Blog for Skye Gellmann at GarageGames.com

A year later.. Bean Brigade! ^.^

Skye Gellmann — 2007-01-09T01:37:46+00:00

Gees. I think I've taken about a year off from this place. A good break. Now that I've finished my degree and I'm a total arts bum, i can sit around making games again!

Over the last week I've been designing a game with Dylan Sale, called Bean Brigade. Wrote a 4600 word script, and the design doc is a few thousand words at the moment. We are building over our old flying demo, which was a demonstration of how flying could be made to feel really free and pleasurable.

Our Project:
Bean Brigade is a bazaar first person adventure game, which entwines the joyful freedom of flying, and the giggles of absurd adventure games.

The story in tales a land where there is no night. The stars haven't shone for centuries. An eternal sun douses the land. Our unlikely saviour is Federic! Known as the Woman of the Wild, (only after his sex change!) - his/her mission is to bring nighttime back to the land. In this adventure, Federic meets quirky characters, rides floating cows, and even talks to play equipment! This game questions the significants of existence, and acts to remind people to look up at the forgotten stars.

Blindscape - interactive music idea

Skye Gellmann — 2006-01-23T07:07:14+00:00

I've been thinking of Blindscape allot. (basically a project on the backburner. Blindscape is a game where u play a blind character. The screen is completely black and you feel your environments through audio).

I'd like to create a version of it that is marketed as interactive music. In other words, I could create a music album, where people can walk around in the songs. Some song will be instrumental, others soundscapes and others progressive. The CD would be as long as a normal music cd, only u walk around in the songs and experience them that way. When u move to different areas, you hear new things, and it's you're choice on where to next in the song. This way, the songs would be re-playable to some extent. I'm thinking that maybe the songs have a time limit, so when the time limit ends, the next song is played. You may also skip "tracks" or levels as they might be. Some levels will be created like patterns of sound-landscapes, where as others very linier. There may also be a feature to put to cd into a normal cd player, and here pre-recorded interpretations of the "songs" play.

I had this idea today. Needed to tell someone. What do u think? Personally, i like it, because it does something with the facilities and technology that i currently can use, with the old version of Blindscape. And probably an easy stepping stone to other blindsape projects. I'm going to adelaide, and there will be recording equipment at my parents house, so i'll start recording music samples and play around with the idea. I like the idea because it could be the kind of game I could put in a gallery.

HAVE AN UBER DAY!
-Skye

Long time..

Skye Gellmann — 2006-01-16T10:30:26+00:00

I've just been on holidays lately in Adelaide (aus). This is more a heads up post for everyone. Havn't really been doing much game dev. Instead I've been rehearsing for my brothers circus show.. wow.. this has got to be the most useless post ever.. ohhhh the ego.. hrmmm.. maybe a picture will patch things up!! :P

Hope ur game dev lives are exciting and frivolous.. with lots of nice graphics, cool code, and good-old fashion A: Drive s3x!

(rambutan circus collective photoshoot)

-Skye

Friday Nov 25 2:33

Skye Gellmann — 2005-11-25T02:33:41+00:00

Weird Times.. I'm either feeling incredibly free, or incredibly weird...

Made this today. Thought I might share... it's based roughly on recent events. And yes.. that is me!

(GIF LOADING)

That aside, i've been planning to go back to my hometown of Adelaide in the holidays, and how i'm going to juggle the game dev, with rehearsals for my brothers show, I dunno, but i'll find a way.

Recently, i started working abit with Chris Labombard of Spunky Games. He's a good guy. I dunno how much he would like me to disclose about his project, but lets just say, he's coding and testing alot of ideas, and i'm the one making the levels, models and such. I've been playing around with abit more experimental game design technique and applying them to his levels, which has been interesting.

Some more experimental level design for good measure:

New Level Style for Flyer... AND new GUI!! check it out! oooo yeah.. still gotta do more though.

And thats about it.. shortie this time.

-Skye Gellmann
Misnomer Studios

Thursday Nov 17 12:54

Skye Gellmann — 2005-11-17T12:54:48+00:00

Interestingly enough, i had a conversation with god today, (as follows):

Quote:
Me: f@#k you!
God: Why are you so mean?
Me: i'm not mean
God: Sometimes your language might make it appear that way.
Me: but you're mean
God: Sometimes I say mean things.
Me: but do you mean them?
God: Yes, that's what I mean, isn't it clear?
Me: i mean that you are mean!
God: Interesting observation.
Me: Just admit it!
God: I'll never talk.

This was made using this site:
www.titane.ca/concordia/dfar251/igod/main.html

It just so happens to be a perfect example of something I've wanted to put into a game for a while now. Basically, I've been pondering the player being able to chat to "the world," in game. The world, would help, deceive and talk gibberish to the player. The player has got to make sense of it all. Sometimes, the world gives hints on things. Sometimes, the world lies.

But basically, some kind of chat AI would drive the story.

I had the idea while playing around with experimental level design, where everything is all sorting wrong, overlaying and changing size... (major epileptic fit zone!) A couple of pics to support:

omg.. I get so bord with conventional level design..

-Skye
Misnomer Studios

ps. is anyone else into experimental level design?
edit-- i'm pretty sure the AIgod uses this: www.pandorabots.com/pandora/talk?botid=f5d922d97e345aa1 cause i said the same things and it pretty much spat the same stuff back at me.

Monday Nov 14 11:10

Skye Gellmann — 2005-11-14T11:10:55+00:00

Soooo much been happening it's not funny :S ___Lots of LINKAGE!!!

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Recently I had an article published on selectparks.net. Find the article HERE. It's a review of a talk I saw covering, computer games as digital artefacts.. Many thx to Rebecca Cannon for correcting my messy gramma!

Also, I was interviewed by a local melbourne (australia) radio-station. I haven't gotten the guts up to listen to the interview yet!!! I fear it's really bad! And I recon a lot of my information was inaccurate, but that aside it was a pretty good promo for indie developers. LISTEN TO IT HERE. Apparently, the last half of the interview didn't record properly... which sux, cause it was the part where I went off on a rant about games as an art-from!!! Tell me what you think and maybe I'll have a listen.

I've also updated my personal website, www.deluxebalance.com. It's a promotional site for my circus performance.

FLYER NEWS:
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Done a ton of updates: New levels, textures, bean model, mine model, heeeeeps of code updates (thx heeeps Dylan), and flying is feeling really nice. We have gliding and such now.

What I envision next:
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Tilt the camera when you turn when gliding
Arrow that points to the closest bean
Checkpoints in levels
A simple world map that has portals to levels and a small amount of functionality.
Five slick levels with air currents, hot air and jump-pads to boot
Tutorial levels finished off.
Concept art for character model.
A couple of music tracks

---The above will be in a demo--- it will be at this point, that I'll ask the community for help with the character model. Being a 2 person team can be hard, and I don't have the time to do ALL the art. Character models are my weakness.

Just a few pics to refresh the memory:
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New bean model

New level experimentation

Up really high

-Skye Gellmann
Misnomer Studios

Tuesday Oct 18 10:33

Skye Gellmann — 2005-10-18T10:33:55+00:00

Flyer (working title), map system, new flying system and other goodies. ''''

Firstly, Dylan and I have totally revamped the flying system. I was a bit pissed off when Dylan's g/f picked giant wholes in the game play.. I was like, arrrr, how could I be so blind.. Anyway, the new flying style was her idea, and it makes so much sense!! Omg, what was I thinking!

Flying right now: Energy is dependent on beans, and energy is used to fly. When you fly, you loose energy and flying power. When your energy is zero, then your flying is nothing but a measly double jump. You tap the space bar to flap your wings.. so flying isn't like a jet pack, it's more like you actually have wings. I'd be nice to look at ways to glide better, and ways to adjust flap intensity also.

I've spent most of my time experimenting with jump-pads, wind drafts and hot air. I have one level with it all operational. As you can see in the bottom pics, alot of the art is place-holder.. and the lack of LOD makes it abit unstable on my system. This level was pretty much to get the feeling of gameplay.

Also, i've been working on a World Map for the game!! It's very exciting. I just had the idea to put a transparent map over terrain only a few hours ago! So the screenie is very very under construction! As you can see, there are areas on the map, which are cordoned off with black lines. You cannot move through the black lines, and I would like to have gates that open (when unlocked) in entrances to each map area. I'm not sure how I'm going to do gates yet. I'm yet to experiment with what blocks look like on the map. I think if I have blocks on the map, they will transparent.

But yeah, flying around the world map is fun because you can see names and stuff.. and so much more fun then walking :P

very rough draft of world map.. any feedback welcome.

In the pics: the blue areas, are wind currents, which rebound you around the place, and the Red is hot air pockets. There are also spikes! and a jump-pad, which are self explanatory..

Anyway. I"M EXCITED!

-Skye Gellmann
Game Design & artist
Misnomer Studios

ps.... do you like my dif plants!! :P :P :P

Sunday Oct 2 11:10

Skye Gellmann — 2005-10-02T11:10:06+00:00

FLYER (working title): Pictures, Updates, and a crashed car full of live salmon.

Our working title for our flying game is Flyer. Read the last plan if you want some kind of artistic standing, and descriptions of the experimentation I went though. This plan will describe what I've come up with from that artistic standpoint.

What is Flyer?
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Flyer (working title) is a game that explores the joys and freedom of flying, jumping and falling. Misnomer Studios is looking at the emotional interplay of these exhilarating acts, and ways we can make them challenging and fun.

Instead of giving the player flying straight off, Flyer, begins more as a free-roaming collect'em up. The player explores massive abstract landscapes, and collects beans as he/she goes. Flying is the main part of the game. The player taps the space bar at even intervals to flap his/her wings.

When the player starts, they only have 50% HP. But as he/she collects beans, their HP increase, which is proportional to the players FlyForce. Basically, as the player gets more HP they also get better at flying. When the player has full HP, they can also fly the greatest. But don't take too long between eating beans as flying is though; and after a while your HP will begin to decrease if you don't collect more beans, (but only down to 50%). If the player is damaged below 50%, hit points will recover up to 50% slowly. In addition it takes energy to fly. An energy bar shows this. When energy runs out, it eats into the players HP.

There are also mines and other baddies in the world. At the moment, mines have been implemented. They will do massive amounts of damage and blow you into the air in proportion to your mass (something I find fun!).

To finish a level, you must collect all the beans. The last bean is lit up and becomes the levels exit. The player is also racing against the clock.

Working On:
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I am currently working on a player model and a few levels.
Dylan is working on programming.

BLINDSCAPE News:
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Blindscape isn't dead it's just gone to sleep for a while. Dylan has been really busy with third year computer science, and it was killing him. Flyer is a must more reasonable project for him at the moment. We haven't given up on Blindscape. It has been cool to work on. We are hoping that when torque 1.4 is release, it will be better equipped for a project which uses hardcore sound.

Anyway, Enough talk, I've got to do some work. Here's some new screenies:
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Before the first level had spinning mines and beans.

First level with spinning mines and beans.

Part of the Second Level. Second level experiments with large terrain and integration of blocks to the natural environment.

2 pics of the 3rd level, which experiments with a much more fixed level flow, in a non-terrain environment.

A level I made to test mines and how they can effect the difficulty of the environment. Quite hard to finish.

Are you still looking for the salmon?
:P

-Skye Gellmann
Designer and Jack of all art,
Misnomer Studios
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EDIT!
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Here's another pic:
Made in a beautiful program called WINGS! w00..

Tuesday Sep 20 12:54

Skye Gellmann — 2005-09-20T12:54:26+00:00

"Games as an Artform," Experimentation! (pictures at the bottom!)

As you may or may not know, I am interested in "games as an art form." I have been playing around with some interesting concepts lately.

Artistic Abstract:
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1) Maximizing Exhilaration for the player:
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I have been experimenting with some interesting level design techniques to do this. As you can see I am using very simple level design techniques, but the massive scale of the objects, the geometric lines thrill the eye.

2) To investigate other sources of exhilaration. Racing? Speed? Killing?
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Different gameplay elements like speed, falling and flying are different effects that may be used to maximize exhilaration. Particularly I am looking at Flying and Falling, and the time when you are falling, and the time when you are flying. I have found that when running along a flat surface for along period, when you find the edge and fall off into the unknown, it can be quite bracing. I have been playing around with complex jumping puzzles in abstracted landscapes.

I'm not sure if violence detracts from the exhilaration, but I can say for sure, it would detract from the tranquility and beauty I am trying to maximize.

3) Looking at the way the player appreciates abilities:
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For example: The player cannot properly appreciate flying unless they have had a significant amount of time not being able to fly. In this time they may be exposed to running, falling, and jumping. But when they get flying, they can appreciate it because it makes their life easier.

After Note:
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If I make a game out of this, it will most likely be a first person platform game, and despite the fact that I hate jumping puzzles, I have found pleasure in these puzzles. I liken them to rock climbing. You often feel as if where you are in space is crazy, like you have somehow found a loophole in logic.

PICTURES!!! YAY! (4 pics, sorry 56k.)
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-Skye Gellmann
Misnomer Studios

Wednesday Aug 10 11:18

Skye Gellmann — 2005-08-10T11:18:56+00:00

Breif Updates..

Misnomer Studios Game BLINDSCAPE is coming along. We have had a slight hickup with the implementation of Sound Occlusion, and still working on that, but a demo seems in sight just after the end of the month ready for the American IGDC. We also now have a NEWSLETTER subscriber on our site. This would be the fastest way to find out when the demo is out, and future game releases. For those who are new to the concept of Blindscape, I'd direct you to past plans and the website.

I'd also like to introduce a new team member, Mr Matthias Peitsch, music composer extraordinary!! He is currently working on a title screen theme, which will become the audio style for the game.

It seems these are the hard baby steps of the project, and I encourage much ogling, 'gooing' and 'garring' to it's growth!

-Skye Gellmann
BLINDSCAPE Designer
Misnomer Studios