Roast Chicken?

Coding.

Got munchies.

24/7 grocery is closed for renovations -- liars!

Went to the gas station.

Got "roasted chicken" Lay's chips on a this-can't-be-good-but-it'll-be-interesting whim.

It turns out, they taste like Swiss Chalet's mash-potato gravy (not the Chalet Sauce)! Salty, but good.

I'm not sure the world should care.

TOJam: Games are posted

The Toronto Indie Game Jam games are available here.

Our game, "Horde!" is here. Currently, it's PC only, and you can't really do much except place factories to produce non-functional ladders. We have an updated version that adds some more game play, and Mac OSX support, but we need to package it.

I recommend trying Bubble Thing, as well. It's a really polished little ambient / abstract shooter game.

Whee!

A game in 96K: procedural generation

Wow! This great-looking game is just 96 kB (about 1/100th the size of a small 3d game).

So how do you fit a game that looks better than Quake 3 into 96 kB? You use procedural methods to generate all of the artwork! Instead of storing and compressing the graphics -- 3d models, textures, animations, you store the instructions for creating the graphics, and have the game synthesize them at load time. It's like storing the DNA, instead of the whole organism.

Some of the folks behind this game were part of the Farb-Rausch demo group, one of the most famous groups of the demoscene. Their most popular demo is the wonderful "fr-025 the popular demo".

They've released their previous generation toolset: .werkzeug. With it, you create 3d meshes, textures, and even complete demos by linking together so-called operators. Each one performs a simple function, with well-defined parameters. A nice UI innovation is that instead of connecting the operators with arrows, you simply stack them. This means that complicated graphs don't get cluttered with overlapping arrows.

I've been interested in procedural methods for a long time, but these guys, along with the creators of Spore are really taking things to a new level.

Games are using more and more content, which is increasingly expensive and time-consuming to produce. Procedural methods, if they allow sufficient artistic expression and control, could be a way to reduce these costs. They could also allow the creation of larger worlds, as in the classic game Elite, with its randomly generated star-systems. Of course excellence relies on attention to detail, which can't be automated (yet). Procedural synthesis could minimize drudge work, to allow designers to focus on truly important detail.

Tennis: No London Goodlife on May 19th

I won't be playing in the London Goodlife Fitness and Tennis Club Early Bird Open. My right wrist is still sore, and I hurt my left rotator-cuff during the TOJam. There's nothing like typing on a laptop for 25 hours, and sleeping on the couch, to encourage RSI.

The shoulder's a lot better than it was -- I can lift my arm again, and my wrist is no worse than it was during the last tournament. I probably won't play a tourny until June, and I probably won't be training until at least next week.

Jeez, I'm only 30 and the host is already failing. Host ... must survive ... until I can find ... replacement.

TOJam: alive

Well, so much for posting regular updates; we were just too busy!

The TOJam's over now, and it was a blast. The organizers did a great job -- it exceeded our expectations.

We managed to demo our game, but there's little gameplay. It's closer to an interactive toy at this point. That was the case for most of the games demoed, but there were some polished exceptions. I think we'll keep working on it, though. It has a lot of potential.

Once the games are up on the TOJam site, I'll post a link.

Here are some pictures taken by Nelson, one of the organizers:

Martin 'n me (well, the back of my head)
Early Horde
The Horde Storms the Citadel of Light

TOJam: Preparation

Well, the Toronto Indie Game Jam starts tonight at 6pm. I'm pretty excited although I'm not really sure what to expect. I've been loading my laptop up with tools, picking some books I want to bring, and some music to listen to.

I have high hopes for the event. Martin and I have been tossing around some game ideas that seem really fun, and only slightly impossible to finish.

At first, I was a put off by the tone of the TOJam site. It has a very slick marketing-to-gamers feel, but it seems to confuse smack-talking game players with game developers. In my experience, most professional developers are a pretty humble bunch.

There! I bit the hand that feeds. Now I'm officially indie, right? Anyhoo, the site has to cater to multiple audiences, not just the developers, I suppose.

To write this entry, I took a look at the site of the original Indie Game Jam. Hmmm. The idea we've been talking about looks like it could have fit that theme. Oh well, I'm only a handful of years late. Consider it incremental innovation.

I'm going to take a camera and I'll try to post some as-it-happens pictures and maybe even some screenshots.

Tennis: I'm ranked 2nd (lowest) in Ontario!

Success! In recognition of my first-round defeat last week, I'm now tied for #64 in Ontario, Class C. Of course, since #74 is the lowest rank, that puts me in 2nd last place. Considering that you get points just for showing up, the rankings are pretty useless until you get into the top 20-30.

The next tournament I'd like to play is the London Goodlife Fitness and Tennis Club Early Bird Open, on May 19th. I've been having some wrist pain, so we'll see. Too much tennis + keyboarding + moving the garage. Yeah, yeah. Not what you were thinking.

Entered Toronto Indie Game Jam

Alright! I just got my confirmation that I've succesfully registered for the Toronto Indie Game Jam. It should be a fun weekend!