Porter's World

Porter Vs Benologist

At last, the results of the bet are finally in. Actually, they’ve been in for months now, and I’ve just been neglecting to share with the world what exactly happened. That being said, the bet did come to a close, and there are indeed results to be shared. The results aren’t nearly as clear as I wish they could be, but I believe I can work with what I got.

As I said, the results were a bit iffy. The main contributor to this issue is that the bet lacked any concrete rules. If there were indeed any at all, it was that I had to create a game by the end of April that was sell-able. This is where things get tricky. I did indeed complete a project by the end of April, which I felt could in fact be sold, but that quickly became subjective once it came time to show my work. I also created a game-breaking bug at the last minute where the grunt enemies are way too fast now and then. Before I get any deeper into this, here’s a look what I had to offer April 30th, the deadline for the bet.

Pixel Purge Bet Version

Pixel Purge Bet Version

As you can see, the game is nothing special, but it does function, has a few splashes of polish here and there, and in my opinion, could have sold. That being said, the game at that stage completely fell below my expectations. I did in fact spend half my time out and about with friends, but I knew I should have been working, so that’s my own fault. The other reason the game fell short of my expectations is because I added a lot of support into the foundation of the game to expand upon it. I never had any intentions of selling the game after completing the bet, I planned on expanding the game to something much greater from the very start. Truths and excuses aside, as far as the bet was concerned, I should have stuck to the original goal and nothing more.

As I mentioned, I never had any intentions of selling the game as it was at the end of the bet on April 30th. I did in fact continue to build upon the game as I previously stated, and eventually turned it into what is now known as a rather successful game by the name of Pixel Purge. Pixel Purge is in every way superior to the original prototype, and was definitely worth the continued work I put into it. If you’re interested in reading more about the final version of Pixel Purge,  check out my follow-up Pixel Purge Postmortem (Coming soon).

Pixel Purge Final Version

Pixel Purge Final

Lastly, on to the results. Looking at my version specifically completed for the bet, I see how much it lacked. It’s a glorified prototype at best. However, it does have a decent title screen, working high scores, great controls, a variation in enemies, power-ups, an arcade leveling system, and a bit of polish here and there. All in all, it’s not that great, but hey, most flash games aren’t. As far as the original terms go, I personally believe the game could have been sold for a few hundred bucks. It wouldn’t make thousands, but that wasn’t the bet. If some rules had been laid out, I would have worked a lot harder to meet whatever guidelines were created, but those didn’t exist, and I met what I believed was needed. At the same time, the game does lack horribly to my standards, and I never actually proved it was sell-able. In the end, I’m going to have to call the entire bet a fluke. There were no real rules, there was no real panel of judges, it just isn’t possible to come to a fair conclusion. Bet aside, the entire situation was a huge success to me since it forced me to get back to work. I learned a lot in the process, and that’s worth a lot more than the pride or $100 I would have got had this been declared a victory. On a side note, I also didn’t drink for far more than 2 weeks for awhile (As were the terms of me losing). This had nothing to do with the bet, but I’m sure Ben is out there somewhere grinning with pleasure at the thought of a pseudo-victory.

Porter Vs Benologist

Greetings fellow members of the flash game industry. Word on the street is everything this blog has to offer isn’t all it’s cut out to be. Ben Lowry, AKA FlashGameLicense member Benologist, founder of SWFStats, has called me out on my lack of actual work. My perception of our numerous debates, simply put, is that he claims I’m all talk, and no action. Although I’ve created or co-created Stabika 1, Stabika 2, Stabika 3, Dominus Void, Gravibounce, Tower of Greed, Traverse (being released this week by Ninja Kiwi), and a few others that were contract work or not worth mentioning, there may be some truth to that statement. I in absolutely no way work “full time”. Creating flash games is indeed how I pay my rent (with very little help from revenue earned on this site), however I live a very affordable lifestyle which requires very little funds from me. I simply work enough to get by and enjoy a very social life; which is exactly what I’ve tried to accomplish. That being said, I in absolutely no way feel that my lack of releases disqualifies me from sharing (and knowledgeably so) anything on this blog.

So here’s what’s going down; Beno decided that it would be great to give me the rest of the month to come up with something sale worthy. I’m to do everything except for the art, which my partner Andrew will cover. If I’m to succeed in creating a game “sell-able” by April, he’s going to give me $100 USD. If I fail at doing so, he can continue to run his pompous mouth to me about how I never work and I’m all talk, and I’m not to consume any amount of alcohol for 2 weeks. Although I could easily win this bet on a technicality of creating something incredibly simple and “sell-able”, I’m actually going to knock something out of decent quality; at least by the standards of 2 weeks worth of game development.

Before you guys get the wrong idea about the relationship between Benologist and I, let me explain a bit about how this bet came to be. First off, Benologist is a business man. He makes games for money, and almost always no other reason. I almost always make games for fun, unless I’m in need of quick cash, in which case I’ll pull something together to get me some rent money for a few months. Having these different views creates a lot of tension between us during conversation, and very often results in a heated debate. These heated debates generally just die down, with either me or Benologist going back to work, or Benologist choosing a new target within the FGL chat room to badger. Either way, the relationship between the two of us isn’t exactly mortal enemies, sometimes it’s just fun to have a rival or pseudo enemy of sorts. That being said, he does talk a lot of crap about me, and he is an arrogant prick, egotistical, and an ass more often than not, and if I didn’t talk just a little bit of crap about him, this wouldn’t be nearly as fun, so let it begin; compliments to JJWallace for the wonderful art below,

I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how the bet turns out, I love proving people wrong when a worthy opportunity arises. In addition, I don’t need that $100, and to prove this, I’ll be framing the check or $100 bill he sends and sharing it with you all as soon as it’s in my hands. Overall, I’ll take this opportunity to not only prove him wrong, but to grab some extra cash for myself. I’ve already got an idea of what I want to do, so it’s about time I stop writing this and get to work. Check back often, as I’ll be updating my progress every few days up until the final day on April 30th. If you’re taking sides, or just have something to say, be sure to do so; can’t ever get enough entertainment.