Saturday, January 14, 2023

RCkee-Ball?

 Ahr-Skee Ball? I don't make 3D games usually, but I've got to admit: there's something there. I don't think it's fair to call the third dimension a fad in gaming anymore. I'm pretty sure it's here to stay.

With that in mind, I'd like to announce that I'm making a game inspired by Monkey Ball and the midway. I want to steer a car off of a giant ramp and fling it through giant hoops for points. That sounds like fun.

I might add other obstacles later, but for now: that sounds good enough. Any further decisions will be made only after I can fling a car through a 100 point loop.

Happy New Year!

Wednesday, November 09, 2022

I've Been Making A Gameboy Game

I've been working on a small project for a lot longer than I had intended on. (It happens.) I wanted to spend a week making a game for the Gameboy. Something small and simple that wouldn't require a lot of extra planning to execute: an arcade-like experience.

That was quite a while ago at this point.

I could write a whole bunch of stuff about what happened, why things need to change, and that is certainly something I would usually do. (I already wrote and deleted that post.) Instead let me say that instead of focusing on making something perfect: I should make a bunch of things that are good learning experiences and move on.

It's time to move on.

I'm making a game about mowing lawns for the Gameboy. It's almost done. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun making it. I hope you try it when it's done.


Friday, October 21, 2022

Oh Wow, There Was A Blog Here.

 Hey yo, hey!

It's been a long time since I posted anything on here, so maybe now is the best time to jump back in. My life is as remarkably different now as it is also exactly the same. I tried to chase the YouTube dragon for a minute, and that really got me burned out creatively.

I wanted to make games. I still want to make games. 

I have a whole pile of projects that I've let wither and die on the vine, but maybe it's time I really try to finish something. Once in a decade might be a little slow, but I'm a work in progress.

What have I got in the hopper?

  • My friend and I have been working on an asteroids-like with a leveling system.
  • I'm actively working on a Gameboy game about mowing lawns.
  • My girlfriend and I were working on a game about being a magical girl who spreads joy.
  • I've made a bunch of prototypes of this one dumb game about waiting for a bus.
  • I made a fully functional snake game inside the dumb bus game.

I have a lot of scraps of ideas along with a bunch of stalled concepts. Let's see if I can get something done.

 --Jon

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Free Play Arcade: Crowtel Is Out!

So as part of my Games Games Games show: I've started making mini episodes about free indie games that can be found online. The very first of these is about a game called Crowtel. This is partially because it's a game where you play as a bird and we are so close to Thanksgiving. Also, It's because I came up with the idea after stumbling upon this game. New episodes should be arriving every week.

Here's the first!


In other news, I'm going to start making a small game for a short game jam just to get back in to the swing of development again. I want to document the quick dev time and make a video about it. We'll see how that works out.

Either way, I'm going to share with the blog, and keep you updated on what kinds of projects I'm working on in the future. What are you working on? I love hearing about what other people are doing. Drop me a line or leave a comment below.

Monday, November 16, 2015

And now it's time for: Games Games Games!



Gosh. It's been almost four months. But I assure you that I haven't just been sitting around on my tuchus doing nada. I have been spending almost all of my free time crafting the first pilot episodes of Games Games Games. And they are ready for you to enjoy.

Without further pomp:





The last one is actually just a chunk of a much larger conversation. if you want to listen to the whole thing for free you can at the official Games Games Games Bandcamp page! How about that?

This project has kind of taken over my life, and I have a whole new appreciation for other people who've been making videos for years now. I hope you watch the videos and maybe share them with your friends. I'm going to keep releasing videos every month. (I already have episodes planned out for the next year.) If people are watching, I'll be able to invest more time, and then release videos more frequently.  Can you help me make this grow?

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Something New Is Coming

BUS_WAIT is on hold for a hot minute while I work on something entirely different. After this moves forward I promise you. I promise you! BUS_WAIT will resume. More details are inbound, but until then enjoy this teaser...

And this...


I've been very hard at work, and I already have the scripts written for 3 episodes. Production is well on the way for all three of them, and I have cool ideas lined up for a great many more.

The first episode is going to be about Snake Rattle N Roll. A game made by Rare that I played a ton of growing up, but isn't very well known compared to much larger titles from the same developer.

What do you think? Look forward to the launch of my YouTube channel very soon!

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Today's blog post is about the rule of kiss. For those who don't know this rule, Keep It Simple, Stupid.

I've recently been caught up trying to put together environment assets for BUS_WAIT that would rock the socks off of people. But rather than worrying about the individual pieces I should spend more time worrying about the Gestalt (the whole) of the project.

For example: I've spent a long time recently worrying about power lines in the dungeon.

What color should they be? Do I want bunches hanging from the wall? What does the hook look like that holds these power lines up? I sketched pages of doodles for these power lines. I asked friends color theory questions about how best to incorporate the power lines into the scene. I was letting this problem bring the entire project to a halt!

Who gives a fuck?

Keep it simple: no one cares about the power lines except me. They are background information that helps to build the structure of the rest of the scene. Rather than worrying about this small and insignificant part of the dungeon: I should spend more time building out and populating all of the rooms with the myriad of more important assets that actually have significant storytelling and game play importance.

Later, I can go back and improve the assets I've already made to inform a more cohesive whole. But this all needs to happen later.

Keep it simple, stupid. Worry more about the big picture, and less about the details. This may seem obvious, but it's a very helpful reminder for me.

As for the game...

More info soon. I promise.

Here's a Sonic doodle for your troubles: