4 March, 2010 | No comments

Jay Is Games: SteamBirds

strongPlatform: Flash #8212; /strong

a href=http://jayisgames.com/archives/2010/03/steambirds.phpimg alt=SteamBirds src=http://jayisgames.com/images/icon_steambirds.gif align=left width=50 height=50 //a

A turn-based aerial dogfighting game may sound bland in writing, but as SteamBirds conclusively proves, it’s the whole nine yards of awesome. Working from a top-down perspective, you fight a series of increasingly difficult enemies with your small squadron of planes. Set your course, unleash a fancy ability if necessary, and try to maneuver yourself to a direct line-of-sight to your foe to set your guns blazing. And, you know, don’t get shot down yourself.strong Tagged as: /stronga href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/actionaction/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/amooreamoore/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/browserbrowser/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/dbaranowskydbaranowsky/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/dcookdcook/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/flashflash/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/freefree/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/gamegame/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/macwinlinuxmacwinlinux/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/rating-yrating-y/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/strategystrategy/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/turnbasedturnbased/a

3 March, 2010 | No comments

Jay Is Games: BigTree Defense

strongPlatform: Flash #8212; /strong

a href=http://jayisgames.com/archives/2010/03/bigtree_defense.phpimg alt=BigTree Defense src=http://jayisgames.com/images/icon_bigtreedefense.gif align=left width=50 height=50 //a

Take gardening to a whole new level in this defense title where you handle the growth of one of the last plants on Earth to help it stave off an insect invasion. You’ll need to plan ahead and use your resources carefully if you want to avoid being covered in hundreds of stinging, biting, space bugs. And really, who doesn’t?strong Tagged as: /stronga href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/actionaction/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/browserbrowser/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/burstyxstudioburstyxstudio/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/defensedefense/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/flashflash/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/freefree/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/gamegame/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/macwinlinuxmacwinlinux/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/rating-grating-g/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/strategystrategy/a

3 March, 2010 | No comments

Game Producer: Is There Only 2 Ice Hockey Games In This Planet?

pI bought PlayStation 3 and copy of NHL 10. I saw that also NHL 2k10 has their version. /p
pOut of curiosity, I started to check out what ice hockey games there are available, and came to conclusion that for PC #8211; there#8217;s hardly any. NHL #8216;09 PC got horrible ratings from players. There really didn#8217;t seem to be alternatives for these 2 series. /p
pThere were several flash games that mostly resembled (1) air hockey or (2) some sort of shoot out (couple of pretty interesting though). Couple of other hockey games there, but there isn#8217;t many ice hockey flash games though./p
pThen I tried checking indie/shareware, and there was hardly any. Some downloadable air hockey game, and several hockey manager games #8211; but that#8217;s pretty much it./p
pAre there any ice hockey games for PC? Games that somewhat model playing as an ice hockey player (not as a manager). 3D? 2D? /p

3 March, 2010 | No comments

Game Producer: Blog RSS Feed Now Working

pThanks Thomas for pointing out that RSS feed was not working after wordpress upgrade. It was due my own custom code (just had to delete one folder and it started to work again). Now you should be able to a href=http://www.gameproducer.net/feed/subscribe to RSS/a and view the stuff properly./p
pPlease notice that I also post any updates to my a href=http://www.twitter.com/gameproducer/Twitter/a page in case you want to use that as an alternative way to receive updates./p

1 March, 2010 | No comments

Jay Is Games: Mobile Monday

strongPlatform: Mobile (iPhone, iPod Touch) #8212; /strong

a href=http://jayisgames.com/archives/2010/03/mobile_monday_58.phpimg alt=Mobile Monday src=http://jayisgames.com/images/icon_mobilemonday.gif align=left width=50 height=50 //a

Games featured this week: strongFlipWorld; Strimko; Collide; Super Search 60/strong #8212;

HI. MY NAME IS AN INTRO PARAGRAPH. I hope you enjoy reading me, as I’m here to provide a fuzzy, comfortable buffer between the beginning of the article and the games below. Did you like it? I hope so, because you’ll really like the games below. I know I do!strong Tagged as: /stronga href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/blogblog/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/iphoneiphone/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/itunesitunes/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/mobilemobile/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/mobile-mondaymobile-monday/a

26 February, 2010 | No comments

Jay Is Games: Link Dump Friday

a href=http://jayisgames.com/archives/2010/02/link_dump_friday_153.phpimg alt=Link Dump Friday src=http://jayisgames.com/images/icon_linkdump.gif align=left width=50 height=50 //a

Games featured this week: strongBloons Super Monkey; Craqua; Fenticore; ImmorTall; Sally’s Cats/strong #8212;

There’re two shooters, two physics puzzles, and a sidescrolling commentary on the intolerance of man on this week’s Link Dump Friday. Sounds like a winning combination to us! Like chips and dip, peanut butter and jelly, or ham and blueberries!strong Tagged as: /stronga href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/blogblog/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/browserbrowser/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/linkdumplinkdump/a

24 February, 2010 | No comments

Jay Is Games: Escape from 5th Door

strongPlatform: Flash #8212; /strong

a href=http://jayisgames.com/archives/2010/02/escape_from_5th_door.phpimg alt=Escape from 5th Door src=http://jayisgames.com/images/icon_escapefrom5thdoor.gif align=left width=50 height=50 //a

With a nice mix of math, logic, color, and construction, Escape from 5th Door is fun, balanced room escaping that challenges and teases and taunts and eventually leaves you happy to escape. Be prepared for some odd leaps of logic, and laugh at the bad escape when you find it. Just get escaping!strong Tagged as: /stronga href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/browserbrowser/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/escapeescape/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/flashflash/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/freefree/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/gamegame/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/japanesejapanese/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/macwinlinuxmacwinlinux/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/pointandclickpointandclick/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/rating-grating-g/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/tesshi-etesshi-e/a

22 February, 2010 | No comments

Jay Is Games: Mobile Monday

strongPlatform: Mobile (iPhone, iPod Touch) #8212; /strong

a href=http://jayisgames.com/archives/2010/02/mobile_monday_57.phpimg alt=Mobile Monday src=http://jayisgames.com/images/icon_mobilemonday.gif align=left width=50 height=50 //a

Games featured this week: strongNOBY NOBY BOY; Isaac Newton’s Gravity; Colorbind/strong #8212;

How’s this for a theme: three games that make you scratch your head! Colorbind because you can’t figure out how to do what’s right in front of your face. Gravity because you can’t figure out how to precisely set up a chain reaction to tap a little button. And NOBY NOBY BOY because you have no earthly idea what’s going on (even though you love it).strong Tagged as: /stronga href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/blogblog/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/iphoneiphone/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/itunesitunes/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/mobilemobile/a, a href=http://jayisgames.com/tag/mobile-mondaymobile-monday/a

19 February, 2010 | No comments

Grey Alien Games: 10 tips for getting past “the wall”

pa href=http://greyaliengames.com/blog/?pp_album=mainamp;pp_cat=wallamp;pp_image=wall.jpg title=wallimg src=http://greyaliengames.com/blog/wp-content/photos/thumb_wall.jpg class=pp_image alt=wall width=240 height=180 //aemPhoto by: viZZZual.com (licensed under Creative Commons)br /
/embr /
Quite often I see posts on a href=http://forums.indiegamer.com/Indiegamer/a about people who have nearly finished making their game but then they#8217;ve hit #8220;the wall#8221; and seem to have lost all motivation to continue. Their story is often all too familiar: been making a game for two years, been doing all the work on their own, recently come to the realisation that there is still a ton of stuff to do before it can be released./p
pI#8217;ve hit the wall a few times myself, so here are some tips that might help you to climb over or break through your own wall:/p
p1) strongShould you really be finishing this game anyway?/strong Sometimes you might just be flogging a dead horse. Perhaps the best thing to do is ditch the game and begin work on a new one (or give up making games completely, gasp!). There#8217;s no shame in changing projects when you know that the game won#8217;t be financially viable, or you#8217;ve had a much better idea (providing that you don#8217;t have a #8220;better#8221; idea every week and never finish anything) #8211; you#8217;ll have still learned something e.g. how not to do it and how to make your next game faster and better./p
pI ditched a href=http://www.greyaliengames.com/free.phpIron Fist/a and made my a href=http://www.greyaliengames.com/xmasbonus.phpfirst match-3/a game and it led onto to a fantastic career in casual games./p
p2) strongMake a To Do list of all the remaining tasks and bugs/strong. Don#8217;t forget to include publishing tasks, which can add up to weeks or months#8217; worth of work. Then add time estimates to all those tasks. This way you#8217;ll get a decent idea of how long the game may actually take to complete. You may then decide to cut features and only include the high priority tasks in order to bring the launch date nearer, or you may decide that it#8217;s not worth investing any more of your time in the project./p
pOne good thing about having a prioritised To Do list is that you have a clear path about how to proceed and can get satisfaction from knowing what to do each day and crossing off completed tasks. The game doesn#8217;t feel so massive once it#8217;s split into discrete chunks./p
p3) strongGet the game play tested (privately or publicly)./strong If the play testers think the game sucks, then maybe you should ditch it unless you really believe that you can still make it great without too many changes. If they think it#8217;s great, then hopefully this will motivate you to finish it and make it even better #8211; especially if they keep asking you when it will be ready./p
p4) strongTell everyone a launch date./strong Once you commit to something publicly, you are much more likely to complete it in order to not look like a fool (or a #8220;sayer#8221; but not a #8220;doer#8221;)./p
p5) strongGet some other team members on board/strong who can help finish it and so you can motivate each other (like going for a jog or to the gym with a partner). Of course getting reliable team members is a whole can of worms in itself#8230;/p
p6) strongGet a publisher or portal interested/strong so you know that you have at least one outlet for sales./p
p7) strongVisualise the goal!/strong Remind yourself why you started making the game. Was it just to have fun? If so, and you#8217;ve stopped having fun, then make another game and have fun again, it#8217;s that simple! If it#8217;s to be financially successful, then see the finished game in your mind looking great and selling bucketloads #8211; and figure out the shortest route to get there. /p
p8 ) strongTake a break./strong Maybe totally away from the computer (go and do something healthy). Or maybe by playing games that inspire you to get back to making your own game. Sometimes taking a break allows you to come back to your game with fresh eyes so that you can make better decisions./p
p9) strongMake a mini-game for a few days./strong This may get your creative juices going again so that you can get back to your original game with enhanced vigor. It may even make you realise that you need to ditch your game in order to make a better game./p
pTips 8 and 9 may work for some people, but part of me still thinks that they are procrastination techniques when you should really just #8230; /p
p10) strongFinish it!/strong Professionals are finishers, and hobbyists/wannabes are not #8211; sorry if that sounds harsh but it#8217;s true. Stop messing around, just knuckle down and finish it. It#8217;s not easy, sometimes it#8217;s a real slog, but you just have to push on through and finish it to savor the sweet joy of launching a game. If you want it bad enough, you#8217;ll do it. So, what are you waiting for? Close your browser and get to it!/p
img src=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GreyAlienGames/~4/-6ilOh2i_lQ height=1 width=1 /

17 February, 2010 | No comments

Game Producer: Producers Are Like Cry Babies

div class=tweetmeme_buttona href=http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gameproducer.net%2F2010%2F02%2F17%2Fproducers-are-like-cry-babies%2Fimg src=http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gameproducer.net%2F2010%2F02%2F17%2Fproducers-are-like-cry-babies%2F height=61 width=51 //a/divpAs I have my own baby project going on, and as I#8217;ve witnessed some producers actions (and happen to be an indie one) I came to conclusion that producers are almost like babies./p
table
tr
tdbsituation/b/td
tdbbaby/b/td
tdbproducer/b/td
/tr
tr
td valign=topneeds diapers/td
td valign=topyes/td
td valign=topyes i(based on how much bullshit you can pick from his talk)/i/td
/tr
tr
td valign=topsays incomprehensible stuff/td
td valign=topyes/td
td valign=topyes i(obvious)/i/td
/tr
tr
td valign=topis the boss/td
td valign=topyes/td
td valign=topyes/td
/tr
tr
td valign=topis agile/td
td valign=topyes/td
td valign=topyes i(at least think his team is doing #8220;agile development#8221;)/i/td
/tr
tr
td valign=topcraves for attention/td
td valign=topyes/td
td valign=topoh, yes i(some even put out public blogs to make them feel important)/i/td
/tr
tr
td valign=topcries for attention/td
td valign=topyes/td
td valign=topyes/td
/tr
tr
td valign=topeats most of the time/td
td valign=topyes/td
td valign=topyes i(lunches, lunches, lunches)/i/td
/tr
tr
td valign=topcries/td
td valign=topyes/td
td valign=topyes i(see below)/i/td
/tr
tr
td valign=topThinks that you promised something when you said that #8220;This is only a gut feeling estimation based on total guesswork. In no way this should be used as a promise to anyone. This task might take 3 days, or not. Most likely it won#8217;t. In fact, most likely it will be something totally different I think. I cannot promise that I can get you that toy/feature in time and you should not even think that this can be completed in 3 days.#8221; Yet after 3 days (s)he comes to you crying #8220;but you promised!!!#8221;
/td
td valign=topyes/td
td valign=topyes i(i#8217;ve witnessed this happening)/i/td
/tr
tr
td valign=topis cute/td
td valign=topyes/td
td valign=tophardly/td
/tr
/table
pBesides the cute-factor, I think the evidence is pretty solid./p
bIf you liked this entry, feel free to a href=http://www.gameproducer.netvisit GameProducer.net/a to read more similar articles./b

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