Porter's World

What Not To Do

One of the biggest mistake game developers make, is having a game that isn’t fun, even though it is in fact playable. Sometimes this is caused by something rather simple, such as the game running sluggish. Although lag is a huge issue in many games, that’s not what I’m referring to, I simply mean the game plays too slow, the action doesn’t come fast enough. If ever there was something you don’t want to do in game design, this is it, because today’s players have even less patience than those of the past. In addition, you’ll find yourself working weeks, even months on a game, only to have absolutely no sponsor interest, and not an idea why such is the case. If you really think this doesn’t apply to you, read on. Notice I didn’t say “One of the biggest mistake new game developers make” in my opening statement, that’s because even world famous companies make these mistakes, everyone does time to time.

The best example of a game that has been entirely broken from sluggish gameplay is Final Fantasy VI on the PS1; it came with Final Fantasy V in the Final Fantasy Anthology collection. Final Fantasy VI, as many of you may know, is one of the most impressive RPG’s of it’s time, and by no means a bad game. Aside from being impressive, it also had a lot of random battles, which was fine on the SNES, but absolutely horrid due to load times between battles on the PS1. It never should have been ported in my opinion; the down time spent just waiting is so immense that it honestly ruined the game, I didn’t play more than an hour into it. I’ll remind you that when I first got it, I was psyched to play one of my classic favorites again, and have no problems with turned based battles and random encounters; the remake however, was unplayable to my standards. Although the above issue is mostly due to hardware, the company was aware of the issues before releasing the game, it was just poor judgment on their part to ever port the game.

Final Fantasy may be a console game, but that doesn’t mean that flash games can’t suffer the same consequences. In fact, flash games are more susceptible to failing because of this, due to the low patience of casual gamers. As some of you may know, I review a lot of games over at FlashGameLicense; you would be surprised how many games suffer from slow paced gameplay. Slow gameplay issues I’ve encountered vary. I’ve seen action games where the tank moved far too slow, sliding puzzle games where the block moved too slow, games where the player could outrun the bullets shot by his own weapon, and more. As cool as a game could be where you have some power that allows you to slow down time and run around bullets, that wasn’t what this game was going for, and that called for very obvious failure. You may think all of these are novice mistakes, but there are some very professional games out there with this issue, some that suffer horribly, others that could have benefited from an increase in speed in certain aspects.

All of this may sound like another novice mistake that you’re probably telling yourself you’ll never do, but I guarantee that somewhere in your future works, there will be a time when one of your games is severely hurt, or hindered by such an issue. The biggest reason for this, is that most developers generally don’t even notice these issues, this is usually due to a curtain of illusion that is thrown over a developer when they work on their own games; we as developers become oblivious to some of the most obvious faults with our games and will never notice them until told by an outside source. If you ever suspect that you’re game could in fact suffer from such an issue, take a look at Four Second Frenzy or Grid 16, they are fast paced from start to finish, exactly what the market loves. You may be thinking, well I have a puzzle game, or a defense game, same applies; even tower defense games,  such as Flash Element TD 2 offer the ability to speed up the game once you’ve got things under control. No matter what genre your game is, there are always moments when things can get dull, not always due to gameplay elements, but how slowly they’re presented. No matter how open minded about your game you think you are while testing, get others to test the game and give you feedback; you’re far better off being surprised with testers catching sluggish gameplay, rather than your players when the game goes live.

Music Sources

Every great flash game needs top notch music in order to fully succeed. If you’re reading this, I’m sure at one point or another, if not now, you’ve wondered where you can go to get great music for your flash games. There are tons of sources, some free, some not. Some are widely known, while others are known only by myself and a few others, up until now. I’ve mentioned the importance of game music numerous times, by utilizing the below sources, you can take those teachings, and apply them to your games.

Let’s take a look at some of the more well known sources. Somatones Interactive Audio may be a bit on the more expensive side for audio, but there isn’t a chance in the world that you’ll walk away feeling like you didn’t get your money’s worth. These guys know what they’re doing, and they do it flawlessly. They have more experience working with music than anyone else in the flash game industry, and it shows. They’ve worked with companies such as Disney, Konami, Nickelodeon, Sony, Ubisoft, and plenty more. Keep in mind that the work they do for you is exclusive to you, meaning your game will have custom music that no other in the world has. Visit Somatones and check out their work and customer feedback, if you can afford their rates, it’s definitely worth it.

Another great source for music is ibaudio. These guys have a huge library of royalty free music for a very reasonable price. You can purchase music for any genre and feel you desire, some for as low as $10 a loop. Music is purchased using credits which you buy from the site, buying in bulk can save you up to 40%. In addition, you can purchase a 1 year subscription for a one time payment of $213.69; this allows unlimited downloads, which is definitely worth it for anyone pumping out multiple successful titles in a single year. On top of that, any music downloaded during your year subscription may be used by you in the future, even after your subscription is up. Keep in mind the music can be used by you, and only you, any abuse to this system is of course illegal. If you are somehow not finding exactly what you need throughout there massive library, you can also request custom music, they’ll work closely with you to negotiate pricing and get the exact music you’re looking for.

Another great source, despite being less catered towards game music, is Stockmusic. They have an expansive library of music, most tracks being in the $30 range. All music is of excellent sound quality and very professionally done. The site as I said doesn’t exactly target game music, but they offer an amazing search tool that will let you find exactly what you’re looking for. You can also legally alter the music in order to create loops, add echo, or any other reason you may find, so despite the music not being perfect for games right off, it shouldn’t be an issue with anyone who knows how to do basic audio editing. Stockmusic also offers custom music. If you chose to do this, you will be working closely with a composer who fits your genre best, and are supplied demos of the works as they progress, allowing you to suggest changes and customize the music to your liking. I haven’t had any direct experience with these guys, but they definitely look like they know what they’re doing.

Audiosparx is an ideal source for anyone looking to find quality game music. I suggest filtering to search for loops as they’re much more suited for games, but that’s up to you. Rates definitely vary on this site, but the quality is consistently high. Be sure to view “B” rates, these rates pertain to the license you’ll be using in order to legally put the music into your games, distribute them, and profit. These guys have experience with the big guys in the industry, with music in games by companies such as Midway, Atari, EA, and more.

MusicLoops is another great place to find royalty free loops for your game development needs. All tracks are in the form of a loop, so little to no editing will be needed on your part. With a large variety of genres, there’s not a feel you won’t be able to find. The majority of music is roughly $20-$40, which isn’t much for a fitting piece of quality music. A clean design, variety of music, and affordable rates, make this an excellent addition to any list of sites to search when looking for affordable audio for your projects.

Now we’ll take a look at another company I actually have experience with. Partners In Rhyme is an excellent source for virtually all genre’s of music, including seasonal genre’s such as Halloween and Christmas. Each package includes various tracks, each with an incredible assortment of loops, track edits, multiple duration cuts, and the occasional stingers. Some packages will even come with bonus content, including various additional loops and sound effects, some of which you may find even more useful than the original content you purchased. Packages are places at various prices, most resting between $80-$90, which is well worth what you’ll be getting from these guys.

Another site that caters directly to flash games, is Twune. The music is of decent quality, and all packages go for a flat rate of $75. The convenient part of buying from Twune, is that all the editing is entirely done for you. Each package includes multiple loops cut from the same track, allowing you to have multiple loops throughout your game, all with a similar sound. The selection is a bit smaller than some sites, but they’re still growing. Overall, the convenience of multiple loops coming in a single package is convenient, and definitely worth checking out.

In addition to many of the large companies, there is an endless source of freelance musicians just dying to have their music heard by the world. These musicians are incredibly talented, and for the most part, unknown to everyone other than their friends and family. Despite their lack of popularity, these musicians have incredible talent, and will likely be known for it in the future. For the time being however, they lack exposure and are eagerly awaiting to hop on board a project.

A well talented individual that falls into this category is Mike Taylor. I met Mike when living in the wonderful rolling hills of Moscow Idaho. After meeting him, I found out that he was incredibly talented at the piano, as well as doing his own compositions in various other genres. He can do a variety of music, such as techno, trance, ambient, classical, 8-bit, and so on. As far as the flash industry goes, his music can be heard in Dominus Void and Tower of Greed. Dominus Void features features various tracks from multiple artists, track two being Mikes, while Tower of Greed was composed entirely by Mike from scratch. As you can hear, it sounds very authentic to the days of the NES, so much in fact that it sounds as if it could have appeared in a popular title in the early 90’s. Mike is always looking for custom music work, and will listen to all of your ideas and suggestions to make sure the music fits your exact needs. He’s a huge perfectionist, so don’t be surprised when he scraps something you’re proud of and comes back the next day with something far more impressive. His rates are incredibly affordable and definitely worth what they add to your game. He’ll help decide a fair price with you depending on various factors, all of which you’ll both discuss and plan out beforehand.  If you’re interested in having Mike do some work with you, you can contact him via Newgrounds PM, or email him at miketaylorandhisimaginaryband@gmail.com; I know, it’s an awesome email address.

Another excellent, and unfortunately lesser known artist, is Yiannis Ioannides. I met Yiannis recently while browsing the forums over at Newgrounds. I listened to his music and felt a strong urge to get in contact with him and talk business, so that’s what I did. Yiannis is an incredibly skilled musician who is currently studying film scoring and jazz composition at Berklee College of Music over in Boston, MA. He’s passionate about composing game music, and specializes in music that consists of jazz, electronica, world, classical, ambient, soundscape etc. He’s looking for work and would be more than happy to compose for all sorts of games, from young, colorful, interactive games, to darker, serious, professional games. Rates vary from project to project, and will be negotiated prior to completion. Definitely give his music a listen and keep him in mind for future projects; he’s got a lot of talent just waiting to be put into your future works. You can reach Yiannis for questions and work by emailing him at yioannides@berklee.net.

If you’re looking for some music on the cheaper side of the spectrum, perhaps free, there’s always the Newgrounds Audio Portal. Contrary to popular belief, nearly all of the music on Newgrounds is free. There are a few things to keep in mind however. You must always contact the author of a piece you wish to use, let them know of your project, and always request permission. They’ll decide on the terms when responding to you, but 99% of the time artists are just looking to get some exposure, and are thrilled to hear that their music will be used in a game. They’ll generally ask that you mention them in the credits, as well as link to them on the credits page if possible, which is more than acceptable. The audio portal offers a lot of music in various genres, so you shouldn’t have any issues finding some good music. Seeing as it’s an audio portal run off of user submissions, you will have to filter through a lot of lower quality music in order to find what you’re looking for, but that’s the price you have to pay if you don’t feel like forking over some cash.

Another free source is Incompetech, a website run by Kevin MacLeod. Kevin has a large library of royalty free music that he has composed and recorded himself. You can search by genre, or by mood, giving you plenty to work with when it comes to getting the right feel for your project. Kevin doesn’t charge anything for his music under the creative commons license, but greatly appreciates donations as all artists do. The only thing actually required of you is to list his name in the credits, as well as the piece(s) used. If you like what you hear, Kevin can also compose custom music for you, rates are negotiated on a project by project basis.

As you can see, there’s plenty of sources to get amazing music out there. Until recently, I was one to just go out and get free music and do my best with it, which has never hurt, but after doing the research for this article, I can’t stress how important quality music is. I had always thought that I did a fantastic job selecting music for my games prior to this article, however looking back, I did great, but these services offer a quality that cannot be matched for free. If the above prices sound a bit high, consider the fact that the value great music will add to your game is far more than you’ll be paying. If you can’t afford exceptional music from the above services, perhaps land a sponsor, then point out some music you would like to add to the game; chances are they’ll pay you the amount needed up front (out of your sponsorship money, or in addition) to let you boost the value of the game. If you do find yourself using the above sources, or any for that matter, always check the license agreements for the music you are purchasing, this is extremely important and cannot be stressed enough. All in all, you now have an incredible list of sources to find excellent flash game music, all at varying prices that should be affordable to everyone. I definitely hope to hear an increase in the quality of music in all of your future games, don’t let me down.

Becoming A Game Developer

Becoming a game developer is hard work, really hard work. There are however a few advantages to becoming a game developer that other careers in the world just can’t offer. In order to become a lawyer, you have to go to school, lots of school. In order to become a doctor, you have to do the same. To become a game developer however, you just have to be passionate, have an internet connection, and have the occasional motivation boost.

In the previous chapters of becoming a game developer, I spoke of what abilities will help you excel as a game designer, as well as gave some tips on how to analyze games to further yourself as a game developer. By now you may be wondering what it takes to actually get the job, to actually enter the industry and get a paycheck for your hard work. Sure you can make games, but how do you sell them? How do you get hired? When it comes to flash games, you’re good to go from the start. Unlike other careers, you don’t need credentials, you simply need to know how to make games, and do it well. Anyone in the world can start creating games in flash, selling them, and earning some very nice cash. It takes a lot of work, and I mean a lot, but it is within every single person’s grasp to do so if they choose. I started by making games for fun, but I soon found out that I could get paid for what I was doing. Bottom line is this, you don’t need a college degree, you don’t need to find a boss to hire you, you can self teach yourself and become your own boss overnight.

As I said, I began creating and selling games when I was 18 years old, back in the days of living in my first apartment away from home. One of the greatest things about entering the flash game industry is that you can do it at any age. You can be 13 years old, have a passion for games, take the time out to teach yourself, and instantly hop into making games. You won’t succeed with your first game, at least not on the level you would like to, but practice really does make perfect, especially in the flash gaming industry. I really do wish I had been into this when I was younger, I can’t imagine how evolved my skills would be had I started doing this at the age of 14 or so. Granted I was messing around with flash 4, getting an understanding of the time line and flash IDE, but I never actually touched code until much later. If you’re a younger reader and interested, don’t get discouraged, keep trying and I assure you time and patience will bring you to a very nice place once you get things down. In fact, if you’re a younger reader, I encourage you to start your career early, even if just as a hobby. One of the hardest things I find in trying to make this a full time job, is the inconsistency of pay. Start while you’re living at home, or at the very least get a few thousand dollars to sit on before you go and pour yourself into the job, it may take longer to pay off than you anticipate.

Alright, so you don’t need credentials, your age doesn’t really matter, so how do you actually get started? Adobe Flash is a rather expensive product itself, a great tool, but a bit expensive. I suggest using FlashDevelop if the price of Flash it too high, it’s an amazing program that is better suited for your programming needs than flash itself, not meant for animating, but that can be done in other programs. If you read up on the FlashDevelop page, you’ll find instructions for downloading Flex and other programs in order to compile your projects, in the end, creating a completely free set up. Once compiled, you can either play the swf in the browser, or you can download the flash debug player. All in all, that’s about all you’ll need to get started.

There you have it, you’re ready to start programming games. You don’t need to be any specific age, you don’t need a $600 program, and you don’t need to go to school and earn a fancy degree in order to secure your position. You will need determination, more common sense than the average human seems to carry these days, and a lot of free time, but if you’re reading this I have confidence that you can pass the above prerequisites. Enjoying your job and becoming financially stable doesn’t come easy in this world, and most of the time your caught within the system of going to college and following the rest of the cycle. In the flash industry the opportunity is up to you, you choose how far to go. If you really want this to be your future, get to work and make it a reality, it really is entirely up to you.

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3

Mushroom Madness

Mushroom Madness is yet another rare gem in the action oriented defense genre. It was only just days ago that I did a Momentum Missile Mayhem 4 Review, praising the game for standing out in the genre, but here we are today with yet another successful game of it’s kind. There may be some connection in having a successful game, use of the letter “M”, and using alliteration, but we’ll save that mystery for another day, and most likely for someone other than myself. That aside, this fantastic game is put together brilliantly, and is a top notch game, perfectly suited for the flash game industry.

Mushroom Madness, as I mentioned earlier, is a fantastic action oriented defense game. The object is simple, protect you’re mushrooms from hedgehogs, bears, and birds. You’ll achieve this goal by using your trusty swatter, an automatic gun, a shot gun, bear traps, and bombs. Hedgehogs will attempt to grab your mushrooms and run off with them, as will birds that swoop in; bears however don’t have the patience to eat when they get home, and have their feast on the spot. Like all good defense games, the game offers the ability to upgrade a few features that allow you to customize how you play. Upgrades include, stronger hits with your swatter, quicker recharge time for the swatter, longer stun duration, the ability to purchase new strikes with the swatter, more regular gun ammo, bigger radius for bomb explosions, more durable bear traps, and more shotgun ammo. The way you upgrade really effects the way you play, I know that when I tackle hard mode (which is unlocked after beating the game on normal mode once), I’ll be taking a much different approach. The balancing and difficulty are also spot on, I found myself in a constant state of enjoyment, slightly challenged at times, and never frustrated or bored, which is a very nice achievement on the developers part. This game won’t offer nearly as much strategy as Bloons TD3, rather more of a hands on defense feel such as that which can be found in Storm The House 3; which is great, because that’s exactly what the developers were going for. Either way, fans of both action and defense games will definitely be in for a treat when they give this game a play.

The graphics in Mushroom Madness are incredibly charming. At times, I almost feel bad about dropping a bomb on a poor defenseless hedgehog, but then I remember it’s just a game, that and a small part of my sick and twisted human mind loves doing it, so I can’t complain. The colors used in this game are very well selected, everything is vibrant and filled with life, that is until you drop another bomb on the hedgehog, then there really isn’t much life to be found at all. Hedgehog bomb jokes aside, the art really is fantastic. The sprites in this isometric game are very proportional and well animated, absolutely no flaws there.

As should be the case in all games, the audio is very well suited and compliments the art brilliantly. The music is very upbeat, charming, and sounds like it should be thrown into something fun, which is exactly what it does here. The sound effects are incredibly clear, everything from the wolf howls in the upgrade menu, to the sound of the shotgun firing away. In addition, the volume of each sound effect is very well balanced, something a few games occasionally miss out on doing. All in all, the music and sound effects were very well done, and definitely build up the games fun and enjoyable atmosphere.

There you have it, another fantastic game snatched up by King. There really isn’t anything bad about this game; the gameplay is incredibly casual, the graphics charming, the music high quality and fitting, all qualities a great flash game should excel in. In addition to the main game, there’s also a number of mini games to be unlocked as you progress, all of which are simple, yet add value. Lastly, for all those who are looking to get a bit more hardcore with the game, there’s a survival mode in which you can submit your high score, perfect for anyone looking for some competition. Bottom line, this game is of excellent quality, looks great, and is incredibly fun, definitely give it a play.

Momentum Missile Mayhem 4

It’s not often I find a flash game that really draws me in, Momentum Missile Mayhem 4 is one of those rare exceptions. There has never been an action oriented defense game that has successfully drawn me in like this game. Everything shines with high production value, the music, the graphics, the interface, and most importantly, the gameplay. I’m constantly ranting about how flash games are ridiculously watered down in difficulty, this game pleases me even there, offering enough challenge to have stolen a few hours of my life, hours that I’m not about to ask to get back. I know a lot of players as well as developers hate hearing about high production value, but this is one of the cases where high production value really deserves to be pointed out. The amount of polish put into this game is intense, and I’m certain it paid off in the sponsorship deal.

The gameplay in Momentum Missile Mayhem 4 is awesome, very awesome. The physics are spot on, the enemies interesting, and variety of things to do immense. The RPG factors within the skill tree system alone are enough to hook most players, the intense heated battles finish it off for the rest. There are a number of special skills to help you on the battlefield, some unlocked from beating bonus missions in the campaign mode, others you start with. Your primary projectiles can be upgraded to shoot faster, deal more damage, and contain more mass, which sends enemies flying further and faster which feels quite rewarding. By applying points to the gravity launcher upgrade, you can also unlock 4 other types of projectiles, all with unique properties and uses, and of course, their own level. Some of the more intense attacks have cool down timers, but that’s all just part of the amazing balancing this game has to offer. Aside from the starting and four additional types of projectiles you can get via leveling up the gravity launcher upgrade, you can unlock a sixth type by clearing a bonus mission which is unlocked roughly half way through the game, and believe me, you don’t want to miss this one. In addition to the six different projectiles you can choose from, you can level up your max shield and shield recharge rate, max energy and energy recharge rate, as well as nine other useful skills to help you dominate the battlefield. Despite the insane ability to upgrade and customize your attack strategy, you’ll find yourself using good old fashioned skill more than anything to stay alive in this game. This game is hard, not so hard it’s unfair, but hard enough to give you a few hours of gameplay if you want to finish the entire campaign, not to mention the sandbox and Armageddon mode. Aside from a few minor issues that make the difficulty unfair, rather than hard, the gameplay is presented perfectly.

The graphics in Momentum Missile Mayhem 4 are definitely top notch. The explosions look excellent, the textures on background terrain superb, and the various effects during special attacks are flawless. The enemy designs are each unique, and well thought out as well. They all vary in size, shape, and color, where as many games recycle designs and just swap up color and size. The most unappreciated aspect related to the graphics and design is probably the user interface, which is amazing. There is a lot of information in this game, lots of upgrade menus, lots of instructions, it’s just loaded. This game organizes all of that information and presents it in a way that isn’t overwhelming, which I applaud seeing as there’s so much to do and learn. All around there isn’t a single graphical flaw in this game, it’s well presented, well polished, and it looks excellent.

I’ve explained time and time again about the importance of game music, I’m proud to say that this game follows absolutely everything I have to say on the matter. The title screen music is relaxing, much like the calm before a battle. The level selection menu is more pumped, it hints that things are about to heat up, it’s time to prepare. Lastly, the gameplay music, a mild rock tune with a lot of energy, perfectly fitting the mood of the action packed battles. The sound effects are excellent, and none are missing. There’s sounds for menu hover, menu select, firing, blowing up, specials, explosions, and so on, they’re all there. All the sounds are incredibly fitting, none are too high pitched and hurt with headphones, and all are crystal clear. This game is a fine example of how audio can add to the value of a game by being exceptionally fitting.

All in all I’m very pleased with this game. I rarely find a flash game that I hold on par with games outside of the industry, but this one definitely goes onto my list of great games in general. I really don’t have anything negative to say about this game, there are a few minor unfair situations that can occur that are out of the players control, but it happens, and when compared to the amount of superb balance this game offers, I really can’t complain. If you’re looking for some great action, or some more hands on strategic defense, Momentum Missile Mayhem 4 is definitely the game for you.

Scribblenauts

It’s not every day that I see a console game that could become a flash game, and even rarer that I find one that is almost screaming to be turned into one. Scribblenauts for the Nintendo DS is one of those rare gems, and it’s just blessed the world with it’s presence today. Scribblenauts is not only an amazing game, but it’s the first game I’ve actually looked forward to and felt was truly original since Portal came out with the Orange Box. If you’re unfamiliar with Portal, log into your steam account now and check it out, you can also try Portal: The Flash Version which is basically the same concept, but in 2D.

First off, let’s take a look at what makes Scribblenauts such an amazing game. The point of the game is to solve various puzzles, or reach the goal, to receive the magical that is a starite. The way you solve these puzzles is where Scribblenauts really shines. You can move around using the DS’s stylus, look around using the D-Pad or ABXY buttons, and last but not least, click on the note pad and write in anything that comes to mind. What does writing in anything that comes to mind do for you exactly? It brings it to life, plops it into the world in front of you, and begs you to interact with it in whichever way possible. You can write so many things it’s unbelievable, the database of items is absolutely massive. I’ve only played the game a very short while since it just came out, but already I’ve ridden a whale, had that whale defeat an angry lion, and used a rocket to blow holes in the ground to navigate to new areas. When I say you can write anything, I mean it. Admittedly (and this is nearly impossible to avoid) you can stump the system and come up with something it doesn’t have, but you nearly have to try to do so which is quite impressive; on top of that, it gives you options that are close to whatever you typed that wasn’t found, so you really can’t complain. After you create various objects, you can ride them, throw them, shoot them, combine them, and so on. If this doesn’t sound at all amusing to you, you’re anhedonic, and I’m sorry for your loss.

So you may thinking that the above is quite impressive, well, it is. So how does this relate to the flash industry? How can such an impressive game be moved to a platform such as flash? Easily is how. The entire game, although amazing, is basically a giant database of words, tons of simple art and animation, basic platforming, and a fine dose of Box2D or your favorite physics engine. The art has it’s own style, but is certainly something that could be seen in a flash game. It’s colorful, simplistic, and almost looks as if someone drew it with a tablet. The biggest draw back I see is that the game is 32MB, which would be a massive flash game, but I’m sure a lot of the file size are files that pertain directly towards communication with the DS and stuff of that nature. If not, the database of items could be loaded externally to reduce the file size to something acceptable. Regardless of the solution picked, it’s definitely doable. The game would undeniably be a huge project, but it’s one that could definitely shine as one of the greatest flash games to this day. The game really is perfect for the flash platform, and I’m almost surprised the company didn’t launch a mini game flash version to build up some extra hype for the DS release. It’s creative, it’s the most intuitive game since Portal, and it’s amazingly casual and laid back, which is perfect for the flash industry.

The most impressive aspect of the game is that game developers have once again created something incredibly original. After thousands of clones of great games, another company has stepped forward, used some creativity, taken a risk, and is now reaping the rewards for their work on an original concept. The most inspiring thought I get from the above isthis, yes they developed the game for the DS, but it could just as easily been you or I developing this game for the DS. Creative ideas that have yet to be thought of are still out there; leave the tower defense games and physics clones for someone else, and embrace the importance of originality.

Interested in picking up Scribblenauts? Buy it here –

Importance of Music

I feel that the importance of game music is something that too many developers don’t think about enough. I often see game developers toss music into their games a the last minute, this always surprises me because often times the music doesn’t exactly fit the game all that well. The reason this strikes me is because it’s a horrible move; music can easily make or break a game. Music is not only something the player will hear throughout the entire game, but it’s something that helps set a mood and give personality to atmospheres and characters. It’s supposed to help create the world the player is being thrown into by complimenting the art, sharing emotions, and adding some depth. I may not be qualified to say how important music is in your flash games, but there’s definitely proof from those who are.

So you may be wondering, how can it be proved that high quality audio helps increase the quality of a game? Take a look at what Kane Minkus, managing partner of Somatone Interactive Audio, has to say,

“If you’ve ever thought that high quality audio doesn’t really increase the quality of your games, think again. Big Fish Games asked and the people have spoken! The 2008 awards for customers’ favorite games (http://games.bigfishgames.com/newsletters/jan06_2009.html) has been bestowed on the honored few. And lo and behold, here’s what we discovered!

Not only are we proud to declare that we produced the audio for the best game of all of 2008, Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, but SomaTone’s premium audio work is also found in all the #1 games in every category barring one! And in that one category, the 1st runner up was also our game.

We had a winning game in every category. It can’t be a coincidence. High quality, custom tailored audio does make a difference in games. We are always dedicated to delivering this quality with low cost, efficient systems to bring our clients the most value.“

Those results are no coincidence indeed, that’s a very nice accomplishment and there’s no doubt in my mind that high quality audio played a part in it. As I said, music really helps set a mood. If you’re a console gamer as well, you may have played a Final Fantasy game or two. Think back to those games, what stands out the most? Characters, towns, cinemas, and music. What do all of the above have? They all contain music. When you think of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7, there’s a very high chance that “One Winged Angel” comes to mind. When you think back to the final battle in Final Fantasy X, you’re probably thinking of how cool it was that they used metal music rather than a traditional video game track. When you think of Super Mario World, you’ll probably have the music stuck in your head the rest of the day and remember how happy it sounds. All of the above are very memorable features of all those games, perhaps the most memorable. This isn’t a coincidence, it’s proof that great music truly is part of what makes a great game.

So it’s been proven, music is in fact a huge part of your game, but how big is it? I don’t think anyone can necessarily put an exact answer in place, but a rough estimate is definitely doable. Let’s look at it this way, if you were to play a hit game, and expected there to be music (some people mute it from the start and don’t care), how would you feel about it suddenly having no sound? I personally would be rather turned away, no matter how great the game. I can’t stand playing a game without sound, it drives me up the walls because I can’t get into it nearly as much. Imagine playing Drakojan Skies Acolytes without any music; no explosions of ships, no pick up sounds for power ups, no bad ass intro music or boss music to help set the mood, just nothing. I don’t care how great that game is, it would suffer incredibly from a lack of music, as would any great game.

In the end, it really isn’t a complicated concept to grasp. Music can make a break a game just as much as poor programming or horrible art can. If you’re not sure where to find music for games, be sure to check out my detailed list of various sources. Developers shouldn’t think of music as something that needs to be added, but more something they can use to their advantage to boost the value of their game. It all comes down to this, music is a key part of our every day lives, just because people aren’t specifically just listening to music when playing your game, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get the luxury of listening to great music while doing so.

Becoming A Game Developer

As we’re all aware, or should be aware of, the path to becoming a game developer is not one that can be completed over night. Not only must you have certain mental abilities, but the skills that you must posses can not only exist, but must be refined. For example, I myself have a good eye for what elements in a game make the game more fun, and the elements that just make a game annoying. Despite my keen eye for this, I have a lot to learn, as all developers do. Certain activities should be done on a regular basis to refine the skills needed to be a successful developer, whether you’re a professional or just starting out. Playing games of all types on a regular basis is one of them.

It’s no mystery that playing games is something that all game developers should do. If you don’t play games that are successful, as well as unsuccessful, how can you possibly make a game that will come close to doing great itself? This may be common sense, but it goes a bit deeper. A common misconception floating around game developers and game testers is that when we play games, we’re just playing games. It’s not exactly like that, and if you think it is, I urge you to read on. When a developer or tester is playing games, they’re doing far more than laying back and enjoying some awesome games. As a developer, you must constantly analyze various aspects of games while playing them. Some of these include the length of the game, the fun factor, bugs, pacing, what’s annoying, difficulty, how easy is it to understand, and so on. Each of these aspects is just a main category as well, all can contain sub categories making the list larger than you would expect. It’s these game aspects that you need to pay attention to when playing a game.

Let’s take a deeper look into a specific game genre. Let’s go with any generic “Beat em up” game, Streets of rage, Captain Commando, Turtles in Time, take your pick. When thinking of these games, what important characteristics of the genre come to mind? First off, I would look into the move speed of the character. If the character is moving too slow, then those scrolling backgrounds better be damn pretty or the player is going to get bored fast. Second off, the amount of enemies the game throws at you per each area needs to be carefully thought out. If a game has too many enemies per small checkpoint, it may do one of two things. First off, it may be too hard. These games often aren’t too hard, that is, until one or more enemies decides to attack you at once like the little punks they usually are. Second off, it may make the pacing of the game drag, so it’s important that the number of enemies is too few rather than too many. Next, what makes this game stand out from the others? Almost every game out there has another game like it, if not many, so it’s important to have a few original features. In these games, that usually consisted of special moves (such as the cop car in streets of rage, or the different abilities for the 4 characters in Captain Commando). Although walking around and beating guys up is fun, the occasional destructible terrain such as boxes or phone booths is a very welcome addition. Looking back to difficulty, it’s important that there are enough items laying around to replenish your health (such as the infamous piece of meat on a place), but it’s also important not to have too many as this would decrease the difficulty dramatically. As far as level design goes, it’s important to keep the visuals new, and the way the level progresses interesting. For instance, most levels move left to right, the end resulting in a boss fight. It’s important that this isn’t the case in all levels. Elevators leading to new floors, holes in the floor to drop down into, getting on trains, hopping onto moving trucks, and many other forms of level navigation add to level design greatly and help mix things up. As you can see, I’ve gone into some pretty deep detail as to what should be examined in a “Beat em up” game. That said, there’s plenty more that could be examined; this is only a start, a nice start, but a start none the less.

Playing games doesn’t sound so fun now does it? Well it is, so don’t let the above get you down. Playing games as a developer is definitely hard work, but it’s one of the best activities you can do to get yourself to become a better game developer. In addition, a true game developer can analyze a game while enjoying it simultaneously. That said, if you’re a game developer in the works, or someone who’s just forgotten about how important it is to analyze games, make sure you really tear what makes a game what is apart next time you play.

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3

Becoming A Game Developer

There’s a lot of work needed in order to become a game developer. People often feel that if they have an artist who can animate, and a programmer who knows the language, that they’ve got a team ready to produce quality  games. In reality, those skills are just the tip of the iceberg. A team ready to produce games may be true, but nothing at all says those games are going to be of quality. It takes a lot more than knowing the coding language you’re using, or being an excellent artist; game design itself should be thought of as the third skill required along side programming and art.

I myself excel in my ability in game design. I admittedly lack in programming skills greatly in comparison to what I wish I knew, but I make up for that with my ability to both detect what makes a great game, and how to build one. I find it odd that most teams don’t feel they need a project manager of sorts, someone who understands how games work, what games are good, and what it takes to make them. The team doesn’t necessarily need someone dedicated specifically to this, but one of the artists or preferably programmers should have this skill.

The reason I give this position so much credit, other than the fact that it’s my strong point and I’m proud of it, is that it truly is a concept that I hope more teams embrace. We’ve all come to accept that average art won’t do, if you get higher quality art you’ll see your game value multiply by at least two-three times, if not significantly more. That being the artist’s job, we can look at the programmer now. The programmer is supposed to know what the game needs, then program it. They simply look at a set of instructions and bring the game to life. The last position, again in my opinion usually the secondary skill of the programmer, if not both members, is to know what it takes to make a great game. This however does not mean that the artist cannot have the mind set of a programmer and contain these skills as well, I simply imply that I believe them to be more common among programmers. They need to get over the hype of the game idea and analyze if the game will actually be quality fun; far too many games work as far as functionality, but when it comes to fun they’re simply a bore.

You may be wondering why I suggest that the programmer is the one who holds the magic of the third skill, the answer is simple. The programmer generally knows how the game works from the ground up. They must know how the ideas suggested will co-exist with ideas currently out there, and leave room for ideas to come. That being said, the programmer really shouldn’t be some guy reading an instruction manual on how to build the game, he should be deciding how the game itself is built. This can be done with a firm knowledge of programming, however it’s significantly easier if you possess the skill of understanding how games are built, as well as what makes them fun.

If you’ve already got these skills present within your team, you’re in great condition. If you lack these skills however, I highly suggest you look into partnering with somebody who has experience and understands the above concepts. They may seem like common sense at first, but it’s things like this that make the difference between the average games on the net and the big hits. I’ll continue on these thoughts with follow-up articles elaborating on how you can gain such skills yourself or refine what skills already exist. In the mean time, check out some other useful articles such as, The Importance of Plot and Game Inspiration, to help get yourself prepared for becoming a better game developer.

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3

Castle Crashing the Beard

Castle Crashing the Beard is an incredibly short game, but it offers a great amount of fun while it lasts. The game has fluid controls, great graphics, an addicting level up system, and an awesome boss that you’ll insist on seeing the death of once you start playing this great game. It is a bit on the hard side for the average casual gamer, but as a whole, it’s a great example of an awesome action flash game.

The game has a bit of an interesting back story, so we’ll look at that quickly. Tom Fulp, creator of Alien Hominid, and owner of Newgrounds, was working day and night on finishing Castle Crashers, which the characters of this game are based off of. As motivation to complete the game, he vowed to stop shaving his beard until his job was completed. As a result, Tom had a beast of a beard (not really, but in comparison to his normally shaved self, yeah, so we’ll go with it). This beard inspired his friends and co-workers to make a game joking of how his beard will grow beastly and destroy all.

The object of the game is to play as a Castle Crasher and destroy Tom’s beard before it destroys you. It’s a simple 1 on 1 boss battle, you vs the beard. You can attack at close range, or charge your attack if you have mp and shoot a semi long ranged attack. Each hit earns you experience points to level up your character, which gives you better attack, combos and a sweet new look. Although the boss AI follows a simple pattern as all classic arcade games did, many players may find the challenge a bit overwhelming as you must be a bit cautious about taking damage since your life is low.

The strongest point of Castle Crashing the Beard is the simplicity of it. You press one button on the start menu and are immediately in the middle of your one and only fight of the game. Aside from the jump in and play action element, many players will find the game strongly addicting as they not only try to beat the boss, but level up their character to the max level, win or lose. The controls are as simple as can be, and because of this instructions really aren’t needed. The movement is fluid, the speeds perfect and the action is fast paced, all very welcome attributes for any game.

In the end, Castle Crashing the Beard is a simple game that will take you between 3 minutes and an hour, but it’s enjoyable for what it is. It lacks any serious depth (although the engine could certainly be used for a longer game), and it is, as I mentioned, a bit on the hard side. In addition, there’s also a neat Easter egg for any oldschool gamers like myself out there, the ending credits screen is based off of the credits screen from Super Mario Bros 2 for the NES. That aside, it’s a fast paced arcade boss battle that will surely entertain you until you destroy the beard.