I’ve been documenting this for quite sometime. I had a mini-intervention with Michael a few days ago, but it was brushed off with a smirk and a giggle. I feel this has grown into something bigger than Mike, bigger than us. I can only hope the internet will serve as Mike’s savior and purge him of whatever it is that’s on his hand that titillates him so.
On all these podcasts, reviews and critiques I keep hearing about how the co-op option in Galaxy is “girlfriend mode.” This may seem so at first, but it would appear that these people, many of them game critics, never pressed the A button while the cursor was over an enemy or over Mario himself. The A button can hold enemies in place for the other person to bop them on the head or what have you. Alternately, the 2nd player can be a playful (and sometimes maddening) type of nuisance during the game. By hitting “A” whilst hovering over Mario with the cursor, you can make him jump, and this will most often result in either Mario incurring damage, or falling into a black hole. This gets particularly interesting while switching off every death with a friend when trying one of the more challenging levels in Mario. Since the other player will be tempted to exact revenge for their un-sportsmanlike conduct, and the cycle continues… Call it immature, but there’s certainly much more to Galaxy co-op than just collecting and shooting star bits. [/rant]
When we discovered this (by accident) I asked frequent players of the game, and most, if not all, said they didn’t know about this option. So, this is more of a public service announcement than it is a tirade against Nintendo’s inability to explain all gameplay options in the manual, or the hasty judgements of the gaming media. Enjoy your “A” button Galactic Marioers.
Photoshopping of the beloved Shigeru Miyamoto and Reggie Fils-Aime atop their grand cake. Martha Stewart helped and was rumored to have a hand in the couple’s initial meeting.
How do you actually wake up, instead of waking up every 9-10 minutes to throw your arm at the over-sized snooze button of your oil-burning alarm clock? This is the answer, and of course it’s in the form of a robot. Damned robots. If DaVinci went polyphasic then maybe this is the way to do it.
While we’re off the subject of anything actually involving game development, or the gaming industry, I’ve decided to share a recipe, that also help you and I survive, just as Clocky hopefully will. I usually cook in large quantities which make for a good amount of leftovers that I can reheat whenever I want while I am at work. This is one of my old stand-bys that I learned from my very good friend, Shyam.
Red Curry Beans
1 can of black beans
1 bag of frozen stir fry vegetables (use fresh vegetables if you live on the edge)
1/4+ cup peanut oil (vegetable or any oil will work, but peanut tastes best)
1-3 Tbs red curry paste (personally i use Mae Ploy, it’s delicious)
3-5 cups of rice (i buy short-grain rice in bulk to save money, $20 for 25 lbs.)
Firstly, if you do have fresh vegetables, I advise you to use at least one or two tomatoes, along with an onion and a green pepper. If you just have the bag of frozen vegetables, that will work, however the final result of the bean curry won’t be as soupy, which will not penetrate the rice as much.
Chop, cut or throw your vegetables into the pan (onion first, then green pepper, then tomatoes) with a tablespoon or two of peanut oil and saute on medium. This isn’t low in fat, I use a lot of fat when I cook because it tastes better and works for this recipe in particular. Once the onions are translucent or the vegetables are nice and sauteed, add in 1 tablespoon of red curry paste, and mix with the remaining oil in the pan. This should dissolve and season all of the vegetables mildly. If you want it stronger this is the time to add more, tasting as you go.
After you’re happy with the amount of heat, keep the vegetables cooking, we want them cooked through pretty well so this will eventually turn into a thick chili-type consistency. Now thoroughly drain the black beans and add them to the pan. Next mix the beans and vegetables together and spead on a piece of bread, cracker or spoonful of rice to taste. If the spice isn’t up to snuff, you can add more red curry paste here.
I usually let this cook down on medium-low for a good bit, allowing the heat to breakdown the vegetables and the beans enough to become one substance. Store this in your fridge until you re-heat and serve on top of rice, or any carbohydrate you have around for a well balanced snack or meal. This also works really well for a tortilla chip dip.
Hi! I’m Greg
I’ve been playing games for a long time. I remember the introduction of the Prodigy internet service, the rise and fall of Sierra games, and a jaw-dropping incident with Pong at an uncle’s house. Today, I am studying graphic design at Iowa State University, with a heavy emphasis on game development. While ISU doesn’t offer a game-dev major, a few classes do help with networking like-minded individuals towards a common goal. Combine that with 3D modeling & animation classes, a background in english at the University of Iowa, and a pretty solid design education, all that seems to be missing is the programming. This blog isn’t about any of that though, at least not directly. Instead I will share some of the information and misinformation I’ve gathered over the last 4 or 5 years with all of you guys, and then once that’s over with, which will be soon, I’ll post documentation, process and maybe even some tutorials.
So here are some simple lessons that ring true for just about everyone trying to get into this industry at this age (college aged and younger) without much experience.
Make games, don’t play them
Sure, you wanna play games, and you should, but game development has nothing to do with high-scores or head-shots, and everything to do with a passion for creation.
Start small
Use flash, Torque game builder trial version, Multimedia Fusion or something like that to prototype your first simple game idea. Make checkers or breakout, you’ll learn a lot. If you want to break into the 3D realm, make a mod with the SDK of an existing engine, half-life unreal tournament 2004 and etc.
Sell-out
At least a little bit. You still have to make compromises about your ideas. If you don’t have to make compromises, then you’re either a rich programmer/artist and don’t need funding or you’ll never get your game past pre-alpha due to the scope being larger than SPORE and you not budging on any of your ideas with your team members .
Work like crazy
The harder the work, the more you will learn, the better you will be. This industry is not for the weak-willed and throws a ton of obstacles in your way of becoming part of it.
Focus on your craft, prepare for rejection
After a year or two, you shop your stuff around and nobody likes it, keep going. After 5 years, find a different craft, or a better way to do it.
Do it yourself
With nearly all the jobs in the land requiring 2-3 years of experience with a AAA release under your belt, it seems like you’re staring down the business end of a catch-22. And you are. However by working on your own portfolio, in small projects and in unfunded teams, you can overcome this gap by investing your time into all your failures. Or better yet, go indy!
Fail first
Failures are a necessary and important part of learning how to develop, especially with such a technical art form, skills are constantly improving, as is software and tools. Learning how to structure a project, gauge feasibility and beyond, are all huge parts of a project’s success, and by getting them wrong without anyone footing the bill for it, you’ll do your career and your would-be publishers all a favor.
