The Still of the Night Causes a Storm in the Mind

I wrote a post earlier which was pretty critical of the iPad. I wrote about all the differing opinions and the pros and cons, etc, etc. That post was erased as I went to publish it.

I took that as a sign. My initial take on the iPad is that it’s nothing but a large iPod Touch and that I won’t get one because I already have access to everything that I need by carrying an iPhone and an iPod Touch simultaneously (which still takes up less space than an iPad). Truth be told though, this is a short sighted attitude. Granted I think everyone knew that the iPhone/iPod Touch would be grand slams (I did for sure) and the iPad’s future isn’t as certain.

I for one will offer some support for the device and test the waters at least. As it stands iPhone development is so easy that it’s almost trivial compared to PC development and the iPad will be no different. I have had modest success on the iPhone but have been unable to create a must have game. Perhaps I will find more success with the iPad which lends itself better to in-person social experiences. With the barrier to entry so low there’s no reason not to give it a try.

This past week the remnants of my family (my sister and I) got together to watch The Boondock Saints 2. After the movie she criticized it rather harshly which spawned a conversation about what makes a good piece of entertainment.  My sister and I are both writing books.  The difference being that I’m writing a tech book on iPhone development and she’s writing a fiction novel.  Inevitably we talk about each other’s projects.

On this particular night she tells me that she’s scrapping the 46 pages of single spaced 10 point font she’s written thus far.  Her reasoning is that she wants to differentiate herself from other female writers.  The specifics of her decision revolve around shifting the focus of the story from relationships to losing one’s mind.

A large part of the conversation involved a debate about the relevance of Twilight which shared some aspects with her original story.  Being the older brother I am I had to point out the fact that Twilight has been hugely successful as have love/relationship stories throughout time.  I also pointed out the fact that there haven’t been too many successful stories about the erosion of one’s mind (though A Beautiful Mind was fantastic).  The end result of the conversation was that I shook my sister’s confidence and at Thanksgiving dinner the next night she reminded me several times.

As a creative person I’ve learned throughout the years that you largely need to ignore other people in your pursuit of that perfect piece of work. The honest truth is that the only person who knows your vision is you. What you create for other’s to see may only be a crude representation of what you actually envision.  If that’s the case then it’s simply a matter of improving your skills to match your vision.  No matter what it’s important to remember that.

Many creative individuals are also insecure which is why most entertainment industries are run by opportunistic moguls instead of the creatives that actually power our culture’s best works of art.  If you’re creative, forget the insecurity.  This is what I told my sister.  I explained to her that it doesn’t matter what anyone, not even me sees in her creation. She’s the only one who knows what her creative spark is capable of.

At the end of the day this is the point of creativity.  It’s the challenge to get what’s on the inside to make sense as it comes out.  There are many ways to communicate these creative thoughts and sometimes other people can help you clarify what you’re trying to communicate but they’ll never be the source of what you’re trying to communicate.

A week or so ago I wrote about The Human Compiler which is an important component of game development.  As a game designer you need to watch other people’s reactions to your creation closely to see if you’re communicating properly with the player.  This is different than relying on someone else to communicate your creative vision for you.  As I stated earlier, you need to grow your skills to match your creative vision and this is no different.  It takes a certain type of skill to siphon out the difference between someone else’s creative vision infringing on your own and an error in the communication of your creative vision.

So there you have it, isolate your creative spark.  You are the only one who knows what’s on the inside and it’s your job to find the best way to showcase it on the outside.  Don’t bow to anyone in this process but don’t get hurt if people don’t “get it” either. People aren’t mind readers, they’re creators, which means it’s your job to communicate not others’ to magically comprehend your inner most thoughts.

In 1997 I came up with a game concept. That concept was a fun and simple 2D building demolition game where players would plant charges and try to level a cityscape. I developed this concept about a year after learning some BASIC programming on my TI-85 calculator and before I entered college. At the time it’s safe to say I didn’t really have the skills to do the concept justice.

Fast forward to 2006. I sit down at my computer one evening and I finally prototype this concept now calling it Debris. I develop a working sim with blocks, bombs, and a caution tape line. The premise is simple, plant the bombs in such a way that upon detonation all the blocks fit below the caution tape line.

I work on this prototype for a few months (mainly tweaking the physics) and eventually show the concept to a company who’d published my earlier work. They write me back and tell me they don’t see any promise in this concept. They tell me they can’t suggest even a single bit of advice in order to make the concept more fun for them.

Their feedback of course stood in stark contrast with my vision as well as the feedback I’d received from several other people who I’d actually gotten to show the game in person. As with anything communication is key when unleashing a brand new game concept. I’m sure something was lost without myself involved to fill in the blanks as someone played this game for the first time. Such is the potential fate of any unfinished prototype.

In October 2007 I attempted once again to show off this concept.  This time at the Indie Games Con. Again, it’s turned down for publication by this company that had worked so closely with me in the past.  To add insult to injury, I’m told by someone I’d once considered a mentor that it “sucked”.  I went home dejected and dropped the development of Debris to work on Full Contact Debate another idea I’d had banging around my brain for years.

Of course there was one redeeming event which took place at IGC that year. The morning after I was told the game sucked I walked in an there was a group of 6 other developers standing around a computer laughing. As I walked up I realized they were playing Debris and they’d just realized you could take the helicopter out if you planted the bombs correctly. In the PC/Mac version of Debris the helicopter would go spastic and bounce around the screen taking everything out in its path. As they left a few of the guys told me it was a great game concept. Seeing their reaction to the title renewed my belief that eventually this would be a hit game.

Now we move on to October 2008. At this point I’d long given up the idea of pitching ideas to publishers with lesser vision than myself. Throughout the years I’d pitched concepts to a plethora of publishers and I was always disappointed with the results. Finally though, the iPhone and the App Store had arrived and there would no longer be a difference of creative opinions to stop the publication of any title. I jumped onto the iPhone development wagon as quickly as possible and I knew exactly what my first title would be.

Debris appeared on the App Store by December 5th 2008 and to my knowledge was the first 2D casual building demolition game created. When I originally developed the prototype I searched for other controlled demolition games and the only thing I found was an obscure PS2 game released in Europe but it was a more serious 3D simulation instead of a casual physics game. My prediction circa 2006 was that the most popular casual games were going to be physics based as opposed to the match-3 titles that dominated the early-mid part of the decade. Looking at the iPhone market today I was absolutely correct and I’m proud to say that I not only made an accurate prediction but I took part in the market with a handful of causal physics sims which I developed.

Now it’s the end of 2009 and it’s been the roughest year of my life. It hasn’t all been bad but it has been a roller coaster. As most people who read this blog know, I lost my dear mother to suicide on March 23rd. I have been depressed since then although certain events have been overwhelmingly positive this year, the loss of my mother casts a shadow over those events. To further add to my pain this year a title called Implode! landed on the App Store about a week ago and since then has risen up the charts into the top 5 best selling iPhone games. Implode! is Debris, it’s a casual 2D controlled demolition game and it arrived almost exactly 1 year after Debris on the iPhone.

Considering that I developed this concept sooo long ago I’m heart broken that I wasn’t the one to fully capitalize on the concept. When I developed it in 2006 I knew it had the potential to rise straight to the top. Unfortunately, being first isn’t always best and in fact some people would say it’s detrimental. This is one of those cases.

I rushed Debris out on the iPhone trying to take advantage of the devices unique abilities such as pinch/zoom, swipe momentum, and the accelerometer tilt. Unfortunately, using these special capabilities of the iPhone was ultimately a distraction from the core experience. Implode! for the iPhone is actually much closer to what Debris was originally for the PC/Mac. Plant bombs, detonate, and try to get the blocks below a line. The version of Debris I ended up putting out for the iPhone wasn’t received particularly well because the core was watered down in an attempt to make it iPhone-centric. Granted, some components of Debris are great fun but overall I let the core suffer in favor of design diversions such as tilt, zoom, and killing aliens with the blocks.

Still, I’m not jaded or angry (OK, just a little). Debris was after all the title that allowed me to develop my own concepts as my sole source of income. Without Debris I wouldn’t be where I am today. Furthermore, there’s no law against sequels and while Debris may not ultimately get recognized as the title that brought the casual controlled demolition genre into the limelight perhaps its sequel can utilize the success Implode! is currently enjoying to be an even bigger success.

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!

When you’re developing games it can hurt when you spend a few weeks or months on something only to have other people scoff at your creation. In my early years this really hurt my feelings. Actually, even today it doesn’t “feel good” when other people don’t get what you’re trying to communicate with a game. I often feel like a screaming infant whose parents just don’t comprehend what I’m trying to communicate with my goo-goo-gah-gah’s. It can make you feel quite disconnected from the rest of the world when you think something’s cool and no one else agrees.

The way that I deal with this is to consider play testers what I call “The Human Compiler”. The point of this is that you don’t get your feelings hurt when a programming compiler throws an error. No, instead you simply go to line N and change the code so that it works. When you get people playing your game for the first time there are going to be “Human Compiler Errors”. As with any other compiler the solution is simple, go to the figurative line N and fix it.

The biggest issue is that human beings aren’t discreet like a machine language compiler so you have to use your human judgment and read between the lines a little. Once you get past the “hurt feelings” part though it becomes pretty easy to read people’s feedback and trace the true root of the “Human Compiler Error”. The realization that people play testing your game is just another compiler is the most important piece of the puzzle here. Don’t get disheartened just take it all in, get a gut reading on everyone’s combined input, and then get back to work!

NEW - play it online now at www.iCrashForCash.com

Last year I created this mini-game for a bonus when players completed Debris. It was called Debris Drop and it involved the simple premise of physics-enabled boxes falling from space with players tilting their device in order to match the various colors. Instantly, I knew I had created something cool. The initial mini-game only took about 4 hours to make but it was readily apparent that this core was actually the most fun part about Debris.

After realizing that I’d stumbled onto something my sophomore effort on the iPhone was a pretty easy choice. I took that mini-game and ramped it up a few notches by adding new shapes, online leaderboards, and backgrounds. Poof! Cosmosis was born. The title didn’t take off and I eventually made it free. For a while it accumulated a decent number of downloads but the game had really terrible production values so even as a freebie it wasn’t too enticing. I still thought it was the best core experience I’d created.

This summer I created several iPhone games that still haven’t seen the light of day. After having some success with Skyline Blade I was able to ramp up the production values of Midnight Status titles and invest some money in better assets and tools. Thus instead of making games with a budget of $0 I was able to jump it up. After fighting with myself on which game to “really” make next I chose to iterate again on the physics box dropping concept.

The first game to reflect the new production values ended up being Ragduck Hunt. Of course in truth Ragduck Hunt was actually started in the middle of development on Crash For Cash. I knew Ragduck Hunt was going to be somewhat gimmicky but also fun for a while. Crash For Cash on the other hand had potential to be a really good game so more time was spent on it. I’m probably one of the few people who will drop one project for 2 weeks just to push another idea out there that I think can be done better with less time … but maybe not. The point is if I get a wild hair up my butt I’m going to act on it. In this case Ragduck Hunt was that wild hair.

Anyway, Crash For Cash represents the current pinnacle of iteration for me. I took what was a neat mini-game and evolved it into Cosmosis. Then I took that evolution and completely trumped it in terms of production values, theme, social networking, and gameplay. Cosmosis was still very limited in terms of playability. There were 6 colors to match and the only thing that got harder was the speed. Crash For Cash goes way beyond this.

The differences in gameplay may seem subtle but they are quite effective. First of all as players earn cash they unlock more expensive cars. More expensive cars in turn earn them more money. Of course as the number of various car models increases it also becomes more difficult to make a match. This is where the brand new tap-bomb feature comes in. Players can now tap on a car to blow it up. This adds an element of strategy that wasn’t really present before. Now players have to think on the fly which cars on-screen will help them capitalize the most once things get really intense. Top the new gameplay off with leaderboards, twitter integration, and high quality production values and I think you’ve got a winner.

Anyway, I like it and I hope other people do too. Here’s a video!

Back in March Christian Nutt of Gamasutra posed the question “Can The Industry Make a B-game?”

I think I’ve done just that with a little stupid ass title called Kube Killer.  I initially created this game out of frustration.  I was frustrated and angry over my mother’s death (hence this being one of the few violent games I’ve made) and I was also but to a much lesser degree frustrated over the apparent lack of logic within the App Store eco system.

My last post was about making easy games.  I purposely created Kube Killer to be challenge-less and a time waster that would roll as many ads as possible on the business end.  I was analyzing some of the popular games on the iPhone that my younger cousin was playing and they all had something in common, ZERO challenge but plenty of time consumption. When I released Kube Killer I put it out at $0.99 (no ads) at my wife’s request.  In truth though the game was always supposed to be free.  I thought people might play it and actually get caught up challenging each other to see who could in fact kill the most kubes which would be optimal for an ad based title.  It was also created to be somewhat of a satirical poke at the App Store in general, dumb games getting attention they don’t deserve was part of the inspiration for Kube Killer.

At $0.99 the game was mostly ignored.  It sold a few copies but never made any real impact.  Fast forward to this past Friday when I changed the game to free.  Somehow, the game started climbing the charts regardless of the terrible graphics, poor description, and even worse reviews.  Nearly everything about this game signaled people to avoid it at all costs (the icon is even black like the plague) and yet in true App Store fashion the title started climbing the charts extending its figurative middle finger to logic the whole way.

As of right now the game has been downloaded nearly 10,000 times since Friday.  Some of the players have even taken to competing for the most kills via the online leaderboards.  The title is hovering in the Top 30 Adventure games and the Top 20 RPG games and with each iTunes update the rank climbs while the reviews get worse and yet people even started a thread to talk about this waste of time on Touch Arcade!

As I watched this all unfold I was initially ashamed.  If any game was supposed to do well this weekend it was supposed to be my new title Ragduck Hunt which was logically created to appeal to the App Store crowd while actually being a pretty good game with solid production values.  Kube Killer, the red headed step child of my portfolio though is now the most “popular” iPhone game I’ve made.  This game is terrible both purposefully and accidentally (simultaneously) and for some reason people are downloading the crap out of it … stranger still some people are playing the crap out of it.  I think that constitutes a legitimate B-game.

It may sound elementary but making easy games is one way to guarantee yourself a little success when it comes to game development.  I’ve had people compare the gameplay experience some of my games present to earning a master’s degree.  The good thing about that is the good reviews my games receive are well written (thank you educated folks).  The bad thing is that most people cannot enjoy these games.

I started thinking about this topic because a game (Kube Killer) I released and sorta wish I hadn’t has received the same star rating on iTunes as games like Skyline Blade and Disco Pool even though it’s a terrible game.  The game has gotten better reviews than my first title Debris and it’s so much worse.  Debris however has gotten more complaints about being to difficult than any other title I created and also has the lowest star rating.  Literally, this is the worst game I’ve produced for the iPhone in my opinion.  Now, do I enjoy the game at all?  Actually, truth be told I do enjoy playing it.  It’s a very simple shooting game which can be played from a top down, over the shoulder, or first person perspective.  The shooting aspect of the game is kind of addicting.  Everything else about the title is totally lacking save for one thing.  It’s the easiest game to play of all the titles I’ve put out for the iPhone (the enemies don’t fight back and in fact you literally cannot lose). Because it’s easy to play people can get into it without being rejected too quickly.

So like I said, it sounds elementary but truth be told this is something I personally have struggled with.  The games I typically think about playing myself aren’t immediately intuitive for many people.  The bottom line is make an easy game first and then fill the rest in with good graphics and production values and more than likely you’ll find a bit of success.

10 years ago yesterday I was a college student enrolled in a computer science program.  I spent most of my time programming games on my TI-85 calculator during class but still managed to take something away from the experience.  I was also a gamer and September 9th, 1999 was a big day.  Anticipation grew throughout the day as I waited for classes to end.  The afternoon and evening couldn’t fly by quick enough. The moment I was waiting for was midnight, when I could finally wrap my arms around my very own Dreamcast at the local EB.

Finally, the night was getting long in the tooth.  At around 10PM a friend and I headed out to Lynnhaven Mall stopping at Wendy’s for some late night spicy chicken sandwiches (a favorite during the college years). Then we finally landed in line for the hotly anticipated Dreamcast.  The line was long but people were stoked.  Everyone and their brother wanted to support Sega after the dismal failure of the Saturn.  There was a hint of nostalgia in the air.  Older gamers didn’t want Sony to put Sega out of commission even if they liked the Playstation.  Thus, the calvary lined up at the stroke of midnight to put Sega back on the map.

The line was exciting initially but it was nothing in comparison to the first time they pulled out a working Dreamcast running Soul Calibur for everyone to try.  The next thing you knew there was a line embedded within the first line as people tried their hand at this new game with the most amazing graphics ever witnessed on a home console.  Remarkably, Soul Calibur played as good as it looked.

The crew at EB was extremely cool and efficient that night.  Dreamcast systems, games and accessories had all been bundled up according to customer pre-orders prior to the big launch.  As such we really didn’t have to wait too long.  After finally getting our systems we returned to my place and continued playing all our new games into the wee hours of the morning.  It’s hard to believe it was a decade ago!

Last night I had to do it, I had to pull the Dreamcast and co out of their bin and hook it up alongside my 360 and PS3.  Much to my surprise Soul Calibur has held up really well.  It’s still graphically impressive and the control and collision is super tight.  I never understood why Sega gave up. In my idealists eyes the Dreamcast could be a competitor today.  After reading the Gamasutra article with interviews of all the major executives involved I think the demise of the Dreamcast was pretty fishy.  But what’s done is done.  At least we got to enjoy the system for a while.

Of course I can’t just recap that launch night without explaining how it had some profound effect on me. Back then I was a college student who had programmed a few games on his calculator.  Now it’s a decade later and I’ve become the game developer I had dreamed of.  The largest effect that night had on me was a new found love for midnight launches and the excitement involved.  The studio title Midnight Status is a direct result of that launch night (which as far as I can remember was the first midnight video game launch I took part in).  Midnight Status is the excitement people feel for their entertainment.  It’s what happens when people wait in line in the middle of the night with strangers who share a passion.  It’s what runs through your mind when you didn’t pre-order an XBox and you’re running from store to store in the middle of the night trying to find a location with a short enough line to guarantee you a system.  Midnight Status came from a seed that was planted in my mind 10 years ago when the Dreamcast arrived.  It seems the name was quite suitable now doesn’t it?

Well, summer’s over and it is time to go back to work full time.  This year has been a wild roller coaster of ups and downs.  It kicked off with me having just turned 30 and finally getting to become a full time game developer thanks to the iPhone.  This was just about my biggest dream come true … finally after years and years of work.  Not all has been well though, during the month of March I lost my dear mother who I loved very much.  Losing a parent has been, up to this point, one of if not my biggest nightmares.  As such the year suddenly seemed to come right back to neutral if not go completely negative for me.  In the months after that though friends and family gathered around me to help me through the toughest thing I’ve ever faced in my life and they helped me stay on track.  Also, my wife and I got a new golden retriever puppy named Maeby which didn’t hurt (so long as she wasn’t peeing inside).

Not coincidentally, the puppy was our 1st year anniversary gift to each other.  Again, things were looking somewhat positive … even if a bit of depression was lingering from my mother’s passing.  Of course what goes up must come down as I found out that a friend of mine lost his wife.  Again, I felt that negativity.  Life is short and sometimes it’s very painful for you and those around you.  It’s all we can do sometimes just to hold each other up.

Of course that was the beginning of the summer and I knew that better things (like the beach) were just on the horizon.  Since my mother passed I haven’t done too much work.  I hit a deadline for the book I’m writing, created Disco Pool, and also put out a little game called Kube Killer.  All in all it was really nice to live off the work I had done earlier in the year with Skyline Blade which has been my most successful game.  As I’ve written before, it’s not a crazy amount of money but it does pay the rent and when you don’t have to worry about that it helps … a lot.  I got to do a lot of swimming, sunning, and puppy watching which has been therapeutic.  I can now swim a kilometer (~0.6 of a mile) which is pretty cool considering that a month ago I could barely swim 50 meters or 1 lap in an Olympic size swimming pool.

Anyway, now that September’s here I’m back to work and I’m thinking ambitious again.  Over the summer I put something secret together but realized it was too ambitious.  I then proceeded to put that project on hold for a short while longer to pursue another project.  As it turns out I don’t do simple.  It just doesn’t happen, at least not well.  My new project which started out simple has now become a mini-epic.  It’s still not as ambitious as my secret project so that’s good but it’s going to take longer than the few weeks I had hoped to invest.

This brings me to what’s really been on my mind lately.  Is it wise to really invest myself in a game again? In 2002 and 2003 I created 2 large games which took about a year each to complete.  Aerial Antics is the game I’m probably still most well known for although my iPhone games have sold many more copies.  Ever since Aerial Antics flopped I cannot will myself to develop something with a lot of care.  That’s not to say I haven’t worked hard.  I have worked hard this past year and I really pushed myself on Full Contact Debate as well but I haven’t committed myself to a project like I did with Aerial Antics.  At least it doesn’t feel that way.  It’s very hard to fully commit yourself when every time you do your project flops.  Then it gets to the point where you start going for the quick and easy project instead of something you’re truly proud of.

I feel like I’m making myself sound really lazy here.  Anyone who knows me also knows this isn’t true.  The point is though, if you push yourself will anyone really notice or care?  Well, I think they well.  The iPhone games I’ve developed actually seem to sell in direct proportion to how much time and money I invested in them and of course money is really just tangible condensed time.  In the end I suppose I’m answering my own question.  If you make it they will come and they will notice that you worked your ass off.  However, if you waiver even for a split second people will identify the chinks in your armor.  Don’t waiver, be obsessive, create something you think is perfect and even if someone thinks they’ve found a weakness you’ll be able to deflect them because you’ll know in your own heart that you did absolutely all you can.

So here I am after years of time, a better coder, a better artist, with better tools ready to commit myself to a truly ambitious (yet not overly so like FCD) project once again.  Wish me luck!

Although I don’t consider myself to be particularly successful (I’m probably behind the curve considering how much time I’ve spent developing games). I do have a few techniques which I’ve learned along the way that I think aid in the quest for success in game development.

1 - If you’re having trouble with motivation tackle a technical problem.  The creative aspects of game development are great but usually the great creative sparks come when you least expect them.  I don’t believe you can control the creative juices per se, only nurture them.  What you can control though are technical hang-ups.  Next time you’re stuck trying to come up with a game concept engage in a technical activity you hadn’t previously conquered and you’ll find yourself in awe of the creative possibilities your knew found technical knowledge provides.

2 - Always think in terms of IP, just scope it right.  Massive IP’s like Star Wars are fantastic.  The idea of creating an imaginary universe that generates a cult-like following is the creator’s dream.  The only problem with big IP’s is that they are often too ambitious to complete correctly. Every now and then someone like George Lucas comes along and does it but situations like his are the exception.  Still, any concept you come up with can contain cross platform/medium functionality.  For instance I’m working on an iPhone game/concept which I can sell, create an article about, and include in a book I’m writing.  In this sense I’m still creating and leveraging an intellectual property just not on the epic scale we all usually think of as it relates to IP.

3 - Don’t ever give up and don’t listen to anyone or anything but your gut instinct.  I’ve been through it all.  People in high school told me I wasn’t intelligent enough to develop games, game reviewers have thrashed my work as have publishers, mentors, and friends … heck even my own mother told me I wasn’t good enough at math to make them.  I couldn’t care less what anyone ever said because I knew in my gut that I was going to do this no matter what anyone ever said.  Shigeru Miyamoto himself could tell me to hang it up and I would do nothing short of consider him an amateur with no vision and continue on my merry way.  No one, and I mean NO ONE can tell you it’s impossible to succeed except yourself.