peng ink

No matter how hard I resist, I’m again drawn to the latest TIGSource compo, this time with the theme Procedural Generation. And surprisingly, something good has come of it.

What would it feel like to surf on a sine wave? The initial idea came up while I was working on a game for post-orthopedic surgery patients (more on that later), and since then I’ve been sitting on it for nearly half a year. Then I got a call from Raph, antsy for gamedev action, and I couldn’t refuse.

DOWNLOAD

Sadly, this might be my last XNA project as the horrors of XNA PC distribution are too strong to ignore anymore. Sure, it’s a blast while you’re making the game, but when it’s time for release, nobody but other XNA devs will be able to run your game without considerable trouble. How much trouble?

A basic PC XNA requirements list

1. The XNA Redistributable – all right, makes sense
2. Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 – for C#, beats downloading both 2.0 and 2.0 SP1
3. DirectX Runtime – unless you’re already up to date (you probably aren’t)
4. A graphics card that supports pixel shader 2.0 – no shader effects for you! or game for that matter…

Good luck! (You’ll need it.)

So I was thinking about all the cool creative people here in Northern Virginia, and wondering what would happen if I brought everyone together in a single place to jam. On games.

I’m expecting the house to implode with awesome.

As with most game development jams, there’s some sort of underlying theme to 12hr. I figured why not take it further, and make the theme a game as well.

Every person will be randomly assigned a theme from a hat (be it EXPANSION, NEGATIVE, MINIMALIST, SPACE, DINOSAURS or what have you). However, if people wish to collaborate, their game must then fulfill the thematic assignments of everyone working on the game. Hopefully this will yield in interesting collaborations, and even more interesting games!

Snacks/beer will be provided, but you’ll have to bring your own tools (laptops, graphics tablets, mice etc). Also, feel free to invite other people – the more the merrier!

It’s winter break, the perfect time for college game developers to catch up on their projects. Every day consists of me sitting hunched over a computer in the basement, hoping that if I move my fingertips enough a game will be made. Lunchtime hits, I go up. Dinnertime hits, I go up. Nightime hits, I shut down. It’s all a very monotonous cycle.

Recently I’ve been wondering if I should mix things up a bit. What if indie games didn’t have to be made in parents’ basements? Say I walk out that door and sit down on the pavement. BAM, I’m there, making games in the middle of the street. Or say bring my work at McDonalds? BAM, I’m making games, fast food style. After that I’d go to Starbucks and sit next to some aspiring novelist.

“So, what are you writing?”
“An epic story of love torn across time and culture.”
“Wow that sounds horrible. I’m writing a fucking game here!”

And then I’d jump on his table and play air guitar with my laptop.

To tell the truth, I had not planned on getting an Xbox 360 until I heard the news.

Suddenly life as a game developer just got a whole lot easier. With everyone running on the same machine, XNA has nearly eliminated any time spent on cross-hardware issues. Also, with more game-specific libraries, more game centered tools, and not to mention the unseen benefits of joining a dev community, it’s without a doubt that the number of indie game developers will grow tremendously.

Of course, the news that C# is to replace C++ as the indie dev’s weapon of choice brings a bit of a tear to my eye (what will I do without my army of pointers?), but I’m sure the adjustment to managed code won’t be too brutal.

But there’s one thing that really catches my eye…

“The game project, including all source and content assets, must be shared with the receiving user. The receiving user then compiles and deploys the game to their Xbox 360.”

Microsoft not only promoting open source, but forcing it? Sure, if everything’s open source, not only does it foster a community of cooperation but it also auto-solves malignant software issues (any that might pop up despite the closed environment anyway), but I still can’t stop help but feel that we’ve entered into some sort of ironic dimensional warp…