So what can I say? It was just great. Lots of cool people, lots of good games made and lots of really interesting discussions about creativity, business and how to combine hobby with work. It was kind of comforting to hear that there were others worrying about the same things I do, at least to a certain extent. I think about it a lot though, like is it really possible to make games for money and still keep it fun? Maybe making games full time is a terrible choice?
Anyway, you can read about the party at Erik Svedäng’s blog. Here’s the game I made together with Mårten Brüggemann of Pieces Interactive (music by Erik Sjöstrand) for the Game Compo.
You Have To Fertilize The Egg (Download)
Warning! Fantastic (but potentially offensive) music by Erik Sjöstrand!
I wrote the physics during the competition which was a really silly decision. It resulted in crappy physics and lots of wasted time that could have made the game more playable. Oh well, it’s an “art game”! It’s not meant to be “playable”, bah!
I’m still waiting for the music, although I cheated a tiny bit today by squashing a few bugs and drawing a bit. So here’s a screenshot with the new tiles. I am by no means an graphical artist (there’s a reason for why the player and the boss in You Have To Burn The Rope are a square and and circle), but I’m kind of pleased with the new style, even though it’s a bit messy at the moment.
Anyway, I’m going to No More Sweden tomorrow! It’s a get-together for Swedish independent game developers, arranged by Erik Svedäng (Blueberry Garden <3) and it will be AWESOME. Hopefully we’ll make a few games besides getting drunk, maybe something together even?
The whole reason I started this blog was that I thought it would be fun to make a game in seven days, nothing too serious, just a quick something for the fun of it. So last Tuesday I started working on what I’d like to describe as a rhythm/synesthesia-platformer (at least that’s what I’m going for) and I thought it would be kind of interesting to write a line or two each day and maybe share a screenshot to show how it’s progressing.
Unfortunately this quickly turned out to be a bad idea as my friend and musician, Henrik Nåmark, has to work and can’t indulge himself in this lovely self-imposed crunch time, meaning there won’t be any music til next Tuesday, meaning there won’t be any game ready either (since it’s a rhythm game there isn’t much to it without the music).
So what’s happening now is that I’ll be working on it until Sunday, then meet up with Henrik and discuss the music (and sound fx) to come up with something we’re both happy with, then I’ll wait until Henrik is all done and finally use my seventh and last day to make the game content. So when will that be? I don’t know really, but hopefully it won’t take too long.
Screenshot from day 3. The graphics will probably be completely different in the finished game.
No it’s not! It might look like a blog but that’s just because I’m using blogging software since it’s so easy to use. No more ftp-ing for me, hurray! This not being a blog means I won’t write about how I spent that rainy Saturday (unless I was making games) or what I overheard on the subway the other day (unless it was about game development) or how watching that episode of Grey’s Anatomy made me feel (unless it made me feel like making games). This space will be about my hobby and passion — game development — and nothing else.