Plan for Ryan Ackley
by Ryan Ackley · 07/08/2005 (11:25 am) · 6 comments
GG.com decided to eat the last plan i posted, so its been a while. Now, I wisely type this up in a text editor first.
First, I'd like to thank Melv and the other guys working on T2D. Id also like to thank all the people in the forums (specifically Matt Langley, the "king tut") for answering some of the inane questions and still putting out the cool tutorials we've seen. T2D is so much fun messing around with. I put it aside for about 2 months, due to real worldly things, but now the bug has bitten again.
Once in a while, you read something that actually hits home. Phil Carlisle's plan did that the other day, and it got me thinking. I am real good about starting projects :), however, not so good at finishing them. I'm not seriously in this game (since its like a second, or possibly third hobby), but being able to just show my simple things I plan up would be cool. Its always "ignore that" or "thats coming soon" when I do actually show them off. That's not to say that I don't have delusions of grandeur, however :)
OK, now to the real meat: Has anyone seen/put together/etc a platformer yet? I don't think I've seen any screenshots, etc. of anything in progress. I'm just curious to see how other people are doing their platformers. I've got some things to tweak, but I like where mine is starting to go in the past few days.
Here is something I have not looked much into, but I'll throw it out there and make a fool of myself anyhow: I'm at a loss really how to do a standard "Super Mario Brothers" scrolling level. Can you work with a bigger area in the tile editor, then just display one "screen width" at a time, and still scroll? I've spent more time with physics, collisions, and animated sprites lately, so i haven't really had a chance to look into that one so much. Any links or pointers on how to do this would be great.
OK, some non-t2d commentary:
I like the site gametunnel.com. It's great that there is a site dedicated to indie games in this fashion. However, their review policy has me a little... confused. They charge for reviews. It's something betwen 35 and 70 dollars, depending on affilliate status. It seems strange to me that you would be paying for a review. Seems like a little "conflict of interest" could be happening. I understand they gotta pay the bills. At least the same oppertunities exist for indie developers to submit their games to GT, but, I don't know. Something about that system just doesn't jive well with me. Guess I can't really explain it.
I still won't buy any EA games. Thats just an update from my last plan. Do I want to play BF2? Sure. How about new sports games coming out in the next few months? Obivously. Last EA game I purchased? American McGee's Alice. Remember when games used to be creative and fun? Maybe that's why I follow the indie gaming scene now.
Ever try to work on your game, and work 60 hours a week? Yeah, it's great, isn't it?
Edit: Correction - I did buy ssx3, but that was used. Does that count?
First, I'd like to thank Melv and the other guys working on T2D. Id also like to thank all the people in the forums (specifically Matt Langley, the "king tut") for answering some of the inane questions and still putting out the cool tutorials we've seen. T2D is so much fun messing around with. I put it aside for about 2 months, due to real worldly things, but now the bug has bitten again.
Once in a while, you read something that actually hits home. Phil Carlisle's plan did that the other day, and it got me thinking. I am real good about starting projects :), however, not so good at finishing them. I'm not seriously in this game (since its like a second, or possibly third hobby), but being able to just show my simple things I plan up would be cool. Its always "ignore that" or "thats coming soon" when I do actually show them off. That's not to say that I don't have delusions of grandeur, however :)
OK, now to the real meat: Has anyone seen/put together/etc a platformer yet? I don't think I've seen any screenshots, etc. of anything in progress. I'm just curious to see how other people are doing their platformers. I've got some things to tweak, but I like where mine is starting to go in the past few days.
Here is something I have not looked much into, but I'll throw it out there and make a fool of myself anyhow: I'm at a loss really how to do a standard "Super Mario Brothers" scrolling level. Can you work with a bigger area in the tile editor, then just display one "screen width" at a time, and still scroll? I've spent more time with physics, collisions, and animated sprites lately, so i haven't really had a chance to look into that one so much. Any links or pointers on how to do this would be great.
OK, some non-t2d commentary:
I like the site gametunnel.com. It's great that there is a site dedicated to indie games in this fashion. However, their review policy has me a little... confused. They charge for reviews. It's something betwen 35 and 70 dollars, depending on affilliate status. It seems strange to me that you would be paying for a review. Seems like a little "conflict of interest" could be happening. I understand they gotta pay the bills. At least the same oppertunities exist for indie developers to submit their games to GT, but, I don't know. Something about that system just doesn't jive well with me. Guess I can't really explain it.
I still won't buy any EA games. Thats just an update from my last plan. Do I want to play BF2? Sure. How about new sports games coming out in the next few months? Obivously. Last EA game I purchased? American McGee's Alice. Remember when games used to be creative and fun? Maybe that's why I follow the indie gaming scene now.
Ever try to work on your game, and work 60 hours a week? Yeah, it's great, isn't it?
Edit: Correction - I did buy ssx3, but that was used. Does that count?
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#2
However, it's not too far removed from the problem that exists with ALL review sites and magazines. After all - if you have an advertiser paying THOUSANDS per month in advertising space, and might be likely to pull it if you consistently give them bad reviews, what do you do if a less-than-stellar review comes back across your desk for their next title? These are tough choices, and the gaming media in particular has gotten a VERY black eye in the last couple of years for some monkey business that has gone on apparently to keep their deepest-pocketed advertisers happy with them.
Incidentally, that's why it's so hard to get indie games reviewed by major sites and magazines. If you aren't paying LOTS of money to advertise with them, and unless their subscribers are clamoring for the product, it's just not worth it to them to dedicate a single page to review indie games when that page could instead be used to add a sixth page of preview coverage the next Unreal Tournament or Quake 4 or Call of Duty.
07/08/2005 (2:03 pm)
I'm pretty happy with GameTunnel.com, but I admit it's a weird situation. Do you pay $50 to get reviewed if the review says your game sucks? However, it's not too far removed from the problem that exists with ALL review sites and magazines. After all - if you have an advertiser paying THOUSANDS per month in advertising space, and might be likely to pull it if you consistently give them bad reviews, what do you do if a less-than-stellar review comes back across your desk for their next title? These are tough choices, and the gaming media in particular has gotten a VERY black eye in the last couple of years for some monkey business that has gone on apparently to keep their deepest-pocketed advertisers happy with them.
Incidentally, that's why it's so hard to get indie games reviewed by major sites and magazines. If you aren't paying LOTS of money to advertise with them, and unless their subscribers are clamoring for the product, it's just not worth it to them to dedicate a single page to review indie games when that page could instead be used to add a sixth page of preview coverage the next Unreal Tournament or Quake 4 or Call of Duty.
#3
Indie A : "I got a perfect score on gametunnel"
Gameplayer: "You paid them to review your game"
Indie A: "Er well yes....but that doesn't mean anything...really....if I hadn't paid I still would have whooped ass....really"
Gameplayer: "Yea right!"
Not a pretty thought is it.
07/08/2005 (2:19 pm)
The Gametunnel.com charging thing probably doesn't jive well because you can see it coming back to bite the ass of anyone who has had a game reviewed there. I can imagine the senario now Indie A : "I got a perfect score on gametunnel"
Gameplayer: "You paid them to review your game"
Indie A: "Er well yes....but that doesn't mean anything...really....if I hadn't paid I still would have whooped ass....really"
Gameplayer: "Yea right!"
Not a pretty thought is it.
#4
07/08/2005 (3:50 pm)
same here I hate EA but because of madden and MVP it's kinda hard, I'll just wait til someone else gets it and play their copy:-). I thought Game review sites get money from people advertising on their site, thats why if I ever make a game I want to at least release it when the IGF starts or finishes espically after its done just in case your a finalist thats my opnion
#5
In short:
Check out beta.gibthis.com/ - it's a company I am working on standing up which will be a direct competitor to Gamespy and Gamespot. We intend to judge everygame on an equal level, including indies. You can also look at my development blog at gibthis.blogspot.com/.
I really wish I wouldn't have lost my last post - such a genius in marketing it was... lol. Anyways, I'm somewhat glad to hear GameTunnel charges. I thought the indie market would be something we would have to force ourselves upon, but it seems it will be much easier since we are rating your games on the exact same criteria we rate the commercial games. We don't charge them for reviews (nor do we skew ratings based on advertising) why would we do it to you?
Blah... /me longs for my other post back.
07/08/2005 (4:18 pm)
omg... I just had a gigantic post written out and click the Notify checkbox and lost it all.In short:
Check out beta.gibthis.com/ - it's a company I am working on standing up which will be a direct competitor to Gamespy and Gamespot. We intend to judge everygame on an equal level, including indies. You can also look at my development blog at gibthis.blogspot.com/.
I really wish I wouldn't have lost my last post - such a genius in marketing it was... lol. Anyways, I'm somewhat glad to hear GameTunnel charges. I thought the indie market would be something we would have to force ourselves upon, but it seems it will be much easier since we are rating your games on the exact same criteria we rate the commercial games. We don't charge them for reviews (nor do we skew ratings based on advertising) why would we do it to you?
Blah... /me longs for my other post back.
#6
Good luck with gibthis, Ive been looking for an alternative to gamespy, but cant really get by on blogs like joystiq, and most of the other sites are about the same.
About gametunnel, i guess my major problem with the pay system is that a game company is doing the publication a favor by providing them with content to cover, which they create a product (website, mag, etc) that somebody else consumes. I understand that games need coverage, but will I pay for a review? Something still seems wrong about that to me... But best of luck to em, because aside from that, I like the site.
I look foward to gibthis! Ill send a copy of my project over when I finish sometime this summer :)
07/09/2005 (8:36 am)
Oh man, I kinda wish you had been able to post that before losing it (but i know how you feel, the first line of my plan, ive had it happen many times).Good luck with gibthis, Ive been looking for an alternative to gamespy, but cant really get by on blogs like joystiq, and most of the other sites are about the same.
About gametunnel, i guess my major problem with the pay system is that a game company is doing the publication a favor by providing them with content to cover, which they create a product (website, mag, etc) that somebody else consumes. I understand that games need coverage, but will I pay for a review? Something still seems wrong about that to me... But best of luck to em, because aside from that, I like the site.
I look foward to gibthis! Ill send a copy of my project over when I finish sometime this summer :)
Torque 3D Owner Michael Cozzolino
Big Monk Games