A special gift from me to you...

That's right, I made all of you a happy little zombie game for the holidays!

PLOT: Returning from his one hard day of work every year, Santa notices something isn't right at the north pole... his elves have started wearing hot-pink leggings... and they're ZOMBEHS!!!
Santa must dispatch these holly-jolly undead creatures with his red-hot coal luncher... to the FACE!

Enjoy some bloody holiday cheer on your platform of choice!

Windows!

Mac!

Linux! (32)

Linux! (64)

All you have to do is extract them and play! Woot! 

So, the game isn't very long, but what do you expect for free? It took me about 3-4 days spread out over about a week and a half to make. Its not the most polished game, but I wanted to give you all a fun little gift this holiday season. 

Anywho, happy holidays from me to you and hope you enjoy this game.

Until next time,

Dave

Holiday Gift - PREVIEW

So I'm working on a fun little holiday greeting "card" for all of you so check back on the 25th to get your present! Woot!

Until then,
-Dave

Foxy 70's Detective!

Foxy 70's Detective

Yet another quick sketch!

This time it's a strong and empowered female detective.
...
I'm not just pandering to viewers with scantily clad women...really.

Maybe I'll keep up this daily sketch thing going...

Until next time,
-Dave

Color Practice; the Hulk

Da Hurlk

Just getting some more practice in with my tablet and sharing it with you guys!

Female Robot cross-section.

Just posting some of my practice sketch work.

Tomorrow, I post more.

Until then,
Dave

More Art for the looking at and the what-not!

Hey there!

I'm glad you stopped by because I've got some new art that you might like!

Like this hummingbird! 

I've started really getting into digital sketching on my tablet and hopefully will get more chances to create and share with you!

Until next time,

-Dave

(Try

Dave Plays: How to Survive - Episode 1

Hey there everyone!

So, I finally buckled and starting something I've been wanting to do for a while; a lets play series!

I picked to start with the zombie, action-adventure, role-playing game "How to Survive" by 505 Games.

With Diablo-esque perspective, weapon and armor crafting, character leveling, and survival elements, this game has it all.

The graphics aren't great, but who cares?! It's a fun game!

Anyway, check out my video below and give it a like! (And go easy on me; it's my first time...)

I sound like a fuckin' mid-afternoon radio DJ on the least popular station, but I'm having fun with it!

If you want to check out the game, you can buy it on Steam for $15; which is a great deal for a game that in my opinion will net you at least one play through by yourself and maybe one with a friend.

Welp, let me know what you think in the comments down below if you like the video, want to see more, maybe suggest a different game to play, or you could just hassle me to finally make a tutorial video that I promised like 2 years ago....

Until next time,

-Dave

The World Needs The Stanley Parable

In this blog post, I'll be exploring why I feel that The Stanley Parable by Galactic Cafe is a game that every game enthusiast should play.

It's not a fast game. It's not gory, action-filled, or over-the-top. It doesn't even have the most impressive graphics.
But, if you're a game developer or a player, there is something to be learned and enjoyed from the complex and beautiful game play of this game.

(Video trailer from StanleyParable YouTube channel)

In The Stanley Parable, you as the player take the title role of Stanley and begin to explore the world of free choice and options. A freedom that Stanley hasn't taken for himself before and as you play the game, you find the choices you make go deeper that you thought. It's a rabbit hole for your mind to wander and enjoy. It's littered with moments that lift you up and those that wash over you like a dark cloud.

Now, this isn't a review, because I feel like there may be some spoilers, but if you want the short answer; yes, this game is amazing and you should probably buy it.

(click this link to go to some place to buy it.)

For realsies, if you haven't experienced this game yet (and it is an experience), I highly suggest you go give it a few hours of play before you keep reading.

...

Good? Good.

Now, I'd like to say that this game is a great example of player gating and the illusion of choice. Player gating and the illusion of choice are ways of forming a more linear story while letting the player feel like they have more control. All games have this; some do it with giving dialog options or some use cut-scenes. A more apparent way of reigning in the player is the use of locked doors, piles of rubble, or even the dreaded invisible wall. But all games do it because it would be impossible to create a game that has every unique choice and all of the outcomes for every action, but if I taught a class on game design, I would bring in The Stanley Parable and share its strengths to the students.

Every choice that the player makes, there is a reaction. There is script and planning behind every choice the player can make; though the choices are limited. And that is part of the beauty of The Stanley Parable; the player is given direct commands and clear choices. You're told to go through one door, but there are two open. By giving this command to the player, they ignore what is essentially a third option, which is to do nothing but that doesn't stop the narrator from egging the player into making a decision, essentially making that disembodied voice into a sort of antagonist.

And this is why we need The Stanley Parable in the world today. Its a finely crafted example of how to create a story driven game and the importance of choice, be it a real one or not. With games becoming more and more open, its refreshing to see a game do the exact opposite and some how without the player caring. It gives the player choice with real changes and consequences in the game all while keeping the player in check, even telling the player that everything is falling apart just to keep them in line. And The Stanley Parable is beautiful in its detail. The fine folk over at Galactic Cafe made this game in such a way to keep the player within its boarders, but with the freedom to explore.

But what does this really mean? How does this game use all of this player gating to its advantage?

I'm no expert on the game; I didn't work on it and I don't know the developers, but I believe it was to craft an experience that it's players can hold on to just the same as directors and writers pour their hearts and souls into their work.

Speaking of movies, it's not difficult to place a game to a film genre; take Rock Star's latest release, Grand Theft Auto 5 and you can make a reasonable argument that it has parallels to many heist films or look at Undead Labs State of Decay and you can put it along side a pile of zombie flicks.

So many games can be categorized this way, but there is one genre I feel has been lacking in games; psychological thriller/drama.

That is where I would put The Stanley Parable.

Why?

As you play and replay from the subsequent restarts, subtle changes in the narration and game play start to surface. Where the hall turned to the left, it now bends to the right; where once a room is described as majestic, a repetitive, jarring monologue now takes its place. And further narration changes remind you that the game itself is keeping track of what you're doing. When you make your way to a point where you can intentionally kill yourself, the narrators voice resonates with real concern and sadness; you as the player make the choice to rob him of a sense of happiness and the game strikes you with heavy, dark emotion.

I don't want to give everything away in this game, but what I will make a note about is how The Stanley Parable breaks that fourth wall and does it in such a way that it brings you as the player deeper into the dynamic story it weaves. The narrator speaks to you, acknowledging you as a player of a game, but in his world.

From the subtle humor to its most shaking moments, The Stanley Parable is a game that takes you on a ride in your own mind. It doesn't have jump scares, heavy handed jokes, or huge explosions but it does raise questions to ask yourself. For me, it created a dialog about the meaning and definition of choice; it showed me both the futility and liberation in conformity and freedom.

In short, its a great game that shows us as gamers; developers or not, that a game can hold our attention and guide us down a path without beating us over the head or giving us some elaborate cut-scene to try and force a feeling.

Until next time,
Dave

Blog Update - Sept 26th, 2013

Hey everyone.

This post is more of a personal rant and me whining than a fun update, so sorry about that.

I know I haven't been posting stuff I find cool from the land of video games and I'm still trying to make it in that crazy world, but I've had some set backs.

My lady-folk and I had a (very) rough patch and frankly, things are still shaky from time to time. When that all started, I moved into a spare room at my sisters house... that was used by their massive pot-bellied pig. It is a nice room actually, especially since it got brand new flooring when I moved in and my own AC unit for the hot summer days. The down side was that I was now 90 minutes out from the city, horrible reception, and internet with some band-width issues. Thus, no real way of getting consistent work. I figured it'd be okay and I'll rest on my savings for a bit, work on myself and my portfolio and let things cool off.

My career counselor from ITT Tech called me one day right after I had finished helping around the house/ranch/post-apocalyptic-compound and told me he sent off my resume to this one place and they want to have an interview with me. After setting up the meet, I made myself a little less sweaty and began my trek into the city.

Everything went great and after about a week, I started staying in town again and had a new job as a Digital Media Specialist. Now, as far as I can tell, that was a nice way of saying web-dev who can do some trouble shooting and graphic stuff. Some of you may know about me, I'm not the strongest programmer, but I can do it and do it fast, so if my great, new employers want to give me money to hammer away at HTML and little issues, than I'll gladly take it. Yeah, it's not my dream of being a producer/writer/illustrator/all-around-indie-dev, but it's in the same general direction, so on ward I go.

Everything was going pretty well; I got a couple pay checks under my belt, things were looking up with the lady-friend, and I bought some tools to help me work, and started paying off some bills.

Then, Yesterday happened.

I woke up Wednesday morning creaking a little since I had been sick for the first couple days of the week with horrible body aches and other nasty feels, but I was determined to get back to my cozy cubical and working on all kindsa fun stuff.

After loading my bag with cough-drops and day-time meds, I was out the door and greeted by the crisp morning air. As I turned the corner to my car, I notice something odd. My passenger window was gone and little cubes of blue-hued glass littered the driveway.

First thought, "fuck."

Since this was a less friendly part of town and not the country home of my sister and her family, I wasn't too shocked.

I called in to work and let them know what had happened. I reported it in with the police and the insurance; the insurance companies have a better response time in my city as I found out. I caught up with my neighbors and found that they were hit, too. Still, the cops didn't show and not even a call back after 5 fucking housed had cars broken into in less than a week.
(side note: My city also announced on the news last year that they had so little money, that they weren't going to stop petty theft. So, good job guys! Keep pushing for a bigger budget while doing less work!)

And then I started going through everything in my car....

This person(s) must of been some kid looking for something to pawn since some cheap hand-tools and a pair of Chucks were taken, but they also didn't know how to break into a car very well.

See, this mental-giant used some sort of pry-bar to pry on the window frame, pressing their greasy head into the glass and leaving tons of prints and evidence. Significant body damage aside, the window ended up being smashed anyway, probably from them trying to pry open the window frame I'm guessing.

Now, I'm not some jack-ass that leaves valuables in their car. If I weren't scared of some crack-head using it as a bed/toilet, I would have probably left it unlocked.

That's when it hit me; I had left my sketch books in my car.

I had maybe the last 15 years of my sketch books in my car in 3 over-stuffed bags.

My heart began to sink and my throat began to tighten. Sketch books I had in high school were gone. Yeah, some books and some tools and other stupid shit was missing, but none of that shit held as much value to me as those sketch books.

Doodles and illustrations and ideas from half of my life were gone.

Immediately I began to patrol around the area, checking dumpsters; hoping that they were just tossed once they found them. After 3 empty ones, I realized it was the day dumpsters were picked up and I had probably lost them forever.

Then it fucking rained.

...

After getting home from my heart-breaking journey, I took my now damp and glass filled car to the body shop my insurance lined up and went about my day; pretending to be a laid back and nice guy; hiding that inside I was nothing more than a devastated child who was bullied by a complete stranger that had nothing to gain.

Today I found out that the repairs to my car will come to $815 and some change because there was some serious bending to the door and all that.

Basically, this criminal master-mind was thinking "Dur, me need use big metal bar open lock, not just break clear hard stuff! DUR!" as he attempted to not swallow his own tongue and enter my car.
It all cost me real money and real emotional pain just for maybe $25 worth of shit from me.

Sad thing is, this is the thing that prompted me to write another post.
I've been procrastinating over what I should do online with this blog or on YouTube or work on a game or anything for months. I've been in this slump for a while now where I make excuses of my personal life being rough, then being in the middle of no-where, and then my hours being long at work as a reason to not do something.

Now, I'm going to do something.

I'm going to down-grade my car to something I don't mind getting a little...ugly.

I'm going to dooms-day out a Jeep Cherokee (not a "Grand" cause I don't like 'em).
Reinforced endo-skeleton. Metal plates one the doors. Rusty hooks on the bumper. Steel mesh on the windows. Bear traps around the door handles. Spikes and shit all over.

I want people to fear walking near my car, let alone touch it.
I want people to bleed if they look at it too long.

Anywho, I'll keep you guys updated on the progress!

Later,
Dave

Design Exercises

Just some quick designs/photoshops/images I whipped up to keep myself amused/not-rusty with photoshop and shtuff. I'm not that happy about the time travel one because the font is a bit pixel-ie but I wanted to get it done really quick like.

-Dave

Blog Update! - 07/26/2013

Hey guys!

I got a new job as a Digital Media Specialist at a consulting firm and have been pretty freakin' busy getting the job. Its a great position where I get to work with a bunch of talented, passionate people and possibly make a positive change in the world.

Now, I'm not gonna stop (trying to) work on games, but I do need to get more settled into my work before I can get back to sharing my stupid little doodles, mediocre character models, and smart-ass reviews. So yes, mark my words; I will be back with more silly things to distract you with!

Until next time,
-Dave

Blog Update - 6th of July, 2013

Hey everyone!

Its been a while since I posted anything and a lot has gone on, so here is a little update for ya!

First, I finished with college for now. Got away with a 3.81 GPA on my BASc for Interactive Communication and Game Design.

Second, some bugs with Pocket Prison: Kim Jong Un got worked out by Ben and Andrew and packaged and sent off to Apple for review and hopefully approval for iOS devices.

Third, I turned 30. No more 20's for me! (Its all down hill from here...)

Fourth, I've been out off town for nearly 2 weeks now. It's a long story so I won't bore you with the details, but I was about to make my YouTube and Twitch debut for lets plays, first impressions, and 2D and 3D tutorials when my life got flipped 'n turned upside down. A couple hours of video recording and about a dozen sprites and models I had in the works seemingly poof'd out of existence when the hard drive disappeared in a pile of boxes. Couple all of this with a spotty at best internet connection while being in the middle of the woods, getting stuff back up to speed has been tedious as fuck. This one has been the biggest thorn in my side for being productive on game projects, let alone in my personal life in the last few years.

But I just wanted to let those out there who actually read this know that I haven't forgotten about you and don't count me out yet. I'm shopping around now to find a more stable and steady work environment and hopefully I can get my life back in order sooner rather than later.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, leave them in the comments down below and I'll get back to you ASAP.

Until next time,
-Dave

I made a comic. Enjoy!

Yup. I drew this...

Until next time,
-Dave

Blog Update - The Revengening...

Hey internet!

So in case you didn't know, I just finished getting an expensive, little piece of paper that says I know how to do what I do.

That's right, I finally got my bachelors degree and now it's time for me to either continue perusing indie games with my fellow classmates and look for work with some other folks.

Woo! Book learnin'!

From big, booming studios with tons of people all the way to small, 2 or 3 person projects, I'm going to try to do whatever I can in order to make my dream a reality. (Granted, I still need a day job unless one of you fine people wants to pay me to concept, make character models, texture, design, voice act; you know, whatever...)

So yeah, if you or someone you know needs a guy like me on a project, let them know I'm willing to take on whatever I can!

Got an idea for a game?! BOOM! Concepts and art and models all over the place!

Now with more beards!

Got a game idea that is... shall we say, less accepted by the social norm? BOOM! I'll help with that, too! Whose going to stop me!? You? (Well you'll be able to stop me from working on your project, I'll give you that...)

Bethesda, gimme a call and we'll make this...

Anyway, now that I ranted for a bit, I'm gonna say sorry for not writing a blog post sooner. I've been nearly busy the last few weeks buttoning up some projects, looking for non-game-related work, watching pre-rendered footage being called game-play during E3 coverage online, and the whole graduating thing.

Don't worry, more oddly comforting doodles in MS Paint are coming this way soon! Woot.

Until next time,

-Dave

(Soon will be tomorrow by the way...)

 

Pocket Prison: Kim Jong Un - download!

Oh hey, wanna copy of Pocket Prison: Kim Jong Un?

Windows Download!

So yeah, download and enjoy!

Until next time,
-Dave

Pocket Prison: Kim Jong Un - Update!

So Andrew Talarico, the lead programmer for Pocket Prison, has been putting the finishing touches on the game for the last couple of days and we're just waiting to see if Apple accepts our little game on their devices!

In the mean time, enjoy these screen shots of the game!

Kim is happy for food!

Quiet contemplation of his surroundings...

These shots are from the PC version, which we'll be sharing with the world to enjoy free of charge! It's coming out really soon! Woot!

Until next time,

-Dave

Pocket Prison: Kim Jong Un

Hey there internets, haven't talked to you in a bit!

Wanna know why?

Me and the guys have been working on some games and stuff, one of which is a digital pet/prison game where you have to care for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un!

(Start Screen! Woot!)

I know what you might be saying. "Isn't that in bad taste?" or "Aren't you afraid of back-lash?"

Well, maybe yes, maybe no.

Now, we don't want to offend anyone and certainly aren't trying to stir up any trouble, but we do want to bring some awareness to the treatment of prisoners around he world; not just North Korea, but everywhere.

Mostly, we just want to spark some conversation about some world issues.

If the game is well received, we intend to create other versions with a wide array of world leaders.

Pocket Prison: Kim Jong Un will be first released on PC and if Apple lets us, we'll be releasing on iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices soon!

That's some exciting stuff, huh?

Screen shots and other goodies will be coming within the next couple of days!

Until next time,
-Dave
(Lemme know what you think!)

A little gift for everyone out there!

Hey guys!

Since I haven't updated for a little while, I figured I would share a little game that I made over the course of about 3 hours, including time dicking around and watching YouTube videos...

The download link is just right there below!

Windows Download!

Also, the team and I have been hard at work on a couple of games, all of which are kinda secret at this time, but for one of the projects, we'll be looking for voice actors pretty soon and sending out test scripts for those we want to test out. Totally cray-cray, right?

Here are some hints as to what we're working on...

-A 3rd Person Action Adventure

-A "Pet" Simulator

-A collecting/fighting/cooking RPG game?

So yeah, life is freakin' bananas right now when it comes to game development, but Manscaper 3000 is just a little gift to say sorry for being absent for so long.

Until next time,

-Dave

(Woot.)

Pre-Purchase Rogue Legacy!

I've said it before and I'll say it again; rogue-likes have a special place in my heart.
And so does metroidvania games.

So when I saw this game, Rogue Legacy being covered by Northernlion on the youtubes, I got so very giddy about it!

Check out his video below!



We can all see that Cellar Door Games is doing awesome stuff with this game, but lemme fill you in a little more!

It's all these things...

• A rogue-"lite" game for PC, Mac and Linux.
• You will die, but your children will avenge you. They might be genetically deficient, but that's ok. You still love your colour-blind baby. Or do you?
• A procedurally generated castle. Every playthrough is different.
• Over 8 classes to choose from. Each class has unique abilities which change the way you play the game.
• Every time you play you get a little stronger. Never back to square 1.
• Find tons of loot and deck your dood OUT.
• Massive Skill tree? What? Yup.
• New game+? Zup? Yup.
• Equip runes and customize your character however you want. Wanna fly? GO FOR IT!
• Got a controller? Play with a controller. Big Picture ready!
• Fart Jokes. Or not... Depends on how much you hate children with I.B.S.
• Clowns.

And guess what?! You can now pre-purchase Rogue Legacy for the low-low price of $10!

Why haven't you purchased it yet!? DO IT NOW!

Long story short, this game is amazing for fans of the genre and, in my opinion, an excellent introduction for those wanting to get into rogue-like games. It's created by Cellar Door Games which is an indipendant game development studio that was founded in 2009 and is located in Toronto, Ontario and from my understanding, they're pretty freakin' awesome. 

They also have a Steam Greenlight going on, so pop over there and check it out, too!

Rogue Legacy looks amazing, and if you're not a fan, vote for it for me, 'cause I need this game.

Until next time,

-Dave

(Seriously, why is it only indies that can come up with awesome games these days?)

Secret Project - Preview

Hey everybody!

As some of you may know from previous posts I've made, the team and I are working on another game that should be leaps and bounds ahead of our last one.

Here is a lil preview image I'm going to share!

Who could it be?!

Here is some info/hints about the game.

• It's built in Unreal Dev Kit
• It's being released for iPhone and iPad
• It'll bring awareness to certain issues around the world
• It's a simulation (of sorts)
• Some of you will love it
• Some of you will hate it (but most of you will love it)

I think that's all I'm willing to share at this point. We've got this thing pretty well under control and should be coming out early this summer. In my opinion, this will be the first game to put us on the radar as a contender in the games world.

Speaking of our games, Jake put up a good post-mortem of Super Monster Dance Party over on his blog that sums things up pretty nicely about some of the issues we faced with it's development as well as some of the persistent bugs that remain in the game. From my perspective, we accomplished our goal for the game which was to release it. It may not be the best game out there, but it has pretty kick-ass music and its safe for kids to play. 

Aside from that, it was a little awkward just like so many other firsts in life. Don't get me wrong, the team did awesome, but like Jake says in his post, we learned a lot from the experience. The best thing we gained from it was game dev cycle knowledge and for me personally, really learning what it takes to complete a project. 

Anywho, what else was there? Oh yeah, I completed (some more) work on a character that I came up with nearly 2 years ago called Donkey Punch... yeah, a bit juvenile for someone whose nearly 30, but hey, who cares?

Check him out!

Donkey Punch WIP

He's still a work in progress right now as I need to skin his revolver, add detail to his hat, add in his teeth, and of course rig him for animation, but I don't really know what I'll use him for...I mean, I didn't touch the model in over a year and haven't really considered what I was making it for, but I guess practice is a thing, so there is that...

If you have an idea for what (PG-ish) thing ol' Donkey Punch here can be used for, let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time,

-Dave

(Been thinking about it more and more and I think I might finally set up a YouTube channel. Maybe with 3D modeling tutorials and first impressions...)

Super Monster Dance Party! - Release Tomorrow!

Hey everyone!

Sorry for being absent for a little bit, but that's because me and the team have been working hard on our games, including Super Monster Dance Party which comes out tomorrow, April 30th!

We've got the game buttoned up and ready to go! All we have to do is put it down for long enough to upload it to the Google Store!

Keep a look out for it in your Android phone's Google store and do us a solid and give it a shot!
It's only $0.99!

Until next time,
-Dave
(Sleep is something that should happen soon...)

Super Monster Dance Party - it's coming...

It's official, our game is in the final stretch!

Super Monster Dance Party is coming!

Here are some screen shots from our programmer Jake Vermillion's blog featuring actual game-play screen shots! WOO!

Flo-Bros wrecking things up with mad fresh beats, yo!

Selectin' dem levels like it ain't no thang!

So are you as pumped up as I am?!

...

No? Well, you should be! We got DJ SynthR (Matthew Le Blanc) providing the awesome music for our game! This guy is phenomenal so go check out his web site!

 Now, there are still some kinks to work out, but we're right on schedule for an April 30th release!

Our little team worked our collective butts off for this little game and got it turned out in under 3 months, so I just want to go on the record saying that I'm very proud of the Pixel Jargon team. They all go above and beyond in all our endeavors, always find a way to get something done, and never even thought of quitting. 

If you want more news on Pixel Jargon and Super Monster Dance Party as it happens, check out our Facebook and Twitter accounts. 

-Pixel Jargon (Facebook)  (Twitter)

-SMDP (Facebook)  (Twitter)

But seriously, you really should click those and like and follow us, cause that's what cool kids do...

Until next time,

-Dave

(Fuck yeah.)

Super Monster Dance Party! -Woo!

Hey there!

So Super Monster Dance Party is going to be released at the end of this month (April 2013) to the Android market! Woo!

But you might be asking, "Dave, wtf have you been doing to keep yourself busy enough to ignore us on the interwebs?" Well, I'll tell you! Not only have I been working on Super Monster Dance Party, I'm also finishing up finals for my education, which is basically finishing up a fairly polished proof of concept in UDK, as well as an educational simulation game where the play must save the ancient, lost city of Atlantis!

Then, I've also been filling my time with working on getting my groups game company, Pixel Jargon up and running! (Not as easy as it sounds...) And after all that, I've been able to squeeze in at least a couple hours to play games and start a couple new projects that (hopefully) will be seeing releases before the end of summer.

In the next couple days, I let you guys in on a couple of super secret game projects as well as some more 3D models of mine and maybe a quick but useful tutorial I've been writing.

But for now, enjoy this sketch of me being frustrated that my tablet is all broken and stuff...

Keyboard and mouse for digital art? It happens to us all at one point.

Until next time,

-Dave

(Seriously, I need a new tablet and quickly...)

Future Space Truck!

Hey everybody!

So as you may know, I'm working on 3D shtuff again to help update my portfolio. Since I started looking back through all the crap I had made in the past, I realized the vehicles weren't as great as they could've been.

That being said, I decided right then and there to make something that I thought was cool; a futuristic space truck!

Fancy Rendering!

And here is the wire-frame composite so you can see some pretty geometry!

I edited this image to give a better view of the cabs geometry.

Lastly, one of those little spin-gifs just so you can see the little metal barrel in the back!

Ah yeah!

So there you have it, a quick little space truck model that took me about 5 hours from beginning to end! It isn't rigged, but I don't have a reason to just yet.

Hope you like it!

Until next time,

-Dave

(This is where I put a little message, but I can't think of anything witty...)

3D Models and General Stuff Update

Hey guys!

I know, I know, I haven't updated all that often recently, but I've been working on our lil' game called "Super Monster Dance Party" and also been updating my portfolio.

One of the things I've been working on for my portfolio is a little game about a firefighter saving folks.
Here is a composite of the model I made along with a wire-frame composite.

Toasty!

Fireman Wireframe - Don't judge the unwrap too harshly, I only spent like 3 minutes on the skin...

Next, I made this guy/thing which is a little nod to the internets underbelly.

The internet's final boss...ish...

And a wireframe!

So yeah, I've just been working on some stuff to fill out my portfolio since, ya' know, I'm finally looking for work in the game design industry. Sure, making games our selves is super fun, but I gotsta get paid, yo!

Speaking of getting paid, we should be releasing "Super Monster Dance Party" by the end of this month on Android, so keep a look out for our game! After that, we got a couple other surprises coming out in the next few months.

Until next time,

-Dave

(Oh yeah, 2 more months of college, so that's a thing...)

Bioshock Infinite - First Impressions

As some of you might know, I haven't been playing that many big budget games lately. I've been mostly sticking to the smaller, more independent titles that makes me think. Graphics don't have to be phenomenal for indie games but they usually have a cohesive aesthetic and riveting ideas and stories.

But that's beside the point.

I'm here to talk about the latest installment in a series that I've been enjoying for years now; Bioshock.

The first drew me in with its dark horror and chilling psychological twists. It was beautifully done and masterfully executed. This of course made me skeptical of the next installment of the series, but I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't suck. Granted, it wasn't as good as the first, but still a good game.

Now, the latest in the series, Bioshock Infinite, was a game that I promised myself I would steer clear of because it was...different. It looked brighter and lighter in its story telling. It seemed more "twitchy" with its game play rather than methodical and calculating.

I got it anyway since, you know, I needed to play finish up the series and I wanted something to bitch about on the internet.

Still determined to hate it, I began to play.

Everything seemed pretty lack luster. Dark over-tones in a light-house. "Spectacular" sequence to introduce the city. All that stuff in the first 20 minutes of the game.

A couple of odd moments later and some realization that I was being set up for something big, the auction scene happened.

Oh. mah. gob.

The game blind-sided me. A one-two punch with no kid gloves and a nasty glare like I owe child support. Right then and there I knew this world was grim. Don't know what I'm talkin about? Look around on the youtubes.

As I played on, it didn't seem as evil as I once thought, but the ideas kept lingering in the back of my mind. This entire civilization, as bright and cheerful as it seemed, was divided not only by class, but by race. Bigotry and violence were instilled in these digital citizens by a mad-man with a messiah complex. These people were, in this world, responsible for horrific acts and they did it all in the name of their patriotic religion. 

I played the Bioshock Infinite for another 6 hours after that before I got too fatigued to play.

Aside from the interesting story, the graphics seem rushed with bad textures, clipping effects and models, and bad rigging on more than a few models. For a triple A title that has been in development for years, you'd think that kind of stuff wouldn't be tolerated. Along with some of the poor modeling techniques and just plain bad models, I'm surprised they let it slide. 

Now you might be saying it's my machine, but trust me, it ain't.

Bioshock Infinite to me is an odd fish. It swims like an indie with it's flawed graphics and hand-crafted look. It breathes like an indie with it's imaginative story and intriguing characters. But it's scales are like all other bloated triple A titles out there with its high-end commercials, price tag to make you cringe, and ready for DLC. 

It kinda makes me sick to say this, but Bioshock Infinite is a fun game. I have buyers remorse and just wish I could have paid so much less or even just bought it straight from the studio instead of paying the publisher.

Oh well, maybe this can serve as a warning to others.

Until next time,

-Dave

(So tired. So very tired.)

"Been a while, huh?" UPDATE!

Sorry that it's been a lil' bit since I made a post.
Things have been freakin' nutty!

For one, I'm not an intern anymore. It was a fun place to visit, but it wasn't my passion in life, so we parted ways.
Very next day, I started a gig working at a design studio and first week in, we shot a feature film, so I was a lil' busy with that for a bit. I was a "Boom Operator".

Woulda been fun to blow stuff up though...

We spent hours out in the pretty much testicle freezing cold of the early mornings prepping scenes and finding angles. As for me, I held a mic above my head like a highly trained, over-educated ape.

Artist titles this "Dave as Boom Operator"

And that was all well and good. We spent only a single week of 12 hour days getting this film shot in various pretty places from our area. It was a lot of work, but fun.

Then the weekend hit and my immune system decided to slap me around like a lil bitch.

I've been pretty damn sick for about a week now, so I've been spending my time working on everything and anything I can think of while doped up on dayquil or its generic equivalent.

I'll commence dumping of all that crap as I feel like it or am less drugged, but in the mean time, I'll update you on Super Monster Dance Party!

We have a tentative release day we're shooting for! We'll be releasing the beast by April 30th! Of THIS YEAR! (fingers crossed) OR NOT! It all really depends when we can get it done. But we gotta get it out.

There have been some revisions made and we're having to redo some of the graphics, but that aside, the game freaking works and is a hoot to play.

After that, we jump head first into reworking Nordic Sol, the game of looting, platforming, stacking, and pure, unbridled humor. Along side Nordic Sol, we have a fun little fire-fighting time waster that we plan on release by the end of July on various platforms including mobile and PC. After that, we have a super secret game in the works that will have fans of the genre salivating. It'll hopefully be done by fall so all you kids can play it with your new school yard friends.

Here's a hint: This game is like one that many 20-somethings have gone freaking nuts over for years.

In all seriousness, the secret game will be fucking incredible so keep checking back here so you can stay in the loop. We're gonna be selling our games I think from here on out, so we might do little give-away promotions on our various blogs or our site when it goes live and I'm looking into getting some other swag going to give and share with you fine folk of the interwebs.

...now how did I end this again?

Until next time,
-Dave
(I'm gonna go take a nap)

Saints Row 4?!

Many fans of the epic, over the top action of the Saints Row games were left confused and scared for the future of the beloved franchise when THQ shut their doors early this year. It could possibly vanish or worse, be reined in to become more gritty, brown, and realistic.

Well, have no fear, because word is beginning to spread that Saints Row 4 is on its way and it's just as crazy as ever! Slated for an August 20th release this year, Saints Row 4 will have the player make their way into the oval office to become president of the United States of America, fight off an alien menace, gain super powers, and more.

Yeah, you read that right.

 Saints Row 4 could very well be the best game ever created.

I might never need another open-world sand-box game again...

Until next time,

-Dave

Mew-Genics Update!

So Team Meat has finally let us have a touch bit more info on Mew-Genics than just those tantalizing teasers on their dev blog.

In a blog update that happened over the weekend, Edmund has posted, "I think most would describe Mew-Genics as a cross between The Sims and Pokemon with a sprinkling of Animal Crossing and a dash of Tamagotchi , but at its core the game really isn't like anything we've seen before." as well as going on the talk about some crazy, unpredictable things happening in a single play session of Mew-Genics.

Stolen right off the Team Meat Blog. They own it.
Image from current Beta and are subject to change.

Now, to me; a fan of Team Meat and of unique games, I'm stupidly over-excited for this game.
And while they have no release date set, they're saying it will be released this year on various platforms, including Steam and some mobile devices, maybe more. But I'll be wasting more time not working on my own game development when this comes out, regardless.

One other thing that tickled my fancy was from a teaser image they had released very early that alluded to how many different cats or cat-combos would/could be in the game.

Dat's alotta cats...

When I first saw the staggering number, I thought "good gravy sir, we may never see the same cat twice..." And with this update on the Team Meat blog, we find out they under-estimated how many cats there would be...

So yeah, the new numbers says there are 25,418,658,283,290,000,000,000,000 different cats in the game, and that number is still growing... and that also just covers their physical appearance, not their different states, personality, animation sets, or other stuff! That shtuff is bananas!

If you love you some animal training, cat pageants, underground cat racing, genetic modification, and cats (everyone loves cats on the internet, right?), then I'm pretty sure you'll love this game. 

Edmund and Tommy are done teasing us at this point and are going to pound away at this cat-lady simulator so they can release it and thus make the world a better place to live in.

Until next time,
-Dave
Seriously, who doesn't love cats?!

Super Happy Monster Dance Party - Update...Again!

So I know you're all eagerly anticipating our latest little game SUPER HAPPY MONSTER DANCE PARTY!, but I am here to inform you that you might never play that game...because we changed the name to SUPER MONSTER DANCE PARTY!
...
Just seemed easier to say, don'tcha think? Comment below on what you think of the name change. Heck, if you all think it should go back, it will. :)

Aside from that, we're well on our way to getting this bad mam-ma jam-ma done!
David Fuson has been hard at work putting out pixel art left and right to make the game, Jake Vermillion has gotten nearly all the features working (as in you can play the game right now, just without graphics!), Corey Farmer is hard at work composing music and Dan Langford is doin' some supplemental sounds and stuff for the game. We also have Ben Mjedle helping us out as an "on-call" creator of art assets if we need him.

This weekend, I've been finishing off some of the sprite animations in Construct 2, but I've mostly been hacking my lungs out with a horrible cold. Like a metric ton of phlegm coming from all the holes in my face, but the game must go on!

Until next time,
-Dave
Woot!

Super Happy Monster Dance Party - Another Update!

Since I know you're all as excited for this game as we are to make it, I'm gonna give you a little insider info on whats happening in "SUPER HAPPY MONSTER DANCE PARTY"'s development!

Jake Vermillion, who I think is some kind of machine, has been hard at work creating cool new features for the game, including a wicked sick scoring system, multiple difficulty level, and there is rumor of an infinite-mode(!) that lets all of you good folks play for as long as you can! Now that's some serious added value right there!

David Fuson, the artist on this project, has made 5 kinda unique monsters and has started work on 5 really unique monsters, including what will be the games super scary and super secret end boss!

Corey Farmer, our musical maestro, is composing a crazy cool party sound track that any monster can groove to! We're gonna have fist pumping and foot jumping songs that'll make you love destruction!

Dan Langford, the announcer in our game brings a dry yet hilarious humor to the scoring system with witty commentary and unorthodox encouragement to the player!

Me, I'm that one guy! I don't do much here accept organize, advertise, encourage, and help where ever I can! Think of the rest of the group as a giant rocket powered death machine careening towards it's goal. I'm taking the role of the guidance system, that's all this time around.

Alright, enough talky talky; CONCEPT TIME!

BOOM!

Now back to talking...

This game will be a Pixel Jargon production and be released on Android devices first, followed by whatever you guys want it on next, so just let us know and we'll try our best!

I'll be updating you all with more for this game and for "Fisticuff Gentleman" as we work on things so stay tuned!

Until next time,

-Dave

Woot! Makin' Games!

Super Happy Monster Dance Party - Update!

Ah snap son! My fellow team members/colleagues/co-creators/friends work crazy fast!

So I just came up with the idea for "Super Happy Monster Dance Party!" Friday afternoon, I shared the idea with my friends when I saw them around 6pm that evening, and by 8pm Jake Vermilion (Programming Lead)  already built up the engine, David Fuson (Art Lead and Character Designer) has already pounded through a huge chunk of the art, and Corey Farmer (Composer and Music Lead) has already started working on concepts for the music!
What we have invested so far is what? Maybe 4 hours?! And we'll have a working prototype with some final art already in by about Tuesday?! Great googly-moogly am I impressed with my friends!

Below is a little more of a teaser of the characters!

So would you look at that? Those big gooey beasties are a thing of beauty! And

If we keep up at this pace and don't hit any major problems, we might have this fun little game on the Android marketplace in under a month!

Stay tuned for more updates on game projects, reviews, and hidden gems from the indie world!

Until next time,
-Dave
Gosh dern, I love game development!

Super Happy Monster Dance Party! - A giant monster rhythm game!

Oh wowsers...

I knew that I had a passion for game development, but now I think it might be an addiction to me...

While working on "Fisticuff Gentleman" (my awesome game of Victorian insults and face-punching), I took a little break from doin' stuff and accidentally started another game all by my lonesome that is rather quite awesome.

While some might not consider this too big of a problem, this will be the 4th game I'm actively working on at the moment and if I'm including some of my friends games that needed to be placed on hold, we're looking at a solid 7 game projects.(!) For this project though, there are 2 people I'm going to harass until they help me make it so it can be published and share it with folks and maybe get some money to help make even more games!

But that's not the point of this post. Really I wanted you all to see the early mock-up/concept I've made and share this little beast of a game with the world!

Looks like he's having fun!

"Super Happy Monster Dance Party" will be a simple one button rhythm game for mobile devices where the player must touch the screen in time with an indicator in the center of the monster or screen or where ever. As the player does better, the monster will dance more enthusiastically and more destruction and chaos will ensue! The city will crumble and armies will assemble as our monstrous buddy boogies down!

Anyway, I hope you out there on the interwebs likes this idea, because its gonna get made, yo!

Until next time,

-Dave

Seriously, game development is my addiction. I think I need someone to help support my habit lol.

Fisticuff Gentleman - Another Update!

Welcome again ladies and gentlemen to the latest update for "Fisticuff Gentleman"!

Since my last update like 2 days ago, I've been working on animations and asset creation, so the image below is a mock-up of the game, but it should give you a good idea of whats going on.

Classy as hell, am I right?

Now when it comes to game play, I'm pretty dang sure I'll just boil it down to a single-stage fighting game with story driven fights. For example, we start with the Fisticuff Gentleman escorting Ms. Lady through the park when they're approached by an uncouth man making advances at Ms. Lady. Then, Fisticuff Gentleman challenges the man and boom! they fight. Once the player wins the fight, the story continues until Fisticuff Gentleman needs to defend Ms. Lady's honor again.

Pretty straight forward, huh?

Check back often as I will you all updated on the progress!

Until next time,

-Dave

My favorite color is grey...

Gaming Mouse Suggestions - R.A.T. 3 & 7 Gaming Mice

Chances are if you're on my site, you've played a couple of video games in your life. 

Me, I've played games since back when the internet was text based and ASCII games weren't retro.

Heck, most of the games I played as a youth didn't have mouse support, but times, they have changed.

Now, lets say you're like me and had a torrid affair with gaming consoles that drove you away from PC gaming for years, but now you're back and more committed than ever to play games on your porn and email machine. 

Well, that $10 wireless mouse you got at the truck stop down the road isn't going to cut it anymore and neither is that chunk of plastic and switches that came with your computer!

And after that day of shopping, testing, and researching, I bought myself one of these.

Mad Catz R.A.T.3 Optical Gaming Mouse

• Gaming-grade 3500 DPI Optical Sensor
• Set and Toggle 4 Custom DPI Settings per Profile
• 3 Programmable Macro Buttons (9 User-definable Commands via 3 Modes)
• Powerful Macro Programming Software
• Compatible with Windows 8 and Mountain Lion

Now, I'm a bit cheap and this bad boy is more than enough for me to play and create games, but if you're looking for something with a little more power, might I suggest my very next choice (and probably next mouse purchase considering how nice and fast it feels)...

A friend and colleague of mine has this mean sucka and whenever I get a chance, I fuck around with it. When I was mouse shopping, it was a touch out of my financial reach, but next time...oh yes, next time...

But these are just my suggestions based off my experience with these mice and if you're in the market for a mouse, give these guys a once over yourself.

Until next time,

-Dave