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Global Game Jam 2018

Having spent the past 2 months working on both the Microcosm Framework and Super Blasty Blasty V2, I felt that I needed a bit of a change of pace and decided to join in with #GlobalGameJam2018. This was the perfect opportunity to put the framework into action with a fresh project that could be far smaller scope than Super Blasty Blasty V2. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any time on the Friday or Saturday to take part but I wasn’t ready to let that stop me taking part, so on Sunday morning, I set myself a challenge to get something built and “released” in 12 hours.

Needless to say, this was a bit ambitious. But I did it! My initial plan had been to get a fully polished release on the Google Play Store in these 12 hours, looking back this was a ridiculous goal. The version I quote unquote released was far from polished, but it was functional on Android devices and had some great features, mostly thanks to the Microcosm Framework doing its job exceptionally well in saving me development time.

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Looking Back At Bob’s Space Crusade

Bob’s Space Crusade was the first game I ever published, it was released on Kongregate, on the 30th of December 2011. It was my first project using Unity3D and it served as a great learning experience in actually getting something out there to be played by the world. It was by no means a masterpiece but the character (who I still have plans to resurrect in future projects) and core mechanic was great. This post will talk about how Bob was originally brought to life and the process that was behind that.

Going into this project I had a single focus, keep things simple. I didn’t want a spiralling list of features that could never be achieved, I just wanted a core mechanic that was fun and simple. This was for a couple of reasons, the main being I didn’t have enough experience to actually finish a large expansive project. The main goal of the project was to finish it, which I did. In hindsight, I would say the scope was too restrictive, the project in its initial state didn’t play particularly well and would have benefitted greatly from an increased development time.

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My Top Games of 2017

During 2017 I managed to get a fair few hours playing games compared to some other years, I even had the added benefit of having an extra platform to play them on with my purchase of a PS4. I won’t bother doing an arbitrary number of games for each platform but instead, I’ll do my favourite game of each and a runner-up. The platforms I’ll be commenting on are; PS4, Xbox One, PC and Mobile (Android). These games might not have been released in 2017 but they are ones I played in 2017 so they fit the criteria.

PS4 – Doom (2016)

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The game I played and enjoyed the most on PS4 this year was actually a smash hit title from 2016, that I never got around to playing. Doom was the reboot that the first person genre needed. It was an absolute spectacle from start to finish with its flashy push forward combat feeling like the original games and yet still seeming surprisingly fresh. The graphics were outstanding and the framerate was solid on PS4 leaving nothing to be desired. The customization elements it had were great accents to an already excellent set of weapons that really catered to a few different playstyles. Doom is a game I’d confidently recommend to anybody who is a fan of games, even if they usually aren’t big on FPS games.

My runner-up this year on PS4 would have to be The Last Guardian, I never played Ico or Shadow of the Colossus but after playing this they are definitely on my list to play for 2018.

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