On Catching Up and Recent Projects

Life is good. Dev work is great. I feel great.

Gears have shifted. My last post feels like a version of me that I haven't seen or connected with in a long time. I think that is a good thing. I walked away from a project that people liked, but was tearing me apart inside, and I've been fortunate enough to step into something wonderful. I write for Intel through RHM+3, have been doing a considerable amount of freelance work, and have been teaching less courses. I recently presented an Axis Postmortem and left feeling so much more closure than I have had with the subject. It was a wonderful experience. I was asked if I would do anything differently knowing what I know now. My answer?

Nope.

I like where I am at personally and professionally. I don't know if I could say the same if I did anything differently with that project. It helped me get out of my comfort zone and reevaluate my priorities and how I spend my time. This has lead to a number of profitable opportunities and work that I feel lucky and privileged to take part in. I also work on a variety of smaller game projects, typically with other people, through game jams I host or for exhibitions that have accepted my work:

Gunsheath

I've always admired vertical shooters. The arcade cabinets they were embedded in, the highlight reel they'd have in demo mode, the look and feel games like Raiden and Ikaruga had...so good. In an effort to get more hands on with Unity again I took this on with Bryce Evans for a jam about "one button mechanics". In Gunsheath, pressing the fire button initiates an evasive dodge roll, releases a powerful projectile, then automatically shoots projectiles if you keep holding it. You can tap to roll, hold to dodge/shoot/shoot, and balance offense and defense as you battle wave after wave of enemies. I love the potential for the character and what the player could do in the world. Roaming cities for weapons and upgrades, taking out invaders before they demolish your little mecha+western outpost, changing your look and interacting with characters along the way.

I'll revisit this one day.

Cloudwalker

For an MSU class I took this on again and rebuilt it in Unity with Bryce. The whole project is about subverting player expectations and challenging them to question why they play games. Based on The Journey to the West's sequel in which Sun Wukong gets trapped in a dream world by a fish demon that represents desire, which was the author's attempt to create an antagonist that can actual pose a challenge, the game is an interpretation of that space. The dream is the game itself and the player is Sun Wukong. Any player is expecting a game to provide them with rewards, power and stuff. So, the game provides these things and then helps you realize they are simply pointless machinations of a system we've grown so familiar with we struggle to break its binds. The whole thing was inspired by my own addiction or compulsive behavior with games both then and now.

Cloudwalker was showcased at Meaningful Play's Game Expo.

Flux

Flux has been a labor of love, I think. Another project being updated (and originating) for MSU courses I am taking, Flux is a Flash game about...chilling out. Part interactive fiction, part fidget game. Flux follows the low-key conversations between Wanderer and Mulberry and Wanderer's joy rides (or chill rides if you prefer) along the streets and buildings of a cyberpunk city. There are a number of endings and several modes to play while you ride including a typing game, a matching game and games that test your spatial awareness of letters on the keyboard.

Flux was showcased at JAFAX in Grand Rapids, Michigan.