Amazon.com Widgets Project Brody
Yac on September 22nd, 2009

I haven’t got much to say at the moment. I considered finishing up a couple drafts that I have been languishing on the blog. Like responding to the PC fanboy backlash that the Fez creators received when they announced their game for Xbox Live Arcade. Or bitching about how Microsoft’s new Xbox Indie price structure [...]

Continue reading about Dev Diary 54: Little Bits and Bobs

Yac on September 17th, 2009

I wrote a longer piece this week, and decided to break it off from the dev diary. Enjoy.
Work Done Last Week
All the new gameplay stuff is in, and we’ve started testing some new behaviors. There are still issues to iron out, but we’re getting a sense of what works and what doesn’t and how to [...]

Continue reading about Dev Diary 53: Inspirations, Part 2

Yac on September 9th, 2009

I’m keeping this one short today. Stress levels are elevated and the writing inspiration hasn’t really hit me. Sorry.
Work Done Last Week
Some good work done this week.
The level editor received a few tweaks to make it easier to distinguish between overlaying tiles.
We also made significant progress on the gameplay side. The last missing core gameplay [...]

Continue reading about Dev Diary 52: Short Update

Yac on September 1st, 2009

Today, I’m going to discuss some of the issues of setting up a business in Germany as an English speaker. We’ll see if I can keep this interesting.
What’s up with Germany?
Germany is not exactly the most entrepreneur-friendly country. If I was geographically unrestrained, I would pick the US to startup. Germany suffers from high taxes, [...]

Continue reading about Dev Diary 51: Doing Business in Germany

Yac on August 25th, 2009

My good friend and fellow indie developer Rudolf has just started the Optimus Beta for his delightful indie game, Dyson. In honor (and lazyness), I’ve decided to devote this space today to their game. So, check out it. And sign up to the beta. There’s a good chance you’ll get accepted if you’re a chick. [...]

Continue reading about Dev Diary 50: Dyson Beta

I had a business meeting last week. It was the first time I showed the game to someone who wasn’t a friend or family. It was our first opportunity to get some real un-biased feedback by people in the biz. The meeting went well, and there are definite opportunities to explore. For now, we’ll keep [...]

Continue reading about Dev Diary 49: Parallax Progress, IndieCade Setback

Yac on August 12th, 2009

The contract work is over for now. I may have more work ahead, but nothing has been finalized. Either way, it’s nice to have the breathing space again (when it comes to cash). It’s also nice to be back full-time on the project, both mentally and physically.
Sunday night, while I was happily working away, my [...]

Continue reading about Dev Diary 48: Back Into The Swing of Things

Yac on August 5th, 2009

A small follow-up on last week’s post about the iPhone game Edge, Mobigame and Tim Langdell (the trademark troll). The media coverage continues to gather steam as Eurogamer did an excellent piece examining both side of the issue. Also, I’d like to point you to the legal support fund for Mobigame’s court battle (and a [...]

Continue reading about Dev Diary 47: Minor Update

Yac on July 30th, 2009

I finally started twitting a few weeks back (follow me here). I plan to keep it focused heavily on game dev and the games industry, and light on the personal side, but we’ll see how that goes. I have been a long-time observer of the twitter phenomenon going through the standard phases (oblivious, confused, intrigued, [...]

Continue reading about Dev Diary 46: Twitter

Yac on July 23rd, 2009

I want to briefly discuss core scenarios this week. These thoughts are inspired by a chat I had a few weeks ago on level design with a friend. I’m a relative beginner when it comes to level design. I can break down a level and analyze what works and what doesn’t (and why). I [...]

Continue reading about Dev Diary 45: Core Scenarios