Posts Tagged ‘game developer’
October 15th, 2009 | 
Author: The damage that the recent economic slump had inflicted was tumultuous and wide spread. Taking along every industry in its wake, this market crash is considered the worst of its kinds after the Great Depression, the effects of which are still around for us to experience. Cost cutting had become the order of the day for every kind of company, big and small. Even the gaming industry, which is one of the fastest growing industries in the present day, suffered at the hands of the economic breakdown. But not the entire gaming segment though, because flash game development seemed to be totally undaunted by the whole recession affair. And there’s a very good reason why flash game developing companies have made it across where all other major game developers have fallen under the weight of the problem.
A flash game developer, is able to create quite rich, interactive and advanced games that can very well manage to challenge other high-end PC games – with a significant difference. The revolutionary design software and its amazing tools allow flash designers to create graphically rich animation at pretty low costs. And the most interesting part of flash development is that the animation and videos created in flash are not at all heavy, so you can load them up pretty fast and run them easily on non-high PC configurations. All you need is a Flash Player to run the game. Providing affordable solutions to website owners as well as game developers, flash has earned its spot as an extremely effective tool that can trigger business growth if you possess creativity and conceptual skills.
Flash serves its purpose best in the animation and games development arena, allowing designers the power to create immensely interactive graphics and animation. Flash animation and games are a real hit with website visitors and game lovers. That’s because they are quite light and load very easily on all browsers. Besides they easily engage the interest of people with their innovative concepts that can be customized according to one’s business idea. So where every other gaming company is recovering from the recent economic onslaught flash game developers are raking in the dough comfortably.
This article is written by a technical writer, working at SynapseIndia(Flash game developer), A flash game development company in India.
Article Source: Flash Game Development – Against All Odds
Every website expounds its distinctiveness in one or another to get hold over the visitors. Even insipid websites, which do not look good, have their own prominence – there is always a purpose behind any online presentation. These days the biggest challenge before the website creators is to keep the users engaged. In order to achieve that, a website has to be pretty interactive. A visitor should get at least one reason to hook on to a webpage for more than one minute. It is not easier as such, when you have millions of websites competing among themselves. Some of the innovative techniques to keep visitors engaged are viral advertisement, consistent flow of quality content, and prominent use of animation. One such decisive tool is flash game development, where these highly interactive games are used to engage the visitors.
It is quite a challenge to create flash games because you have to maintain a high graphics quality without compromising on interactivity. A flash game developer should be highly skilled and creative to conjure up appealing storylines for games. Like innumerable popular online games, these games should have many stages and a player should face – certain amount of challenge. If we observe the entire digital gaming scenario, flash games do score over game consoles, as you do not need a Playstation to go gaming. Here you need an Internet connection, Flash Player and a Web browser.
These flash games can be easily installed in PDAs or other interactive mobile handsets. Hence, there is as huge scope for animation and games development. Flash has emerged as an easy option for developers as it can easily hoard graphics, video and audio. On the other hand, developers can easily place rich content on the websites through browsers. Flash has been quite competent in order to deliver best results with broadband over dial-up connections. Flash also comes handy as its own ActionScript is duly based upon JavaScript. To know more about the flash software, you can do an online research.
This article is written by a technical writer, working at SynapseIndia(Flash game developer), A flash game development company in India.
Article Source: Flash In Game Development: Rapid Expansion
The world of gaming entices everyone. And, no matter how old or young you are, there are games, which do appeal to people of all age groups. An ideal simulated environment, roaring sound and vivid graphics – gaming has grown leaps and bounds in the last few years due to the budding popularity of online gaming segment. All the credit goes to developers, who always look out for fresh and ground-breaking ways to create games, which end up creating that desired impression with the help of their mind-boggling graphics. In the recent past, gaming industry experienced sudden thrills due to the advent of Flash software.
This well designed software has so many unique features, which make it a perfect development tool in gaming. Thus, flash game development has already taken a new shape, while its demand has been soaring with each passing day among gamers and developers, alike. In fact, every month developers around the world develop flash based games.
Flash as software offers all the latest tools and functionalities to create an intuitive environment in games. Hence, things not only become easier for a flash game developer, but he does get more options – in terms of exploring new avenues and challenges. Overall, flash based games do add a lot to your website by enhancing its traffic. This is the reason why, people do look up at flash as a culmination of software tools and functionalities, which can be better used as another marketing tool to promote a website. Obviously, amidst such a stiff competition, you need to create a highly interactive and interesting website, which can be conceptualized and developed around flash software – in the easiest possible way. Coming to the point straightway, you can get more results by adding flash based games in your website.
Many leading companies have been offering animation and games development solutions with the help of flash. With right tools and technologies, you can do justice to your creative work. Even if you have a brilliant storyline, but that would not work, until you compliment your creation with the right blend of music and sound FX – at the same time, graphics have to be really good. These are just the early days in flash development; we can expect some striking results in the near future.
This article is written by a technical writer, working at SynapseIndia(Flash game developer), A flash game development company in India.
Article Source: Flash in Gaming: Re-inventing Options in Abundance
Don’t kid yourself; you’re not going to be the first choice of a major game developer when you first start applying for video game tester jobs. However, if you follow the few simple tips below, you most assuredly won’t be the last!
- Don’t quit! This may seem obvious to you, but it’s the main reason why most starting game testers don’t make it. They apply for their first video game tester job and are rejected, leading them to believe they don’t have what it takes to be a game tester. This is simply untrue. Just because you’ve been denied once, twice, 3 times, 4 times, or more it doesn’t mean you can’t hack it as a tester — it just means the developer needs someone more experienced for the job.
- Don’t be afraid to test games for free. Testing video games for free, although hard to stomach, is a great way to get your foot in the door. Developers won’t have to worry about wasting money on another “newbie” tester because you’ll be testing for free. If you do a good job, not only do you have a potential employer, but you’ll have a great reference for future video game tester jobs.
- You’re not going to find testing jobs in the local newspaper, so stop looking! Seriously, testing jobs are not going to find you, so stop pretending that they will. You won’t find them by asking your best friend, you won’t find them by reading an ad, and you won’t find them by reading the classifieds section of the newspaper — it’s just not that easy. Yes, testing jobs are out there, but they aren’t being advertised on a large scale basis. Game developers know that professional testers will come to them; not the other way around. That being said, get yourself out there and head directly to the companies!
- It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. This couldn’t not be more true when it comes to video game testing. Knowing more people (in the video game industry) ultimately means more testing jobs for you in the long run. Networking with others will not only make it easier to find available testing jobs, but you’ll have more references to offer future employers, you’ll get insider information on the newest gaming developments, and you’ll even learn about long-term positions that have opened up with some of the most powerful game developers in the world. In short, you’ll be way ahead of the curve with a network of reliable contacts.
Is this all you need to know about professional video game testing? Of course not — But, with these 4 tips, the challenge of landing video game tester jobs should be drastically easier!
Do you think you’ve got what it takes to be a video game tester? Are you ready to test games and not just play them? If you honestly think you’re ready, visit http://Gamer-Testing-Ground.com and find out how you can get started testing video games today!
Article Source: Paid Video Game Tester Jobs – 4 Ways to Get a Game Testing Job Fast
At the Game Developer’s Conference in 2007, Bleszinski delivered a speech to a packed house regarding the background of the original Gears of War and how it came to be. Entitled “Designing Gears of War: Iteration Wins,” Bleszinski states that unlike most other game developers, he doesn’t always know what the initial idea behind the game is heading early on. “I have a couple ideas and I kind of go with it and feel things out”.
“It not always one of those things that you can plan out in excruciating detail in a design document. I think that you kind of feel through it in a sandbox period,” stated Bleszinski. “At the same time, it’s important to recognize as a designer you need to have some sort of an idea where you are going… you need to have a system of checks and balances.”
Gears of War ultimately was an extensive exercise in failed ideas where going back to the drawing board, collaborating as a group, and intelligently compromising lead to a stronger product.
The idea behind Gears initially had the game as another FPS designed to show off the Unreal Engine 3.0; in fact, many saw demo footage at E3 2005 of a supposed Unreal 3 that would go on to become Gears of War. The concept name was Unreal Warfare, but over time, the Epic team began to nix the idea of yet another FPS. He showed off early concept art of Cog soldiers and the prototypical Geists, which were early versions of the Locust, until Epic found out a year later that Nintendo was making a game with the main character called Geist. The Geists then became Worms, which was named since the Locust dig tunnels. Finally, members of the team conceived the name Locust, as it tied in well with both insects and the idea of plagues.
Gears of War’s cover system, an integral component in the title’s gameplay, owes much of its inspiration to Namco’s oft overlooked third person action game kill.switch, which was released in 2003 and also relies heavily on a similar cover system. Another inspiration for Gears of War was revealed to be Capcom’s survival horror opus Resident Evil 4, mainly due to its reliance on offset camera angles that fail to obscure the action.
It was at this point that the idea of iteration came through, as he went through the many ideas in Gears that were ultimately shot down. At one point, the team had considered allowing the Cogs to loot corpses in the field and spend the earnings on upgradeable weapons. The was ultimately nixed for taking too much away from the action elements of the game. The team had also considered a morale meter, but killed that idea after realizing that the conditions for unleashing miserable teammates would be too finicky for what they desired, and that it would be unrewarding for the player. Finally, Epic had considered including an orders system, which partially made it into the final product, but feels significantly less like Full Spectrum Warrior than the original idea suggested.
Because Bleszinski presented Gears as a highly successful game built upon experience learned through mistakes, he then detailed which elements of the game rose from the ashes to become the final product. The team unanimously agreed that they wanted a slower-paced shooter than Unreal that was built upon trade-offs (L-trigger lends more precise targeting, but at the cost of battlefield visibility), no space aliens, a world that combined cutting-edge technology with contemporary machinery, and the embracing of certain clichés while shedding others. Or as Bleszinski said, “We wanted a badass antihero and a wise-cracking sidekick, but no cigar-chomping characters.”
After outlining some of the tools of the trade, including video capture software, he then detailed the development philosophy behind the game. As a group of people trained to look at every attribute and flaw of a game, Bleszinski confessed that no developers can truly play a game through the fresh eyes of a consumer. As a result, the team wanted to set out to make a game that they would find fun. The objectives behind Gears entailed creating both a vehicle for Unreal Engine 3 and a solid game with minimal distracting HUD, evenly paced checkpoints, and a cinematic eye, while keeping cutscenes short enough to keep the player immersed.
Bleszinski then described his own personal struggles as a lead designer. While MTV dramatized the process in its documentary on the making of Gears, it wasn’t nearly so conflicted in real life. He recommended to “always be selling” ideas and to be a crazy visionary. Designers should pick their battles, he said, and allow each member of the team to state their case on why a certain gameplay feature should stay in the game. It’s up to designers to maintain a mutual respect with the company leadership, and while staying persistent, he emphasized that compromise can create successful results for all parties.
After emphasizing the ways that failures led to success and the process of dealing with Epic’s hierarchy, Bleszinski then went into detail regarding the most interesting elements of Gears: how the gameplay mechanics came to be. As he pulled up a slide called “The Halo Delta,” he described how Gears would have to find a way to distinguish itself from Bungie’s blockbuster, but remain familiar to shooter fans. He specified button layout, and how it made a difference in the process. The Epic team wanted to make reloading an act that would be more than hitting X, so they implemented the active reload as a minigame. They also wanted weapon swapping to be a slowed-down process to match the slowed-down nature of the game, so they changed the button to the D-pad instead of Halo’s Y button function. Ultimately, they couldn’t figure out what to do with the Y button until a member of the team said, “hey, let’s use the Y button to look around at cool shit in the environment!”
Bleszinski emphasized the idea of consolidating functions to the A button. Because that button holds so many functions in Gears, it became crucial for the dev team to focus on making everything as context-sensitive as possible. As a result of both the multiple revisions and the ways that the Gears team strived to avoid being too much like other games on the market, functions seen in other games, such as crouching (too stealthy) and jumping (no bunny hopping), were nixed.
The camera, and its functions, were also broken down. Recall that Gears was an FPS until the team killed that idea; they decided to show off the Unreal Engine in a new light, while showing both the playable character, and environmental details. Two things were central to the reworked Gears camera: positioning and “roadie run.” In regard to position, Marcus never blocks the camera. Also, because the camera is fixed in a certain fashion, he will never run toward the camera, since the gun is always trained on creatures, and not the player.
As for the “roadie run,” Bleszinski cites the way that roadies at rock concerts run across the stage to fix something. It was the idea central to the way that the camera would work. It would come at the cost of not being able to shoot, and it only moves the player 1.2 times faster than moving normally, but because of the wobbling camera, it gives the illusion of speed, while accentuating a sense of danger and urgency. It was an idea that moved forward after the team rejected the typical FPS control arrangement.
The next section dealt with weaponry. Gears of War boasts familiar weaponry, but with new twists on those gaming conventions. Bleszinski cites the finale of Rambo III as the inspiration for the torque bow. It started out as a wrist-mounted weapon with the player detonating it. However, given the amount of animation required for the weapon, the game would have to lose the Berserker in order to make a wrist-mounted torque bow fit into the game. Because it was easier to animate as a crossbow with automated detonation, the second iteration of the weapon made it into the final game. Bleszinski also cited the combination of sound effects and the bolo-styled design of the grenades as a means of re-creating the game’s weapons as something both familiar and new. Because Boomer Locusts say “boom” or teammates will shout “grenade,” players are always aware of the sense of danger within the environment. Plus, the grenades are easier to see, because the bolo design telegraphs their movements.
Gears’ cover system, which lent to the buzz phrase “stop and pop,” also got a close examination. Bleszinski emphasized creating areas in which the player knows that an object can be used for shelter, and making cover both essential and fun. The team evaluated competing cover systems, and decided that using A for cover was more ideal than a stick-based cover, because it put the player in a state in which they could concentrate on firing instead of toggling their state of cover. Throughout the process of creating Gears and its cover mechanic, the Epic team found that the game ultimately resembled the 80s classic Bionic Commando. While Capcom’s old-school action platformer involved a 2D character using an extendable device to platform upwards, Gears, and its use of cover-hopping, essentially sends players platforming through the map.
Finally, Bleszinski discussed the iterations in Gears’ multiplayer features. While the game started out with the typical circular maps found in Unreal Tournament and Counter-Strike, the team ultimately killed that idea and moved toward a detailed battlefront that played off of the field of view. The Gridlock map was touted as one of the prime examples of how the team played with new map designs. Bleszinski revealed that “I” and “H”-shaped map formations were key to keeping combat suited to the confines of Gears’ gameplay mechanics. He also cited the ideas of resurrection and execution as key to the struggle within the game. The sniper climax of Full Metal Jacket inspired the resurrection function in multiplayer, as a sniper could lure other players out to death as they attempted to rescue a wounded player. Also, execution set up the same “risk versus reward” concept that is at the core of Gears’ camera and combat mechanics.
Travis Sutherland is a web site writer and designer for the last ten years. For more information on your favorite games, and to find people to play with, make sure to check out Gamer Handles, a website specializing in multiplayer games of the past and the present.
Article Source: The Background to the Gears of War Franchise
With the penetration of Information Technology in every aspect of our lives, personal computers, mobiles phones and other PDAs are widely used for entertainment purposes. Flash games are in high demand as these games are simple yet interactive. Flash by Adobe is a software that provides a platform for flash game developers that enables them to provide a combination of powerful graphics and sound to interest, engage and sometimes mesmerize game lovers. Games are a very popular and common mode of entertainment since decades. Today, numerous flash games are developed both for the web as well as for mobile phones.
Flash games are becoming more popular day by day with the increasing availability and easy access to online flash games. With the higher demand of flash games these days, the need for flash game development is also rising. Flash game development is now becoming a full fledged professional activity rather than a part time endeavor for flash enthusiasts. Although free Flash games are available online, there is still an increasing need for flash game development to create new and more challenging games. Having a flash game developed could be a good idea because these games are quite affordable to build and can generate repeat business as playing these games is very addictive.
Flash game development is not a piece of cake at it might appear at first. It is like any other professional activity that requires discipline, patience and consistent efforts along with some creativity and skill. Proper understanding of the psychology of the players is essential while building the concept of the game. And it is the understanding of this concept that results in effective game design and development.
Career in the field of Flash game development could be very interesting. If a person has passion for gaming, working as a flash game developer could be quite effortless. The opportunities in this field are higher than ever before as the game market is expanding and reaching new heights. It is also necessary to keep up with the technology and make the game compatible with different devices to reach the peak of popularity.
Akanksha Lal is a technical writer, working at Synapse India , a software and web development company in India. This is an informative article about the need of Flash game development and flash game development as a business option as well as a career option.
Article Source: Flash as a career for developers
Thinking About Getting A Video Game Tester Job?
There are some important things you need to know about video game tester jobs before you consider having one. A game tester works hard and the work isn’t easy, but you didn’t click the link of this article to get discouraged, but because you love games and want to make it your job, right?
If you’re answer to this question is yes, then this line of work could be for you.
If you want to get ahead at game companies then becoming a game tester is a great way to do that. This job can give you the opportunity to get another job in the industry, like a game programmer or designer.
Testing games doesn’t require you to go through a long education, but if you consider to upgrade that job you should study.
What is video game testing about?
I am sure you have heard of testing beta games or maybe you have even participated at one already. If you haven’t done it yet, I would really recommend that you do, because this will give you the opportunity to create a little understanding of what a game tester does every day.
The difference with beta testing and having an actual testing job for a game developer is that with beta testing games you do this from home in your own time where you often receive the full version of the game for free or reduced price, while a tester job often requires you to go to work every day.
Sometimes game tester jobs can be done at home, but usually only part-time.
Becoming a video game tester is not for everybody. For game developers it is more likely they will choose the ones with affinity for multiple consoles and operating systems, but this doesn’t automatically mean they will choose people with less experience.
Sometimes it can be just about how good you are at finding errors. In the end, this is what beta testing is all about; find and report bugs in the game so they can be fixed.
What more do I need?
Make sure you are able to control your emotions, because sometimes the job can drain you of your patience. Imagine having to reboot the system over and over again, because a defect in the game is requiring the system to reboot.
If you don’t love gaming, you won’t last that long. Only your passion for games will make it absolutely worth your time.
Some advice before you start out: Make sure you are able to write with quality and a lot of detail. I can imagine that a lot of young people are very interested in this job, but if you cannot deliver a good report and explain your findings, this job isn’t for you.
I have done a lot of research concerning video game tester jobs. Learn how to become a video game tester. Make sure you are prepared before applying for one.
Greetings,
Ramesh Klinkert
Hi all. My name is Ramesh Klinkert and I am a certified Life Success Consultant and business partner of Bob Proctor from the hit film ‘The Secret’. I dedicated my life to help others change their life in many ways!
The Goal Achieving Community (GAC) – http://www.rameshklinkert.com
Article Source: Video Game Testing – How to Get a Video Game Tester Job
No matter how creative a game developer you may seem to be, there will always be a time when you will suffer from brain drain and the end result would be a lousy game made out boredom thus it begets the same.
Well let’s just say an idea popped out but it still doesn’t look exciting at all. Fret not because in this article we will discuss a few creative ideas that may yet, let you create the next big game of the year.
1. Humor Injection- making your game funny will definitely pave the way for a well accepted and a relaxed gaming atmosphere, as many would say boredom may seem to be an illness, then the cure will come from laughter and infusing funny characters and images with a dash of funny images too may get your players laughing and gaming addictively. Thus injecting humorous stuff into your game may spell the ultimate success you have been searching for.
2. Never be afraid to explore and go to the extreme, think out of the box once in awhile, get out of your comfort zone and let out your wild side and make the game your stage for creativity. It is not impossible for you to integrate this utter creativity of yours into the game no matter how irrational it may seem at first. Remember we wouldn’t have the coolest gadgets and the most creative things if it wasn’t due to this free form thinking. Experiment and innovate, take the risk as you can always fall back to the standard stuff whenever you feel like it anyway.
3. Well they say some dreams are more likely the impossible things that stay in our thoughts, super power scenarios, horrific monster chase, or a hilarious action scene. You can turn your dream into reality by infusing them into your game, or give it a twist to divert them into a special game event , that way it will make the game more addicting and would give your players a unique gaming experience they never had before.
4. Imitate Nature – Be inspired with the natural wonders, like water evaporating from the ocean turning into rain or storm, eagles flying ferociously over a food target, or be amazed by the strength of the ants as they can lift objects many times heavier than their own body weight , these sorts of everyday facts that can be used to influence your game and with a little creativity you may probably create character with such exaggerated natural capability like an alien character that can vapor into gas form and transform back into a liquid mercury or maybe something toxic, I guess you get what I mean.
5. There are a lot of games that have used historic images and scenes already but it would never fail if you can use it again but this time with a twist into something odd and extraordinary. You can turn historical bits and pieces, format the impossible as part of your game plot that way your players will be astonished.
6. Set off on a Metaphor Bliss. Metaphors are information in which terms are used to refer to things that it doesn’t exactly signify. It only proposes a likeness. If you may keenly observe at the designs of some of the vehicles used in alien strategy games and even mmorpg and then take a glance at some of the apparatus you have in your workshop, you’ll definitely notice a similarity among the two. You can adapt the same in your video games to create really unique images and circumstances.
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Article Source: Tips For Getting New Ideas For Video Games
Creating a game that thousands or millions of people get to enjoy is something that can be considered a form of art. Getting ideas on how to make those games isn’t always easy though or when you get the ideas, you always think that they could be better and more engaging. Here are some tips on finding new ideas for your video games.
1. Use humor in your games. By using humor, you can transform even the most boring subjects into something that players will enjoy. Make the players laugh when they play your games and your success is insured. Use funny images, jokes, characters that are goofy, and the players will consider the game to be fun.
2. Think outside the box, don’t go only on the beaten path. People learn to think in an associative manner, so this should be incorporated in your video game. One action and one train of thought should provoke the player to think at something else that can be the solution of the problem ahead of them. Be as creative as you want with your video games. Be unconventional, be wild and the game that will turn out will be a pleasure to play. Whenever appropriate, get the logic back into the game.
3. Put your own dreams into the game you’re creating. Make game scenarios out of your own wishes. Or, if you had a nightmare recently, consider implementing it into the game, with as many gory details as possible. Had a dream that seemed stupid? Make it something fun in the game (or a bonus level). Taking a dream and making it as part of a game can produce great results as far as the gameplay is concerned. If you remember your dreams, write them down in a journal and you never know when you’ll have the chance of using them.
4. Take examples from the nature. There are a lot of weird things in the nature, like insects and plants with weird designs or behaviors. Think of germs, such small things and yet so capable of provoking destruction or taking down herds of elephants. Incorporating some of this crazy stuff in your video games can take you on a wonderful path. Don’t just copy nature though. Use your own imagination and twist those examples into something else.
5. Learn more about the history of the world and see if there is something you can use. Alternatively, use your own history and embarrassing moments and see what you can put inside your game. Go to blogs and search for bizarre stuff that happened. If you can use that stuff in your game to make it better, then that’s great.
6. Use plenty of metaphors in your game scenarios. They suggest similarities to players. By taking real world objects, you can modify them to look like other things but still suggest something of their origins.
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Article Source: How To Find New Ideas If You’re A Game Developer
Currently the most popular free online games on the Internet consist of 2d games created in Adobe Flash. Popular with many free game portals, these games are often fun but can seem primitive compared to the complexity and potential of browser based 3d games. The tools available for you to develop games inside a browser consist of a lot of options but I will focus on 3 major software packages. As a professional game developer, I will outline some of the choices developers have available to them to create games that work inside a web browser and a brief overall history.
Browser based 3d gaming is an old concept first popularized with Adobe Shockwave which first materialized in 1995. Originally called Macromedia Shockwave, it was the first and most successful multimedia player format until Macromedia Flash (now known as Adobe Flash) came onto the scene. In the beginning Shockwave was created for making a wide variety of online media content but today has come to mainly focus on online games and their development. There is a difference between Flash and Shockwave development that is important to note. Flash files are typically faster to load and only consist of 2d graphics. Shockwave files are a more versatile development environment which allow greater complexity, more detailed animation hierarchies and more in depth overall interactivity. Shockwave is such a versatile tool that often it is disregarded as a tool to develop solely web content. A little known fact is some of the retail games I have personally worked on used Shockwave to create entire full length PC games such as CSI 2: Dark Motives and CSI: Miami.
Part of the appeal of Director for an authoring tool for game development is the wide install base it enjoys in mature markets such as North America and Europe. Adobe has given the number of Shockwave ready Internet-enabled PCs at 60%. Over 480 million Internet-enabled PC’s have installed the Shockwave software making ease of access for Shockwave games a great benefit for developers. Also the ability for developers to create external plug-ins called “Xtra’s” opened the door for greater flexibility in development. Combined with the existing years of documentation and tutorials out there, Adobe Shockwave is a great option for game developers. The downside to Adobe Shockwave is the outdated networking support and lack of certain basic graphical elements such as 2nd UV coordinates and CBV coloring.
New to the 3d browser based game stage is the product known as Unity. Unity features a much richer tool set solely focused on creating interactive games. The graphical engine integrated is leaps and bounds above the quality found in Adobe Shockwave player. Unity boasts multi-platform capability which means it can be used to create products for Windows, Macintosh, Wii,Web-browsers or Iphone. Unity’s decision to focus on creating a versatile game authoring tool is clearly evident by its superior proprietary tool sets for navigation and placement of game objects. The terrain tool set included with Unity is almost reason alone to justify the purchase price, as you are given the option of paint brushes to sculpt out realistic landscapes, blend life-like textures and generate lightmaps to enhance realism. As a games artist, I know that a lot of time is spent creating these type of landscapes and this is a huge time saver.
The ability for developers to create products that can be simultaneously ported to Wii and iPhones make Unity an extremely powerful tool. This maximizes the return on time invested with multiple products. Unfortunately until the release of Unity 2.5 which has been under development for almost a year, developers would be forced to work in a Mac only environments which is not usually what small developers use.
Another authoring tool available similar to Unity is Stone Trip’s Shiva. This tool is a graphical user interface tool and can also create products for Windows, Macintosh, Web-browsers or iPhone but not the Wii easily. In fact almost all of the same features offered by Unity are matched by Shiva including that exceptional terrain editor. A free version is available for anyone to try out which is also a nice feature for cash strapped independent developers. This free version is limited only in that you cannot publish the final version but gives anyone the ability to try before they buy. The only downside I can see to this great product is the format competition it currently is up against. Of course this obstacle can be overcome with the right products developed or a great title released.
With a bit of patience and doing the appropriate research, independent game developers have more choice now than previously in creating 3d browser games. These are not all of the available options but just three of the more interesting ones I have come across.
Derek Young co-owns Switchin.net – a games portal which receives 1.7 million unique visitors a month. With over 5 years of professional game development experience he can always point you towards some good 3d games
Article Source: Creating 3d Games In A Browser
Capturing a larger audience is the goal of any game developer and they can spend weeks or months developing the game but often fail to include localization of the game. Major game portals recognize the importance of making their web sites more accessible so they often have multiple language settings and this is something game developers should learn from from. Web games often rely on word of mouth distribution so why not increase your chances of success by localizing the game to reach a broader international audience.
Recognizing the importance of this extra step of work that could help increase your web games international appeal is something many game developers should take to heart. If you plan properly for this step ahead of time, it is a fairly inexpensive and easy step to add to any game you develop. Localization can seem like a daunting task but I will outline some helpful tips for any game developer to easily add this feature and hopefully increase their international player base.
Upon visiting some of the more prominent game portals you will notice you usually have a language setting that you can set the language of the web page. Unfortunately many of the games they offer do not allow this same choice once you are actually playing the game which could be potentially a turn off for any prospective gamers. Frustrating the player by not having something as simple as menu text or buttons is something that should be avoided at all costs.
Why would this extra work be important if you can’t even speak or write the language you are localizing the game? I will break this down into two parts. One part is understanding the importance of potential new users from emerging gamer markets such as Latin America and European countries such as Poland. The other part is realizing it is unrealistic to do the localization yourself but rather how to inexpensively outsource the localization work to companies that specialize in those areas.
The importance of the Latin American market for example is immense. Some statistics just for South America (not including Mexico) puts the connected Internet uses at over 104 million users or a 27.1% penetration rate vs their total population rate. Of these Internet users, only 12.3 million users have broadband connections which is a 3.3% penetration rate vs their total connected user base. Another encouraging number is the predicted growth of Mexico’s Internet population is set to hit almost 40 million users by 2011(Via Emarketer.com).
What we can learn from this is there is a huge Internet ready population just south of North America and if you can develop compact and interesting web games that are translated into these languages your chances of your web games achieving success increases greatly.
Recently Sony has made huge strides in order to capitalize on the potential market for their hardware and games. Split into three phases they aim to capitalize on the appetite of gamers eager to play games localized and marketed towards them. It is a safe bet that if a large company like Sony plans to address this audience, you as an smaller game developer, should take notice as well.
So as a web game developer you understand the importance and potential of this market but where do you start? You might not have the capital to spend thousands of dollars on this aspect of your game development or the time to invest. The good news is if you plan accordingly you can do a localization of one language of your game for around 20-80 dollars.
The first part of doing this is to make sure before hand all the important text information of your game is accessible in one file that you can easily paste into an email or text file. Avoid duplicates and shorten up any instructional text to avoid any unnecessary text as most localization services charge per word. Only include the most important and integral parts of the game instructions or menus in this file. One thing to also avoid doing is putting any text directly in the 2d button art or menus as you won’t be able to change that in a localization pass. Instead, make a blank button and overlay 2d programmable text over the buttons.
Then take the text you have extracted from your game and use an inexpensive but quality translation website such as TranslationBooth.com. You have the option to save more money by not using the most expensive option available and they do a great job. Once you have prepared your game in this format, it makes it fairly simple to reuse in any future game projects you develop so it is definitely worth the investment.
Hopefully this has given any game developers creating their own games some insight on the importance and relative ease of localization if properly planned for before hand. It is important not to be intimidated with this aspect of game development. Remember the more accessible your game is the better chance it has of being the next big thing on the Internet!
Derek Young co-owns Switchin.net – a games portal which receives 1.7 million unique visitors a month. With over 5 years of professional game development experience he can always point you towards some good 3d games
Article Source: Making Games With International Appeal – The Importance of Localization
Every child has a dream of becoming somebody awe inspiring someday. Some would want to grow up to become a lawyer. Some would want to become a doctor. They would say: “I want to become a doctor so that I could cure sick people!” For boys, I guess what tops on this “when I grow up list” is to become an astronaut: everyone seems to have undergone the astronaut phase. (Case in point: Toy Story where Buzz Aldrin replaced the cowboy toy) Some poor souls want to become lawyers. (only heaven knows for what reason!) A few noble ones would want to become teachers– “So that we could mould the minds of the future!” (Pretty mature reason for a child.) For girls, the most favored profession is: “I want to be a famous actress or a fashion model!” It figures. Most of them are vain. Hehe
But as far back as I could remember, all I ever wanted was to be involved in games. I love games. I love the feel of being transported to a different world. I am perpetually amazed how a game could make you forget the time and make you forget a problem. Do you have a problem with your love life? Play counterstrike! Imagine that the evil and vile love of your life face on a terrorist and shoot it with a machine gun. Exterminate! Obliterate! Oops I am sorry. I am getting out of line here. Anyway, I have been envious of professional game players. They go from one tournament to another and earning money while playing computer games. Then they get to win really cool prizes like a top of the line PC or the latest release mobile phone. Talk about lucky people.
I have mentioned that I love playing games. Unfortunately, games do not like me. I suck at playing games. No matter how long I have played at a game, once I reached a point where I know the basics, I do not seem to improve. My friends almost always kick my ass in whatever games we play. In Defense of the Ancients (a popular game mode in Warcraft III), my friends would make it a tradition to hunt my character for I am an easy kill. They would say: “Hey guys! Check out the free 200 gold here!” and they would just laugh.
I know then that if I can’t be a gamer I would be a game developer. Blessed with an eye for details and syntax construction, I studied IT in college. Flash has been my favorite software and pretty soon, I began developing flash games for Bratz games. After graduation, I was formally taken by the company that makes Bratz games and I try to update the Bratz games site. I try to make Bratz games fun and simple to play and pretty soon positive comments flow my way. My little nephews and nieces love playing Bratz games and I found great satisfaction in my work every time I see them smile.
Lea Smith is a bratz dolls enthusiast and she loves to play various Bratz Games . She is also the webmaster of www.bratzgames.biz wherein you can find tons of great online flash games to play.
Article Source: Tales of a Bratz Game Developer
The basic aspect of ideal adventure games lies in their capability to entertain the user to another level of entertainment. The games that are available on large number of websites involved in the process of providing online games, are capable of providing entertainment, which is faceted with hallowed vibes. However, this is only possible when the creation of adventure games gets managed in a manner which handles all the feasible aspects of a perfect adventure game.
The primary regard for a game developer is the gamer, and, therefore, the preferences of the gamer should be known to the developers. The reason is quite simple and one will find sense in the process of knowing the desires of the gamer when a game that is made keeping these preferences, turns out to be the most played game on a website.
The next consideration is the simplicity of the game being made. A game, even if it has a good story along with advanced features will not be a preferable one, if the process of playing it turns out to be complex. One thing, that should be avoided and perhaps, this should the most important concern for game creators, is that the gamer should not have to understand or learn the features of the game in the form of being able to handle complex controls or reading a long and boring ‘How to Play’ game page or having to understand a complicated user interface with confusing icons and no help buttons.
Music is another important aspect of ideal adventure games due to many reasons. The human civilization has created folklores, legends and mythical stories into important elements of their existence and, therefore, the adventure games that are normally made have their story based on history, fantasy and stories. The music should, therefore, complement this aspect in adventure games by belonging to the age in which the story of the game is based (A feature prevalent in role playing games like Age of Empires having the music belonging to the age of Romans, Greeks and Babylonians for example).
Apart from these normally required features, online adventure games should also take the minimum amount of time to load and, therefore, the user should not be faced with the situation of having to glance at the tracking bar on the interface, which shows the percentage of the game being loaded with the percentage changing a bit too slowly.
The task of creating ideal adventure games, is, therefore, one which requires lots of patience and also immense amount of awareness about the needs of the user. Apart from this the development should also be one that has the features of efficiency and relevance with an effective mix of simplicity and complexities.
Aradhana Gupta is an expert author. She has written many articles on Online Adventure Games and Free Online Games.
Article Source: How to make a gamer feel as a Roman or even a Greek in an adventure game