Whoa, it’s been forever, hasn’t it.
I feel bad about neglecting this, but finding the energy to actually do the rebranding I need is… harder to find than expected. Judging from this article I read recently, it is a lack of commitment holding me back. This entire summer so far has been an example. I wanted to open game commissions like I’ve been planning for years, only to lose my commitment by my parents wanting me to get a “real job.” Not those exact words, but that it’s more realistic to first get a steady income source first. Which would be great, if I had any ability to market myself. And if I ended up not having to take one more semester of school.
Another example is a game jam I tried to participate in. “Tried” being the operative term. It was OK progress for the first few days of the seven-day creation period, but I turned out to scope too high, came up with too few ideas for too much space, and combined with maintaining my weekly stream and real-life dental issues I ended up dropping out. I’m still going to finish the game - I’m actually proud of the little animation I made for it - but it’s hard to keep focus sometimes. Here’s a screenshot of the game in progress:
Yes, I ended up buying GameMaker Studio 2. I was offput with how disconnected its UI felt, but I’m getting used to it.
Commitment, I guess, is being able to do something even when you don’t feel like it. Some of my friends are the sort to not do anything they don’t feel good doing, but stomaching things you don’t like is important too. Lord knows my lack of commitment has hurt me in too many ways - like not passing one of my classes and having to spend at least $3000 on another semester, just for one class. So I need to shape up and stop letting the feeling of not wanting to do something keep me from doing it.
~Once the outcome is set, you’ll see… all we need is DRIVE~
That’s all for now. Until next time, keep game!
1 note
My slowed game development from summer was not helped by school in the slightest. As I learned while developing my second YOU DON’T KNOW JACK fangame, there’s nothing like schoolwork to destroy motivation to work on games. Or maybe that’s just my trend for perfectionism.
Sadly that includes the rebranding as I question the choice of name I thought for sure would be a good replacement. It honestly looks more like the title for a game than the company that made it. I’ve been looking into alternate options, so I hope you’ll bear with me.
If you’ve been following my public blog, you might know I’ve been replaying Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door lately. It’s really special to me how many times I’ve replayed this one game. It’s very rare indeed that I replay something this much. Two original runs, a failed LP attempt, and now this one. Maybe more, given all four slots have been used, which is rare as heck for me. I’ve been considering writing an essay of sorts analyzing the game’s first main dungeon, which I would post here once I get around to it. It’s rather held back until I can catch up on my dashboard, but I’m hoping to have the time this winter between semesters.
That’s all for now. Until next time, keep game!
What have I been up to this summer?
So I haven’t update this since I got out of class last semester. And next semester starts tomorrow - well, today by the time you’re likely reading this! So what have I spent the summer doing?
After finishing Castle of Curses‘s demo, it turned out to be not the game I wanted to continue development on. Instead, I spent the rest of May and most of June working on reinvigorating a different old design that I’ve had since 2012 or so, including getting the sprite artist that main the player character sprites for Castle as the primary artist.
Sadly, a lot momentum was lost at the end of June, and while I did continue adding little nuances, it’s slowed way down. Currently I’m doing some finalization for a rehash of the original design document into something I’ll have some confidence in making doable by October next year.
Since then, I’ve been juggling a few different ideas for other ideas. I’m not sure if I should talk about them here yet; I feel terrible talking about random ideas and breeding disappointment if they don’t materialize. Most actual productivity has been sucked up by multiple cartoons and anime between Netflix, CrunchyRoll, YouTube, and a family of stream sites that make watching video on my Wii U way too easy. As well, I ended up trying out several new games and replaying some old ones, including Shovel Knight and Wario Land 4. The struggles of procrastination…
As well, I have been meaning for the ENTIRE SUMMER ACTUALLY to rebrand myself. It’s been made entirely clear to me that “Lone ‘Coon Productions” is not going to be a workable brand going forward. I’ve got a new name in mind with a logo sketched out, but have been unable to make anything final. I recently got Adobe Creative Cloud through my university, restoring my access to Flash Professional as well as getting the newer Animate, which means I might be able to actually make a new finalized logo set. I’ll also go back and edit this blog’s tag, though not previous posts (who you calling Orwell)?
As school starts up, this may possibly be my last year of university, as I’m almost out of graduation requirements. Tuesdays and Thursdays are off-days, which I’ll try my best to use for homework so I can at least continue some development over the weekend.
That’s all for now. Until next time, keep game!
The moment you’ve all been waiting for (hopefully)! This is my Game Development Project result!
Castle of Curses
itch.io
Windows
In this Metroidvania title inspired by Maze of Galious and La-Mulana,
take on the role of the thief Conner who has been thrown into a
monster-filled castle and must escape to be pardoned for his crimes. To
do so, he must receive help from the Hooded Order of the Bloodstone that
has taken refuge in various bunkers and storm each of the castle’s
Grand Halls and confront the archdemons that have taken control of them.
Deadly traps, tricky puzzles, and great treasure awaits! Can you escape
from the cursed castle and win your freedom?
This is the First Steps Demo, which covers up to the first Grand Hall.
Depending
on the circumstances surrounding the thing I’m trying to get in on,
this may or may not continue development to include the remaining
planned content over the summer and release as a commercial title on
Steam. If it does, I’ll likely overhaul the art and sound (especially
since one of the sound effects is under a non-commercial license) into
something more appealing and easy to make. Well, I suppose it’s more
accurate to say I’ll have it overhauled because I’ve got an artist, but
the point still stands.
4 notes
Heads up, folks!
My school project is complete! After I get back from class, where I’ll be presenting it, I’ll make some screenshots and put it on itch.io! So keep your eyes open for some fresh indie gaming goodness!
1 note
I’ve add the first works page to the site! This one details the first completed game I’ve ever released to the public, YOU DON’T KNOW JACK: GAME OVER EDITION, and its sequel, released in 2011 and 2013 respectively on Newgrounds. Head to the blog page itself and it’s under Pages & Links in the navbar!
I’m now considering having a page listing projects and linking to the work pages from there instead of having them in all in that listing. It’s cleaner that way. I’ll save that for when I add more pages, though.
That’s all for now. Until next time, keep game!
1 note
So it’s been awhile, so I suppose I’ll keep you updated. This concerns my aforementioned school project.
During the course of the semester, I’ve only gotten maybe a fifth of the game I originally wanted to do done, which is why I reclassified it internally as a demo. Originally I was going to take the summer break as a chance to do something else, but circumstances have changed. As part of trying to get in on a thing that would ruin it to discuss so don’t ask, I’ve decided that I’m going to continue to work on this title, with the goal of being finished by October.
I’m willing to look at this as a learning opportunity, the chance to build self-discipline. Looking back over the stuff I have released, it’s always when I really dedicate myself to a project and stick to it that I make headway, instead of flaking off to do something else. I’ve done plenty of flaking off on this already, given I’ve held off on some tasks for a month or more. but if I can keep my focus, I should be able to get it done, and maybe even still find the time to play around with other ideas.
I’ve got a sprite artist doing some things and I’m certain for once that I’ll have screenshots ready by next week, especially given the game itself needs to be done in… well, a little more than a week. It’s truly crunch time. Can’t wait until so I can finally give a title.
That’s all for now. Until next time, keep game!
1 note
So today Steam had half-off on Tabletop Simulator, and it’s something I’ve wanted for awhile and I had enough money, so I sprung for it. Yes, I will be making board and card games for TTS in my spare time. Whether I make a given thing for TTS, Roll20, or both depends on a number of factors.
While browsing TV Tropes recently, I came across this card game called Kitsune: Of Foxes & Fools that was apparently Kickstarted. Each player is a two-tailed kitsune (fox spirit) that attempts to get to a full nine tails by scheming pranks on fools before the others do. My online friends and I are interested in trying it out, and thankfully they’ve been so gracious to provide their assets for free so you can try it out and you can pay for a professionally-printed boxed copy.
So yeah, in the upcoming days, when I have some spare time, I will be attempting to make a TTS module of this game using these assets. Since it’s a rather clear-cut case, I probably won’t bring it up to often, but I’ll make another post once it’s up on the
As to my school project that I mentioned in my introduction post, I’m hoping I’ll have some screenshots and such ready later this week. I miss just making stuff and going with that as the final graphics…
That’s all for now. Until next time, keep game!
1 note
Calling it live!
Welcome, folks, to my new official game development blog!
So what’s going to happen around here? Basically, I’m hoping to get into professional game development, whether I have to work in the AAA industry or as an indie, and I’ll be using this space to announce and talk about all the stuff I’m working on! Heck, I’ve some interest in making not-video games like board and card games, which I may or may not put under a different header, but if I ever make headway, you’ll be the first to know! Non-game-related creativity may be announced via my personal blog or a different blog entirely instead of here.
I’m hoping in the coming… I want to say days but may be weeks, to add individual information pages for each project in the header above, starting with the four or so games I’ve already released over the course of the last several years. I tend to keep busy with one thing or another, so I can’t guarantee I’ll update frequently, but I’ll do my best.
To start things off, what I’ve been working on lately, and have been since late January, is a game I’m making for the Game Development Project class at my university. It’s too early to show screenshots or anything (only last week did it start getting art that wasn’t programmer art), but I’m hoping you’ll enjoy it once it comes out.
That’s all for now. Until next time, keep game!
3 notes