Just uploaded the promovideo for my first game skydive that uses the unity engine. There are a few more things needed to be done before it can be released. But here's a taste. The clips are from in the game. The song is a clip from my band's song When I'm alone. Bands name is Wasted Saints.
You really gotta be a renaissance man when making games alone. It is much like a modern handicraft, a complicated piece of artwork.
Anyway, I just got a new site for Let it roll Productions up and running: Let it roll Productions
By the way, I'm really liking Microsofts MVC implementation for the web. End result is such clean code compared to normal asp.net forms.
Cheers!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Android, Iphone & IPad, Portal publishing or Do it yourself
I’ve just cut down in time at work so I can have more time for my own firm to create games, which feels really good. My boss was very understanding and it’s a big load off my shoulders. So I feel better about my work and my life. Sweet.
Now the question is just how to get paid for my games. My first thought was that of course I should aim for the Iphone platform, that’s where I got the best chances to make some bux. I’m starting to reconsider, because I don’t even own a Mac or Iphone . Personally I prefer Android for many reasons, but right now in Sweden I can’t publish to a paying market. I might aim at both in the future, but right now I’ll start with one platform and later port it if it’s worth the time. In Unity 3 coming this summer you can publish to different platforms just by changing build target, so porting (hopefully) will not be that painful. Another aspect is that I would rather develop for Windows PC or Mac where I can use fancy 3D effects. I found that Steam and Gamersgate can publish your games. I read that Steam has 25 million users which seems like a lot, but the question is how many of them are interested in indie games. I get the impression that it’s hard to get your indie game published there though it probably depends on how fun and polished the game is. I would like to know how much a good indie game might bring in over a period of a year. I’m also considering GameHouse which seems good for casual games.
I’m just starting out and I wish I had a mentor in all this. I usually read Gamasutra and Indiegames blog which is both inspiring and a good source for information. Well if you got any advice for me please send a mail or comment here so everybody can take part of your wizdom.
Now the question is just how to get paid for my games. My first thought was that of course I should aim for the Iphone platform, that’s where I got the best chances to make some bux. I’m starting to reconsider, because I don’t even own a Mac or Iphone . Personally I prefer Android for many reasons, but right now in Sweden I can’t publish to a paying market. I might aim at both in the future, but right now I’ll start with one platform and later port it if it’s worth the time. In Unity 3 coming this summer you can publish to different platforms just by changing build target, so porting (hopefully) will not be that painful. Another aspect is that I would rather develop for Windows PC or Mac where I can use fancy 3D effects. I found that Steam and Gamersgate can publish your games. I read that Steam has 25 million users which seems like a lot, but the question is how many of them are interested in indie games. I get the impression that it’s hard to get your indie game published there though it probably depends on how fun and polished the game is. I would like to know how much a good indie game might bring in over a period of a year. I’m also considering GameHouse which seems good for casual games.
I’m just starting out and I wish I had a mentor in all this. I usually read Gamasutra and Indiegames blog which is both inspiring and a good source for information. Well if you got any advice for me please send a mail or comment here so everybody can take part of your wizdom.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Shiva vs Unity3D
I tried both free versions. After three days of evaluating shiva I decided that Unity was the best choice for me. It costs much more, but I have a lot more fun while creating games.
Shiva uses some kind of LUA scripting language, which is a big issue for me. I don't like it, nor do I like vb like syntax. A lot more lines to do the same thing. In unity I can choose between (Unity) javascript, C# and Boo which is then compiled to unitycode.
In shiva you have access to most features even in the free evaluation version such as dynamic shadows and render to texture. It is easy to set up and you can create some beautiful scenes pretty easily once you find the restart button. The tools in shiva is generally hard to use and at first glance there are a lot of windows to keep track of. I felt very frustrated after three days of evaluation. I had high hopes beacuse of the price. Maybe I should've given it more time, it is still a good engine, but in the end it was LUA combined with a frustrating GUI that pushed me towards unity.
Just have to say that I'm really impressed by the unity community and all user submitted content on the wiki and forums. Just amazing.
Shiva uses some kind of LUA scripting language, which is a big issue for me. I don't like it, nor do I like vb like syntax. A lot more lines to do the same thing. In unity I can choose between (Unity) javascript, C# and Boo which is then compiled to unitycode.
In shiva you have access to most features even in the free evaluation version such as dynamic shadows and render to texture. It is easy to set up and you can create some beautiful scenes pretty easily once you find the restart button. The tools in shiva is generally hard to use and at first glance there are a lot of windows to keep track of. I felt very frustrated after three days of evaluation. I had high hopes beacuse of the price. Maybe I should've given it more time, it is still a good engine, but in the end it was LUA combined with a frustrating GUI that pushed me towards unity.
Just have to say that I'm really impressed by the unity community and all user submitted content on the wiki and forums. Just amazing.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Unity3D Game Engine
Been a while since I posted here :). I have been very busy developing stuff though. I recently tried the game engine Unity3D. I was totally blown away how easy it was to do just about anything. I love it so far. A lot of drag and drop (even with the scripting), and things just work as you expect it to. Had a bit of a problem importing bone animations at first though.
I got the free version, which doesn't include any shadows worth mentioning which really sucks (pro version costs $1200). The iphone version only costs $300 if you preorder it now, which I probably will. Projected shadow blob should suffice for now. On the positive (probably negative if you ask my girlfriend) is that I'm under a spell, feel really creative and productive, so I don't really sleep much anymore thanks to Unity.
I'm currently working on a prototype of game I call Magnet space (in lack of sommething better). I already made a prototype of this idea when I found googles O3d engine (3D engine for the browser), which you can try here: Magnet space
Register doesn't work, but you can use:
Username: demo
Password: demo10
I tried it on a few people, but nobody seems to understand the game but me :). I had an idea that I wanted to experiment with magnets. You move around the world by attraction and repelation, not the way you'd except I guess. So heres the instructions for controlling the amazing magnet.
The goal is to get all the green magnets.
[Space] attracts towards magnets. (They're all magnets until you collect them)
Arrowkeys restricts attraction in only that direction. So for example
[space] + [left arrow] : player is only attracted by magnets to the left.
Simple enough. To get higher score you have to take all magnets before the timer runs out. The timer starts when you collect a green magnet.
There might be a few bugs :P (Sorry about the asp.net MVC standard css, didn't think I'd show it to the public)
I'm not sure what is going on with O3D, haven't seen anything on their blog for a while. I liked the API, was simple, however javascript isn't very well suited for performance so if you want 3D physics it isn't the best option just yet. Unity3D has a webplayer which is good enough for me.
So currently I'm working on a prototype of this game again, just to learn Unity. I'm trying to get it to work in 3D, but I think the camera will be forced to the side so it'll practically be 2D. There will be some screenshots of the new version shortly.
Cheers!
I got the free version, which doesn't include any shadows worth mentioning which really sucks (pro version costs $1200). The iphone version only costs $300 if you preorder it now, which I probably will. Projected shadow blob should suffice for now. On the positive (probably negative if you ask my girlfriend) is that I'm under a spell, feel really creative and productive, so I don't really sleep much anymore thanks to Unity.
I'm currently working on a prototype of game I call Magnet space (in lack of sommething better). I already made a prototype of this idea when I found googles O3d engine (3D engine for the browser), which you can try here: Magnet space
Register doesn't work, but you can use:
Username: demo
Password: demo10
I tried it on a few people, but nobody seems to understand the game but me :). I had an idea that I wanted to experiment with magnets. You move around the world by attraction and repelation, not the way you'd except I guess. So heres the instructions for controlling the amazing magnet.
The goal is to get all the green magnets.
[Space] attracts towards magnets. (They're all magnets until you collect them)
Arrowkeys restricts attraction in only that direction. So for example
[space] + [left arrow] : player is only attracted by magnets to the left.
Simple enough. To get higher score you have to take all magnets before the timer runs out. The timer starts when you collect a green magnet.
There might be a few bugs :P (Sorry about the asp.net MVC standard css, didn't think I'd show it to the public)
I'm not sure what is going on with O3D, haven't seen anything on their blog for a while. I liked the API, was simple, however javascript isn't very well suited for performance so if you want 3D physics it isn't the best option just yet. Unity3D has a webplayer which is good enough for me.
So currently I'm working on a prototype of this game again, just to learn Unity. I'm trying to get it to work in 3D, but I think the camera will be forced to the side so it'll practically be 2D. There will be some screenshots of the new version shortly.
Cheers!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
First post
Gotta be a first post. This blog will be about my life as a system/game engineer. I will not cover much of my daily life because it's irrelevant in this context. I hope other people will find my posts useful, that is my intention at least.
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