Dev Links: Shooting The Breeze
Whether you want to learn how to make a 2D platformer or find the right middleware to use to make a 3D game, today’s Dev Links have got you covered.
Kickstarter by the Numbers (Octodad blog)
“About two and a half months ago the guys over at War Balloon Games, the creators of the magnifique Star Command, put up a brave analysis of where their Kickstarter money was spent and what it was spent on. We’ve also been attempting to be as transparent as possible with our development and we figured it might be nice to give everyone a breakdown of our budgeting/spending since we wouldn’t be where we are without all you beautiful folks supporting us.”
How Do I Become a Game Developer? (Dejobaan Games)
“It’s 2012, and the good news is that it’s easier to get started now than it was in 1912. Here’s my most general, one-size-fits-all, step-by-step. Being one-size-fits-all, it’ll be entirely incomplete for everyone. But maybe it’s a start:”
The Entrepreneur/Cautious War Inside My Head (Cliffski.com)
“There is half of me that looks at the games industry, and Positech, and Gratuitous Tank Battles, and reads books on how big big companies (google, amazon etc) got where they are, and thinks: ‘We are literally INSANE if we aren’t taking at the very least a third of our profits and throwing them madly into expanding the business by way of advertising spending, promotional activities (conference appearances and promo stands etc), stuff like T-shirts and posters and hiring a proper PR agent to grow the public awareness of the company.’”
2D Platformers: A Game Programmer’s Guide (The Verge)
“Tired of first-person shooter after first-person shooter at this year’s E3? Nostalgic for the classic 2D platformers of old? Interested in programming your own? Take a look at this helpful guide to programming 2D platformers from High-Order Fun that walks through how to calculate basic movement, slopes, ladders, stairs, one-way platforms, moving platforms, jumping, and acceleration in four different commonly used programming methods. The guide is a great read for anyone interested in the methods behind classics like Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario World, and Super Metroid — and more recent games like Limbo and Worms — or anyone interested in coding their own. The article admits that some calculations are beyond its scope, but be sure to check the comments section where helpful readers have supplied some other great programming resources.”
The Costco-ification of Leaderboards (AltDevBlogADay)
“Let’s face it, we’ve all been walking through Costco or Sam’s Club at one point and we’ve thought to ourselves, “I do need a palette of chocolate covered pretzels.” or “We could use a drum of grape jam at home.” Regardless of whether or not these are valid units of measurement, the time it takes to purchase an item in bulk is less than the time it takes to purchase the items individually when you know you’re going to need the bulk amount. So let’s explore this idea with leaderboards.”
Preparing For #7dfps (distractionware devlog)
“I got the new version of Hexagon pretty much stable last weekend, so I decided to take a little time off to do something else. 7dFPS! I’ve been really psyched up for this challenge since JW started talking about it on twitter months ago – I’ve had a very particular FPS game idea stuck in my head for years now, and I see this as an opportunity to finally get it out.”
David And Aubrey Are Streaming For 7DFPS (Wolfire Blog)
“David and Aubrey are joining the 7DFPS challenge! They will be streaming their work on an experimental FPS game, which will help get the creative juices for Overgrowth’s gameplay flowing. Be sure to tune in!”
Middleware/Muddleware: Unity-Based Stuff That We’ve Been Using To Make Development Easier And More Interesting (Big Robot)
“With Sir, we’re leveraging, or in some cases planning to leverage, a fair bit of middleware. But let’s be clear: By middleware I don’t necessarily just mean full blown systems like Speedtree and Scaleform (neither of which we could afford to use anyway), but also all the smaller bits of tech and code libraries we haven’t completely written ourselves from scratch. Basically, this post is about a bunch of cool stuff we’re putting into Sir, and “middleware” seemed as good a catchall as any. Read on if you want to see some Cool Things that go into the weft and weave of tweedpunk.”
