Seth Gorden

First of all, Insomniac Games is an awesome group of people. They make quality games, yes. But also, they share arcane secrets from their own research.

Recently, while reading a presentation regarding high-level engine alchemy, I reflected upon the previous (or in my case, current) generation of engine development, which consists of monolithic structures and hierarchies, in an effort to elegantly solve data-access and code-execution problems. Sometimes, aiming for elegance can land you with an over-architected mess. In consider the problem of architecture itself, I have started wondering “What are we really building?” Continue…

There has been quite a lot of excitement, lately, coming through the news about more developers going indie, and consequently creating games where ideas can be tested quickly, and every step is a push for quality, rather than a push for permission. Also noteworthy is the observable trade-off between working for a company like EA, and working independently. That being, in larger companies, there are several people employed whose is job it is manage and avoid risk. If you’re big and want to stay big, that is good. For indies, everyone is there create a product of some kind, be it code or art, or a webpage, or whatever. If you’re small, this is good, because you eliminate red tape, and get down to business.

It’s definitely worthwhile to consider the risks, regardless of your situation, but if you (game developers) ask yourself the reasons why you entered this industry, how many can list “Managing Risk” among them? Seriously. Get excited. Make games.

Also, a noteworthy conversation about The Artistic Necessity of Constraint is offered by Ed Fries, who has recently developed Halo 2600 for the Atari 2600. For some, the minimalism of graphics and gameplay might be lost. But for the retro-nostalgic, or those gamers and developers who find beauty in strange places, his game and thoughts on constraint are compelling an poignant. 

Hey, I don’t tend to post much about the film-making side of my life on this site, but there has been some excitement recently.

I work with an independent film company called Muninn Films out of Bloomington, Illinois and production just wrapped on a film called The Garden House.  Just as post-production gets rolling, we get contacted by a friend on behalf of the Jonny O Show, an internet radio show out of Las Vegas, and the decided to interview and feature Luke Butler, Jena Gentsch, and myself during their broadcast on Sunday, October 10th.

The keep their show available On Demand for a week.

Check out tjoshow.com to see the show. The interview starts about 25 minutes in.

Pier Solar - Watermelon, juicy development

As discovered by The Artful Gamer and Retro Gamer Magazine, a new title has come to the Sega Genesis/Sega CD. Over four years in the making, a team of dedicated fans have brought their love of classic JRPGs to life. Started as a project among sega-loving forum members, they have leveraged a fan-built SDK, loads of talent, and poured their efforts into Pier Solar, a story of healing and friendship…

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Breath of Death VII - Zeboyd Games

A great accomplishment comes to us from independent developer Zeboyd Games (listed as ‘RainbowDespair’ on XBOX Live Marketplace). I learned about this game through a Kotaku article posting about the success of the title through the XBox Live Arcade service. I was excited to see an old-school RPG come out and make a splash.

The game follows several colorful characters…

Continue to Retro Lane