Hello everyone!
I know it has been a really long time since I have posted anything. My day job has kept me busy and I have not been motivated so my progress has been very minimal. I only recently finished an update to The Battle Front to support click usability; no more using keyboard and mouse combination! It is pretty exciting to have a stable build like this uploaded to my itch.io site (check it out here), I know a lot of people were frustrated with not having a user friendly experience. But no more! Please check it out and let me know what you think! Next I will be working on the graphics and animations to really fluff up the game! This will be a challenge for me since I am not so artistic so bare with me and wish me luck! Also I would like to hear how you stay motivated to work on your projects? How do you balance work, life, and hobbies? I know i know if its a real dream I should always be motivated no matter what, but I have had some difficulties lately. It's also interesting hearing other people's habits when it comes to these type of things. Until next time, continue to play and learn. Hello readers! I just wanted to share with you a little thought of mine that I had when I was going through my next step plans for The Battle Front. While rushing to get a playable and show able game ready for comic con, I was forced to put little thought to code architecture and organization. My mind was focused on just getting the code bug free and working. As most of you know, my day job is an application developer (java programmer), so having such scattered and disorganized code drove me crazy every step of the way. But! I had to get the game functional, which I did, so I put up with it. Now that the convention is over, I will finally get to work on re-working and hashing out a true code architecture that is efficient, eloquent, and organized.
While thinking about this, I could not help but think about my professional career at the same time. Indie Developers come from all walks of life, some do game design for fun while others develop professionally. The developers who develop for fun typically have a day job that allows them to continue surviving while exploring their interests in game design; I am one of those developers myself. However, I happen to have a job that lends to game development and I have now realized the inverse is true as well. While thinking about re-factoring my code, I realized that this is would require me to have an established code architecture. It is one of the few things that I have not fully learned in my short career as a programmer. I have learned that this skill is required for a more experienced developer. I here have the rare opportunity to have my hobby, my game design, advance my professional career at the same time. What luck! How many other developers can say that they have that opportunity? Many developers either quick game development or quit their professional careers in order to focus on one or the other. This is why I count my self very lucky to have a job and a hobby that can lend to each other and one helps me grow in the other. Others can not always be so lucky, but I firmly believe that if you look hard enough you will be able to find benefits in every thing you do. One must just critically examine every aspect of their lives and not take any experience for granted. Please share your thoughts and your experiences! This morning I was listening to my usual morning show, the Morning Sickness on 98 KUPD, They were going over the new releases, and in this case video game releases. I do not remember what game exactly they were discussing but one of the hosts mentioned how he enjoyed the gratuitous violence. They then continued to talk about how they were expecting to receive emails about people condemning them for enjoying killing small children in this particular game; honestly I would expect the same. The discussion then came up that what is the difference between killing a grown male in a game and killing a child in the game. Why is it that we are ok with the objectives in violent games when the target is an adult, but then frown upon it when the target may be a small child? If we were to accept one form of violence, should we not then be ok with any other form of violence? It is not as if we gamers are actually looking to then go out into the real world and reproduce the same violence. Or is it a red flag that goes up when a person enjoys certain things in a game that would otherwise be frowned upon?
So the question is, when is the line to be drawn for what is acceptable violence and unacceptable? As developers should we be mindful of what others might find as unacceptable or do we stick to our own morals and intentions? I have officially started a Go Fund Me page so i can raise enough money to have The Battle Front mass produced! The Game Crafter has been a wonderful tool to get a game prototype in order to get people the opportunity to play and enjoy my game. While the game is available for purchase through The Game Crafter, single or small sale production puts the price of my game a lot higher than any one would like to pay for an indie board game. Hence the goal here is to have the game mass produced! It'll take some time to raise the required amount of money up to cover the cost of production, but that will provide me with adequate time to come up with a marketing plan as that will be the crucial next step. Any suggestion or tips for marketing a board game would be greatly appreciated!
I still have 2 copies of the current version available for sale, and while they are technically "incomplete" they will allow you to play the game without a problem. I would like these copies to go to people whom can give a review of the game so more credibility is given to my campaign. Here's to hoping for a successful production mission! Gratitude |
AuthorHi beloved readers! I am Ever, founder of 4EverStudios and looking to change the world one game at a time. Archives
September 2017
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