I have been having fun scratching around with some ideas for a 3rd person zombie survival game, in which you’ll progress through a series of randomly generated towns, and you’ll have to find resources and items, meet new characters and level up their skills, and all the while the zombie threat grows harder and harder. [...]
Archive for the ‘Game Musings’ Category
Posted in 
Don’t Launch a DDOS on Your Own Website!
June 11th, 2012 
sam A month or so ago, I wrote a new ‘games and news HUD’ and loaded it into most of my deployed games. This operates by downloading a small package of news text and game logos from my webserver, and displaying these inside the game. The idea is that I will be able to notify people [...]
(Long) Tails and Online Games
June 5th, 2012 sam The last 4 games, all small ones, that I have completed for mobile devices are all stand-alone single-player. Block Rockin’ was mostly an exercise in getting to know the Shiva game engine, but also a fun little physics-based block breaker. Mars Defender was really an outgrowth of some experimentation with spaceship models and testing out [...]
I want a free lollipop!
May 31st, 2012 sam One of the more interesting new angles that I have seen from the clamor of ‘social discovery’ and ‘rewards’ APIs whose developers have contacted me is that of giving real-world rewards: physical goods. So when I was checking out ‘Pet’ games on Google Play (for research purposes!) I came across a cute-looking one called ‘My [...]
Web-player Demos of Afterburn 2150, Block Rockin, Mars Defender
January 12th, 2012 sam I have just uploaded web demos of Afterburn 2150, Block Rockin, and Mars Defender. Afterburn hasn’t been mentioned here before – it’s a 3D shoot-em-up that takes you on a tour of the solar system while blasting the baddies. This is an early demo of it. The main reason I have posted these is that [...]
Mars Defender: Developer Interview on Play Android
October 13th, 2011 sam Mars Defender has been doing quite well in the Android and Apple stores (ranked #52 in the new arcade/action game section on Android Market, and top 100 RPG for iPad in several of the regional Apple stores). The following is an interview with me that has been published on playandroid.com. Give an indie developer time [...]
Online games and standalone games
October 5th, 2011 sam You know, the more I learn about selling games, the more I’m convinced that online games are the best way to make a success.. the community becomes a more important component than the content, and the desire for success in a game where others can see it is a strong incentive to spend money. We [...]
High School RPG Progress
August 25th, 2011 sam I have been discussing the idea of the High School RPG with Matt, and it’s starting to take some shape. While kicking around some ideas we decided on a dual-themed game – you will control your character’s day-to-day life, make decisions about their study and training, etc., (as I outlined in an earlier blog post) [...]
High School RPG
July 19th, 2011 sam I have been dreaming up some ideas for a high-school MMO. Something along the lines of ‘Surviving High School’ (which is quite a nice little linear RPG for the iPhone where you try to become the school’s quarterback while passing your exams and being popular etc.) and ‘Princess Maker’ (which is a game-of-life type thing [...]
An Experiment in Games Addiction
June 2nd, 2011 sam I have been investigating the mechanisms behind so-called ‘text based MMOs’ — many of which have patently shit gameplay but which somehow attract a decent number of paying players. It’s a study in addiction.. Games such as Mob Wars, Bite Fight, Fallen Sword. The basic game mechanism is to repeatedly press a button and watch [...]
