Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
I've got to here those! Can you send them to me? - Original Message - From: Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Monday, May 23, 2011 10:46 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed Hi, Yes, exactly. Q9 is a fun little game in part, because Philip makes all kinds of sarcastic remarks like that's not something I would have done when you jump into a pit. Plus the little argument seens between him and Q9 is pretty funny the first time you hear them. It never hurts to have a little humor in a game. Makes it less serious. Back when I was working on Montezuma's Revenge I had a bunch of never released comments in there that were pretty funny. For example, if you fell into a lava pit you would hear a sarcastic voice ask, have a nice bath? Another one I liked was when you jumped in a fire it would ask, what's the matter? Isn't it hot enough for you? There were others, but since they contained perfanity I won't repete them on list. Cheers! On 5/22/11, Shane Lowe shanel...@insightbb.com wrote: kind of like q9 --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
Hi, Yes, exactly. Q9 is a fun little game in part, because Philip makes all kinds of sarcastic remarks like that's not something I would have done when you jump into a pit. Plus the little argument seens between him and Q9 is pretty funny the first time you hear them. It never hurts to have a little humor in a game. Makes it less serious. Back when I was working on Montezuma's Revenge I had a bunch of never released comments in there that were pretty funny. For example, if you fell into a lava pit you would hear a sarcastic voice ask, have a nice bath? Another one I liked was when you jumped in a fire it would ask, what's the matter? Isn't it hot enough for you? There were others, but since they contained perfanity I won't repete them on list. Cheers! On 5/22/11, Shane Lowe shanel...@insightbb.com wrote: kind of like q9 --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
well... I'd be interested, but I wouldn't pay much for it. I'm not going to force this on you of course, because of raceway, the starwars one, mota 2d, and mota 3d. Thanks and regards, Shane - Original Message - From: Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 11:40 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed Hi, Unfortunately, that is very true. There are a lot of board games etc I could write, but there are free versions available. Creating a commercial version wouldn't sell unless it was really spectacular. For example, I've thought about creating my own version of Monopoly. Main reason is there are some special rules that the Kitchens Inc and RS Games versions don't have. In the Lord of the Rings Monopoly you can play using the ring which has its own special rules and special dice which is totally different from regular Monopoly. The Star Wars Collecters Edition Monopoly has a few extrarules and changes not found in classic Monopoly as well. However, I'm not sure that these extra features would be in demand by VI gamers. I'm afraid if I spent two or three months developing a more complete Monopoly set with special rules people will just grown and say, Oh, no. another Monopoly game? The same goes for Life. Jim Kitchen has a decent Life game, but there are some variations that are pretty cool. One of the more recent versions my wife and I own is Pirates of the Caribbean. Its a little more fun than classic Life as its all about becoming a pirate, finding gold, attacking other ships, etc. I don't know if this would constitute enough of a change for people to be interested in another Life game even if it has a different theme, different cards, etc. So you are right. The well isn't as deep as it once was, and if I want to do a board game, arcade game, it has to be different enough to seem newor or they won't be as much interest in it. Yet of course anything with Harry Potter, Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, are usually automatic hits just because of the characters, music, etc involved in the game. In other words the familiarity to the gamer. Cheers! On 5/18/11, Jeremy Kaldobsky jer...@kaldobsky.com wrote: Thomas, I agree there will always be room to supply the nitch markets, I was just pointing out that the options are more limited than they used to be. Back in what I presume to be the audio games golden age, new developers were sitting on a huge well of game ideas. All of the mainstream console games, board games, and card games were ripe for the duplicating into an accessible format. For a long while, I'm sure the only thing slowing anyone down was the time it took to crank the games out, and most of those were probably each their own first in gaming style within the vi community. That old well has dried up, and I agree, mainstream sources still trickle new ideas into that old well, but it is a slow trickle compared to the old days. - Aprone --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
kind of like q9 - Original Message - From: Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 11:52 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed Hi Charles, Hmmm...Good point. If the Chess set was anything like Wizard Chess I'd definitely buy it. It would be funny to hear the Chessmen insulting the player like, Hey, moron! If I go that way that night will jump on me. Hey, idiot! Don't you see that black knight waiting to kill me? Are you blind or something? Moron, that black queen over there is going to kick my butt! Let's just say it would be lots of laughs. The cruder and more insulting they are the funnier it would be. It never hurts to have a bit of irony and sarcasm in a game. For instance, my son likes to play Cripto the Super Dog. Funny thing is every time you lose, die, etc the game has some witty sarcastic remark to say about it. Hey, some super dog you are. You can't even jump right. Things like that are pretty funny the first couple times you hear them. On 5/18/11, Charles Rivard woofer...@sbcglobal.net wrote: How about the people that would not buy a straightforward, no nonsense chess program because they already have one, but would immediately buy a chess program that sports such features as giving sarcastic responses to your mistakes and showing battles between the chessmen when there is a capture? It's chess with different twists, sort of. --- Laughter is the best medicine, so look around, find a dose and take it to heart. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
well My history is quite broken. I was not round the time of infocom, born in that time yes but only knew after I got the net. By the time I started audyssey it was up to issue 24 or 25. Hack it yourself is the term I use for those that with the bgt and other scripting languages just put stuff together, sure its not near as pro as conercial companies but its something. Like diy if you get my meaning. My history started in 1996. By then companies like pcs and to some extent gma, and even kitchensinc were on the way to actually going online. Esp was not far off and what became draconis was not far either. L-works came in the middle. It was only after pb-games came and went to blast bay that I actually fully came into the fold. And Lets not forget the companies that never were. Surreal horisons came, and started a promising game idea called torrent. They dissapeared though, then came came starbase defender which was abandoned due to other commitments. Then there was oriol games which ended after one of the devs did not want to release the first comercial title. Ok, so things have settled down. We are in the period right now where all the moving and groving is done. A lot of major companies have changed hands. Single devs have come online to as themselves. The main companies are the 3 origionals, being kitchensinc, pcs and gma. then draconis and l-works Lastly usagames and blastbay which are new. Oh and blindsoftware also fits in with the top 3 in that list. Then there are the developers making audiogames.net including its forums, bpc and maybe a handfull of freelance students, and hackers who have had or still have projects on the go. Also remember that from 1985 to at least 1996 it was all dos. from then till about 2009 it was windows. Now its multiplatform and iphone to some extent and maybe android with braillesoft's releases. I'd like a full history myself though since there is probably more history before 1996, I know there was way back to the 80s, and judging with some speech recordings I heard on a demo tape a bit ago 70s and maybe even 60s. But I was born in 82, and Lived netless through the years up to 1996 with no knowledge outside my small world, we did not use compuserve, bbs's or anything like that. At 02:42 a.m. 20/05/2011, you wrote: Shaun, I want to start by thanking you for the audio games history, I actually find it very informative and useful. I like having some idea of how things went in the past, so I can get a better idea of how they will likely change now, and in the future. I think it would be an excellent idea for several of the old timers to collaborate on a detailed audio games history. With everyone working together, I'm sure the time line of things could be fine tuned, and many specific details and events would start to surface that had been long forgotten. I'm not really familiar with your phrase hack it yourself, so you'd probably have to define that for me. I would have thought it was the same as opensource devs, but you seem to have differentiated them in your last post, so I'm not quite sure of the meaning you intended. I can't really comment about being the fastest developer or not. When I was just starting high school (1995 or 1996 I believe), I began teaching myself programming so that I could make little games and things. When I had high school programming classes, I was the expert who would know more than the professor so I'd help my friends with their work and we'd spend class playing my latest game rather than working on the day's lesson, haha. I went to the University of Michigan and got degrees in Computer science and Mechanical engineering, but I have to say that 95% of what they taught me I had already learned myself before going. All in all, it was a huge waste of time and money just to earn the piece of paper that says degree. I've always been the stubborn person who was slow to change my programming habits when those around me did. I always focused more on the end result, and how I could accomplish the same thing in a quarter of the time, by not changing my methods over to whatever was currently popular at the time. In different situations, being stubborn like that is a problem, but for the most part it has benefited me. Since it seems I've started writing a bio of myself, lol, I'll say a bit more. I'm sure there are people floating around who assume I only know Visual basic 6.0, since that is what I've written my audio games in. For the record, I do know C++, C#, Java, Objective-C, and a few of the smaller ones they make you learn as you go through college. In my stubbornness I just use the one I want to, depending on the task at hand. Oh crud, I'm sure I've just summoned a barrage of comments from other programmers haha! I've been programming pretty much every day since 1995, on all manner of personal projects. My specialty is actually vision
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
on that note geremy, I think a game of you being absentminded would actually rock. You would have to complete sertain things to finnish your day or whatever like mission objectives to do things. You could forget things, get mad, check things, swear at the cat, kick the wall, etc. Would be a laugh, I mean I havn't actually met anyone absentminded, though A friend's brother I know, has left at least 14 jackets 4 laptops, 6 phones and a host of other things at airports. He has also left his car running for 4 days unlocked till he ran out of fuel. so yeah. At 02:42 a.m. 20/05/2011, you wrote: Shaun, I want to start by thanking you for the audio games history, I actually find it very informative and useful. I like having some idea of how things went in the past, so I can get a better idea of how they will likely change now, and in the future. I think it would be an excellent idea for several of the old timers to collaborate on a detailed audio games history. With everyone working together, I'm sure the time line of things could be fine tuned, and many specific details and events would start to surface that had been long forgotten. I'm not really familiar with your phrase hack it yourself, so you'd probably have to define that for me. I would have thought it was the same as opensource devs, but you seem to have differentiated them in your last post, so I'm not quite sure of the meaning you intended. I can't really comment about being the fastest developer or not. When I was just starting high school (1995 or 1996 I believe), I began teaching myself programming so that I could make little games and things. When I had high school programming classes, I was the expert who would know more than the professor so I'd help my friends with their work and we'd spend class playing my latest game rather than working on the day's lesson, haha. I went to the University of Michigan and got degrees in Computer science and Mechanical engineering, but I have to say that 95% of what they taught me I had already learned myself before going. All in all, it was a huge waste of time and money just to earn the piece of paper that says degree. I've always been the stubborn person who was slow to change my programming habits when those around me did. I always focused more on the end result, and how I could accomplish the same thing in a quarter of the time, by not changing my methods over to whatever was currently popular at the time. In different situations, being stubborn like that is a problem, but for the most part it has benefited me. Since it seems I've started writing a bio of myself, lol, I'll say a bit more. I'm sure there are people floating around who assume I only know Visual basic 6.0, since that is what I've written my audio games in. For the record, I do know C++, C#, Java, Objective-C, and a few of the smaller ones they make you learn as you go through college. In my stubbornness I just use the one I want to, depending on the task at hand. Oh crud, I'm sure I've just summoned a barrage of comments from other programmers haha! I've been programming pretty much every day since 1995, on all manner of personal projects. My specialty is actually vision systems, which seems a little ironic since I'm also writing audio games! For those who might not know, this means I write software AI which uses a camera for input. I'm currently waiting to see if my program has won $20,000 in an open engineering challenge sent out by the US air force. The last thing, before I stop my speech, is probably the number one most important thing to know about me. I simply cannot keep myself on a single project. At any given time I am probably working on 10 different projects, I think about them all day while I'm at work, I dream about solutions at night, and the moment I get stuck on one, I immediately fill that spot of my brain with a new one. This probably means I'll die young from some sort of brain tumor haha! My wife and I have joked around about that since we were dating. Because I'm always mentally wrestling with so many projects, I really do fit the stereotype of the absent minded professor. I will forget where I am if I'm out driving, I'll forget which cabinet we keep dishes in, and I'll even forget friend's NAMES for like a day at a time! ROFL, I'm a mess! I have no idea how this turned into a biography about me, but maybe it'll entertain you guys to read it. Oh yeah, I'm married and 29 years old. Most people start with that kind of information, I had to tack it onto the end before I forgot. :) --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
Luckily I'm not quite that bad haha! Date: Friday, May 20, 2011, 3:23 AM on that note geremy, I think a game of you being absentminded would actually rock. You would have to complete sertain things to finnish your day or whatever like mission objectives to do things. You could forget things, get mad, check things, swear at the cat, kick the wall, etc. Would be a laugh, I mean I havn't actually met anyone absentminded, though A friend's brother I know, has left at least 14 jackets 4 laptops, 6 phones and a host of other things at airports. He has also left his car running for 4 days unlocked till he ran out of fuel. so yeah. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
well aprone you are one of the new hack it yourself generation. I have no idea how you seem to put things out so quickly but you must be one of if not the fastest developer on record. I don't know how you can release a game in 24 hours, heck not even a comercial dev can do that. I have been on the scenes since 1995 and on the audyssey lists from 1996. Things have changed and changed a lot. If I am allowed to ramble for a bit. Back in the day about 1995 I got the net, audyssey was just a few zip files. I read the mag and found it good. I was on dos then. One of the first companies to appear was pcs, followed closely by gmagames. They were for a while to about 2001 or there abouts the only companies to take the market. Pcs started the dos era, and such. The community was small, we talked games mostly interactive fiction, and well a few others. There were a few mainstreams that were good for windows like silent steel. We had vary few issues back then except when a hacker attack spread annoying messages. This was also the era where spam was actually usefull. You got something back for what you sent and it was grand. Ofcause it all changed in 2002 when esp came up could have been earlier. This was the first company and probably the one to have the most company shifts. Esp closed, opened, switched everything to adora which is now draconis. Tried to become alchemy then switched most of itself to usagames. Between then, we had x-sight which still exists but has gone quiet for now and xlstudios which was really good, this became shaned.net Which also switched to usagames. danz was round with blindsoftware which also was bsc games and bsc and blindsoftware merged together just recently. Then vipgameszone released a few games and I tested a couple. Then alone came blindadrenaline. Somewhere in the middle of what we will call the big company storm is when soundsupport and ultimately audiogames.net came in. This was the first place we could go to get things and still is. In fact its the experimental games and other games in the forum that keep the community going. Oh l-works also came and still exists. We have also got bavisoft which lasted for a couple years or so. Then pb-games came on the sceen which was good then became blastbay. Which is where we are up to now. The comercial companies have pulled back, and opensource hacker groups have taken off. Bgt means that anyone can vertually make a game and several have done so. Opensource industries have kept things going. For a couple years a group I was part of pkb games which had dzk and a few others tried to make autoit games. And a few soundpacks. After that other mods and soundpacks came out. I think most of this is correct, but it could be fun for a history of this community to be made. We sertainly have come a long way, through war and strife and some peacefull times, one stage we almost didn't exist. Now its a quiet period with opensource devs putting out a steady ammount of game related stuff, though most are due to the new hack it yourself load. The comercial companies have done their bit and have backed off. And its all free sailing for now. W have moved from dos to simple windows to directx, to xna with entombed and mouse, gamepad and joystick, even multiplayer with servers. So we are almost right up there. There is not much we are missing. OFcause we will never be on par with sighted graphically but sound wise I think we are up with the best of them, almost. Usagames has started complex gameplay, and this can only get better. Though its been mostly arcade with a few sims thrown in I think we are almost there, still have a little ways to go but with the speed of the opensource teams and such not much at the rate they are dishing out stuff. At 08:11 a.m. 19/05/2011, you wrote: First off, this is the second time I've written this post so it will probably be of lower quality this time around. My browser decided to glitch and I lost a very lost post, that was probably a full page if not a page and a half. As one of the new guys in the community, relatively speaking, I debated even commenting on this topic. I wasn't around for the golden era so my perspective is extremely limited compared to those who have been around long enough to see the bigger picture. That being said, I don't doubt things have slowed down with audio game development to some degree, I believe that is normal. I do, also, agree with Dark that a well made game can still use old ideas. Recently I assembled a list of the audio games and tools I have released. I was honestly shocked by how short that list was! I kept thinking I had left things out, and it took me a while to accept that the list was accurate. The reason I felt like I had done more is because for every game/tool I've released, I have 2 that were only partially finished. While developing a new game, if I discover existing games that use the same general
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
Reminds me of a great old amigar game called war, which was actually completely completely public domain. It was a sort of mix betwene a simple stratogy game where you made space fleets, sent them to conquer planits, got resources etc, and a real time space battle where you actually got to fight as your own spaceships. What was hilarious, is the very synthetic, flat, amigar workbench voice used to give sarcastic comments such as when it was your turn over to you, emvrio head or try your best, pathetic human When you lost, it got really sarcastic. The vegan fleet has been destroyed, I think I'm so sad I will commit suicide or I think your joystick is made of concrete!2 the fact it was so monotone and synthetic just made this even funnier, especially when it said things like ha ha ha or bleeerr! Both a great use of a synth, and actually a pretty awsome game. Beware the grue! Dark. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
Shaun, I want to start by thanking you for the audio games history, I actually find it very informative and useful. I like having some idea of how things went in the past, so I can get a better idea of how they will likely change now, and in the future. I think it would be an excellent idea for several of the old timers to collaborate on a detailed audio games history. With everyone working together, I'm sure the time line of things could be fine tuned, and many specific details and events would start to surface that had been long forgotten. I'm not really familiar with your phrase hack it yourself, so you'd probably have to define that for me. I would have thought it was the same as opensource devs, but you seem to have differentiated them in your last post, so I'm not quite sure of the meaning you intended. I can't really comment about being the fastest developer or not. When I was just starting high school (1995 or 1996 I believe), I began teaching myself programming so that I could make little games and things. When I had high school programming classes, I was the expert who would know more than the professor so I'd help my friends with their work and we'd spend class playing my latest game rather than working on the day's lesson, haha. I went to the University of Michigan and got degrees in Computer science and Mechanical engineering, but I have to say that 95% of what they taught me I had already learned myself before going. All in all, it was a huge waste of time and money just to earn the piece of paper that says degree. I've always been the stubborn person who was slow to change my programming habits when those around me did. I always focused more on the end result, and how I could accomplish the same thing in a quarter of the time, by not changing my methods over to whatever was currently popular at the time. In different situations, being stubborn like that is a problem, but for the most part it has benefited me. Since it seems I've started writing a bio of myself, lol, I'll say a bit more. I'm sure there are people floating around who assume I only know Visual basic 6.0, since that is what I've written my audio games in. For the record, I do know C++, C#, Java, Objective-C, and a few of the smaller ones they make you learn as you go through college. In my stubbornness I just use the one I want to, depending on the task at hand. Oh crud, I'm sure I've just summoned a barrage of comments from other programmers haha! I've been programming pretty much every day since 1995, on all manner of personal projects. My specialty is actually vision systems, which seems a little ironic since I'm also writing audio games! For those who might not know, this means I write software AI which uses a camera for input. I'm currently waiting to see if my program has won $20,000 in an open engineering challenge sent out by the US air force. The last thing, before I stop my speech, is probably the number one most important thing to know about me. I simply cannot keep myself on a single project. At any given time I am probably working on 10 different projects, I think about them all day while I'm at work, I dream about solutions at night, and the moment I get stuck on one, I immediately fill that spot of my brain with a new one. This probably means I'll die young from some sort of brain tumor haha! My wife and I have joked around about that since we were dating. Because I'm always mentally wrestling with so many projects, I really do fit the stereotype of the absent minded professor. I will forget where I am if I'm out driving, I'll forget which cabinet we keep dishes in, and I'll even forget friend's NAMES for like a day at a time! ROFL, I'm a mess! I have no idea how this turned into a biography about me, but maybe it'll entertain you guys to read it. Oh yeah, I'm married and 29 years old. Most people start with that kind of information, I had to tack it onto the end before I forgot. :) --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
Hi Geremy, Lol! Your bio sounds a bit like me. Like you I can't keep my mind or attention focussed on any single project at a time. That is in part why it is taking me so long to complete Mysteries of the Ancients. My weekly schedule is crazy in part because I switch from project to project from day to day. On Monday I might put four hours into Mysteries of the Ancients, on Tuesday I might work on my wrestling game idea, on Wednesday I'll be thinking about and writing down notes for a Star Wars game, on Thursday I'll go back to Mysteries of the Ancients, on Friday I'll work on what ever strikes my fansy. I'm definitely a bit of a scatter brain at times. Plus just because I go to bed, taking a shower, etc I often entertain myself by thinking of new game ideas, thinking of how to improve an existing idea, or preprogram some piece of code in my head. So just because I'm away from my PC doing something like showering, traveling, etc my mind is fully engaged on whatever project I'm working on. Cheers! --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
Hi Thomas, I'm glad I'm not the only one then, although I must have at least 50 game ideas on the agenda. Lol. Regards, Damien. - Original Message - From: Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2011 6:24 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed Hi Geremy, Lol! Your bio sounds a bit like me. Like you I can't keep my mind or attention focussed on any single project at a time. That is in part why it is taking me so long to complete Mysteries of the Ancients. My weekly schedule is crazy in part because I switch from project to project from day to day. On Monday I might put four hours into Mysteries of the Ancients, on Tuesday I might work on my wrestling game idea, on Wednesday I'll be thinking about and writing down notes for a Star Wars game, on Thursday I'll go back to Mysteries of the Ancients, on Friday I'll work on what ever strikes my fansy. I'm definitely a bit of a scatter brain at times. Plus just because I go to bed, taking a shower, etc I often entertain myself by thinking of new game ideas, thinking of how to improve an existing idea, or preprogram some piece of code in my head. So just because I'm away from my PC doing something like showering, traveling, etc my mind is fully engaged on whatever project I'm working on. Cheers! --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
Hi Damien. As I said, I stil am of the belief that if a game, albeit a simple one is good enough in it's overall quality, people will indeed buy it. look at q9, or more recently, pontes backgammon which was also created with bgt. If someone had suggested selling an accessible board game using sapi I'd have said what? but pontes backgammon lets you play online against opponents, aside from the fact the game itself is complex and strategical enough to keep you busy. pontes have put in the reasonable amount of sounds to balance out the gameplay, and a good quantity of review keys pluss computer opponents, leading to all in all a solid game. Will it win any awards? probably not, but is it fun to play? heck yes! have people bought it? also yes! As I said at the time, Acefire simply did not feature enough options in gameplay to be an interesting or long lasting game, despire the good quality sounds and music it had. Had you gone the other way and developed a game with bags of gameplay but only cheap sounds, I think the story may have been different. Look at Airik the clerric. Synth voices for the acting (though that will be fixed), and often ropy sound, yet it's getting lots of attention and preorders, simply because of the highly intreaguing gameplay it has. While I'd agree people's expectations have gone up, I'd not say the bar has gone up so far that something which is well enough put together as a game will not recieve either attention or sales. Beware the grue! Dark. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
First off, this is the second time I've written this post so it will probably be of lower quality this time around. My browser decided to glitch and I lost a very lost post, that was probably a full page if not a page and a half. As one of the new guys in the community, relatively speaking, I debated even commenting on this topic. I wasn't around for the golden era so my perspective is extremely limited compared to those who have been around long enough to see the bigger picture. That being said, I don't doubt things have slowed down with audio game development to some degree, I believe that is normal. I do, also, agree with Dark that a well made game can still use old ideas. Recently I assembled a list of the audio games and tools I have released. I was honestly shocked by how short that list was! I kept thinking I had left things out, and it took me a while to accept that the list was accurate. The reason I felt like I had done more is because for every game/tool I've released, I have 2 that were only partially finished. While developing a new game, if I discover existing games that use the same general idea, I will get discouraged. The same is true when I read that someone else is currently developing a game with a similar style. In those cases, I will just push my project aside and start work on another. Part of the way through that design, there's always a chance the same thing will happen again. Even if only half of the other developers are like me, that is a lot of developers holding off on projects because they are searching for a unique idea. Sure, if we stuck with it our games would be different in some ways, but they are still similar to something already out there. I always ask myself the question, Why waste time when I could be making something totally unique? Over the years, many audio games have been created, and they represent many different game styles. For anyone trying not to repeat an existing game, this means our options are getting smaller and smaller all the time. New ideas are tricky, and they take longer to develop than the games based on old ideas. It is only natural for things to slow down because of this. I believe that this would still be true even if the old classic game companies were still around. They probably rode out the market until the trends started to change. It was a smart move on their part, if that is what they did. New ideas also run the risk of being rejected. I released Daytona to be unique, and many people played it, but also many more didn't even care to try it. That's not meant to put anyone down, but it is just a reality. The more new and unique you make a game, the more likely it is that you've narrowed down on your potential player base. For this very reason I set my combat game aside because I didn't have faith that my player base would be large enough to help me support the ongoing server costs. I'm also fairly certain my next Daytona game will be completely passed over by a sizable portion of the community simply because it requires the mouse to play. I built Lunimals to be as close to standard as I could, and I'm sure its recent popularity speaks loudly in support of my theory. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
Hi Jeremy, Well, what you say makes sense. However, there is another angle I think we, as accessible game developers, often overlook. For instance, you are saying you pass over an idea because it has already done before, or too similar to a game in existance. That's true if we are looking at the wider community, but there is still nitch markets for those games. I myself am using Linux and there currently is nothing like Troopenum, Hunter, Judgment Day, etc available. So I'd probably buy it if there was a version built for Linux. It is the same case for Mac OS users who have left Windows for Mac, and now are trying to find games for Mac that are accessible. No its not financially as big a gold mine as Windows, I'm certainly not saying that, but my point is just because a similar game has been created before doesn't mean it isn't of value to someone. It just means we as developers have to look at the big picture and see where potential customers are. For instance, over the past month I've put a lot of work into upgrading my game engine so it runs on Windows and Linux, and I'm pretty sure if I compiled a version for Mac it should run on Mac OS as well. So if I chose to use my engine to create another Troopenum type game I doubt I'd get many Windows sales, because its like something they already have, but for Mac and Linux markets I'm sure I could make a couple thousand or so in sales from those nitch markets alone. Its simply the old case of supply and demand at work here again. Cheers! On 5/18/11, Jeremy Kaldobsky jer...@kaldobsky.com wrote: First off, this is the second time I've written this post so it will probably be of lower quality this time around. My browser decided to glitch and I lost a very lost post, that was probably a full page if not a page and a half. As one of the new guys in the community, relatively speaking, I debated even commenting on this topic. I wasn't around for the golden era so my perspective is extremely limited compared to those who have been around long enough to see the bigger picture. That being said, I don't doubt things have slowed down with audio game development to some degree, I believe that is normal. I do, also, agree with Dark that a well made game can still use old ideas. Recently I assembled a list of the audio games and tools I have released. I was honestly shocked by how short that list was! I kept thinking I had left things out, and it took me a while to accept that the list was accurate. The reason I felt like I had done more is because for every game/tool I've released, I have 2 that were only partially finished. While developing a new game, if I discover existing games that use the same general idea, I will get discouraged. The same is true when I read that someone else is currently developing a game with a similar style. In those cases, I will just push my project aside and start work on another. Part of the way through that design, there's always a chance the same thing will happen again. Even if only half of the other developers are like me, that is a lot of developers holding off on projects because they are searching for a unique idea. Sure, if we stuck with it our games would be different in some ways, but they are still similar to something already out there. I always ask myself the question, Why waste time when I could be making something totally unique? Over the years, many audio games have been created, and they represent many different game styles. For anyone trying not to repeat an existing game, this means our options are getting smaller and smaller all the time. New ideas are tricky, and they take longer to develop than the games based on old ideas. It is only natural for things to slow down because of this. I believe that this would still be true even if the old classic game companies were still around. They probably rode out the market until the trends started to change. It was a smart move on their part, if that is what they did. New ideas also run the risk of being rejected. I released Daytona to be unique, and many people played it, but also many more didn't even care to try it. That's not meant to put anyone down, but it is just a reality. The more new and unique you make a game, the more likely it is that you've narrowed down on your potential player base. For this very reason I set my combat game aside because I didn't have faith that my player base would be large enough to help me support the ongoing server costs. I'm also fairly certain my next Daytona game will be completely passed over by a sizable portion of the community simply because it requires the mouse to play. I built Lunimals to be as close to standard as I could, and I'm sure its recent popularity speaks loudly in support of my theory. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
How about the people that would not buy a straightforward, no nonsense chess program because they already have one, but would immediately buy a chess program that sports such features as giving sarcastic responses to your mistakes and showing battles between the chessmen when there is a capture? It's chess with different twists, sort of. --- Laughter is the best medicine, so look around, find a dose and take it to heart. - Original Message - From: Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 7:11 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed Hi Jeremy, Well, what you say makes sense. However, there is another angle I think we, as accessible game developers, often overlook. For instance, you are saying you pass over an idea because it has already done before, or too similar to a game in existance. That's true if we are looking at the wider community, but there is still nitch markets for those games. I myself am using Linux and there currently is nothing like Troopenum, Hunter, Judgment Day, etc available. So I'd probably buy it if there was a version built for Linux. It is the same case for Mac OS users who have left Windows for Mac, and now are trying to find games for Mac that are accessible. No its not financially as big a gold mine as Windows, I'm certainly not saying that, but my point is just because a similar game has been created before doesn't mean it isn't of value to someone. It just means we as developers have to look at the big picture and see where potential customers are. For instance, over the past month I've put a lot of work into upgrading my game engine so it runs on Windows and Linux, and I'm pretty sure if I compiled a version for Mac it should run on Mac OS as well. So if I chose to use my engine to create another Troopenum type game I doubt I'd get many Windows sales, because its like something they already have, but for Mac and Linux markets I'm sure I could make a couple thousand or so in sales from those nitch markets alone. Its simply the old case of supply and demand at work here again. Cheers! On 5/18/11, Jeremy Kaldobsky jer...@kaldobsky.com wrote: First off, this is the second time I've written this post so it will probably be of lower quality this time around. My browser decided to glitch and I lost a very lost post, that was probably a full page if not a page and a half. As one of the new guys in the community, relatively speaking, I debated even commenting on this topic. I wasn't around for the golden era so my perspective is extremely limited compared to those who have been around long enough to see the bigger picture. That being said, I don't doubt things have slowed down with audio game development to some degree, I believe that is normal. I do, also, agree with Dark that a well made game can still use old ideas. Recently I assembled a list of the audio games and tools I have released. I was honestly shocked by how short that list was! I kept thinking I had left things out, and it took me a while to accept that the list was accurate. The reason I felt like I had done more is because for every game/tool I've released, I have 2 that were only partially finished. While developing a new game, if I discover existing games that use the same general idea, I will get discouraged. The same is true when I read that someone else is currently developing a game with a similar style. In those cases, I will just push my project aside and start work on another. Part of the way through that design, there's always a chance the same thing will happen again. Even if only half of the other developers are like me, that is a lot of developers holding off on projects because they are searching for a unique idea. Sure, if we stuck with it our games would be different in some ways, but they are still similar to something already out there. I always ask myself the question, Why waste time when I could be making something totally unique? Over the years, many audio games have been created, and they represent many different game styles. For anyone trying not to repeat an existing game, this means our options are getting smaller and smaller all the time. New ideas are tricky, and they take longer to develop than the games based on old ideas. It is only natural for things to slow down because of this. I believe that this would still be true even if the old classic game companies were still around. They probably rode out the market until the trends started to change. It was a smart move on their part, if that is what they did. New ideas also run the risk of being rejected. I released Daytona to be unique, and many people played it, but also many more didn't even care to try it. That's not meant to put anyone down, but it is just a reality. The more new and unique you make a game
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
Thomas, I agree there will always be room to supply the nitch markets, I was just pointing out that the options are more limited than they used to be. Back in what I presume to be the audio games golden age, new developers were sitting on a huge well of game ideas. All of the mainstream console games, board games, and card games were ripe for the duplicating into an accessible format. For a long while, I'm sure the only thing slowing anyone down was the time it took to crank the games out, and most of those were probably each their own first in gaming style within the vi community. That old well has dried up, and I agree, mainstream sources still trickle new ideas into that old well, but it is a slow trickle compared to the old days. - Aprone --- On Wed, 5/18/11, Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com wrote: From: Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com Subject: Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Date: Wednesday, May 18, 2011, 8:11 PM Hi Jeremy, Well, what you say makes sense. However, there is another angle I think we, as accessible game developers, often overlook. For instance, you are saying you pass over an idea because it has already done before, or too similar to a game in existance. That's true if we are looking at the wider community, but there is still nitch markets for those games. I myself am using Linux and there currently is nothing like Troopenum, Hunter, Judgment Day, etc available. So I'd probably buy it if there was a version built for Linux. It is the same case for Mac OS users who have left Windows for Mac, and now are trying to find games for Mac that are accessible. No its not financially as big a gold mine as Windows, I'm certainly not saying that, but my point is just because a similar game has been created before doesn't mean it isn't of value to someone. It just means we as developers have to look at the big picture and see where potential customers are. For instance, over the past month I've put a lot of work into upgrading my game engine so it runs on Windows and Linux, and I'm pretty sure if I compiled a version for Mac it should run on Mac OS as well. So if I chose to use my engine to create another Troopenum type game I doubt I'd get many Windows sales, because its like something they already have, but for Mac and Linux markets I'm sure I could make a couple thousand or so in sales from those nitch markets alone. Its simply the old case of supply and demand at work here again. Cheers! On 5/18/11, Jeremy Kaldobsky jer...@kaldobsky.com wrote: First off, this is the second time I've written this post so it will probably be of lower quality this time around. My browser decided to glitch and I lost a very lost post, that was probably a full page if not a page and a half. As one of the new guys in the community, relatively speaking, I debated even commenting on this topic. I wasn't around for the golden era so my perspective is extremely limited compared to those who have been around long enough to see the bigger picture. That being said, I don't doubt things have slowed down with audio game development to some degree, I believe that is normal. I do, also, agree with Dark that a well made game can still use old ideas. Recently I assembled a list of the audio games and tools I have released. I was honestly shocked by how short that list was! I kept thinking I had left things out, and it took me a while to accept that the list was accurate. The reason I felt like I had done more is because for every game/tool I've released, I have 2 that were only partially finished. While developing a new game, if I discover existing games that use the same general idea, I will get discouraged. The same is true when I read that someone else is currently developing a game with a similar style. In those cases, I will just push my project aside and start work on another. Part of the way through that design, there's always a chance the same thing will happen again. Even if only half of the other developers are like me, that is a lot of developers holding off on projects because they are searching for a unique idea. Sure, if we stuck with it our games would be different in some ways, but they are still similar to something already out there. I always ask myself the question, Why waste time when I could be making something totally unique? Over the years, many audio games have been created, and they represent many different game styles. For anyone trying not to repeat an existing game, this means our options are getting smaller and smaller all the time. New ideas are tricky, and they take longer to develop than the games based on old ideas. It is only natural for things to slow down
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
Hi, Unfortunately, that is very true. There are a lot of board games etc I could write, but there are free versions available. Creating a commercial version wouldn't sell unless it was really spectacular. For example, I've thought about creating my own version of Monopoly. Main reason is there are some special rules that the Kitchens Inc and RS Games versions don't have. In the Lord of the Rings Monopoly you can play using the ring which has its own special rules and special dice which is totally different from regular Monopoly. The Star Wars Collecters Edition Monopoly has a few extrarules and changes not found in classic Monopoly as well. However, I'm not sure that these extra features would be in demand by VI gamers. I'm afraid if I spent two or three months developing a more complete Monopoly set with special rules people will just grown and say, Oh, no. another Monopoly game? The same goes for Life. Jim Kitchen has a decent Life game, but there are some variations that are pretty cool. One of the more recent versions my wife and I own is Pirates of the Caribbean. Its a little more fun than classic Life as its all about becoming a pirate, finding gold, attacking other ships, etc. I don't know if this would constitute enough of a change for people to be interested in another Life game even if it has a different theme, different cards, etc. So you are right. The well isn't as deep as it once was, and if I want to do a board game, arcade game, it has to be different enough to seem newor or they won't be as much interest in it. Yet of course anything with Harry Potter, Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, are usually automatic hits just because of the characters, music, etc involved in the game. In other words the familiarity to the gamer. Cheers! On 5/18/11, Jeremy Kaldobsky jer...@kaldobsky.com wrote: Thomas, I agree there will always be room to supply the nitch markets, I was just pointing out that the options are more limited than they used to be. Back in what I presume to be the audio games golden age, new developers were sitting on a huge well of game ideas. All of the mainstream console games, board games, and card games were ripe for the duplicating into an accessible format. For a long while, I'm sure the only thing slowing anyone down was the time it took to crank the games out, and most of those were probably each their own first in gaming style within the vi community. That old well has dried up, and I agree, mainstream sources still trickle new ideas into that old well, but it is a slow trickle compared to the old days. - Aprone --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] the spirit of game production - Re: bringsbackmemories - Re: Fw: BlindSoftware.comBlog Feed
Hi Charles, Hmmm...Good point. If the Chess set was anything like Wizard Chess I'd definitely buy it. It would be funny to hear the Chessmen insulting the player like, Hey, moron! If I go that way that night will jump on me. Hey, idiot! Don't you see that black knight waiting to kill me? Are you blind or something? Moron, that black queen over there is going to kick my butt! Let's just say it would be lots of laughs. The cruder and more insulting they are the funnier it would be. It never hurts to have a bit of irony and sarcasm in a game. For instance, my son likes to play Cripto the Super Dog. Funny thing is every time you lose, die, etc the game has some witty sarcastic remark to say about it. Hey, some super dog you are. You can't even jump right. Things like that are pretty funny the first couple times you hear them. On 5/18/11, Charles Rivard woofer...@sbcglobal.net wrote: How about the people that would not buy a straightforward, no nonsense chess program because they already have one, but would immediately buy a chess program that sports such features as giving sarcastic responses to your mistakes and showing battles between the chessmen when there is a capture? It's chess with different twists, sort of. --- Laughter is the best medicine, so look around, find a dose and take it to heart. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
