Category Archives: Editorials

Death to E3?

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I’m pretty sure everyone’s heard something about the SOPA/PIPA bill at this point and while I don’t exactly generate the most traffic I feel somewhat inclined to at least mention it. I haven’t looked into the bill myself but the main issue seems to be giving companies too much power over copyrighted material, giving them the ability to figuratively censor the internet. Its seems to be a bill that affects the entertainment industry for the most part and maybe people who make those let’s play videos or use copyrighted music or images.

Here’s where the plot thickens. The ESA (Entertainment Software Association),which in general represents the game industry, is said to be a big supporter of the bill. I guess what company says no to more power right? That isn’t making the ESA a lot of friends.

The ESA’s big event is E3, and as a spite to the ESA’s support for SOPA/PIPA it’s been proposed that the media not cover E3 this year and that people and companies not attend.

So where do I stand in this? I have everything to gain from this from a company perspective right, albeit a really small company. Yet and still I I oppose this bill. I’ll always be on the progressive side, forward thinking. You honestly don’t even have to read into the bill, you can look at the list of companies that support the bill and the companies that don’t to get a sense of which side you should be on. This bill to me feels like as step backwards. The very companies that made the internet so useful (YouTube, Google, Wikipedia and even those social companies I like to complain about), they’re the ones in the crossfire of all this. In the meantime, the companies that do absolutely NOTHING are in support of it. Typical.

Attending E3 was one of the things I was hoping to do this year, but probably won’t happen at this rate. It’s a shame because events like that only help companies but attending this year would equal to a slap in the face to all the people opposing the bill. Even if you’re thinking from a business standpoint it isn’t a good move.

It’s a important to remember that piracy is an issue but polluting the ocean to take down a few ships is probably more harm than good. (figuratively speaking of course)

Fantasy’s Curse

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It’s Friday, January 13th and it seems like no better day to ramble about one of the fears I have about this project or rather game design in general. Can the dive into fantasy break sequels in a series focused on realistic gameplay?

Most games don’t have this problem as they’re either one or the other, however some realistic games may shift towards fantasy elements when ideas are slim (ahem, not to say that’s what I’m doing…. Fantasy is just a lot quicker to produce). The advantage of fantasy is that you’re not working inside of a box, you can use any idea at your disposal. Once you go back into that box there’s just going to be some things you won’t be able to do.

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E3 Impressions

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Typically I try to stay focused on the series at hand, but because all that E3 news took up a large chunk of my time (despite not being there), I think I need a place to digest my thoughts a bit before its all out of my system. I typically use E3 as a compass of where I want to go with things, using it in junction with the luxury of changing turning on a dime. Unfortunately, this year didn’t really feel like a step forward like I was hoping.

The following is my opinion on the big 3 at E3 this year

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Looking Ahead

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Its been a slow week due to being burned out earlier in the month, but things still look good for May. I have the feeling the game will suddenly spring up over the course of a several days.

So after the beta/prototype version is done, where do things go from there? Obviously comes the release version of World of Whimsy, but what about after that? Well if things go as planned, Kitasia will proceed as follows.

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Reflections of the Night

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Everything is looking good for a peer review this month. I’m a bit stressed due to the amount of work that will need to be done tool side at some point. It seems like I’m always thinking of ways of doing things faster, which causes me to do thing slower in the short term, but I think it’s more important that I focus on the short term right now. In terms of the core game, I’ve learned getting things done can be more important than getting things done efficiently. Still, it’s been an awful week.

 

Well, since the World of Whimsy is prepping for a tad bit of lime light, I think now is as good a time as ever to start talking about the most recent release, Tale of the Night. After having spent some time with the new project , I’d like to go back and express my opinion on the previous one. Here are a few things that went right and wrong with Tale of the Night.

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The Naked Truth

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Game progress is moving pretty slow, but feeling fairly playable with a camera system in place. Since there’s not much progress there, I thought I might try simply just typing up random articles like I used to do. A website is a terrible thing to waste : )

Okay today’s topic, why is everyone so naked? When I first created Felix, I wasn’t thinking clothing.  From Looney Tunes, to Disney Characters, to Hanna-Barbara, to Sonic the Hedgehog, to even Felix the Cat, anthropomorphic animals without clothing didn’t seem like an odd thing. Granted, some of the characters may wear, a single article of clothing like a tie or a pair of gloves but that doesn’t change that fact that 99% of them would be kicked out of public places. I’ve been told before that Felix should wear a belt or some boots and I always wonder, why, when I hear things like that.

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5 Reason I’m Looking Forward to Lithodora

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I’m feeling really optimistic about the project! I made a list of a few reasons why!

  1. No PC Version
    I was constantly concerned about keeping my graphics to a minimum so that the game would be more accessible. Now that I’m doing 360 development I know what my graphical limits and I have a lot more power to wield. It’s also nice to know there will be a controller that everyone will be using.
  2. Feedback
    When Tale of the Night released I got kicked in the face pretty hard a few times. What little  feedback I got with previous games was all  good, so I wasn’t used to any really negative feedback. Welcome to the real world I suppose. It was a rude awakening but with my faults revealed I can transcend into a new realm of work. Of course there was also positive feedback so I also have an idea of the areas I’m doing well in.
  3. A Finished Work
    Every single game beforehand was always a demo of something. I believe that’s the real story behind me never using the same engine twice. I’m taking this game extremely seriously because I know it’s not some free game I’m just throwing out on the internet or something just to be patched up later. Having the opportunity to be in a true marketplace changes everything. Tale of the Night showed me a whole new world possibilities.
  4. Finally 3D
    Need I say more? I’ve been yapping about it for months.  I’m looking forward to gaining more control of the camera for dynamic views, having complete representation of the characters, and finally having that open world feeling. Mostly perhaps, I’m looking forward to not dealing with all those programming problems I had.
  5. A Real Story
    I like writing , and anyone’s that’s explored the web page can likely tell Felix stories are much more detailed than I’m letting on. I won’t promise that the story will shock you or be filled with twist and turns, what  I’m really striving for is  detail.  Aside from my very very first one, this will be my only game that uses a recurring character as the antagonist and that always makes me want to apply special attention to  the story.

There are other things I’m excited but these 5 say enough for me. I think it will all begin to show when I start work with the prelude chapter.