eviemakesgames

[eviemakesgames]

Melody!

Hey everyone!  Figured I’d give an intro to my latest game... because its been too long since I’ve written something here and because I really need to start talking about it online because its super cool and not everyone can make it out to Seattle VR meetups =P

http://store.steampowered.com/app/471200/Melody/

#melody #marimbaInVR #seattle

[eviemakesgames]

Here’s a link to my kickstarter!  Check it out and my previous blog post to learn more.

#games for change #games for kids #games for girls #girl gamer #gamedev #gamedesign #police brutality #infinite sadness #blacklivesmatter #indie game dev #simulator #serious games #social change #social activism

[eviemakesgames]

The story of CopQuest

The shooting of Walter Scott became available on YouTube the day before our scheduled game jam.  We pulled up the video and watched it and, of course, there were many emotions that erupted in the office that day.  It was one of the first times we saw the story play out so transparent.  We laughed.  You know, laughing that incredulous laughter that really doesn't indicate humor as much as it indicates confusion and despair.  We laughed at how overwhelming evidence had to be on the side of law enforcement before any kind of justice or accountability could be seen. 

 It just so happens that there was a game jam scheduled for that night / following morning.  Up until that point, it was unclear whether or not we were even going to do a game jam.  We had some extra energy and it was possible that we could get more done on our internal project, Firemans.  But we were then given the theme of our game jam event: social change.  

Well... ok then... I guess we’re making a game about police brutality?  

The game jam was an interesting couple of days.  I’m so grateful for the time we spent talking about the game and massaging the story because I think over that 48 hours we explored a lot more nuance to the story of law enforcement today.  With many of these stories, there was a lot more to be angry about than somebody lost a life; what happens afterwards is even worse.  It’s explained away as an appropriate or potentially excusable reaction (”The officer was excited.” “Blood was pumping.” “He was afraid for his life”) so that he, and several others were free to act in the EXACT same way again.  How is that OK? 

You know, in game industry we have something called a post-mortem (really appropriate name in this context).  When a project ends, no matter how successful or unsuccessful it was, you talk about it, and come up with a list of ideas and practices you takeaway as being better or worst so that mistakes are not repeated and good stuff carries over to future projects.  Often times, results of post-mortems are made public and for the good ones, game designers travel far and wide to hear what it is other developers took away from the experience.  Its healthy!  Its good!  Why is it so wrong to critique an officers work when someone dies?  Why is nothing changing?!  Why does it keep happening?  Well, its probably because its systemic.  Furthermore, in the system in which they operate, its probably not all that much of a failure.

My stance is that cops are, for the most part, told how to act and they are told wrong.  Not only are there implicit biases that are not corrected, but there are explicit policies and ideologies as well.  Depending on the city, they operate under policies like “stop and frisk”, which is nearly always done through racial profiling. The communities in which they operate see no effort for reform in sight.  The underprivileged often feel hopeless and disconnected, and those content with the status quo see the policing of uncooperative thugs going “as usual”.  As it stands, the system today confirms itself for all involved.  Some see unfairness and racial profiling.  Others see people of color “overreacting”.  Nothing changes and the cycle repeats on a daily basis.

To those that don’t see “the point” in my game, its probably safe to say that my game will make you mad.  I hope you can understand why I’m angry about the existence of this game as well.  I could have been making a game about why dentists shouldn’t kill lions... but nooooo.  Additionally, there are no proposed solutions in my game, so you’re probably right to the extent that the game offers nothing besides the opportunity for dialog.  The point is: this keeps happening and its sad and it sucks.  Lets all have a good old time being entertained by how sad this is... and maybe once we are done goofing around, lets, maybe, fix it or something?  I dunno...

No, our Officer Bob is not a villain.  He can be, but its really up to the player.  Officer Bob is a blank slate in which the player tries to influence.  You can try to get him to do whatever you want, but ultimately there are only a few responses that drives the narrative forward.  We wanted to show that disconnect between what people want to happen, what they wish they could do and what is actually allowed; a frustration that is also present in every text-based adventure I’ve ever played.  Its a fitting analogy, I think.  Even with that, however, it is my goal to add more options for the player.  Check out the campaign to learn more.

Anyway, check out the kickstarter and support it if you aren’t too butt-hurt to do so.  I’d love to hear what you have to say.  But even with butt-hurt please do feel free to comment about it.  I only ask that people do not take a threatening tone with each other.

bitly.com/1Nm4hFT

#blacklivesmatter #gamedev #games for change #g4c #harsh reality #serious games #indiegamedev #indie #police brutality #law enforcement #crisis #game jam #gamejam #black lives matter

[eviemakesgames]

Anyone have a clue?

I'm just going to stick this here so I never forget.

[eviemakesgames]

I had a day off this weekend from shooting Supernatural, and I was walking around downtown Vancouver on Saturday, sampling all the artisan coffee I could get my throat around. At one point I saw a pair of guys walking towards me wearing gamer shirts. Black short-sleeved, one Halo and one Call of...

#anti terrorism #done with this shit #don't let them win

[eviemakesgames]

GamerGate, you never wanted a conversation did you?

This is a sad and embarrassing day in games history.    Is this really how we want 2014 to be remembered in Game Design 101 class ten years from now?  

"Ah yes, 2014 was the year that  gamers nationwide all banded together to send rape threats to female game designers.   Why? Journalism."  

"What?"  says the doe eyed game designer of tomorrow.

"Exactly"

Gamergate, you make no sense.  You want to talk about ethics in journalism?  Stop hiding behind the anonymity of 8chan and talk about it.  As a leaderless mob, gamergate has no direction, no morals, and your message is fragmented and inconsistent with your actions.

There is a conversation concerning the politics of gaming that I was really hoping would arise from this ridiculous movement, not because I agreed with it, but because games are bigger than ever, and we need to all figure out a way to coexist without fear of being outcast.  Alas, humanity has failed me.  As the "debate" got louder and attracted national attention it never took shape as anything more than a bunch of crazies spewing obscenities, threatening school shootings, doxxing , rape threats, and crazies essentially gaining a soapbox to spread their crazy on the internet.  The "core" issue (if there ever was one), has always been a distant murmur in the background.

(And a school shooting?  Really?  Isn't that the image that gamers were trying to get rid of once upon a time?!?)

How is it that republicans and democrats can have debates without resorting to rape and death threats but progressive and traditional game enthusiasts are incapable of doing so?  Do you know the types of issues discussed among the two political groups?  Abortion.  The rights of individuals to marry.  Death penalty.  Pretty serious stuff.

Before you accuse me of appealing to the fallacy of relative privation, understand that I'm not saying that ethics in games are not important and should be ignored because: bigger issues man.  I am merely pointing out that people can have much more sensitive conversations without threatening to kill each other and calling each other sluts (well... maybe a little bit of slut shaming, but not to gamergate extent).  It's embarrassing that gamers and game enthusiasts cant do the same.

If you really want to talk about ethics, you need to rally together in an organization that is a little more organized, a little less rapey, and a lot more accountable for their actions.  Own your stance on games.  You want industry to focus on games with moar guns? moar blood and guts? moar jiggle physics? Less art and depression?  Fine!  Say that!  As long as there is a demand for those types of games they will never go away. Right now, however, the only thing being heard is that you want all women in games to die in a fire.  (To which I say: you die in a fire). Obviously, game journalists cant promote that and game developers cant make a game that causes that to happen.  Meanwhile, everyone is associating the games you want with crazy rapist men.  You are not helping your cause.  The anonymity of pro-gamergaters and your ongoing antisocial behavior has killed your message.

If one were to assume that GamerGate was at some point about more than just trolling people, then at its core was a conversation concerning "taking politics out of gaming".  No, gaming has gotten too big to not have politics.  58% of all Americans are gamers.  Games are so pervasive in todays society that it is no longer appropriate to have just one voice to represent them in journalism.  That doesnt mean you dont have a voice.  You are now one of many, which means you are going to have to learn how to fricking talk to people!  

The Polygon editor said it best I think:

"If GamerGate simply wants a conservative counter to what they consider a left-leaning gaming press, I think that's great! That's healthy! You don't have to like the way we or any other outlet cover video games. If you truly believe there's an army of people who reject "progressive" voices and outlets like Polygon and Kotaku, or who would prefer coverage "just about the games," then I'd encourage you to start a new site for those readers. There's no easier or better time to do it."

http://www.polygon.com/2014/10/17/6996601/on-gamergate-a-letter-from-the-editor

GamerGate, please look at all you've accomplished over the last few months. If you consider any of the outcomes of what you've done positive then you are a hate group. You inspire hate, violence, fear, and sadness. Thanks to you, its nearly impossible for someone to call themselves a gamer anymore without people assuming they are completely insane. Where I used to have a *some* tolerance for the quieter people associated with the movement, I now have none. As long as you associate with the movement, you have nothing to say to me worth hearing. You can f*** right off. I cant have a debate about ethics amidst crazy and unethical.

To non-gamergaters, lets make sure this hate speech is spread no further.  Block the gamergate hashtag and those that promote the gamergate crazy.  It's hurting all the progress we've made (See below) and these groups only have power because we unknowingly gave it to them.  I'm done with this.

"...Quinn told me about a folder on her computer called, “The Ones We’ve Lost.” They are the letters she’s gotten from young girls who dream of being game developers, but are terrified of the environment they see. I nearly broke into tears as I told her I had a folder filled with the same. The truth is, even if we stopped Gamergate tomorrow, it will have already come at too high a cost." -Brianna Wu

#stopgamergate2014 #gamedev #sadpanda #done with this shit #unfortunately #game history

[eviemakesgames]

http://www.polygon.com/2014/9/10/6101639/games-art

This was an interesting article and it took me a few minutes to decide how I felt about it.  Ultimately, I agree that game devs should have more important things to worry about than whether they are being art-ly, but i also think that games have more than earned their right to the "cool kids table" that is  the arts.  

Sure, some parts are more craft-like or engineering focused than others.  Total agreement that its meaningless to try and decide where the art ends and the engineering begins.  Is a game, as a whole, a work of art though?  I think so... I admit it.  The game, as a whole is something done as a result of a selfish creative impulse.

From my own experience, I make games primarily because they need to be made and I need to make them.  I've studied them, learned from them, communicated through them, and even sometimes use them to provide information and to educate.  The bottom line, however, is that you can study them as much as you want and try to make sense of them, but the very best games come from the heart and always come with a "soul tax".

Either way, this article caused me to really think about my stance on this unending debate.  Mission accomplished.  Thanks Eric!

[eviemakesgames]

Interlude: The #gamergate discussion

I've been really debating whether to express an opinion on this #gamergate movement as there seems to be a lot of name calling happening on both sides and its really really hard to understand what the movement is really about. Turns out, whatever its origins, this is really something I can't, and shouldn't, keep quiet about. Whatever the initial issues were, the conversation has now largely become a fight for and against the hostile environment that minority gamers and game developers find themselves operating in. Its that conversation within this movement that I think needs to happen (though it probably wouldn't hurt to have a little less name calling)! In this blog I will cover three things: why its important for this dialog to exist, why its more of an issue in games than it is elsewhere, and why it affects me personally.

There is a large, pervasive, but barely visible system that seeks to keep women in their place. It's present everywhere I go and asserts itself with everything that I do. Check out this article for more info:

http://www.robot-hugs.com/harassment/

I constantly ask my friends questions to try and shed light on the issue without getting up on my soapbox. "Why is it ok for men to say things like that?" The typical response, however, is always either maddening, entitled, or nonsensical. I won't go into the details of this but these conversations tend to end with "Its funnier that way" or "You are being too sensitive." or "thats just the way things are." Well, it doesn't have to be "the way things are". And it takes lots of conversation and course correcting to remove a system that been around for so long.

Big communities that represent gaming culture are notorious for misogyny, racism, and homophobia. Its not even hidden like it is in school, on the street, and in the workplace. Its loud and its agressive. People feel comfortable saying things in this play space that are threatening, offensive, and hurtful to the minority and This Is Not OK. As someone anti gamergate, I will say that my opposition is not about censorship for me, its about inclusion. I don't want to silence anyones opinion on journalism, but when someone is hurtful by being sexist, homophobic, or racist, I want them to be called out on it.

The only way people can feel more comfortable playing and making games is if those that aren't comfortable with the system call it out for what it is. Someone guilty of a transgression may or may not be 100% racist or sexist or homophobic, but they still need to be corrected if they say something that makes the minority uncomfortable if there is any hope of the culture being more inclusive in the future. #gamergate didn't really hit home until I read an article justifying it. It was then that I realized just how destructive a movement like that could be if people didn't start speaking up about it.

Example: The gamer gate article (http://whatculture.com/gaming/10-things-need-know-gamergate-scandal.php) seemed pretty reasonable (with little hiccups here and there) until it said the following things:

"Many prominent figures in the gaming medium and journalists have stated that the attack of Zoe Quinn was a result of misogyny, while a more accurate and honest portrayal of the issue would be people expressing discontent with her personal relationships, and holding her accountable for nearly ruining The Fine Young Capitalists campaign."

You can't justify an attack like that. And you certainly can't justify it based on her personal life. Anyone that follows twitter, and even this article, acknowledges that this was an attack and yes, it was about her personal life. Whatever your views on journalism, you can't attack people to the extent that Quinn was attacked and feel justified in doing so without there something being really wrong here.

The "Man Up" argument: Associate editor of breitbart.com Milo Yiannopoulos was recently sent death threats for his article about cronyism and corruption in video game journalism but instead of wearing the insults to look “brave” he simply tweeted: “Email death threat count now in double figures. Things I won’t be doing: calling the police, making a video, writing a blog post.” This exemplifies that fact that you will receive pointless threats if you are an icon regardless of gender and regardless of what you say.

Ok, I get that the internet is a hostile place, but the answer isn't just bend over and take it. Death threats are not OK… ever. It does not make you a hero to NOT report it or pretend like its no big deal.  It certainly does not negate the fact that the internet IS doubly hostile towards women and "others".

There are other arguments that rubbed me the wrong way as well and I don't have time to point them all out. Overall, one thing became clear. All this crazy was a long time coming and it needs to happen. For the 90% of the conversation that useless trash talk coming in from both sides there is a 10% of the conversation that are level headed people arguing that either someone no longer feels that journalism represents their interest OR arguing that they will no longer silently watch as people are abused for being different. "Thats just the way things are" will hopefully become a thing of the past. I personally don't care much for the status quo.

As for why this affects me personally I'll start with a story: I remember not so long ago a conversation that I had with a straight male friend of mine (obviously since I call him a friend I do not consider him racist but even the best of us can slip up or have racist thoughts). He argued that it was not appropriate that the actor that played "Morpheus" in The Matrix should represent the Kia car in their advertisements since the car clearly (historically?) targets white men. To paraphrase: The Kia is a sensible car that would not appeal to black men. They are losing their white customers by having him represent the car. Black men drive more powerful cars.

Now I love this guy to death but that argument was difficult to hear (and him having this opinion does not make him a bad guy). I don't know, I thought everything targets white men. At first, his argument made no sense to me. What would he care if black men started driving more Kia's? Why did Morpheus turn him off to the car (I thought white people liked Morpheus)? Will including black people ultimately change the look and feel of the car? Would it open the car manufacturer up for more diverse designs and different takes on what makes an appealing yet affordable car? The answer, I've decided, is yes, to all of the above... but as someone that has always been on the outside, this doesn't sound like a bad deal to me. It wouldn't change the focus but it would change the image.

He doesn't want things to change for the same reasons that I do. When you can see your face and your ideals represented in something, you feel more comfortable with it. He's grown up with it and is used to constantly having that reaffirmation that this is a car for his kind. Of course you want to keep that if you already have it. But that view doesn't bode well for the rest of us.

Yes, there is the possibility that the "face" of games and gamers will change when journalist shine the spotlight on more (more, not only) diverse ideas. The face will change when women become more outspoken about the games they are playing, the games they are making, and the initiatives they are starting to make games more inclusive. Seeing women will bring in more women. Seeing african americans will being in more african americans. Seeing gays will bring in more gays. This is the "threat" that is being fought with #gamergate and this is why I oppose it loudly. All the recent hubbub aside, the gaming community can be a fun place for everyone involved and I still feel like I should be able to call myself a gamer without negative connotation. I've started and run organizations based on the premise that I find hanging out with people that like games enjoyable (see Gamers Alliance at UNCC). BUT there are many things about the culture that really need to change. I will be very vocal on my stance that there is room for vast improvement on the way gaming culture deals with difference. Sorry if that makes some of you uncomfortable.

#gamergate #women in gaming #time for change #revolution

[eviemakesgames]

Day 16: We'll just call this day 16

A lot of updates.  So many in fact, that I've been procrastinating on this update because of how large the update would be.  I'll just abbreviate it.

Finished the move to Bothell.  Here are the highlights

moving is expensive

moving takes days of walking up and down steps

i'm still not done unpacking.  I've given up for the time being

i should sell some of my stuff.  but i cant seem to part with my video game/ console collection.  That was the majority of the move.  Its all in stacks in my new living room.  I'm sure my roommates approve.

my dog ruined the carpet.  my security deposit is gone forever =/

my dog desperately wants to eat the cat that belongs to my roommates

riding the bus from Bothell is nothing like riding the bus from Redmond.  I've only successfully rode to work and back without having to fall back to Uber once.

Uber is expensive when you use it everyday.  Especially when you pair that with a bus pass you paid to use instead.

I got a new bike to improve the commute time.

The commute is easier, but also harder.

Harder:  you become a target for theft.  Bike thievery is a sport in Seattle.  I was warned of this when I purchased the bike and I have noticed people eyeballing the bike when I chain it up and leave it to go into a store.  What I didnt anticipate, however, was being a target while on the bike. Story time.  My first day with the bike I missed the last bike to Bothell so I headed into West Seattle to hang out at a bar for a while until I figured out what to do.  While biking into West Seattle I passed another guy on a bike that desperately wanted to talk to me.  At 11pm I wasnt having it so I biked faster only to look behind me and find him pedaling quickly to catch up with me.  o.O  I got to the (well populated) bar several blocks away before he could catch up with me so he passed by me once I stopped.  What I didnt expect, however, was for him to turn back around and approach me once people moseyed back into the bar after their smoke break ended.  "Hey there." He says right next to me (I didnt see him come back so I was very surprised).  "Ah!  What do you want?" I respond.  "Are you OK?" He says.  Am I ok?  He's following me in the middle of the night!  "No, I am not ok!  What do you want?"  I back away.  Somewhere along the way I had set my book back down on the ground.  "You left your bag..." He grins.  At this point I am trying to remember everything about this guys face just in case he tries to run off with my laptop.  Fortunately, some nice couple noticed this out of place looking dude and my frazzled state and approached us.  "Are you OK?" the girl says.  The bike guy rides off.  I thank the couple and proceed to spend the next 30 minutes making sure that my bike is tied up securely before I go into the bar and relax.  Day one with my bike and I've already been in a bike chase.  Good grief.

Harder:  If you have to call a cab, they have to be willing to also pick up your bike.  Fortunately, when I finally called Uber to come pick me up the guy had an SUV.  I texted him before hand to make sure he could take the bike as well and he was more than willing to help out.  He was also a really cool guy that looked like a beach bum.  We spent the 40 minute drive with him telling me about life in Hollywood and bonding over our shared appreciation of Fiona Apple.

Harder:  Bikes are expensive.  Well, everything is expensive when you decide to start your own company.  This is just one more thing.  The good part is that my bike is awesome.  it can hold my bag on the back, has an odometer, and the tires have splash guards.  It has all these bells and whistles while still looking retro.  It doesn't just scream "steal me".  It just kinda whispers it.  I lurve my bike

Harder:  My butt hurts like all the time now.

Easier:  The 30 minute walk from Seattle bus stop to my office became an 8 minute bike.  Winning.

I did a game jam and made an AWESOME game in 24 hours.

It uses the Kinect v2 sensor and uses it well

Its an asymmetrical game so different people are doing different things

Very few people can play it right now because it uses K4W for version 2 sensor.  This means you need a K4W kit, USB 3.0, and Windows 8 or higher.  This was a challenge during the game jam because out of the whole team, only the guy (thanks Nathan!) developing with the Surface Pro could run the K4W part.  Unfortunately with only one USB port and a USB 3.0 hub not able to push K4W kit, we could run it with both K4W and game controllers.  To demo we had to go super hacky and connect a bunch of Wii-motes to his device via blutooth.  To continue development on the Kinect stuff I have brought my desktop back from the dead and am working on setting it up with Windows 8.1

I will tell you more about this game soon.  You can find it on the Ludem Dare site (early development) but good luck playing it.

I'm tempted to work on this game instead of Mebols because of the momentum this one has and the closer proximity of the developers.  Still debating this...

PAX was awesome.  And there were lots of great games at SIX.

Shout out to Tumblestone (made by another ex Microsoftie that I worked with on Xbox speech stuff).  Now available as prerelease on Steam!

Shout out to JigScript / Immune Defense by Molecular Jig.  Jigscript will be released this week on Unity Asset Store and promises to make your life easier when scripting in Unity.  Think drag and drop interface made for people that want to make learning games but are actually the subject matter experts rather than game designers.  The designer of JigScript (Melanie) is exactly that person.  Lookout for a research paper authored by Melanie and I on this project soon.  You cant put two PhDs in a room for very long without a research paper coming out of them.

At PAX, WiiU seems to be making a comeback.  There are so many good games slated for end of 2014 and early 2015.  I'm kinda surprised and kinda not.  They seemed to change their strategy a bit and the games tend to make little to no use of the special controller.  This is similar to the shift in focus for Xbox One away from the Kinect sensor.  Its now up to us indie developers to change the way the world plays games.  All is how it should be.

3DS content still going strong.  I really want the new pokeymans.

I got smacked in the face with a hand covered in blue facepaint at the Shadows of Mordor booth.  The lady perpetrator walked away bellowing "You must obey!"

I have a lot more to share but I've already spent an hour on this update.   I think the majority of last week will have to go undocumented. Later everyone!

#gamedev #gamejam #ludem dare #winning #bike thieves #PAX #pax prime #shadows of mordor

[eviemakesgames]

The skill sets of successful entrepreneurs are often little aligned with those of successful artists – hence the commonality of the phrase ‘starving artist.’ In fact, many of the skills and personality traits that make you an artist create an even bigger challenge for you as you grow into entrepreneurship. Where the artist wants to create, the entrepreneur wants to sell. Where the artist wants to be recognized, the entrepreneur demands recognition. Where the artist never feels worth it, the entrepreneur butters their bread by the communication of value. Where the artist never feels good enough, the entrepreneur ships. Where the artist seeks perfection, the entrepreneur sees perfectionism as the enemy of damn good. Where the artist sees discomfort and failure, the entrepreneur sees opportunity. Where the artist fears failure, the entrepreneur fails fast, and fails forward. These are all concepts that I write about here on PTP – these are the quirks and perspectives and misconceptions and fears that I run into time and again working with my fellow part time photographers struggling to go pro. Let me state clearly: however closely you identify with the artist described above, and how little you understand the entrepreneur, there’s nothing wrong with you. As you make the transition to business owner, you’re going to feel stupid, incompetent, powerless, hopeless, foolish. This is natural. This is the learning curve. This is The Dip. This is The Resistance. This is Gravity. This, my friend, is right where you’re supposed to be.

http://parttimephoto.com/shifting-gears-from-starving-artist-to-entrepreneur/

#gamedev #starvinlikemarvin #starving artist #start up #starvinmarvin #game design #games are art

[eviemakesgames]

Day Ten (Extended): Sunday Morning Workage

Status: Game Pusher Mood: Focused (well, I will be after I write this blog post)

You are probably wondering what I mean by "game pusher".  Well since I've started doing contract work doing game design / game programming for other projects I'm making enough money to cover start up costs associated with my own game titles... kinda like... well... pushers

So its Sunday morning and here I am at the Reactor.  I'm here today because yesterday I was an unfocused ball of pure energy and got nearly nothing checked off my list.  Started the day with getting the last of my application in for my new apartment in Bothell.  Then I proceeded to spend 2 hours in traffic and trying to park in Seattle before successfully parking 15 minutes away from the Reactor.  I had this silly notion that parking/driving in Seattle would be easier on the weekends.  Silly, misguided Evie...

After meeting with my new client, Phillip, I was pretty happy with the state of things.  I have a good feeling about this new business relationship.  We seem to be coming from similar places and both willing to work on weekends to make things happen.  I had several exciting conversations with Melanie about her projects and funny enough, the prospects of research and research papers.  I thought those days were over but the idea of running a study on her project was just too interesting to ignore.  2 hours later we had a nice little outline going for our first paper. 

Melanie was able to shoo me away long enough for me to refocus on my own work. Soon enough, however, it was then time to meet a friend in Capitol Hill for Saturday night Seattle fun times.  After a night of doing my own rendition of charlie brown dances I went home having accomplished nothing I had originally set out to do.  So here I am today for a Saturday redo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G8XH4WDxP4

(Charlie brown dances)

What I'm actually supposed to do today:

P0 Finalize quote for client project

P1 Set up and begin testing Carey's new app WinTV (because we indie devs stick together)

P1 Checkout new project and get familiar with my clients new project

P1 Wrap up pitch document

P2 Go eat another Luther sandwich

P2 Bonus: Start vertical slice demo project of "Mebols" in Unity

#gamedev #start up #seattle business #gamepusher #starving artist #unfocused

[eviemakesgames]

Day Ten: how this translates to making money

Status: An artist that eats delicious burgers with donut buns Mood: Chill My new roommates and I have finally decided on a new location. As of next week I will be living in Bothell and no longer paying $2000 a month to live in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment. Its a little bit of a distance from my hangout spots in Redmond but I think i can still swing Thursday night Karaoke. Yay! Now I can stop getting side tracked on non gamey things like "where am i going to live". Now its time to think about the parts of game industry i hate the most- deadlines and budgets. Boooo. I've got until next week to finalize my unity demo for my game "mebols". Events are popping up left and right and i've been given amazing opportunities to show off at a few of them. Speaking of things popping up left and right, business expenses are also adding up. Nothing impossible but i'd like get in front of the money issue before it becomes a problem. I've taken on some contracting work to cover some costs of starting-up. I like it! I support my addiction to designing games by designing more games! Genius! I have the best addiction in the world Still, I can do better. I've been advised to try my hand at consulting. I'm inclined to agree, considering its something I've been doing alot for free lately anyway. I'll let you guys know how it goes. Later everyone!

[eviemakesgames]

Day Six: Contractors Ahoy!

Status: Starving Artist (that is somehow full of Chicken n Biscuit from Lucky Diner) Mood: Content (because I am full of delicious foods)

Exiting pre-production: With my game design doc in place and storyboards underway, we are really close to being able to go into full production. This week the coder and artist are being onboarded to the project, learning more about the overall goals, the look and feel of the game, the tasks that will need to be done and which milestones the tasks align to. This week we should have a functional prototype assembled in Unity and the beginnings of a technical design document in place. I’m not too concerned with having the technical document fully drafted (as those tend to be the first docs that are completely disregarded) but I do plan on at the very least having a high level class diagram that shows basic code structure and coding standard that both the main programmer and I can agree on.

Contracts signed off by Legal: Todays the day we send out the contracts to our prospective contractors so they can get to prototyping and generating art. Its been an uphill battle and it makes more sense now why game companies should want to have a law firm and/or an attorney in their back pocket. In case you are trying to start something similar, we suggest getting a free consultation from inVigor Law Group PLLC. They have been very helpful and patient as we wade our way through doing business in Seattle and in Washington.

Evie’s Office: Working at the Reactor has been insanely beneficial and so far I’ve only been here a week! I’ve received so much assistance from others (primarily Melanie ^^) and met many new people with similar goals, aspirations, and epic games! The networking opportunity here really can’t be beat. Theres a games-related happy hour close-by nearly every day. I was even invited and then given two tickets to a Lady Gaga concert as part of a women in games initiative (that concert was AWESOME by the way! Wow. The… spectacle!). I love it here and want to keep working here for a while. Some time was spent today plotting with a few others here on how we can keep it going for as long as possible. I am excited to help out the non-profits associated with Reactor however I can (though I imagine the best way for me to do so is to be successful)!

Thats it for today. Overall more planning was done and some writing done for PR and marketing (websites and whatnot). Look out for our company website coming soon!

#gamedev #game design #indie games #business owner #seattle business #games are art #games are my life #start up #getting started #preproduction

[eviemakesgames]

Day Three: #twitterlikeanindiegamedev

Status: Starving artist

Mood: Accomplished

Today I made some decent progress all around... Most of the awesome, however, occured after work hours. In fact, I was having so much awesome networking times at Beer Wednesday (hosted by IGDA) that i lost track of time and had to run out to catch the last bus back to eastside before i was trapped in Seattle until tomorrow (or pay hefty cab fare). I had to make the tough call of leaving my computer at the office to make sure i didnt miss my ride, which means I am writing this blog entry on my iphone while riding the bus home. I usually read myself to sleep everynight with my laptop on my tummy. I guess i can bust out my ancient 1st gen ipad tonight.

Tampon logo:

At work there was alot of discussions centered on mission statements (resolved) and logo (not yet resolved). My artist made a *beautiful* logo that i love but reminds me of tampons. I kinda want to sit here and explain myself about why i didnt go with the design anyway since it was good but you know what... No, i wont be doing that. My artist is awesome and she can make another awesome logo that doesnt remind me of tampons

Game Designin:

I also made good progress with the game design doc. Im iterating heavily on the overview section as it Will be the section I refer to the most when generating my kickstarter script. Game rules i worked on alot too since i have several game elements that I would like to add. I spent a lot of time drawing my ideas out on the whiteboard trying to get a feel for the interactions as they would appear in my game.

Blogging on the bus is bad:

I missed my stop and now I have to walk for an hour to get home. =/

Still in good spirits at least now I have a good workout to end the day with!

Netwoikin:

So, I was chatting with game journalist @onawa and apparently no good blog is complete without a Twitter messaging that the blog has occurred. I will now be twittering my blogs and hashtagging them like a mofo. I will also be twittering just to Twitter. Thanks Carlos!

I learn fast. Now I must leave you all to finish my walk home.

Update: got home safely ^^ goodnight interwebs

#firstworldproblemsbutjustbarely #imadoctor #smrt #gamedev #learningstuff #walkinghome

[eviemakesgames]

Day Two: I miss my Orca card

Status: Starving artist (Don't worry I'm not really starving)

Mood: Cheerful

Today was a late start because I spent 3 hours learning the busses and collecting the magical orca card I need that will make daily transit much easier. Driving two and from Seattle everyday is just not tenable if I want to survive for the next year or so with no income.

The busses in Seattle are much more expensive than they were in Charlotte, something I'm only finding out today because up until now I've never had to pay for bus fare. Microsoft provides an ORCA card to all of their employees. More importantly, they remove the card from you if you leave =/ I guess that's fair (or fare… lol, get it?) =D

After several hours of searching, reading, standing in the wrong places, and otherwise being a n00b, a fellow Reactor told me about "One Bus Away" an app that is a must have for anyone using the buses in Seattle. I have now leveled up and I am one step closer to being a true Seattleite

Delicious but not nutritious sammiches:

Anticipating some mishaps this morning, I packed my lunch so I wouldn't have to take a lunch break later. I should probably pack better lunches in the future. Today I ate 3 "Uncrustables" peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They were delicious. I'm full of food but I feel… funny... Maybe at 30, I'm not as good at getting sustenance out of pure crap? Oh well, lesson learned.

Verge of Brilliance, LLC, a legal entity:

All the paperwork is in place (Awesome job Vida!) The licensing, becoming a corporation, creating a business account, etc, is all done. I can now legally do business in Seattle! Not bad for day 2 (though we had a little bit of a head start).

Game Design Documents:

The second half of the day has been reaching out and contacting people I met yesterday at the "Women In Games" happy hour (an awesome and very large event hosted by Amazon Games and Double Down Interactive) and writing up my game design document. When the programmer and artist fully come on board, they are going to need to know exactly what they are building. Furthermore, there are some lingering game design decisions that I need to make that this process will force me to resolve. I gave myself a week to get all documentation in place and set up my project management site on Assembla.

Showing off my games at networking functions is forcing me to start dealing with technical design challenges as well. My game idea is supposed to use bluetooth to connect multiple mobile devices together but iPhone bluetooth will not pair with a non-iphone mobile device. Lame. The programmer and I are now investigating other solutions for multiplayer experiences that do not require a WiFi network. Its probably still worth it to do bluetooth in addition to whatever we come up with.

Games of the Day:

Flow Free- At the Women in Games mixer I was exposed to "Flow Free" a neat puzzle game that did extremely well on iPhone.

Spaceteam- A collaborative multiplayer mobile game experience full of hilarity and frantic energy. I saw this a couple of years ago at the experimental games panel at GDC. For some reason I didn't download it immediately, but someone made sure to correct me yesterday.

Evie Powell, Ph.D. - President

Verge Of Brilliance LLC

[email protected]

[eviemakesgames]

Day One: Setup and Meeting the "family"

Status: Starving Artist

Mood: Ecstatic

Today, I set up my new "office" at Reactor, a launch accelerator for interactive media (games and apps) ion Seattle WA. I spent much of the morning getting settled and introducing myself to my new peers. Everyone here is extremely helpful, driven, and talented! The projects here are pretty awesome and I'm pretty sure that a couple of them are going to be very well known soon. I'll keep you posted as I find out more about which ones I'm allowed to talk about. I haven't signed any NDA's yet, but they are there in spirit.

Little Things:

After getting settled in it was time for emails. There were a lot of things to follow up on from revised mission statement, to reviewing new logo iteration, to typing up notes from my last meetings with accelerator contacts, reviewing startup related notes my business partner (sister) took from ComicCon. Additionally, there are still loose ends I'm wrapping up from leaving Microsoft like insurance and moving out of unreasonably expensive apartment in Redmond You know, lots of little things that need to keep moving forward.

Becoming Real:

So I haven't yet found a single place where all of the information for starting up a game company is stored (which is partially why I'm doing this blog). Here are some things you should add to your checklist when starting a similar endeavor.

Registered Agent (potentially free)

Wikipedia definition: a business or individual designated to receive service of process (SOP) when a business entity is a party in a legal action such as a lawsuit or summons.

With some maneuvering you can set yourself up to be a registered agent, but from my research it seems that you really shouldn't do that. You don't want the location of your registered agent to be your home or office. Why? Well lets say that, heaven forbid, you get served (and not super slick dance moves). You don't want to get served in front of all your coworkers and you don't want to get served at home (actually I'm not sure if it can even be a home). Registered agents are tough because its hard to tell if they are legit. I'm not 100% sure that mine is legit but I went on a Washington state DOL page to find a reference to mine. I'm using InCorp Services, through freeregisteredagents.net they are free for the first year and then some small amount every year after that.

Incorporating ($150+)

You can fill out the application for becoming an LLC / LLP/ Inc yourself. I recommend this if you are not planning on doing anything terribly fancy with your business structure. I've only done this once but the questions seemed fairly straight forward and dealt with content that no one but the business owner would know best. I don't see how paying someone else to do this for you will get you out of putting time into this. There are companies (registered agents) that offer to do this for you for an extra $200 or more. To do it yourself cost $150. Google search business oriented websites (like Forbes and stuff) to find out key differences between LLC and LLP. Go to your states Secretary of State website to find the appropriate application.

State Business License ($45)

You must have a license to do business within your state. Go to your states Department of Licensing website to find appropriate application.

City Business License ($45)

Some cities require a city business license. Go to your states Department of Licensing website to find appropriate application.

Employer ID number (Free)

Planning on hiring people that are not owners in the company as contractors, interns, full or part-time employees (you might not think the answer is yes but it probably is yes.) ? Go online and get a federal employer ID number. Don't worry, this part is free.

Other Things:

This is the last time I drive to Seattle. I had to do it today in order to move my stuff in but as expected it was a huge pain. Parking cost $15 and I can't move my car (which means no driving off for lunch). I can buy a monthly pass for a "discounted" rate of $175 but its totally not worth it. Blah Seattle… Blah…

Thats enough for now. More to come tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

-Evie

#business talk #getting started #start up #setting up #little things #business owner #accelerate #indie games #reactor #seattle business

[eviemakesgames]

I’ve spent ages looking for a simple tutorial on how to do this and for some reason there isn’t one…

Well, I figured how to do it so I want to share…

You’ll need:

Your Tumblr

Your Website

Very Basic knowledge of HTML and CSS (which you should have if you’ve got your own website)

Firstly...

#helpful #thanks #simple things #getting started #youre doing it right