Viewing posts written by: kyle »
A few weeks ago we held a game jam in which some people participated in Ludum Dare 17. I ended up throwing myself into the competition when the theme was announced, and thus began another incredible journey of 48-hour game development. You can witness this journey from start to finish right here!
After the dust cleared and the voting was over, the top 20 games were posted. My game, Gaiadi, ended up getting first place overall! I'm a little surprised it turned out so well, and incredibly honored by the Ludum Dare community. You guys are freaking awesome and it's incredibly motivating to have something like Ludum Dare around. You never know what you're capable of until you have a deadline of 48 hours to make something awesome.
I encourage everyone to check out future Ludum Dares, and make awesome stuff. I intend to continue work on Gaiadi and I'll be attempting to make it into a full game sometime in the future, so stay tuned!
After the dust cleared and the voting was over, the top 20 games were posted. My game, Gaiadi, ended up getting first place overall! I'm a little surprised it turned out so well, and incredibly honored by the Ludum Dare community. You guys are freaking awesome and it's incredibly motivating to have something like Ludum Dare around. You never know what you're capable of until you have a deadline of 48 hours to make something awesome.
I encourage everyone to check out future Ludum Dares, and make awesome stuff. I intend to continue work on Gaiadi and I'll be attempting to make it into a full game sometime in the future, so stay tuned!
Snapshot Postcard #4 Timelapse
Posted by Kyle Pulver on April 6th, 2010 in Contests
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It's time to reveal the new Snapshot postcard! This one goes out to all of our Retro Affect birthday extravaganza winners. This big reveal isn't coming to you in the form of a mere .jpg though, it's a time lapse of the entire process. Beginning to end, all captured on the left monitor of yours truly. Check it out (in HD!)!
The entire thing took about 4 hours from start to finish. I started by drawing a tiny thumbnail of what I wanted to do on an index card, so I didn't go into it completely blind. I also had some failed concepts in the .psd that I didn't go with from the day before. Also, if you watch closely you can see a couple frames where I got distracted by a Starcraft 2 commentary video. (Also I hate you, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, and I hope you get your lunchbox stolen at school tomorrow.)
These postcards will be heading out the door pretty soon, and hopefully there will be more chances in the future for you guys to get a hold of some. If you have any feedback on the card or the video, lemme know in the comments!
(There's also a version of the time lapse on vimeo that captures the full screen mode better than YouTube. If you want the full experience I suggest viewing that one.)
The entire thing took about 4 hours from start to finish. I started by drawing a tiny thumbnail of what I wanted to do on an index card, so I didn't go into it completely blind. I also had some failed concepts in the .psd that I didn't go with from the day before. Also, if you watch closely you can see a couple frames where I got distracted by a Starcraft 2 commentary video. (Also I hate you, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, and I hope you get your lunchbox stolen at school tomorrow.)
These postcards will be heading out the door pretty soon, and hopefully there will be more chances in the future for you guys to get a hold of some. If you have any feedback on the card or the video, lemme know in the comments!
(There's also a version of the time lapse on vimeo that captures the full screen mode better than YouTube. If you want the full experience I suggest viewing that one.)
Whoa check it out, it's a new screenshot of that game we're working on!
What do we got going on here? Some sort of machinery embedded in the ground with a mysterious blue light emitting from it. Lots of pretty little sparkle effects surrounding our hero -- who noticeably looks a little different from before. Let's get a close up on this guy.
It's pretty sparkly up in here!
Everything is coming along pretty nicely, and we're going to be adding some new life to the forest that you guys will be able to check out soon enough. And no, the sparkles are not the paparazzi taking photos of you. Although, that would be pretty cool... let me write that down in my notes.
Anyway, let us know what you think in the comments! It's not too hard. Just type in your comment, and then click the button that says post comment. I think it says post comment... I can't see it from here. Wait, let me look. Yeah, it says post comment.
(Disclaimer: We wont be posting a new screenshot of Snapshot every sunday... yet.)
What do we got going on here? Some sort of machinery embedded in the ground with a mysterious blue light emitting from it. Lots of pretty little sparkle effects surrounding our hero -- who noticeably looks a little different from before. Let's get a close up on this guy.
It's pretty sparkly up in here!
Everything is coming along pretty nicely, and we're going to be adding some new life to the forest that you guys will be able to check out soon enough. And no, the sparkles are not the paparazzi taking photos of you. Although, that would be pretty cool... let me write that down in my notes.
Anyway, let us know what you think in the comments! It's not too hard. Just type in your comment, and then click the button that says post comment. I think it says post comment... I can't see it from here. Wait, let me look. Yeah, it says post comment.
(Disclaimer: We wont be posting a new screenshot of Snapshot every sunday... yet.)
Questions and Answers: An Interview
Posted by Kyle Pulver on March 25th, 2010 in General
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We recently sat down with a mysterious internet figure known to mortals only as "Entar" for an interview. He runs the Games Fascination blog in which he writes about nearly everything involving games. Since we are a game studio making a game, we were the perfect fit. The interview is quite awesome, and to prove it, here's a snippet:
Entar: Can you talk a little about some of the dandy features we can expect to see in Snapshot?
Kyle Pulver: Dandy features include multiple dandelions in each level to take photos of.
Peter Jones: Haha, well we've added a decent amount of features since the prototype. I think the one we're most excited about is the ability to capture the physics of an object. So, when you snap a photo of a falling rock, that rock's velocity is preserved in the picture. When you paste the picture, the rock will continue on its way. That, combined with the ability to rotate photos creates some really fun puzzles and hilarious moments. Physics is fun.
Kyle Pulver: When it doesn't break and freak out. Physics are indeed fun.
Entar: Ah yes, physics bugs. I can relate.
David Carrigg: Yeah, debugging physics... not quite as fun as watching physics happen.
Kyle Pulver: It's a cruel mistress, to make physics into something that actually feels correct in both a real world model and a game world model... Dave should write a novel on this after we're done.
David Carrigg: Is a blog post a novel? ...because I could do that.
Entar: Well, it's worth a shot at any rate. Maybe just go for it and let the masses decide.
I greatly recommend checking out the entire interview.
The big bulk of our GDC promotional materials arrived today, and it's like Christmas in March! Whoa, March? Holy crap, it's already March. Game Developers Conference is just a week away! How did this happen?!
Today we received the remainder of our business cards, and we also received about 300 postcards that were mentioned in a previous blog post. On top of that, we got a slick business document to hand out to some very important people at the conference. Look at all this Retro Affect stuff!
We're going to be handing out all three postcards at GDC, but each of us will be armed with a different one. If you want to get all of them, you'll have to track down all three of us at GDC. It'll be like collecting pokemon cards, but not as expensive. (Actually, if you paid for a GDC pass it will be just as expensive I guess...)
Neeka, one of our mascots, has already collected all three. Yes, they are delicious.
After we got all this awesome printed Snapshot spam, we thought we could take it one step further. Handing out business cards and post cards just doesn't seem like enough now a days, so we took to the skies...
Today we received the remainder of our business cards, and we also received about 300 postcards that were mentioned in a previous blog post. On top of that, we got a slick business document to hand out to some very important people at the conference. Look at all this Retro Affect stuff!
We're going to be handing out all three postcards at GDC, but each of us will be armed with a different one. If you want to get all of them, you'll have to track down all three of us at GDC. It'll be like collecting pokemon cards, but not as expensive. (Actually, if you paid for a GDC pass it will be just as expensive I guess...)
Neeka, one of our mascots, has already collected all three. Yes, they are delicious.
After we got all this awesome printed Snapshot spam, we thought we could take it one step further. Handing out business cards and post cards just doesn't seem like enough now a days, so we took to the skies...
With Game Developers Conference just around the corner at 2 weeks away, we've been working on putting together some little promotional materials for Snapshot. We're printing 3 different 4 x 6 postcards this year, each with a different image on the back. Here are some little sneak previews of what the art on each card looks like.
Be sure to try and find us at GDC if you want to grab one of these super amazing hand painted (in Photoshop) images immortalized in the form of ink on paper. Any true collector of Snapshot memorabilia should have at least 20 of each. We've had these cards appraised and we expect each one to be worth millions by the year 2844.
If you can't make it to GDC, we'll probably figure out something to do with these things once the conference is over, but for those who can make it: See you at GDC!
Be sure to try and find us at GDC if you want to grab one of these super amazing hand painted (in Photoshop) images immortalized in the form of ink on paper. Any true collector of Snapshot memorabilia should have at least 20 of each. We've had these cards appraised and we expect each one to be worth millions by the year 2844.
If you can't make it to GDC, we'll probably figure out something to do with these things once the conference is over, but for those who can make it: See you at GDC!
Depict1 on Bytejacker (Go Vote!)
Posted by Kyle Pulver on February 11th, 2010 in Games
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Through the tubes of the internet my global game jam game Depict1 has reached all the way out to Bytejacker, an awesome indie games centric internet video show.
The game was featured in the Free Indie Rapid Fire for this week, so that means it's up for voting in the Free Indie of the Week as well! So if you really liked Depict1, then you can go show your love by voting for it right here on the right side of the page.
It's kind of awesome how far this little 48 hour game has gone.
The game was featured in the Free Indie Rapid Fire for this week, so that means it's up for voting in the Free Indie of the Week as well! So if you really liked Depict1, then you can go show your love by voting for it right here on the right side of the page.
It's kind of awesome how far this little 48 hour game has gone.
This past weekend Retro Affect hosted a Global Game Jam location for the great city of Gilbert, Arizona. Think Phoenix if you don't know what a Gilbert is. It was a great time filled with friends, games, and jam. Raspberry jam... LONESTAR!.
So I proudly present to the world the game that I created in 48 hours. (6 of those hours were spent sleeping.)
I don't actually want to give too much away about the game, so hopefully that screenshot will entice you enough to give it a whirl. It works on Windows platforms, but should run well enough on OSX with one of those fancy run-windows-programs applications.
This was created from nothing using Game Maker 8. The Game Jam actually started at 5pm on Friday, and I spent a majority of that night brainstorming with the other jammers. An idea for a game that uses a tutorial to deceive the player came up, and I thought it would be a cool idea to pursue.
Saturday was spent making every single component for the game that I could, and Sunday was spent making all 30 (!) levels that are in the game. I also asked a good friend of mine Alec Holowka to pitch in for music, and like a true hero he always delivers.
Oh, and I totally did not sleep between Saturday and Sunday. In fact, right now while writing this blog post I have been awake for 34 hours. And hey, look at this! It was featured on Indie Games Blog!
I would love to hear any feedback about the game, so if you have any be sure to drop a comment in the form below.
So I proudly present to the world the game that I created in 48 hours. (6 of those hours were spent sleeping.)
I don't actually want to give too much away about the game, so hopefully that screenshot will entice you enough to give it a whirl. It works on Windows platforms, but should run well enough on OSX with one of those fancy run-windows-programs applications.
This was created from nothing using Game Maker 8. The Game Jam actually started at 5pm on Friday, and I spent a majority of that night brainstorming with the other jammers. An idea for a game that uses a tutorial to deceive the player came up, and I thought it would be a cool idea to pursue.
Saturday was spent making every single component for the game that I could, and Sunday was spent making all 30 (!) levels that are in the game. I also asked a good friend of mine Alec Holowka to pitch in for music, and like a true hero he always delivers.
Oh, and I totally did not sleep between Saturday and Sunday. In fact, right now while writing this blog post I have been awake for 34 hours. And hey, look at this! It was featured on Indie Games Blog!
I would love to hear any feedback about the game, so if you have any be sure to drop a comment in the form below.
It's so quiet around here!
Posted by Kyle Pulver on December 26th, 2009 in Snapshot
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...and I'm here to explain why!
We're working really really hard on Snapshot, and sometimes we just forget that we have an awesome website to update. So far we haven't shown any media involving the new version of the game. We have a single screenshot currently posted on the site, but for now that's all we want to reveal. I know, the prototype trailer released last year is getting a little old, but I think you'll be happy once we start revealing what we've been working on.
You see, these things just cannot be rushed. We need to make Snapshot as good as we can possibly make it, and well, these things take time. Eventually we will get to the point where we will want to show off more and more of the game, but for now we'll just have to keep our faithful readers on the edge of their seats.
I know things have been unusually quiet, and some are beginning to question "Where did Snapshot go? Is it vaporware?! Was it abandoned?" Fear not, my internet brethren, Snapshot is alive in well in our hearts and in the computers at the Retro Affect studio. So while you wait patiently to find out what exactly has been going on with Snapshot, you should go play some other amazing indie games, like Captain Forever for example. Or how about some Blurst games to hold you over? And even check out the upcoming gravity platformer vvvvvv!
That's all I've got for you for now, so keep your eyes peeled, and at some point in the coming weeks we will have some new Snapshot stuff to reveal to the world!
We're working really really hard on Snapshot, and sometimes we just forget that we have an awesome website to update. So far we haven't shown any media involving the new version of the game. We have a single screenshot currently posted on the site, but for now that's all we want to reveal. I know, the prototype trailer released last year is getting a little old, but I think you'll be happy once we start revealing what we've been working on.
You see, these things just cannot be rushed. We need to make Snapshot as good as we can possibly make it, and well, these things take time. Eventually we will get to the point where we will want to show off more and more of the game, but for now we'll just have to keep our faithful readers on the edge of their seats.
I know things have been unusually quiet, and some are beginning to question "Where did Snapshot go? Is it vaporware?! Was it abandoned?" Fear not, my internet brethren, Snapshot is alive in well in our hearts and in the computers at the Retro Affect studio. So while you wait patiently to find out what exactly has been going on with Snapshot, you should go play some other amazing indie games, like Captain Forever for example. Or how about some Blurst games to hold you over? And even check out the upcoming gravity platformer vvvvvv!
That's all I've got for you for now, so keep your eyes peeled, and at some point in the coming weeks we will have some new Snapshot stuff to reveal to the world!
Whoa look at that! It's a brand spanking new website for Retro Affect. The old one was just a place holder until we actually had something to show, and that time has finally come. The site is still a little bit of a work in progress with some bugs here and there, so it may take a little bit longer to iron those out. But anyway...
We submitted the current version of Snapshot to this year's Independent Games Festival. Last year, the prototype of Snapshot (built in Multimedia Fusion 2) was nominated in the IGF under the category of Excellence in Design. That nomination is the very reason that Retro Affect exists, and is the reason behind Snapshot's current development.
We didn't win, (oh well!) but we saw a great opportunity in Snapshot. If it was nominated in the IGF, it must be pretty darn good -- right? At the 2009 IGF, it was decided that we were going to put down whatever we were doing at the time and kick Snapshot into high gear. At the time it was just Peter and myself that worked on the prototype, and neither of us have the brains to work on a full fledged game, but we knew someone that did...
Enter Dave, who has assumed the role of lead master programmer extraordinaire. Dave was living in Phoenix, AZ, and we decided that Phoenix would be the best location for our mission. So a month after Game Developers Conference in 2009, we were all together! The three of us together are... Retro Affect! (Imagine us striking poses now.)
We submitted the current version of Snapshot to this year's Independent Games Festival. Last year, the prototype of Snapshot (built in Multimedia Fusion 2) was nominated in the IGF under the category of Excellence in Design. That nomination is the very reason that Retro Affect exists, and is the reason behind Snapshot's current development.
We didn't win, (oh well!) but we saw a great opportunity in Snapshot. If it was nominated in the IGF, it must be pretty darn good -- right? At the 2009 IGF, it was decided that we were going to put down whatever we were doing at the time and kick Snapshot into high gear. At the time it was just Peter and myself that worked on the prototype, and neither of us have the brains to work on a full fledged game, but we knew someone that did...
Enter Dave, who has assumed the role of lead master programmer extraordinaire. Dave was living in Phoenix, AZ, and we decided that Phoenix would be the best location for our mission. So a month after Game Developers Conference in 2009, we were all together! The three of us together are... Retro Affect! (Imagine us striking poses now.)
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