The first ever edition of the Carnival of Video Game Bloggers took place on Monday at The Collected Writings of James Newton, and if you’re interested in games I highly recommend you check it out. There are some truly excellent articles, and they cover a really wide range of topics so you’re bound to find something that interests you.
If you blog about games, then you should consider writing something for the next edition of the carnival. Not only do you get extra readers, but you can find some stimulating articles to read and new blogs to subscribe to.
You can submit your articles at the carnival HQ page.
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To coincide with the redesign of the main site and blog, it’s time to look back at some of the better articles that have been published.
Software Development Articles
Five Things I Wish I’d Known When I Started Programming. I’ve learnt a lot of things since I first started programming. Some of the lessons were quite humorous, so I wrote about five of the best.
Issue Tracking for Indie Developers. You can guarantee that any piece of software you write will contain bugs, but using a decent issue tracking solution can help you to keep things organised and reduce the amount of time you spend on managing your list of errors.
How to Ensure Your Project Fails. There’s no avoiding it – creating quality software is difficult. Managing a project of any size can be difficult, but there are a few key things you can do ensure it never gets finished.
Games I Designed as a Kid. Designing games is fun, and I designed my fair share when I was younger. Very few of the concepts ever made it past a few dodgy drawings, but it was just as fun to dream about the possibilities.
Games That Inspired Me. Playing great games inspired me to become a software developer. This article examines some of the most important games I ever played.
Indie Developer Interviews
Interview with Hanako Games. An interview with the creator of the excellent Cute Knight, discussing indie life, game development and whether or not there will be a sequel.
Interview with Amaranth Games. Another indie developer interview, this time with Amanda Fitch of Amaranth Games who talks about Aveyond and Grimm’s Hatchery.
Personal Development Articles
When the Sodaware blog first started, it was a mix of game development and productivity articles. As time went on, the productivity articles became less relevant to the core topic so all of the personal development articles were moved to a new website, philnewton.net.
A few of the more popular ones remain on this site, and they are:
Keeping a Progress Log. A look at my old productivity tracking system.
Printable CEO Scoring. How I weighted the points in my progress tracking system.
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Hello and welcome to the first “issue” of the Sodaware Blog! There’s a lot of great stuff in this issue, so we’ll jump right in.
Featured Article
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, so it’s only right that we should take a look at love in computer games. Is it possible to create a feeling of love between the player and a character on screen?
Read the full article.
Also Featured
Also featured in this issue:
- Creating Emotions with Music — Music plays a very important role in enhancing the experience on screen. A good piece of music that compliments a scene increases the impact it has on the player. This article explores the difference good music can make in your game.
- GDL – Harvest Moon — The Game Design Lessons series takes a look at “Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town”. What can be learnt from a game set on a farm?
- The Best of the Sodaware Blog — A look at some of the finer articles from the history of the Sodaware Blog.
- What’s New? — A brief look at the recent changes at Sodaware.net, as well as some information on what’s in store for the next 12 months.
- Getting Started with Subversion — An introduction to Subversion, a concurrent versioning system. How to set it up, how to use it and what to use it for.
- Using zip files with Blitz Basic — A tutorial on using ZIP files with BlitzPlus and Blitz3D. Show’s you how to unpack files from a ZIP, create new ones and also how to compress a Blitz bank.
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It’s been an absolute age since the last article was published, but with good reason. A lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to improve the quality of the site, both for players and developers. There are still lots of new features planned for the rest of the year, and you can subscribe to our free newsletter or our RSS feed to keep updated.
One thing that really stood out whilst choosing games to promote was the high quality of the indie games available. It’s sometimes said that there are far too many clones, and that the general quality of indie games is low, but I’ve found that to be quite a narrow view. Yes, there are lots of poor games out there, but the same can be said of commercial games. The good news is that there are lots of fun and original indie games out there.
A slightly different blog
As well as tweaking the front page, the blog has been redesigned to make it more visually appealing and the content easier to find. It’s a little bit different from most blogs, but that was part of the motivation for taking this approach.
The main reason for the design is that it suits the content better. There’s a lot of variety in the categories, which range from games to project planning and updates about what’s happening site-wise. Breaking the visual appearance into clearer sections to highlight this content will make it easier for people to find what they’re interested in.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the design, so please feel free to leave a comment or get in touch.
What does 2007 hold?
Hopefully no more redesigns! This one was more of a major tweak than a full design, but the back-end was converted from Etomite to WordPress which took some time. Things are stable now, but it’s quite likely that many smaller tweaks will be made over time.
Current plans for 2007 include the release of several tools and libraries for Blitz developers, more games on the main site and more articles posted in the blog and developer areas.
This blog will also be hosting a future installment of the “Carnival of Game Bloggers”. It’s only young, but it’s well worth checking out. It also has a group on the Great Games Experiment, so join up and share your gaming thoughts!
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The easiest way to describe Harvest Moon is as a farming game. However, it’s executed in a different way from regular “sim” style games such as Sim City or Transport Tycoon. In Harvest Moon you taken on the role of the farmer in an almost RPG way, and you run around planting crops and doing most of the work yourself.
There is also more of a focus on story and relationships, and there is a town full of people that you can befriend, and several lucky people that you can marry.
It’s a quite a simple concept in essence, but layers of extras are added on to create a strangely compelling game. So what game design lessons can we learn from it?
The Good Bits…
Freedom
There is a huge amount of freedom in the game, much like the more traditional sim games. Very little of the game or story is forced onto you, which gives the player a lot more control over how they progress.
Players can earn money with crops, livestock, mining or even just rummaging in the mountains for fruit and mushrooms to sell. Some routes are easier than others, there’s really no set way the game should be played.
The social aspects of the game are also optional, and you can choose to befriend everyone in town and get married or stay in your farm like a hermit.
Discovery
The freedom given to you also fosters a sense of discovery, as there are little stories hidden away in the game that you’re free to discover at your own pace. There are a few cut-scenes to illustrate important events, but the majority of the story can be discovered entirely at the player’s pace.
Simplified mechanics
Some sim games can dig a little too deep into micro-management, but Harvest Moon gets it just about right. You plant seeds, water them and then pick the crops to sell. There are no complex menus and dialogs about setting prices or managing transportation. This helps to keep the gameplay light enough to be enjoyed more casually.
Relationships
Being nice has an effect on the game, and can have rewards for the player. Some townsfolk may give you items, but some also open up new areas of the map.
A large example of this are the characters known as the “Harvest Sprites”. There are seven of them in total, and if you’re nice enough to them they will help out around your farm. You need to give them gifts in order to gain their friendship so that they’ll help. You’ll get bonus “friendship” points if you remember their birthday, and you can also wrap the gift for additional points.
The not so good bits…
Limited customisation
In any RPG, it’s beneficial to give the player a sense of ownership of the character. Very little about your farmer can be changed, and a few additions such as house decorating or changing clothes would have gone a long way to making the adventure seem more individual.
Notebook
I grew up with text adventures, when making maps and writing things down was part of the game. However, there’s a lot more complexity in modern games and keeping track of everything can get quite difficult, especially in an RPG.
The game does keep track of all your recipes, and has a library with shipping prices and crop growth times, but there is still a lot of information left out. A “Smart” notebook that fills in facts as you go could be useful, especially as not everyone wants to fill a Moleskine with pages of notes about a farming game.
What can we learn?
Keep it simple
Always be on the lookout to simplify things. Instead of adding new, complex features, see what you can remove until you’re left with the core elements of what makes you game fun.
This does depend on your target market though. For example, a flight simulator aimed at hardcore fans won’t be popular if you simplify it to a few key presses. However, most games can do without some of the more complicated elements.
Keep it data driven
On a slightly more technical note, take advantage of data driven game techniques. There is a lot of content in Harvest Moon, with around 20 different crops and hundreds of recipes. Coding each of these into a class would be a nightmare, so always be on the lookout for ways to make your code more data driven.
Have faith in your players
There is often the temptation to railroad players into playing the game exactly as you want it. This can either be to avoid bugs cropping up, or it could be because you want the player to experience the game as you designed it.
If you’ve ever watched someone play a game you’ve created, you’ll quickly find they’ll do things in a different way than planned. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Give your players some tools and an environment to play in, and watch what happens.
You don’t have to make your game completely open-ended, but look for ways to let the game take care of itself instead of events being heavily scripted. An added side-effect to this is that it gives a lot more replay value, and it can also generate those “You’ve got to see this!” moments for players.
Harvest Moon at Amazon.com
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