GGJ 2010: The Most Heartbreaking Laughter
My Team, EL MATADORS: Cole, me, Mike, Nazer, and Matt. You can't tell, but we are each holding little Mariachi band figures that decorate our workspace this weekend.
Global Game Jam 2010 Post #2:
It is 12:30am again. Day two of the 2010 Global Game Jam is in the bag. I planned to post an update in the afternoon, but there was not a second to spare all day. We sprinted through 15 hours of development today, and found ourselves in all three of what I am told are the classic Day-Two moments: a serious talk in the afternoon about what features can be kept and what needs to be discarded for the sake of completing the project, a major technical crisis where the tools broke in the face of our ambition, and reaching a place where the most frustrating and incomprehensible bugs brought laughter instead of tears, where the relief of having gotten this far, and the pleasure in doing this together, won over whether or not the thing we want to call a game ever becomes what we hoped.
And we were not the only ones. I overheard other teams talking about what they could cut and heard heart-rending stories of programmers losing their entire work so far due to a computer error of some sort (even in a 3-day project–or especially in a 3-day project!– a version-safe system is critical). And slap-happy giggles filled the corridors between the MIT Gambit labs in the last hours, developers enjoying after a long day the many interesting ways their games managed to break.
So how is “The Last Bullfight” coming along, you ask? Thanks to the art direction of our good friend Pablo P, in-game art and animation are pretty much complete (at least, sufficiently to show all of the features we planned). The sound work is in good shape, including a powerful song composed by our designer. The code features that have been completed are successfully producing an atmosphere, a sense of perspective and place, and we are happy about that so far. While the back-end code of the basic kill-or-be-killed game play is in, there is no real feedback yet to the player on which is occurring, which we understand is the difference between having a game and having a weird little interactive movie. We hope to have a game tomorrow.
One day left. See you on the other side,
Jason
January 31, 2010 | | Comments Off
Category: Development Blog, Events, Games
Tags: game development story, Global Game Jam 2010, Jason Wiener, MIT Gambit, The Last Bullfight
Global Game Jam 2010: Artist Jason Reports From The Front
Global Game Jam 2010 Post #1:
It’s Friday night, 12:30am. We have just been kicked out of MIT’s Gambit labs to get a few hours of sleep before a full day of development tomorrow. The last eight hours are a blur; meeting dozens of developers, hearing the theme and constraints of the 2010 jam (International theme: deception. Local theme: abstraction. Constraints to choose among: rain, plain, Spain), taking 90 minutes to discuss ideas, with proposals flying so fast and furious my head felt full ten minutes into it, pitching our ideas, forming teams, and then getting as much pre-production nailed before they sent us packing.
I pitched a game (and found a willing team) where you are a bull in a Spanish bullfight. The goal is to kill the matador before he kills you. Being in the bull’s perspective, the environment we are planning is distorted; black and white Pablo Picasso-style architecture and characters, where the matador is practically invisible unless you are a few feet from him, but his flowing red cape tantalizes you at every turn (yes, we know Bulls can’t actually see the color red. Game is more fun this way. We think.).
We started by making sure everyone had everyone else’s contact info, wrote up a design doc and rough asset list, discussed how we plan to communicate and treat each other, decided on tools and how we will handle version control, and looked up reference material. While beginning a VERY rough prototype, we watched about two hours of bullfighting video, and found ourselves, already in the mindset of the bull, booing the humans.
Can we get this done by Sunday? We have two programmers (one an industry pro, one currently at MIT) using the Unity engine, one sound designer from Berklee, a QA/research lead from Sloan, and me making the art. I have no idea where we will be on Sunday, but I am excited about the team.
More tomorrow,
Jason
Who would kill this cute little bull?
January 30, 2010 | | Comments (1)
Category: Uncategorized
Tags: game development story, Global Game Jam 2010, Singaore MIT Gambit Game Lab, The Last Bullfight
IGDA Rapid + Iterative Prototyping Slides Available!
By popular demand, here are the slides from my web based talk on Rapid Iterative Prototyping. Take a look why don’t you! If you’d like to present this to a class or to someone else feel free to do so, please just give me a credit somewhere.
If you have questions on the talk or one that didn’t get answered during the presentation please feel free to ask in the comments section and I’ll answer it there, alternatively you can just e-mail me. And if this is your first time here then welcome, and be sure to join our twitter/facebook/rss feeds!
Oh man, I’ve gotten soooo many good suggestions for awesome web comics from this talk 
January 27, 2010 | | Comments (10)
Category: Events, Words of Wisdom
Tags: comics, Eitan, Facebook, IGDA, iterative, lecture, presentation, prototyping, rapid, rss, slides, twitter
Inspector Gadget: Man or Machine?
We’ve been kicking this question around the office for a while and are unable to come up with a satisfactory answer. Is Inspector Gadget a man or a machine?
There is ample evidence that Gadget is some sort of Cyborg with extensive implants; that would certainly explain the fact that his limbs all seem to function in mechanical ways at times and “normally” at other times. It also explains his demeanor and human personality.
But at what point does one stop being a Cyborg and become a full fledged robot? Gadget regularly has things pop out of his head (see above image), implying that his skull is storage space and indicating that he may in fact be a robot. An alternate theory is that he is entirely human and has some sort of advanced nano-robotic implants which construct (and then deconstruct) his gadgets upon verbal “Go Go” commands.
The rabbit hole goes pretty deep on this one; if Gadget isn’t human, what is his relationship to Penny? Is she actually his niece, or perhaps some sort of highly trained and competent caretaker? Evidence in the cartoon show would certainly support this theory. And what about Brain? Does he have some sort of neuro-stimulation of his own going on? How else could we explain his extraordinary intelligence as a K-9?
What do you think? Let us know where you stand on this in the comments!
January 26, 2010 | | Comments (1)
Category: Random
Tags: 80s, Brain, Cartoon, Conspiracy, Cyborg, Gadget, go go, Human, Inspector, mystery, Penny, Random, robot, Theory, TV
Words of Wisdom: Boston Indies on Monday, IGDA Webinar on Wednesday
Eitan’s going to be giving two great talks next week – first, at Boston Indies on Monday, second as an IGDA Webinar on Wednesday.
Boston Indies – Monday, January 25 @ 7pm – The Asgard, Cambridge, MA
Join Eitan at Boston Indies on Monday as he shows off Slam Bolt Scrappers and discusses the development of the game thus far. It’ll be a pretty informal event, and it’s at a bar, so you get to drink some beer and hang out with the rest of Boston Indies. Find directions to the Asgard right here.
IGDA Webinar – Wednesday, January 27 @ 12pm – Dial In
After you’ve heard all about Slam Bolt Scrappers on Monday evening, tune in Wednesday afternoon to hear Eitan presenting an IGDA webinar on Rapid, Iterative Prototyping. Eitan will be explaining why it’s a great way to get started on a game if you’re missing other essential elements like an artist, funding, etc. Plus he’ll be showing off some of the builds we’ve developed using this method.
It’s going to be a busy week of talks, hope to see you at the events!
January 22, 2010 | | Comments Off
Category: Words of Wisdom
Tags: asgard, Boston, IGDA, indies, iterative, prototying, rapid, Slam Bolt Scrappers
Review of 2K’s Borderlands
I’ve spent the better part of the past weekend playing through Borderlands, a new first person shooter with RPG elements from 2K. I had fun playing so here are my thoughts on the game.
What was interesting: I liked the Diablo similarities where you get procedurally generated loot for killing enemies. While it can be cumbersome at times to sort through all the drops it did certainly feel satisfying when you found the rapid-fire-rocket-launcher-of-lighting-your-enemy’s-face-on-fire. The tech tree part was fun too, I played as a Berserker and leveled up my ability to punch people to death instead of the tried and true shooting method. The missions that you picked up, while mostly formulaic, kept me engaged enough to want to keep playing to see what happened next. Finally, I really enjoyed the voice acting for a couple of the characters, especially the hillbilly who offers you vehicles (”Get you one!”)
What was ok: The vehicle sections were about as mediocre as I expected, and felt very reminiscent of Halo Warthog Jeep (alas, no flying motorcycle or tank). The plot was entirely throw away as far as I was concerned (I’m searching for some secret treasure vault? Who gives a shit?) but luckily the game didn’t really shove it down my throat too much. The game had a nice visual aesthetic with some cartoony/serious graphics, but after a while things started to blend together and I got tired of the whole junkyard look and feel. It’s too bad they didn’t explore different environments with different colors more! The boss fights were generally good, with some memorable tangles, but there were too few bosses to break up the game play.
What sucked: After a while things started to get a little bit repetitive, especially in the enemy department. By the end I was just playing for the sake of playing, not because I wanted to see the next exciting thing. Some of the fetch quests were kind of annoying too, especially when it clearly felt like a fetch quest.
What I missed: The multiplayer! Everyone tells me this is one of the best features of the game, but I only played through single player. After I find my gold trial I’ll give the co-op and death match modes a shot and see how they play out, I’m sure they’re a ton of fun.
Overall I think Borderlands was a lot of fun, and it appeals to me even though I’m not usually into FPS-es. I’d definitely recommend giving it a shot, especially if you like playing with friends. Accept its flaws and you’ll have a good time.
January 18, 2010 | | Comments Off
Category: Games
Tags: 2K, Borderlands, Diablo, FPS, Halo, multiplayer, procedural, repetitive, rpg
Words of Wisdom: Mia Consalvo on Western Otaku Culture
Attention anime nerds: Ever want to hear a academic reconstruct your obsession with all things Japanese related? Well you’re in luck! In this talk Mia Consalvo, noted game academic and all around kick-ass individual, delves into why we love Japan when it comes to games. It’s a long talk but pretty interesting and definitely worth watching. Thanks to Gene and CMS for the recording.
Here’s the talk description:
From Nintendo’s first Famicom system, Japanese consoles and videogames have played a central role in the development and expansion of the digital game industry. Players globally have consumed and enjoyed Japanese games for many reasons, and in a variety of contexts. This study examines one particular subset of videogame players, for whom the consumption of Japanese videogames in particular is of great value, in addition to their related activities consuming anime and manga from Japan. Through in-depth interviews with such players, this study investigates how transnational fandom operates in the realm of videogame culture, and how a particular group of videogame players interprets their gameplay experience in terms of a global, if hybrid, industry.
Enjoy!
January 11, 2010 | | Comments Off
Category: Words of Wisdom
Tags: academic, anime, CMS, Consalvo, Gene, Japan, manga, Mia, MIT, otaku
Words of Wisdom: IGDA Webinar on Rapid Prototyping
If you can’t get enough of Eitan’s talks, you’re in luck! On January 27 at 12pm, Eitan will be presenting an IGDA Webinar on Rapid, Iterative Prototyping.
What do you do if you have no artist, no funding, and the design isn’t even complete? Prototype! In this webinar, Eitan will share some ideas for rapid, iterative prototyping, including how we used it in the development of Slam Bolt Scrappers. You’ll even get to see some of the super early builds we developed using this process. And of course there will be plenty of dinosaurs as well.
Unfortunately, Eitan will not be completing a Super Metroid speed run while giving this talk – but we promise to give you plenty of notice when that does happen.
January 7, 2010 | | Comments Off
Category: Words of Wisdom
Tags: dinosaur, Eitan, IGDA, prototype, prototyping, rapid, Slam Bolt Scrappers, Super Metroid
2010 IGF Finalists Announced
The 2010 IGF Finalists have been announced! Sadly, Slam Bolt Scrappers was not among the finalists, but there’s always next year (when we’ll be further along with development, and with any luck will have finished the game). There is good news though! Boston had a strong showing, and three of the finalists are made by locals!
Club Rochiro made AAAAAAAAAAA, the awesome base jumping game in which you get to flip off protesters, kiss buildings, and listen to Ichiro’s sweet, soothing voice while you meditate. Marc Ten Bosch made Miegakure, a mind blowing 4-D (yes, 4-D) puzzle platformer in which you navigate a Zen Garden and try to keep your brain from exploding. It’s a lot of fun! Finally, Rob Jagnow made Cogs, a fun sliding puzzle game with an awesome steampunk style. Yeah, Rob lives in San Francisco and made the game out there, but screw that, he’s an MIT guy and was making games in Boston until recently, I’m claiming this one for our side.
Congrats to all the finalists, these games are all really spectacular! We’ll give next years contestants more of a run for their money