New Games
03/04/10 18:41 Filed in: Personal
So I have this really cool game idea. It’s not actually zombies + Kung fu (although that sounds pretty mint too.) I’m pretty excited about it, so I’m going to start the old dog and pony show, see if any publishers are on the lookout for new IP. If you know any who are, let me know!
I have to make this game, it would just be totally wicked.
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The iPad cometh
26/03/10 21:49 Filed in: Industry
Disappointments about iPhone games not being as great as they could be, actually make more sense to me now. The problem really is the size. You whip out your iPhone when you have a spare few minutes, not when you want to really play. iPhone is great for bite sized interactive morsels. Bigger games just don’t work so well.
The iPad will change that. Touch screen games can be really cool but the touch screens we’ve had so far (DS and smart phones) are just too wee to really give you any space to play properly. Imagine Dragon Age on iPad. That would be sweet.
IPad, if not this generation then the next, will be fairly competent at 3D. It’s a serious platform and I can’t wait to see if the console game development community dives in as they have failed to do with the iPhone.
If they do, then it will mean a serious shakeup of the games industry. With no gamestop to strong-arm the pricing, iTunes is a space where developers can finally be the king. Publishers won’t be publishers anymore, they will be funders... might as well just get venture capital backing instead.
I just wonder how long the battery will last under heavy 3D gaming. Time will tell.
World of Onlive
16/03/10 20:42 Filed in: Industry
I just had an epiphany.
Ever since it was first announced, I have been extremely dubious about OnLive. There seems to be so many technical (and financial) hurdles to overcome that I have been unable to imagine a scenario where it can be successful that doesn’t require either magic or some sort of stock scam.
Anyway, I was just washing dishes when I realised that there IS a realistic scenario in which OnLive could work! One where all it’s drawbacks become meaningless. There is even synergy!
If OnLive was bought by Blizzard and the only game available through them was WoW (or Blizzard’s next MMORPG), then the whole thing starts to make sense.
WoW’s gameplay is already balanced for server-side lag, some additional client lag would probably be quite acceptable. In fact, if you put the world servers near the OnLive shards, you could reduce the server lag and possibly get an overall lag-win.
WoW already has user limits, too many people try to log into a world server and you get queues. So if the maximum number of OnLive shards are already in use when you try to log in and you have to wait to play, who cares? WoW players are already used to that no one is going to start demanding their money back.
Blizzard believes in having the minimum possible hardware needs to gain entry to their game, but secretly, you know they would love to really pull out all the graphical stops. With OnLive they get to do both! And Blizzard’s policy of not chasing the latest graphics card update will help stop OnLive’s shards from becoming redundant every year.
OnLive gets to build some dedicated platform specific clients for their streaming technology, so that a carefully crafted interface can be made for a PC game being played through an iPhone or a PSP, one that will give the player the best possible UI experience on those platforms.
Finally, the monthly cost of OnLive’s service would be rolled into the existing WoW subscription, (as a premium option, of course) something that many Wow players would find acceptable for the chance to play WoW on their iPhone / iPad / PSP / browser wherever they go.
Of course there are logistic hurdles to overcome, but it makes sense, I say!
Blizzard gets to open the games to an even wider audience, breaks into mobile gaming and gets the brute force to do a pretty major graphically update.
And OnLive? OnLive gets synergy, man. And who wouldn’t want that?
Ever since it was first announced, I have been extremely dubious about OnLive. There seems to be so many technical (and financial) hurdles to overcome that I have been unable to imagine a scenario where it can be successful that doesn’t require either magic or some sort of stock scam.
Anyway, I was just washing dishes when I realised that there IS a realistic scenario in which OnLive could work! One where all it’s drawbacks become meaningless. There is even synergy!
If OnLive was bought by Blizzard and the only game available through them was WoW (or Blizzard’s next MMORPG), then the whole thing starts to make sense.
WoW’s gameplay is already balanced for server-side lag, some additional client lag would probably be quite acceptable. In fact, if you put the world servers near the OnLive shards, you could reduce the server lag and possibly get an overall lag-win.
WoW already has user limits, too many people try to log into a world server and you get queues. So if the maximum number of OnLive shards are already in use when you try to log in and you have to wait to play, who cares? WoW players are already used to that no one is going to start demanding their money back.
Blizzard believes in having the minimum possible hardware needs to gain entry to their game, but secretly, you know they would love to really pull out all the graphical stops. With OnLive they get to do both! And Blizzard’s policy of not chasing the latest graphics card update will help stop OnLive’s shards from becoming redundant every year.
OnLive gets to build some dedicated platform specific clients for their streaming technology, so that a carefully crafted interface can be made for a PC game being played through an iPhone or a PSP, one that will give the player the best possible UI experience on those platforms.
Finally, the monthly cost of OnLive’s service would be rolled into the existing WoW subscription, (as a premium option, of course) something that many Wow players would find acceptable for the chance to play WoW on their iPhone / iPad / PSP / browser wherever they go.
Of course there are logistic hurdles to overcome, but it makes sense, I say!
Blizzard gets to open the games to an even wider audience, breaks into mobile gaming and gets the brute force to do a pretty major graphically update.
And OnLive? OnLive gets synergy, man. And who wouldn’t want that?
Alt-o-holic
It would have been more relevant if I had made it about Dragon Age, what with Awakenings just having been released, but then I’d have to change it and I just don’t have time right now. I have to go and play Dragon Age :)
Bioware is so hot right now.
By the way, previous comics can be viewed in the new comic archive over there on the side bar ->
Numbers
I didn’t want to learn maths, I wanted to learn magic. Not the pulling rabbits out of hats kind, but the real thing with the beard and the staff and the robe and hat.
As a wee boy reading fantasy novels, I always wondered about the people who didn’t learn magic. I mean, if magic worked and it let you do whatever you liked, what kind of idiot wouldn’t want to learn that? Disregarding the fantasy worlds where only a special few have the ’talent’ for magic, there are plenty of fantasy worlds where magic is just a secret knowledge that only the select few know. It’s the guys in those worlds who still use tools to plow fields instead of by snapping their fingers that I don’t get.
Seriously, if you saw someone doing real magic, you’d make some effort to work out how, right? I know I would. In fact, I’d drop everything for the chance to learn a few god-like powers. You’d be mad not to!
It was only when I was much older that I realised that this world does have a kind of magic and I didn’t want to learn it because I thought it was the root of all evil; money.
The people adept at wielding the real magic wear suits not robes. They work in towers looming over the centers of our cities like modern day Saurons. The bankers and financiers don’t make anything. They deal purely in money, applying their arcane knowledge to grow enormous pools of that green magic. With it, they can have whatever they want.
If I had really understood it in those terms when I was younger I may have listened better in maths class. I still think that greedily going after money for money’s sake is an empty pursuit, but on the other hand, not learning magic when it exists does seem pretty foolish.
(By the way, hope you like the new posting format. I’ll try to upload a new comic every week. Fingers crossed.)
Homepage
03/03/10 17:02 Filed in: Industry
Today it is finally all systems go!
The website can be found at www.focalpointgames.com. It is aimed primarily at game developers, both old and new. I have been working on some pretty in-depth game design articles, two of which are available right now, both dealing with action adventure level design. I hope to make the site a goto place for game designers to get a slightly different perspective on game design.
Meanwhile this place will now be the place that I will be putting the things I want to talk about that have less concrete value i.e. my opinions.
Thank you for checking out my sites.
Toby
Jet Car Stunts
02/03/10 22:36 Filed in: Personal
I’ve been busy moving this last two weeks. It’s been hectic but we are now in new temporary digs.
The problem is that I have no games consoles until we find a permanent place to put our mountain of crap that is currently in storage. Consequently, I’ve been spending a bit more time than usual checking out iPhone games.
I have been convinced by the iPhone as a gaming platform ever since it was first announced but for the most part I’ve been pretty disappointed by the games that I’ve played. (Although I have not played enough of them for my opinion to be statistically relevant.)
I had dreamed two ears ago, (an insane dream) that Nintendo might start porting some of DS games to the platform. At the very least I had hoped that some of the better third party developers would bring their back catalogues to the iPhone. But after two and a half years there have still been very few DS ports. Cooking Mama (iTunes link) has finally made the jump but I am still waiting for some Phoenix Wright action.
My hankering for DS ports comes from my perception of an overall higher quality of games found on that platform in comparison to the iPhone.
Admittedly there are iPhone game powerhouses like Gameloft that have been pumping out games that are way above the appstore standard, but I’ve been waiting for something really awesome; a killer iPhone exclusive game. For me at least, I found one this week.
Jet Car Stunts (itunes link) is good.
From the simple radiosity inspired flat shaded graphics to the Stunt Car racer inspired acrobatics, this game just keeps bringing me back for more. Admittedly the difficulty level is steep, but death is so common and so meaningless thanks to the handy reset button that the often hilarious wipe outs and near misses are more funny than frustrating.
The tutorials are a perfect intro to a control system that feels intuitive but has a great deal of depth. The steering (via accelerometer) is perfectly implemented and I love the sound.
Jet Car Stunt’s short bursts of high skill gameplay coupled masses of re-playability makes for a perfect phone game in my opinion.
While I still wish for the iPhone’s Phantom Hour Glass to while away longer journeys, I find myself firing up Jet Car Stunts whenever I can sneak in a spare minute.
If you were ever a fan of Stunt Car Racer by Geoff Crammond, you may find this to be its spiritual successor; a game that follows that same death-defying track, while strapping on massive great rockets and launching itself through hoops like some deranged Darwin Award winner.
Five thumbs up!
The problem is that I have no games consoles until we find a permanent place to put our mountain of crap that is currently in storage. Consequently, I’ve been spending a bit more time than usual checking out iPhone games.
I have been convinced by the iPhone as a gaming platform ever since it was first announced but for the most part I’ve been pretty disappointed by the games that I’ve played. (Although I have not played enough of them for my opinion to be statistically relevant.)
I had dreamed two ears ago, (an insane dream) that Nintendo might start porting some of DS games to the platform. At the very least I had hoped that some of the better third party developers would bring their back catalogues to the iPhone. But after two and a half years there have still been very few DS ports. Cooking Mama (iTunes link) has finally made the jump but I am still waiting for some Phoenix Wright action.
My hankering for DS ports comes from my perception of an overall higher quality of games found on that platform in comparison to the iPhone.
Admittedly there are iPhone game powerhouses like Gameloft that have been pumping out games that are way above the appstore standard, but I’ve been waiting for something really awesome; a killer iPhone exclusive game. For me at least, I found one this week.
From the simple radiosity inspired flat shaded graphics to the Stunt Car racer inspired acrobatics, this game just keeps bringing me back for more. Admittedly the difficulty level is steep, but death is so common and so meaningless thanks to the handy reset button that the often hilarious wipe outs and near misses are more funny than frustrating.
The tutorials are a perfect intro to a control system that feels intuitive but has a great deal of depth. The steering (via accelerometer) is perfectly implemented and I love the sound.
Jet Car Stunt’s short bursts of high skill gameplay coupled masses of re-playability makes for a perfect phone game in my opinion.
If you were ever a fan of Stunt Car Racer by Geoff Crammond, you may find this to be its spiritual successor; a game that follows that same death-defying track, while strapping on massive great rockets and launching itself through hoops like some deranged Darwin Award winner.
Five thumbs up!
Half an update
12/02/10 11:56
There has been a sudden influx of people over the last few days as various news sites have picked up on the images I added to the site three months ago. If you are coming to see those pictures, they are here.
I’m glad a few people have come to have a look because I was a bit sad when I put them up in November and virtually no one came to see them. Meanwhile I have not done much updating to the site, but that’s because I have been working on a big update. Specifically I have been morphing this site into my personal website and creating a separate consulting company site, which is looking really good, but still not ready to launch.
Meanwhile I thought I’d go ahead and push through an update on this site, stripping out the consultancy parts and instating a more casual style more in keeping with a personal homepage.
I’m glad a few people have come to have a look because I was a bit sad when I put them up in November and virtually no one came to see them. Meanwhile I have not done much updating to the site, but that’s because I have been working on a big update. Specifically I have been morphing this site into my personal website and creating a separate consulting company site, which is looking really good, but still not ready to launch.
Meanwhile I thought I’d go ahead and push through an update on this site, stripping out the consultancy parts and instating a more casual style more in keeping with a personal homepage.
