Hey so I need feedback to make sure the puzzles make sense and the menus are not too confusing. If you have an app hub membership you can download the code from the City Tuesday AppHub forum post. You should probably provide feedback right there in the forum of course Continue Reading

I am designing the splash screen, attract mode, and main menu for City Tuesday. With all the games I have played I can’t exactly remember how most games start. So, I picked a few games that are similar to what I am shooting for with City Tuesday and decided I Continue Reading

This week, Microsoft announced that Dream-Build-Play 2012 (DBP) is open for registration. The contest (now in its 6th episode) is a showcase of the year’s best of games that have been developed using their XNA game-creation-tools. I will of course be entering City Tuesday in it because the deadline is Continue Reading

If you think this looks like a mess, well it does because it is. I am working on the training level which means I have to make a small sampling of the major themes and trails that will be in the game. It is a cross-cut, a sampler-platter, a coming-attractions Continue Reading

PacMan does not require a designer to carefully craft a puzzle mechanic. Instead, the rules and resources of the game are enforced by the some-what AI controlled ghosts. The fun of it comes from working out the escape routes that are thrust upon you by the game. Neither does Tetris. Continue Reading

I attended the monthly International Game Developers Association meeting last night. The theme of the session was playtesting in which anyone can bring a game and get feedback from the many developers in the area. It is a humbling experience. However, the feeling I get after is not unlike a Continue Reading

Play testing is not the same as market testing. I have heard people bemoan the overly-thorough play-testing of games that AAA companies like Valve inflict upon their games. “Tsk Tsk”, they say, “I want a game that captures the designer’s vision and hasn’t been mellowed out by generic review boards Continue Reading

My progress on City Tuesday is still mired in the deep bowels of the game’s engine. Who would have thought that programming a time traveling world would take so much code. My current aim is to get a version of the code up that shows a cross-cut approximation of what Continue Reading

Sometimes the reason developers are secretive about what they are working on is because a lot of game making is really boring. I have spent the last two weeks working on code to make a subway car move across the world. After these two weeks I don’t have a great Continue Reading

Here we are on another Tuesday, and time for an update on the game. I was dark most of last month because I was on a 3 week tour of Italy and Switzerland for my honeymoon. I will spare you all the lovey-dovey details but what you should care about Continue Reading