End of an Era, Start of Libella

So here I am, I've finished my final piece for the year and for my degree and now all I have to do is show up in July to collect my certificate. I achieved a 2:1 which I'm super happy with and I'm so glad it's finally over! I've been in some form of education since the age of four and now, 20 years on, I can finally say I'm done with learning organised by someone else (I am fully prepared to have that bubble burst when I start some proper work but hell, let me enjoy it for now). Now the true hunt begins though, finding a real, proper job I can turn into a career. Anyone hiring (he says with his sweetest grin)?

Sadly I am currently unable to show you my final project at the moment as it takes a bit of setup and file download and, although it worked great for the one night of the exhibition it was needed to work it has since decided it doesn't fancy it. I am awaiting a meeting with my co-designer, Francis so we can plan continued development and figure out the bugs. But not to worry! We should also be recording some footage of gameplay and taking a few high-res screens to show off to all you lovely people. Onto the show and the lessons learned.

2spooky4me guys!

First up, never put a barrier between you and your audience! For the show Francis and myself had secured a space separate from most others pieces, a double-edged sword. Being right near the entrance but not in full view of it we felt people were walking past without even stopping to look in a lot of the time. That wasn't such a big deal as we were able to grab people in by asking if they wanted to play. The problem was that initially, we had decided to hang a white sheet over our entrance onto which we stuck a Victorian silhouette of a man in a top hat. This was removed with great speed and placed on the table holding the TV. Putting that sight barrier up did us some damage in terms of foot traffic. We had assumed it would add to the mystery of the thing, make people wonder what was behind the curtain. Well apparently everyone had read The Wizard of Oz that night and figured that whatever was behind the curtain wasn't going to be any better than a fat man in a suit with a bunch of empty promises. That or they thought it was storage. Either way, that might have been ok to do had others been set up similarly and nearer to us. Line of sight is important and we broke that, didn't do enough to draw people in. The show was on the inside of the booth and really there should have been more outside of it to entice people in the first place. Hard lesson learned well!

"I can toooooootally show you a good time, don't you

trust my warm smile and happy, sunshine eyes?" (Source)

Anyway, sheet removed we soldiered on through some technical issues, got them solved and continued to show the game. We had a nice chat with Maria, a producer from Sony UK who gave us some advice on how to better present our game for a pitch meeting and the things she would like to see from us and the game, so perhaps we'll spend a little time creating a build closer to what she wanted for showing to industry types. For the course we had to design a more complete experience than what we might have made for a pitch meeting, because that's the brief we had and that's how we were marked. What Maria would have liked to see was one room where everything worked the way it was supposed to and we could show off all the important mechanics and features of the game. So there's a little life lesson for you budding designers and developers looking for funding; short, sweet, compact and dense with polished content, or as much of that as you can manage in the time frame you have.

Most of the reactions we had were very positive and encouraging, there were a few salient points we took away with us. We were aware going in that our controls weren't amazingly polished, but we'd had to do a last minute build before the show began and before we had time to make edits. This left our forward movement relatively smooth but our turning and rotation was a little clunky and slow, but that was an issue with a simple fix. One thing we picked up on throughout the course of the evening was the importance of playtesting. We had kept the project mostly under wraps, saying little and showing even less and the show was the first time anyone had played our game. We discovered so many things from people simply playing through the experience. Even though it's something I've read about and had drummed into me for years, "Playtest, playtest, playtest" it had completely slipped my mind for this one and suddenly the mystique was more important. I think there's a balance that can be achieved between secrecy and still allowing for playtesting and in this case it was tipped too far in the wrong direction. But there's nothing like an experience to teach you a lesson. But seriously, playtest!

"It isn't a storage area? Really?" (Source)

All-in-all we had some great advice, some super positive feedback and learned some really important things from the show and having people play our game. I look forward to keeping everyone updated on the further development of Libella and hopefully screens and gameplay vids will be uploaded soon. Keep your eyes here and on my Twitter feed for more in the coming months.

LUUG 29: A Feast for the Senses

UPDATE: Space Unicorn's coverage of LUUG is live so head on over to the Tubes of You to check out what you missed.

LUUG, or the London Unity User Group is a mostly monthly meetup, featuring talks and discussions from indie developers and industry experts alike, all united by their love and use of Unity3D. Now being organised by Darrenlloyd Gent, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Greenwich, this months event took place at the University of Greenwich in one of their lecture rooms and featured 2 guest speakers, both with very different things to discuss, but more on that later. LUUG is a very exciting opportunity for current indies living in London and using the Unity engine, and it doesn't solely focus on games either. Any use of Unity is acceptable discussion matter and an open mic session at the end of the discussions, a 'Pitch & Putt' session an hour prior (where people are able to freely show their work to other attendees) and a drink at a local pub after all is said and done provide a perfect opportunity for discussion of your own work and ideas, along with a breeding ground of thought and intelligent discussion of Unity. It's a great place to network and even find projects and work, with most people taking the mic offering opportunities, at least at this particular event. If LUUG isn't on your radar as a London indie now's the time to turn that all around!

Is... is that what opportunity looks like? (Source)

The first talk was from Barnaby Smith, a Unity3D developer at Kwalee. His topic of discussion was some work that he'd been doing in his spare time on procedural rendering of planets and terrain in Unity. He talked about the various methods of generating noisemaps, the algorithms used and their benefits and shortfalls. One very interesting technique for noise generation is known as Fractional Brownian Motion, a technique that layers multiple frequencies of varying wavelengths, called Octaves, to create a line of random troughs and peaks, ideal for terrain generation.

There's a poop joke in there somewhere, I just know it! (Source 1 / Source 2)

Smith then had to solve the problem of mapping these new textures to objects. Standard mapping usually uses a rectangular texture that is wrapped around an object, not ideal when your goal is to create spherical bodies like planets as you run into problems with seams and polar distortion. Cube maps on the other hand deal with many of these problems for you. Smith decided to map his textures with a cube map and apply this to his planet object. Many of the mapping issues dealt with themselves as cube maps are designed to display reflections of the environment around an object, meaning seams and distortion are less likely to cause problems. Combining various techniques like the ones described, combined with vertex placement and the creation of an atmosphere using a noise map with alpha controlled by height makes Smith's planets look unbelievable and he can produce a wide array of results with the tools he has built. He wishes to work on more tools to create even more stunning environments, including erosion algorithms and climate generation and it all adds up to a very exciting bit of kit that can really take the hassle out of creating terrain and environments! He is also working to reduce the rendering times of the tools, as the tools render everything live within Unity. A 20 second render of three planet objects was demonstrated, ,which is a considerable achievement, but with optimisation Smith feels he can take this down even further. None of Smith's work is up on the asset store but he's quite open to discussion about his work and you can hit him up on Twitter if you're interested in his techniques and expertise. You can also find his slides from his LUUG talk with more detail and code snippets if you're interested in trying out some of the thing's he's discovered riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight aboooooooooooooooooooooout here.

Next up was Leonard Burton, a freelance Web Designer by trade but a VR enthusiast by night (a Batman-esque existence to be sure). His topic of discussion was VR in Unity and its potential going forward. He began with a brief history of VR, beginning with astral projection and spiritual journeys. These experiences, in a sense, are a kind of virtual reality; a spiritual and mental precursor to the technology driven VR under discussion here. The idea and feeling of being transported elsewhere is not new or recent and has been a human goal for a long time, proven in both our history of fiction & narrative and our longstanding interest and study of things like astral projection and hallucinogenic compounds. Later, in the last century, we begin to see technology evolve to accommodate VR. Stereoscopy and binaural sound are used as a spectacle, to enhance the immersion experienced by the senses and to dazzle and amaze. Later, technology is developed by the military for training and combat and, as it often does, this technology eventually trickled into the public sector. By the 1990s it had exploded and VR machines were in every arcade, with VR glasses the talk of the time. The technology still hadn't matured and was often viewed and designed for as little more than a spectacle or a show, with many VR applications featuring large amounts of movement and many even utilising hydraulics to move the player's chair. This high speed action and large amount of movement often resulted in people feeling ill and never really explored the things that really immerse a person in an experience.

"Woah, these space boobs are so real!" said nobody, ever (Source)

We are now at a stage where many of VRs past technical problems have ceased too plague us, or at least have become more manageable and affordable to resolve. With things like the Oculus Rift, Sony's Project Morpheus and the the newly announced ControlVR (which has a Kickstarter which you should totally go to right now and back because it looks fantastic), combined with the thriving indie community that is now able to get their hands on such devices, virtual reality experiences are now very possible and we can begin to explore a more personal space with it, a space someone is comfortable visiting in their own home, a more matured and deep experience. Burton views VR as a medium unto itself, and I fully agree. While the platform can and most definitely should be used to create games it can also do so much more in terms of interactive narrative and experience. Burton then discussed the Oculus guidelines for design and stated that some of them will lead to a better experience while others are rules perhaps made to be broken. As an example, a seated experience is suggested but this may not always be conducive to the experience. A group at Zurich University created a device that places the user flat on their stomach with arms outstretched and is able to tilt and roll. Combined with motors, fans and an Oculus Rift the user is able to feel like they are flying through a virtual world. Burton calls on designers to design for VR as now is the time to do it. He states that experiences should be designed for VR from the ground up, not ported later as this tends to be less convincing. He also believes that designers shouldn't shy away from problems or wait for others to solve them but should actively pursue them however they can. He also discusses the importance of 'presence' within VR, something that goes beyond immersion. One can feel immersed in a book or film but to feel present and to experience a world through ones own senses is a far greater feeling altogether.

Did someone say presents!? (Source)

Burton then discussed some interesting examples of the use of VR. Aldin Dynamics have created an Oculus experience called Trial of the Rift Drifter; the game puts the player in the role of a someone who is accused of using the Oculus Rift to travel between dimensions. The game is advanced and controlled by gestural movements; shaking or nodding one's head, looking away guiltily as one is asked questions. Sightline is a game developed as part of a VR game jam but is now finding it's footing on the internet and being turned into a much larger experience. The game revolves around using the player's line of sight and altering the environment when the player isn't looking. Paths that may have been broken will be fixed once one looks away and then returns their gaze back to it, an extremely intriguing concept. Burton urges all indie designers to break into VR and be a part of shaping its future, and I myself am currently looking into the financial viability of an Oculus dev kit and some hand and gestural tracking devices to develop some ideas. Leonard Burton can also be hit up on his Twitter if you're so inclined. Both talks were covered by my pals at Space Unicorn Productions (website pending), who will be taking on the duty of covering all the LUUGs from now on. Subscribe to their Youtube channel to keep updated with LUUG so you won't miss it, even if you can't attend. The information is invaluable and the speakers even give private interview after their talks to the Space Unicorn guys, so you're getting even more than LUUG attendees!

I have so many ideas floating around in my head now, if anyone has an Oculus they're giving away I will take the burden off your hands, and I will do it for free because I'm a real nice guy like that.

Something EGX This Way Comes...

EGX tickets went on sale yesterday morning. The four day event will host the cream of the crop of the world gaming industry from big publishers and developers to smaller indie teams and solo devs. You'll be able to play new releases, future releases, hear from industry industry insiders and mingle with people who love the thing you love and do the thing you do. Last years event saw 70 000 gamers come together and this years event is expected to be even bigger. Get your day or weekend tickets from the site and perhaps I'll see you there! I'll be there with the SU Productions team, taking notes as they interview some awesome people! It's a little ways away but best to get those tickets early, don't wana be late to the party.

It will be better than this. I think...

In other news, I have begun the planning stages of a new game that will be exhibited around June at my University for the final year exhibition. I don't want to say too much about it now but I would like to point to the IGCCGD conference that I attended recently. Simply being in that environment, hearing people talk about their ideas and learning about one's trade is such a valuable resource. I strongly urge any and all who are interested in becoming part of the industry, in whatever capacity (I mean you voice actors, PR people and producers), attend events! Aside from the obvious networking opportunities it is unbelievably helpful for your grey matter to be in that environment, and you'll learn more about your tools and new tools you might want to use too.

No! Bad reader! Not those kind of tools!

Even if you think you're anti-social and hate crowds, go to smaller events and talks. You don't have to run around shaking everybody's hand. Just listen and absorb. I'm not the most social penguin but by attending stuff like this I've learned so much and it's sparked so many ideas. If there aren't any events near you, have a go organising some. Meet in a local pub, talk about your latest efforts, issues with design and development, future projects, whatever! Twitter is another great tool for this stuff but you'll get so many more Twitter contacts by attending events as well as digital networking.

He's not sad because he's lonely, he's sad because he missed EGX.

So do it! Get out there, show your games, discuss your trade, hear others and develop your own ideas further. The best thing you can do is be there for this stuff. Whether you want to create something fresh, new and unique or improve on something you think can be done better these events can be key to your success, whatever your view of that is.

IGCCGD: A PR man in a suit isn't always 'the Man'

Sadly I was unable to attend the second day of the IGCCGD event due to a few factors but I found the first day very enlightening and wanted to note some points of consideration gleaned from the discussions and talks.

Danny Goodayle, co-founder of Just a Pixel discussed the events surrounding the development and pending release of his studio's game Light, their first effort. The game was a hit on Steam Greenlight and the developers, a small team of 2, excitedly decided to begin a Kickstarter campaign to fund their game. During the course of the campaign they were contacted by Team17 who wished to publish their game and were also Greenlit. They cancelled their Kickstarter, finished up their contracts and have been building the game since late 2013, to be shown at REZZED later this month. Goodayle discussed the difficulties and stresses of building the complex AI they had devised and his thankfulness to people they had hired into the project, even commenting that the visual design of the game was altered due to some music written by Gavin Harrison. Team17 were also given praise for their hands-off approach to their involvement, offering help where it was needed but otherwise allowing the developers to work to the beat of their own drum (with deadlines of course).

Light looking all gorgeously volumetric

Hearing of their highs and lows was an extremely interesting insight into their development cycle and Goodayle says he learned much from the experience; the value of delegating tasks and not being too untrustworthy with handing your work off to others, the fish-out-of-water feeling of suddenly being introduced to deadlines, QA tests, concerns about optimising the game for a range of systems. The game is currently in a prototyping stage and has no release date as of yet but follow the guys on their twitter feeds and check back on their site for updates.

Steve Iles gave his perspective from the PR side of things, one rarely considered and often considered too late by many designers. He stressed the importance of PR in a successful game, even an independent once. While PR doesn't guarantee success, nor does a lack of actively presenting a work deny its success, Iles discussed what a publisher can bring to the table, including expertise, contacts, experience and an existing market position in many cases. Publishers and producers can really take a lot of the work load of presenting, advertising and spreading news of your game, freeing you up to build; they know the business and will do their best to make your game a commercial success if that is your goal. He also discussed the importance of knowing your target market, knowing what they respond to and knowing how to market to them, noting the Asian mobile market as one of particular importance at the moment. Finally Iles discussed the future of games as a medium, using a term close to my heart, transmedia worlds. These are narrative universes spanning over various media, not simply retelling the narrative of the original but expanding it. Iles considers these transmedia worlds as a large part of the future of games as a medium and I am inclined to agree.

I've already talked a little about Louise James but I'll happily discuss her again. James, the young director of Generic Evil Business Inc., gave her reasons for loving Twitter as a social tool but also as a tool for finding work and making contacts. She discussed the Twitter conversations that led her to work with Dan Marshall of Size Five Games on their game Gun Monkeys and led to a collaborative relationship that they still maintain. Through Twitter James was also able to secure work with other teams, studios and developers and was able to aid others in finding opportunities. The social networking site also enabled her to boost sales of tools she had built by getting the word out of their existence across a network of individuals with similar interests and careers. These relationships built on Twitter have provided a network of contacts and client base that is invaluable and exhaustive, so give her a follow because she's a great contact to have!

Monkeys... with guns... Gun Monkeys!

James Parker of Opposable Games and Alastair Aitcheson, a solo indie developer, were both at odds in their design ideals. While Parker discussed Opposable's interest in second-screen or dual-screen games and networking players, Aitcheson was enthralled by the idea of large touchscreens with multiple players on the same device. Parker lamented the use of second-screens in gaming today, commenting that they are often gimicks that can detract from the play experience by removing vital tools from visible space and putting them on a phone. It is his studio's intent to create second-screen games that utilise both screens effectively but do not force the user to shift their focus when it is needed on another screen. In their upcoming title Salvage they aim to do this by limiting interactions to the second-screen and not forcing a user to use a mouse or keyboard or controller in addition to it. Parker also commented that though people understand the term second-screen and it is easy to use it does not mean the so-called 'second-screen' has to take second place to the 'first-screen'. They also know the audience for their game is a core audience, tech savvy and more able to set up and understand the technology. Catch the game and the guys at REZZED later in the month as well.

Second-screen? First-screen

Alistair Aitchison is a lover of the interactions between people and aims to make games that people have to be in the same room to play. He likes to foster cheating and sabotage, designing his titles to allow and encourage players to screw each other over to win. For him games are about the meta-narrative, the interactions between friends that produce fun and humour. In his latest offering, Tap Happy Sabotage, players must collect cards by tapping them while tapping other players' 'trap' cards, reducing their points. It is a mad rush of tapping and finger wrestling with some extra mechanics thrown in to make the game more competitive and fun. In order to achieve all this, larger screens are much more effective and Aitcheson said he has played his game with 10 players on a single screen. After discussing the ubiquity of touchscreen devices in the near future he went on to say that large screen games are a niche market at the moment and so designing for them now will place you ahead of the curve, though there are many ergonomic considerations for larger screens that must be considered like fidelity of movement in comparison to a smaller screen and fatigue from large, long, extended periods of movement and play.

They're certainly happy about... something

It seems the main points to take home throughout the talks was that accepting help when it's needed is never, ever a bad thing, and actively employing or seeking that help from someone who knows what they're doing is even better. Though you should try new things and make an attempt at something, even if it seems daunting, knowing when you're beat isn't a failure and neither is a helping hand, sometimes it's the difference between success and failure! But the main thing is exposure; follow up on leads, message the right people about your product and efforts, get the word out and have a presence online. People will want to search you and your game and the easier you make it for them to find that info and then buy your game when it releases, the more likely your game is to be a success. Think about marketing and press from the very start of your project and give yourself time to implement some PR. You can make your game a success and earn a living from what you do as a game designer or creator but you have to be active if that's your goal.