LoZ formula in that Link is not ultimately trying to rescue the princess, but rather is searching for a friend (presumably Navi) when the mysterious Skull Kid, now empowered by the dark relic of the game's title, leads the Hyrulian hero into the world of Termina, aptly named as this world will be destroyed in three days by the falling moon.  Link, originally just trying to get the Ocarina of Time back from the Skull Kid, gets wrapped  up in the quest to save this world.

Termina as a setting is wonderful - a complete world that feels alive and active. Oblivion's Aurora engine did for NPCs what MM had long ago accomplished by giving each character a schedule, but since voice acting never has penetrated the LoZ series (thank goodness), the world feels much more alive and believable since no one comments on Link's skills as he walks by.  As the moon comes closer and closer to Clock Town, citizens flee the city, some seeking refuge at a ranch some distance away, others vanishing altogether (and in one case, cowering in the hidden backroom of their business).  All these characters have their own problems and agendas, which really helps to sell the world, but what really pushes this over the edge is the interconnectivity between the cast.

Aside from the usual standards of the LoZ series (exploration, dungeons, items, swordplay, and macguffins), MM introduces a myriad of side quests of varying relevance based on solving problems of the townsfolk.  Even better is how one problem fixed ripples throughout the three day cycle. For example, if you save an old woman from being robbed (who happens to be the owner of the local bomb shop), you are rewarded immediately with an item and the store will then carry larger bomb bags.  However, without the score, the thief never visits the local pawn shop, which affects another character's stake out of the shady establishment.  Because he never learns the thief's identity or the location of his lair, this charcter cannot retrieve his wedding mask, leaving his fiance to wait in town as the moon falls (assuming you convinced her not to flee).  This key mechanic of talking with the townspeople is used to great effect.  Quite frankly, it's just refreshing to solve problems in a game with nonviolent means.

Also introduced was the concept of time truly passing.  As I mentioned, there are just three days until the moon falls, destroying Termina entirely.  Of course, time passes at a videogame rate, which means these three days are just 72 minutes of real time.  This would be completely terrifying, but the Ocarina of Time and the Song of Time allow the player to reset the clock, returning to the start of the first day with key items, but not consumables (rupees, arrows, bombs, etc.).  This rewind undoes any progress in dungeons, but once a boss is beaten, a teleporter apppears at the dungeon's entrance to shortcut directly to the boss easily.  Finally, the rewind also resets the problems the NPCs face.  However, player knowledge is retained, which is incredibly important and powerful (knowing how to fix someone's problem, where to find someone, and what the lotto numbers of the day are, for example).  The knowledge and key items are enough to keep the player progressing through each cycle, but still the constant pressure of time looms over them, best seen as one particularly demanding side quest brings the player right down to the final moments before the moons hits,  basically daring the player into a nerve-wracking game of chicken against time.

There is a critical flaw with the game, however.  Though it may be a minor segment, the stealth portion of the game is purely frustrating as is the water area around it (swimming as a Zora is excellent, but an invisible maze keeps the player from truly enjoying the experience).  The player must infiltrate a pirate base, but is thrown outside the compound if caught. Given that the camera can only be controlled using Z-Targeting (forcing the camera to look in the direction Link is facing), this stealth is pretty difficult to maintain as the player loses sight of the patrolling guards.  Despite a camera even showing me the door to go through, it blends in behind a pillar. Going through the wrong door leads the player directly into a guard - and ejection from the inner complex. It's frustrating and time consuming (which is a precious resource, as stated above).

Majora's Mask is sheer excellence, dented by the pre-water temple segment.  Stealth is particularly difficult with such limited camera control.  However, one additional featires redeems this awful portion - an item that makes Link invisible. If the player goes off the intended path, it's possible to get this item before the infiltration mission,  allowing a player to completely bypass this frustration.  It's likely meant for players on a second play through, but is worth mentioning all the same.

Majora's Mask is one of the finest in adventure RPGs, and one of the strongest (and most different) LoZ games out there.   It's available on the Wii (U) eShop, and I can't recommend it enough.  If you're like me and still have the N64 kicking around with the memory expansion pack, you should try to track down an original copy.  There's just no substitute for controlling the Ocarina with the C Buttons.  Of course,  we can all hope that the rumors of a 3DS remake are true.  Whatever method or system you have available, you should absolutely play this game.

See you next... - oh wait, no.  Have a happy and safe 4th of July weekend!  See you the week after that.

Books!

(Err, nothing to report.  Here's something else entirely!)

I'm so not ready to write anything this week, so this will be a hodgepodge.  I was originally going to write about Microsoft's big turnaround, but I don't have a unique angle to give: I don't like DRM, but they didn't have to kill every feature, did they?  That's the story you'll find nearly everywhere, so why bother reinventing the wheel?

I've been reading a lot lately, so here's my top five books (in no particular order)!
1. Stephen King's On Writing.
This is just an inspiring book that any creator can learn from.  The biggest lesson/reminder for me was the need to submerse your in your art form and other life experiences.  It's part of why I haven't gotten back to work yet - and definitely why I'm reading so much lately.

2. Getting Things Done
This book is a bit less straightforward than On Writing, but is a major life-lesson as well.  GTD is a work/life methodology of how to actually get things done (you may have guessed that from the title).  Biggest lesson here is the importance of writing stuff down whenever you think of it so you can focus your mind of the task at hand.  I cannot recommend it enough to people about to go to college.
3. The Book of Lost Things
An absolutely fantastic Narnia-esque tale.  It's moving dark fiction.
4. World War Z
This is the definitive zombie apocalypse writing.  Damned good, and focuses on the human element throughout - which is the correct usage of zombies.  Movie looks like a pile shit though.
5.Legend of the Five Rings: The Clan War Scroll #1 - The Scorpion
This is purely biased, but it really sells the world of Rokugan.  I love the L5R card game, campaign setting, and damn me if the Scorpion clan isn't fucking amazing.

Alright, enough rambling.  See you next week.

Re: E3 2013

Man, what a week.  E3 had an energy this year that's just been missing; I'm legitimately excited.  There's an electricity in the air from the new consoles and the flood of titles accompanying them.  Here's my run down:

Ubisoft knows how to put on a show - they mostly stuck to videos and actually had a level of zest in their presentations, instead of the usual lie about a live demo being played by person-holding-a-controller on stage (they pulled this trick with The Crew, but I'm still psyched about that one; it's like all the best parts of the Need For Speed franchise turned up to eleven).  They had a lot to show, and gave us just enough of a sample to make us want more.  Now that's how you build hype!

SquareEnix has revived Kingdom Hearts 3 - remember how this was a thing last console cycle?  Final Fantasy vs XIII has become FFXV instead, and it looks shiny - even fun!  Of course, there's also Thief, which we'll see how that goes when it comes out (I'm cautiously optimistic about that one, for I desperately want it to be excellent).

I skipped EA, but I'm happy Mirror's Edge 2 is happening.  I missed the first one, but always had interest.  From what I heard, it wasn't far from the mark.

Nintendo had its share of bad news. It seems delays are the norm, which is not good for the old guard.  The Wii U might pick up steam come October, but it's certainly a dark horse in this race.  However, I have faith.  They have a habit of pulling tricks out of their sleeves in the form of mushrooms and rupees.  The biggest surprise was certainly Mega Man coming to Smash Bros, which makes me stupid excited.  Sorry Jigglypuff, you've been replaced!

Then we hit the Sony power house.  Their exclusive line-up was strong enough to hold the system up, but then they announced that the PS4 is sticking to the way we've done things for years.  You own the disc, can trade and lend it how you want.  This is one of the few announcements about technology staying the same that will earn rousing applause and cheers, and was quite possibly the most smug moment of human history.  When they released the price at $100 less than the Xbox One, you could feel Microsoft double-over.  That's a huge difference.  There's also the ability to self publish on the PS4 (!!!), which is incredible for indies.

Then we hit Microsoft. They're trying to do what Steam does, but their implementation is comparatively sloppy and isn't supported by the current internet infrastructure in the US.  They need to change the daily check in, hands down.  Titanfall is their best exclusive offering, since Halo only showed a teaser (why does he need a cloak, anyway?).  Killer Instinct is now covered in stigma, and they lost most of my interest because of that scene, which is a shame because I still have - and love - my copy of Killer Cuts (the OST that came with the awesome black SNES cartridge).

I had considered, and even tried, writing an entire post on the whole "Just let it happen" issue, but there are a plethora of articles on the subject - better written ones.  However, it is worth a paragraph or two, since all the articles muddle the issue with the speaker, recipient, and what they were doing.

The problem is this, and this alone:  One person says to another, "Just let it happen" for a laugh.  It's not that a man said it to a woman, that they said this at E3, or that it occurred while the woman was getting trounced at a violent video game.  What matters is that one person used language related to rape (Google "Just let it happen meme" for proof - the first result is "rape sloth"), as a joke.  That is the problem in its entirety.  It is not okay to make a joke out of rape, no matter if you are on stage at a public event, playing an online game, or hanging out with your close friends behind closed doors.  It's not okay, and that's that.

 As for Microsoft's responses:
*She wasn't offended.  So? It's still a rape joke.
*We apologize.  This seems insincere, particularly because they passed the buck by saying that wasn't scripted.
*That wasn't scripted.  I call BS.  E3 is too big to leave any part unrehearsed, especially after their reveal fell flat.  Maybe it wasn't written in the script technically, but you can safely bet they rehearsed that bit.  You can hear it in their voices.  Their speech sounds incredibly unnatural, and not due to stage fright - that sounds warbly, like the person is shaken.  Their delivery was just too flat to be off-the-cuff.

All in all, Microsoft has done a fine job convincing me not to get their console.  Some of their system sounds neat, but too much is just not ready (or out of their control) for me to be comfortable with it.

Aside from that rough start, E3 was great this year.  I'd even say inspiring.  Forcing myself to take a week off from development obligations has gotten me pretty itchy to get back into it, so I expect I'll get back on the horse soon.

See you next week.

Minotaur PR (or Lack Thereof): Seeking

For yet another week, I'm stalling.  I've been struggling with some pretty deep questions about myself and working up any amount of motivation, but on both fronts I'm coming up empty.  Rather, I've been feeling empty these days, for lack of a better term.

Currently,  I'm seeking.  Seeking what?  I don't know.  I guess I'm looking to fill that emptiness I feel, and am currently doing so with videogames from my childhood and adolescence, as well as the games I never got around to - particularly in the Mega Man and Metroid franchises.  I also picked up Remember Me this week, for an even split between honest interest in the game and to support Dontnod's fight for a female protagonist.  I've also determined to start reading more, as well as getting back into writing on a regular basis (these progress reports don't fully count).

On the topic of Remember Me, it's a pretty solid game.  The story is fully engaging, the gameplay is on par, but the inclusion of collecting hidden files is a mechanic that just goes against the grain of the experience.  They have a truly awesome world and phenomenal visuals, but the hidden objects remind me that I'm playing a game instead of allowing myself to get lost in Neo-Paris.  (Much more on that concept, eventually.)

So what does this seeking mean for Minotaur?  Right now, I'm focusing on personal projects - as in projects regarding who I am and how I feel about myself as a person.  However,  my Ouya arrived yesterday, so the tingle of inspiration is not too far off.  At the very least, I'm taking next week off of thinking about how I should be watching Unity tutorials instead of trying to relax enough that I can sleep properly.  However, I will be checking in on Friday, so -

See you next week.

The Unity of Microsoft and Mega Man

This is still arguably a progress report for Minotaur, but seeing as I'm trying to figure out Unity with a simple arcade game, I didn't think it would be appropriate to flag this as such.

So Unity...

Thus far, I've installed it (and Blender for simple 3D modeling of primitives, such as a plane made of two tris instead of many), but I haven't gotten into it.  This is definitely one of those things I'll want to follow tutorials on for a while instead of my usual method (which is dive in deep and get myself into trouble).  However, tutorials require being online, which is not usually when I get work done (e.g. on the bus).

So since that's about all I've got, how about a brief rant on Microsoft and Mega Man?

Windows 8.1 is on its way, with a start button (here, my wife would be surr to cut me off to correct me - start hint).  This hint is a one-click return to the start screen, because that's clearly why people are so ticked about the desktop lacking the start menu.  Oh wait, did I say start menu?  Yes, and that's what people miss, not the button (now hint).

Let's go back in time to Windows 95.  Those of you too you to remember, think of Windows 7, just a lot more blocky and lower resolution.  Let's think of this in terms of level design:  Your player boots up the game, and you want them to discover the key mechanic as quickly as possible.  What do you do?  You make it the only viable option, place it on the left side of the screen (assume your core audience reads left-to-right), and label it Start (see Mega Man X - you select start, and Mega Man fires a half charged shot, showing the player two of three key mechanics available at the beginning of the game [shooting and charging shots]).  Whammo, immersed!

So the big thing with Windows 8 is the new start screen and tiles, so it makes sense to do the same thing.  However, now you have years of convention and bias toward the old mechanic, so you include parts of it, but miss a key element such as a small menu that quickly let's you start a new program without completely breaking your flow on your current activity.  Sticking with the Mega Man X anology, we have the introduction of 3D gameplay in Mega Man X7.  We see the return of shooting and charged shots, but the game ends up awful and doesn't feel like Mega Man at all. Why?

As mentioned before, Mega Man X had three main mechanics at the start of the game, the aforementioned shooting and charged shots, and jumping. X7 had jumping, so what was missing?  The critical component (clearly realized as such with its inclusion as a primary ability in the rest of the series) is dashing.  However, X7 still had that, so we still haven't lost anything, right?

The missing piece is not the mechanic itself, but the gameplay it allowed. Suddenly, Mega Man is able to dash through the levels, reach far gaps, move more quickly, and all but fly using a dash jump.  The speed and intensity of gameplay is drastically increased, almost frantic, yet still tight controls allows for incredible precision.  Whereas Mario slides to a stop, Mega Man just stops from a mad dash.

That's what we lost in X7, the speed and intensity.  This is what Sonic lost when trying to go 3D.  This is what Nintendo mastered in the realm of 3D platforming.  Gameplay feels the same throughout the Mario franchise, but Sonic and Mega Man didn't - at least not yet.

See you next week (perhaps with a unified subject instead of a dualistic rant).

Edit:  Seems you may be able to get something akin to the start menu in Windows 8.1 by messing with settings, but Microsoft marketing is too busy making dubstep dance routines and slandering competitors to create any informative advertising lately.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: The Road More Travelled By

Once again, I'm breaking format and don't have much to report.  I've been running ideas and engine designs and scenarios through my head this week, but haven't fully decided which way to go on several key decisions.  However, there's been a lot of articles on Unity recently that have really piqued my interest.

Basically, what I'm running into is that Unity is free, established, and supports many platforms.  There's quite a few solid 2D tutorials that popped up this week, and the recent announcement that publishing to mobile is now free really makes Unity enticing.

So here's the plan:  I'm going to try Unity out for a week and see how I feel about it.  I've got a simple game idea to try out which is a bit more active.  Taking a short break from Minotaur should hopefully refresh my spirit for the project - and having a bit more time to work with Unity before bringing it over should prove valuable.

See you next week.

There Can Only Be One!

The Xbox One was revealed today, and I've been enraged about it all day.  It was designed from the ground up as an all-around entertainment device, not a game console.  It's got online-only features that encourage always-online games, and reports are mixed and confrustrating on whether or not used games (or borrowed from a friend games) will be playable without purchase.  The theme of the reveal was magic and science, but all I see is black magic and dark alchemy.

Let's start with the wide focus of the system.  The Xbox 360 began as a gamer's console and a strong launch title in Oblivion.  It evolved into an everything console, with services like Netflix and Hulu offering another form of entertainment when you didn't feel like taking on another persona and charging into battle as Master Chief/Modern Soldier/The Dovakin.  However, this time around, it's a flipped scenario.  The One is to be for TV and fantasy football, Skype and Comcast, with games on the backburner.  Yes, it's great to have more options and more experiences, but when those take the primary role of the console (I'm making that assumption based on the dominance TV watching took during the reveal), the games side suffers.  That's what I'm most worried about on this front - that the one will be a powerful thing, but not a game console.

Secondly, always-online requirements are always wrong (okay, not always: MMOs by their nature require you to be online, as do Facebook games).  It's a cool concept to empower the system to live forever by adding cloud computing, but by encouraging it so heavily, Microsoft worries me and leads me to believe that we have yet another veiled attempt at always online DRM.  Worse yet, what if you have to subscribe to Live to be able to play a single player game?  What if the servers get shut down?  This is scary and bad stuff.

Finally, we have the major threat tothe used games market.  As a developer, it would seem I'm fighting for the wrong side, but I like game stores, and I imagine without used sales, we'll see a lot of closings.  With fewer stores, will games sales suffer?  More importantly, what about letting a friend borrow a game or taking a game over to a friend's house?  These are key experiences to gaming that I don't want to go away.

The Xbox One scares me.  Given what I've seen today, I honest am hoping for one of two scenarios:  Either Microsoft changes it's tune at E3 and we have a game console that allows for borrowing/trading/used games, or the whole system is such a tremendous flop that no company will ever consider this route ever again.  I hope it will be the former.  Only time will tell.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: Or Not

No progress this week - I had an interview to prepare for instead.

See you next week.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: Finding My Stride

Legend:
(-) Goal incomplete
(~) Goal partially complete (buggy/hacked)
(+) Goal complete

Goals for this week:
1. Continue engine redesign
a. (+) Overhaul sprite rendering

Goals for next week:
1. Continue engine overhaul
a. Finish Sprite revision

Other work done:
None

It's been a good week for Minotaur - a few key upgrades took up my development time (which is finding a rhythm that fits into my life without dominating it), including reworking how sprites are rendered - specifically adding scale, rotation, and color filtering.  This gives me a lot more power and really expands the amount of polish/shine/feedback/juice that I can provide.  It's one of those major wins for adding a lot of little things to make every action feel satisfying.

However,  there's still a tremendous amount of work to pour into making a decent engine.  One of the big ones will be deciding how to handle the object list, particles, collision, saving/loading, and a myriad of other things I haven't thought of yet.  In the end though, it should pay off when I get to working with a solid engine - so much dev time will be saved later.

See you next week.

On the Bus: My Ouya

A quick about for this On the Bus thing: Quite simply, I have stuff on my mind, want to write more often, and the evening bus ride offers time for that.  It will be a random release schedule.

Right now (or maybe it's over by now) there's an Ouya AMA over at reddit - which I don't make time to use.  I've nothing against reddit, it's just not something I've adopted, or really plan to.  I'm indifferent.  However, there's been a lot going through my mind on the Ouya, especially since it was launched on March 27, but only 50% of early backers have had their consoles shipped.  I'm in the other half - still waiting and trying to be patient.

The key word there is trying.  I'm a dev.  I understand that stuff happens, and we developers walk a razor-edged life between what we can do in time, what the players expect, and what we dream.  I understand the idea behind shipping basic consoles first because it's the most efficient path to getting consoles out.  I understand the other side of this as well.  I myself called the idea lame from a personal perspective.  I was elated when they switched that up.  I'm still bummed that I don't have the console yet.

I also am a little relieved though.  The longer my Ouya takes to ship, the better it will be, it seems.  There was feedback about sticking buttons and analog sticks, which was apparently caused by excess glue in the manufacturing process.  It has been fixed.  There were issues with the controller battery panels popping off during shipping. Fixed.  The longer my Ouya takes, the better it will be.

What about those that already got their sticky controllers, though?  What if the Ouya I get has some critical flaw yet unseen?  I have to buy the release version of the console, despite pledging the full price of the console because I believed in it?  Is that fair?  I know Kickstarter specifically states that pledging is just that - giving money with the promise of some reward that may never come - but it irks me that those of us who helped start the revolution (for that is truly what Ouya was promising) are the worst off.  We will find the flaws with the system so it can be tweaked before the full release because that is the real reward we earned from backing it.  We pledged for the console, the revolution, but we were rewarded with the opportunity to beta test the system.

It just doesn't seem right.

So as much as I want my Ouya, to play with it (both in player and developer terms), and really see how the controller feels, how the system behaves so I can better design for it, I'm also hoping I get one of the last betas rolled off the production line.  I want the finished product, but I want it a month ago - when I was more excited than fearful.

Viva la revolution.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: Slow Going

Legend:
(-) Goal incomplete
(~) Goal partially complete (buggy/hacked)
(+) Goal complete

Goals for this week:
1. Continue engine redesign
a. (+) Revised animation system
b. (~) Revise Basic Sprite

Goals for next week:
1. Continue engine redesign

Other work done:
None

Time is such a precious and limited resource.  I'm always trying to feed too many hobbies and interests, always trying to avoid burn out, and lately I've been trying to avoid sleep deprivation.  It doesn't leave a lot of time for working on this side project of mine, and the time it does leave is in that lull of motivation,  energy, and focus.

All excuses, I know.  I feel like putting my BS in a public space might help me get over it.

Now for the real reasons I'm slowed down:  Engine design and implementation, complete with full documentation (useful commenting), is a pretty thick process.  I've implemented the same basics a few times, but trying to do things in a more sustainable fashion (something I can reuse on several projects) is taking a lot longer.  I get stuck spinning a what-if loop, trying to calculate my efficiency using what I'm writing, trying to detect code that might "expire" at some future point, requiring another overhaul like the one I'm currently tackling.  It's mentally taxing to say the least.

However,  the remedy is to actually get enough hours into development each week to chip away at the task.  Now to just get over my excuses...

See you next week.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: Backtracking

Legend:
(-) Goal incomplete
(~) Goal partially complete (buggy/hacked)
(+) Goal complete

Goals for this week:
1. Start engine redesign
a. (+) Drastically improved base vector class

Goals for next week:
1. Continue engine redesign

Other work done:
None

Didn't I say reworking the engine would doom the project?

Yes, I did.

However, let me remind you of a sermon Jesus gave about two men.  One built his house on the sand, and it washed away when the tide came in.  The other man built his house on the rock, and it was sturdy when the tide rose.  Alternatively, you have the Three Little Pigs - as the news would report, "Wolf rampages neighborhood, killing two - homes destroyed."

The point of all this is a lesson I thought I'd learned before: I need to write code that lasts, not iust a flimsy continuous hack.  I'm rewriting the engine so I have something to use after I get Minotaur wrapped up - an engine that's properly documented and doesn't keep tripping me up.

In short, I hate writing bad code.  Now that I know what I'm actually doing with Java, I'm going to make something worthwhile that will allow rapid iteration on game development, as opposed to the frail and cumbersome hackery that's gotten me this far.  Now to just get back into the habit of actually working on things...

See you next week.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: A Thousand Miles in Every Step

Legend:
(-) Goal incomplete
(~) Goal partially complete (buggy/hacked)
(+) Goal complete

Goals for this week:
1. (+) Sufficient documentation
2. (+) Agile Roadmap

Goals for next week:
1. Engine refactoring: Sprite system

Other work done:
1. Rediscovered the magic of games and why I do this

My documentation this week is pretty shallow, but should prove sufficient - until it's not, of course.  All I really did was create a list of sprint topics that's longer than I want it to be, but will likely end up shorter than it needed to be.  That's the trick with documentation and planning - it stales quickly.

Enough of the mundane - onto the magic.  Over the last few weeks, I've been struggling with a few very important questions, most beginning with that terrible word, "Why."  If ever you lose your faith in games, or if they ever lose that magic glimmer, find some friends and an arcade.  Nothing is quite like the experience of battling against the Foot Clan with a friend, or taking on Megaman with Cyclops.  Pinball is divine, a deep root to the birth of arcades - the grandfather of gaming at home, who long ago mastered the alchemy of action and sound, summoning joy with a flashing light and joyous fanfare.

Play the games that got you through the hard times.  Play the games that you refused to give up on, even after having your butt kicked fifty times in a row.  Play the games from your childhood, when you didn't know how much blood, sweat, and tears went into making games.  Find new games that embody the wonders of those old games.  Play indie darlings, like To the Moon, where the magic of games shines like a lighthouse;  the magic never left - it's always there, shining brightly to guide you home.

See you next week.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: Eureka!

Legend:
(-) Goal incomplete
(~) Goal partially complete (buggy/hacked)
(+) Goal complete

Goals for this week:
1. (+) Brainstorming

Goals for next week:
1. Sufficient documentation
2. Agile Roadmap

Other work done:
NA

I think I've got it:  Traps are microgames.  To make exploration more interesting, each trap will have an avoidance microgame, similar to how traps worked in the Underground in Pokémon Diamond/Pearl.  I've got a couple designs that should hold through to playtesting, and since each microgame will be less than five seconds, I think several other ideas will pop up by the time I get around to implementing the traps.

Now that I've got a better idea of where I'm going, it's time to build a roadmap (so I don't have a productivity boost right off the map, and end up with a muddled idea of what to work on next).  There's one outstanding issue though, and that's enemy AI.  However,  that's more of a code issue than design... sort of.  More on that later.

See you next week.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: Getting Back Into It

Legend:
(-) Goal incomplete
(~) Goal partially complete (buggy/hacked)
(+) Goal complete

Goals for this week:
1. (~) Brainstorming
2. (-) Sprint planning

Goals for next week:
1. Continue brainstorming

Other work done:
1. Research Ouya portability needs

I've been trying to figure out why this week was so short since I got out of bed - then I remembered that I didn't write the last progress report until Monday morning.  That would do it.

A few things moving forward:
1. Progress reports are due Friday, even if I could finish a goal for that week by pushing the report out a day or two (because that turns into three days).
2. Brutal self honesty - thinking something is done enough to mark it as done is not the same as it being done.  A specific example of this is my design document,  which outlines the player side of combat quite well, but not really much more than that.
3. Structured development - there was a great post-mortem of Natural Selection 2 this week that discussed how they just didn't jive with a lot of production.  However, I'm a production nerd - I enjoy documentation and find it infinitely helpful during development.  It really helps me focus, and right now, it's what I need.

So that's the plan right now:  Figure out what I'm making at this point, and how I'm going to do it.  I'm also revisiting the why of it all, so don't expect any screenshots anytime soon.

See you next week.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: Where Am I Going, Carl?

Legend:
(-) Goal incomplete
(~) Goal partially complete (buggy/hacked)
(+) Goal complete

Goals for this week:
None

Goals for next week:
1. Brainstorming
2. Sprint planning

Other work done:
None

I'm going to keep it short. I'm late, and honestly, my bus stop is coming up.  Over the weekend, I found my notes from GDC 2011 and 2012, which had two great quotes, which I'll stick to just one for now.

"You don't have forever.  What game do you want to be remembered for?" - Charlie Cleveland

(That's the guy behind the Natural Selection series (go buy Natural Selection 2, it looks slick).)

The thing is, I really think Minotaur has potential,  so here's the current plan:
1. Finish Minotaur for Android
2. Port Minotaur to Ouya
3. Make a simple game for fun
4. Make the game that matters

Also, I'll be formalizing my process a bit more so I don't finish all the tasks at hand and question if Minotaur should be finished.

See you next week.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: Put a Pin in It

Legend:
(-) Goal incomplete
(~) Goal partially complete (buggy/hacked)
(+) Goal complete

Goals for this week:
1. (+) Create all status effects
2. (-) Spell casting creates finished DamageModel

Goals for next week:
None

Other work done:
None

This last week has been a slow and steady progression, and finally all the status effects are done.  There were a lot more than I realized and a lot of minor details required to make them behave how I wanted.  However, they ended up taking my entire week.  I looked at creating the damage model, but didn't have the endurance to find some clean way of packing all the data up.

Also this week, I've been struggling with thoughts of shelving Minotaur for now and focusing on Ouya development.  I'm super excited for the console, and I've got a game that I need to make - a game that matters.  On the other hand, I've got Minotaur,  about halfway done as currently planned, but that's the problem.

Minotaur is a game that was meant to take three months to make.  It's meant to be a simple dungeon crawler. It wasn't meant to be meaningful in any way other than being the first game I created on my own since DigiPen.  I'm very proud of the combat system, but the framing around that is just not of the same caliber.  Exploration would be dull and tedious without tricks, traps, locked doors, and treasure.  Combat would suffer from simplistic enemies with lacking AI.  I don't want to release a game that's going to be a pile of mediocre with one cool thing as my first indie game.  However that leaves two options.

The first is to carry on and extend development of Minotaur.  I feel like this game has potential, but the current incarnation is just not there.  To make it a proper game, I'd want to build a really smart procedural map builder, capable of placing locked doors, keys, traps, puzzles, and all the stuffs that really make a dungeon crawler fun to explore.  I'd want to make a fair number of enemy types with scalable AI.  I'd want to add a full equipment and item system, so gold isn't just a number, but a key to the experience.  There's so much that could go into this game, but it all takes time.

The second option is to shelve Minotaur.  I use the term "shelve" instead of "can" because, like I said before, I think there's some strong potential in Minotaur, and I would love to see it done right.  I can let Minotaur wait until both it and I are ready to make it really shine.  It will still be there.

Of course, this is not entirely a binary decision - there's a myriad of in-betweens here, such as wrapping up what I've got so far in a demo.  However, I'm not going to decide quite yet.  I'm going to take this week to game jam and think.  I'm going to play with new tools and see what happens.

See you next week.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: We're Pressing

Legend:
(-) Goal incomplete
(~) Goal partially complete (buggy/hacked)
(+) Goal complete

Goals for this week:
1. (~) Status effect model and sub-classes

Goals for next week:
1. Create all status effects
2. Spell casting creates finished DamageModel

Other work done:
NA

Ugh.  That's really sums up a lot going into this game right now.  Just ugh...

I'm at the point where I find all the code I've put into this thing just to get it ip and running is disgusting and gross and I just want to rewrite it all.  I know that if I even seriously consider doing that, I'll doom this game entirely. So I'll keep pressing onward in self disgust.

As for motivation, it's still low - the status effect work is backend stuff, but now that the core of that system is done, I get to do the content part, which isn't nearly as offputting.  Still, I look forward to getting back to front-end work.  It tends to be more enticing.

Concerning that "partially complete" mark next to the work done this week. I don't recall if I had intended to complete just the core work or all of the status effect work.

See you next week.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: Soul Searching

Legend:
(-) Goal incomplete
(~) Goal partially complete (buggy/hacked)
(+) Goal complete

Goals for this week:
1. (-) Spell casting creates damage model
2. (~) Create a new development plan for the month

Goals for next week:
1. Status effect model and sub-classes

Other work done:
1. Recharged and refocused
2. Discovered my next game

As expected, this was not a productive week.  Morale was low, so instead of doing poor work, I took most of this week to recover and soul searching.  The current plan is to get Minotaur wrapped up - though it might not reach it's original vision.  I've got a task list in place to get combat finished up, so we'll see where it goes from there.

However, what I'm really excited about is the game I'll be working on next.  I'm not going to get into details yet, but I will say it's an ambitious and deeply personal project.  The ideas and design are going to have time to boil down and filter while I get Minotaur wrapped up, so once it moves into production I'll have a very clear idea of what I'm building.  This will be an advantage Minotaur didn't have.

See you next week.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: A Surge Without Direction

Legend:
(-) Goal incomplete
(~) Goal partially complete (buggy/hacked)
(+) Goal complete

Goals for this week:
1. (+) Map out overall architecture
2. (+) Damage model object
3. (+) Polish Spell Casting state
4. (~) Combat architecture

Goals for next week:
1. Spell casting creates damage model
2. Create a new development plan for the month

Other work done:
None.

This last week was thoroughly productive, but why didn't this update go out on Friday? Well, mostly that's due to not knowing where I'm going next. I have a lot of stuff left to do, but next Saturday is March 9th, the date I had hoped to launch. Problem is, when I originally set that date, I had much higher hopes for my work velocity, and I had somehow mathed it up as three months between January 10th and March 9th. I realized later that night that in reality, that's only two months.

So will I be able to complete the game as originally planned within just one more month? No. It's not going to happen - not unless I suddenly find myself without a day job for the next month.  Even, I'd need to win the lottery first or have some equally unlikely event happen that would allow me to spend the month focusing on my game instead of searching for a new job.

Where does that leave me?  Well, I'm very excited about the Ouya, and it will begin shipping at the end of the month, so I'd really like to wrap Project Minotaur up and play with my new toy.  However, I also want to really finish Minotaur up, polished and released properly, which will likely require more than a month.  In short, I'm torn.

Aside from this turmoil, this next week seems like it will be full of life getting in the way of this "indie development at night" thing.  I'm expecting lower velocity, lower morale, and just a hard time convincing myself to work on a project that will be past due. All this progress from this week basically ran me off a cliff.  This project has been built on the run so far, and I can either build the plane in the air or wait until I hit ground with a renewed plan.  Right now, I choose planning.

See you next week (perhaps on the regulaly scheduled Friday) - here's some screenshots of the improved spell casting state.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: Burnout, Exhaustion, and a Plan

Legend:
(-) Goal incomplete
(~) Goal partially complete (buggy/hacked)
(+) Goal complete

Goals for this week:
1. (~) Character architecture
2. (-) Design and "Playtest" spell progression
3. (+) First pass art for exploration view

Goals for next week:
1. Map out overall architecture
2. Damage model object
3. Polish Spell Casting state
4. Combat architecture

Other work done:
1. Stabilized android lifecycle
2. Using Trello for sprint board
3. Force portrait view

I think you could best sum up that week with a "Wait, what?"  The spell progression prototype is going to be a major item, not something tacked onto a week's task list.  The character architecture is going to be a fair amount more design work than I have planned, but it's progressed to a point that won't prohibit work in other areas.  As for the exploration art, it's done, but not rendered out (5 minutes will change that).  I'm waiting on that until I know more about how I'm handling that view.

As for extra work, it needed to be done.  The app could be run once, but exiting would cause issues.  That's been fixed, so now I can start and exit and restart as much as I want without crashing the game.  I also got around to forcing the portrait layout.  I've also been trying out an app called Trello to act as my sprint board.  It's pretty slick, and I've been able to plan ahead a bit more.

Moving forward, I'm going to focus on the combat state.  Once I get that cleaned up, I'll move outward to tbe exploration state, then outward still.  However, I am going to map out the overall architecture to get a birds-eye view while I continue toiling in the trenches.

Nothing to show this week (like I said, the art is done, but not rendered).  See you next week.

P.S.  The progress report is late due to exhaustion - I pretty much crashed when I got home last night.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: Stalling Out

Legend:
(-) Goal incomplete
(~) Goal partially complete (buggy/hacked)
(+) Goal complete

Goals for this week:
1. (+) Finish spell casting state
2. (-) Character architecture
3. (-) Design and "Playtest" spell progression
4. (-) First pass art for exploration view

Goals for next week:
1. Character architecture
2. Design and "Playtest" spell progression
3. First pass art for exploration view

Other work done:
1. Research on exploration view art

Poor planning combined with sleeping terribly wrapped up with low motivation spelled out for a disastrously not productive week - and a progress report that's a day late.  I'm still not feeling it (the progress report thing) so this will be short.

Basically, I finished the base of the spell casting system, and while that makes me excited, it also came with a generous helping of reality - I'm going to have to continually poke and prod and tweek the spell casting stuff as more features come into being (wrapping it in the combat state, extracting damage done, hiding spells the player doesn't have access to yet, etc.). In the end, I spent the week wrestling with scope, wants, and art that I just can't get to look right.

Spell casting screens are below (note the blue lines end where the player is currently touching).  I'm going to go get something done. See you next week.

Project Minotaur Progress Report: Look Before You Leap

Legend:
(-) Goal incomplete
(~) Goal partially complete (buggy/hacked)
(+) Goal complete

Goals for this week:
1. (-) Character architecture
2. (+) Finish Design Document
3. (+) First Pass Art: All Spell Orbs
4. (-) Spell casting state

Goals for next week:
1. Finish spell casting state
2. Character architecture
3. Design and "Playtest" spell progression
4. First pass art for exploration view.

Other work done:
None

Well that could have been one hell of a week, finishing everything I had planned .  However, my spell casting state code turned into a lovely mess given that I only get to work in short spurts (e.g. on the bus to work).  Combining that split focus with just diving into code without much planning of the algorithms used or how the data is set up earned myself a buggy clump mixed ideas.  Basically, I decided to set something up in one way, wrote my code to handle another,  and thought I had used a third when debugging.  In the end, I have a somewhat delicate spell casting state that won't be able to do what I want it to do.  Bummer.

For the do-over, I'll be documenting my plans for data and logic ahead of time.  This is the sort of work that needs to be done for a team, but when you're on your own, it's too easy to just say, "I'll remember how that works."  You won't.

On the bright side, I'm quite happy with how the spell orb art turned out.  Earth needed a background change, Light needs a redesign, and Water might need a slight pallet shift, but I'm happy with the forms and targets for now.  We'll see what needs to change once some simple prototype playtesting begins.  See you next week.