A whole new look

Hi folks. Believe it or not, I'm still here. In case you didn't notice, I updated the look of the blog. I'm going to be making some more changes soon; this is just a starting point. Among the changes: blogging more often. I have no excuse but laziness for my long lapses lately. Things have certainly been busy, and you'll be happy to know I haven't just been sitting around. Anyway, I hope you like the new look. Stay tuned for more.

Notes from the abyss

Absentee bloggers are no fun. They entice you with a stream of regular posts and then disappear for weeks at a time, offering not a peep. When they do return it's just to supply excuses about a busy schedule or an obsession with the latest big game or to post frivolous items like creatures of the week.

Well, I'll not become an absentee (denial is an ugly thing). I have no excuses. But, for those few loyal readers who still stop by from time to time, here's a little update on my activities.

In short, I've been scattered, lacking focus. When I started writing this blog, I was working steadily on a single, massive, impractical project. Then I decided to turn my attention to SPUDZOOKA, and still I was focused. After releasing SPUDZOOKA, though, I haven't been able to settle on anything. I still work on things, a little here, a little there. But three things have primarily held my attention the last few months:

• A new game. No specifics yet, but I've been working on a concept for a new game quite a bit different than SPUDZOOKA, one that will focus more on story and character and, I hope, have a wider appeal (not that potato cannons aren't universally entertaining). The difficulty so far is that story and character are tricky to develop and, while I think the concept and setting are good, I haven't been able to find the game in it. People might explore for a while, but what would compel them through the story?
• A web site concept. I had an idea for a web site recently that I've been exploring, which means reading a lot about databases, php, and xml, and then tinkering with them to see if I've got the programming chops to make this idea happen.
• Procedural terrain generation. Huh? I don't know where this stuff comes from, but I got it in my head that I would try to see if I could generate an application in Unity that would dynamically generate and display an endless terrain. The usefulness of something like that is maybe a little suspect, but it could spin off into some interesting applications. Unity's terrain system is a little limited right now, for example, so something like this could help people generate more realistic terrains and link them together to create truly massive worlds. Even just linking sections of terrain terrain together is something that could be useful right off the bat, particularly in, I don't know, an RPG. I hit a few tricky parts, but I did manage to create a randomly generated terrain that loops forever. Check it out (it may take a few seconds to compute).

So, I've been working, just not on a single project. Once I settle, I'm sure regular posting will resume. For now, don't forget to check back for the next creature of the week.

Edit: I fixed the bug that people were seeing in the web player and put a new file at the same location.

The holidaily grind

Ah, the holidays. Nothing is better for turning optimistic productivity into an overwhelming sense of "I accomplished nothing today." My blogging pace has suffered, as you might have noticed, at the arrival this funny thing we call December. It's a time when the routine balance between personal and professional inevitably tilts one way or the other -- and neither direction favors hobbies.

Nevertheless, I'm making some progress on my side project. Currently I'm working to model and texture the main environment for the game. Though this project is far less demanding on the artistic side, the work still has me looking at quite a long list of required assets. But today I found some good advice on art for indie games.

I programmed some of the basic mechanics for this project back in the summer when I first had the idea and was playing around with Unity, so once the main environment is finished, I'll be able to focus on level design and refining the gameplay. From there it's user interface and sound.

Yeah, there's still a lot to do, but this project is so compact compared to my main one that I might just have a chance of finishing. At this point I remain optimistic. More details to come -- as soon as I finish my shopping.

A tricky concept

I'm sure all of you who regularly read my posts (thanks) are probably wondering when you'll actually get to see something other than a little blue man and a crate. In fact, how can you be sure that I'm really developing a game at all? I haven't mentioned its name, given any insight into characters or plot, or even shown any concept art. My blog's appearance is pretty bare; it's just a stock Blogger template. I haven't mentioned a web site. The list goes on.

So when can you expect me to deliver something real? I'm working as hard as I can (damn that day job) to create something reasonably professional for you. I don't want to embarrass myself, after all. The truth is I'm learning as I go, and that means a good deal of trial and error.

Beyond the tortoise-like pace of development, my real hesitation is a desire to promote this video game in a meaningful way. The blog is obviously a part of that strategy -- an experimental way to build an audience (tell your friends) and a game at the same time.

Now, one approach to the blog would be simply to post every asset I create one at a time. This would lead to a wonderfully long list of posts showing off disconnected, even random pictures of boxes, trees, buildings, people, animals. It would also leave no surprises for the game itself. If you've already seen all the locations and read about all the characters' inner-most secrets, why would you play? (If you are interested in random pictures, you will transfixed by this endless slide show.)

So I have to control myself. I will want to post pictures of everything, but, no, the trick is to write interesting (and I hope enjoyable) posts while establishing a controlled leak of information that will help build a grass-roots interest in this game I claim to be creating. I mean, how could it not work?

The pursuit of brevity

It occurs to me that some of my posts have been way too long.

Over my head

Hello, I guess. Welcome to the awkward birth of my blog.

As my first baby step, it seems appropriate to explain -- to whomever might be reading -- why I'm here. Only one explanation comes to mind, so I'll go with it: My game needs me.

For the last two years or so, I have been working on an independent (read, "self-funded") PC video game (single-player, story-based RPG). I have everything I need: an epic story; fascinating, heart-breakingly human characters; pages and pages of concept art; a 3D game engine; a stack of programming books, and a lot of spare time. Really, it's all there. I lack only one minor ingredient -- immortality.

Indeed, I have started down a path that seems to have no end (despite being well trod here at the beginning). The reasonable voice in my head (sounding something like Ian McKellan in that soothing Moria scene in The Fellowship of the Ring) tells me to take the next exit and find a more feasible hobby. And yet, the frightening-compelling voice of Sauron tells me in some kind of gibberish that I have to continue -- that the story of my game needs to be told.

There is already quite a lot of discussion out there about game design, narrative, more narrative, and geekdom in general. I'm sure I'll touch on all these things as I go, but I intend this blog to chronicle the development of my indy game, at least until Ian McKellan convinces me otherwise.

So, here I go, tentatively dipping my big toe into the roiling waters of blogdom. I must say though -- despite my trepidation about blogging -- that I do take some small comfort in the fact that I'm already in way over my head.

P.S. -- To give credit where credit is due, the title of my blog is taken from the title of a fantasic Minus the Bear song. The song has nothing to do with video games, but it seemed oddly appropriate nonetheless.