Domain: screamingduck.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to screamingduck.com.
Comments · 7
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Re:Establishing de facto (open source) standard ?
I have an idea. I'm working on it.
My initial idea I laid out here
Since writing that I became aware of quite a few things also exploring this area. I'm currently putting together a proof-of-concept plugin using vx32.
It should be possible to make something speedily executable on non-x86 with just a few restrictions and a bit of instruction-metadata.
Importantly. The spec is much simpler than any existing VM model so an open spec with multiple implementation methods should be quite feasible.
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Re:Isn't the Interweb everywhere already?
Actually it is a bit of an issue making games for different countries. I'm in New Zealand and I get interesting feedback regarding my games from the US. It's usually little things that you have to change to consider.
For instance in my game Fitznik (http://www.screamingduck.com/Fitznik.php) it was a tough decisiion on one of the death messages. When you blow yourself up with one of you own bombs, you may get the message "Go Darwin!" This may not go down too well in some parts of the states.
In the end I decided that given the game is a puzzle game with actual difficult puzzles, those who would be inclined to be offended wouldn't be up to playing the game anyway.
Another issue is promotion. Different games do well in different areas.
By and large the american audience seems to hate Drippy ( http://www.screamingduck.com/Drippy.php ) but people in other parts of the world seem to think it's quite neat.
It would work out better to promote games, more targeted for the region.
And finally. The interweb is everywhere, that means you deal with people at all hours. Having an office on the other side of the world can be handy if you need to have stuff done while you are asleep. -
Re:Isn't the Interweb everywhere already?
Actually it is a bit of an issue making games for different countries. I'm in New Zealand and I get interesting feedback regarding my games from the US. It's usually little things that you have to change to consider.
For instance in my game Fitznik (http://www.screamingduck.com/Fitznik.php) it was a tough decisiion on one of the death messages. When you blow yourself up with one of you own bombs, you may get the message "Go Darwin!" This may not go down too well in some parts of the states.
In the end I decided that given the game is a puzzle game with actual difficult puzzles, those who would be inclined to be offended wouldn't be up to playing the game anyway.
Another issue is promotion. Different games do well in different areas.
By and large the american audience seems to hate Drippy ( http://www.screamingduck.com/Drippy.php ) but people in other parts of the world seem to think it's quite neat.
It would work out better to promote games, more targeted for the region.
And finally. The interweb is everywhere, that means you deal with people at all hours. Having an office on the other side of the world can be handy if you need to have stuff done while you are asleep. -
Re:So nothing's changed then?
Puzzle games seems to be a bit of a misnomer in the casual arena. The puzzles are often at the stimulus/response level of Bejeweled and its kin.
I got it wrong and made Drippy which is more in the Tetris vein. If you look at most of the Casual game portals you won't find many games like this. There is too much decision making involved in where to put things.
With my other games Fitznik and Fitznik 2 I made really hard puzzles.
They also don't do so well on the casual portals. For Fitznik, by far the bigggest feedback I have received is that people haven't been able to complete the free demo levels.
I think there is a niche out there for my games, but it's a tough job getting the games in front of the people who will enjoy them. -
Re:So nothing's changed then?
Puzzle games seems to be a bit of a misnomer in the casual arena. The puzzles are often at the stimulus/response level of Bejeweled and its kin.
I got it wrong and made Drippy which is more in the Tetris vein. If you look at most of the Casual game portals you won't find many games like this. There is too much decision making involved in where to put things.
With my other games Fitznik and Fitznik 2 I made really hard puzzles.
They also don't do so well on the casual portals. For Fitznik, by far the bigggest feedback I have received is that people haven't been able to complete the free demo levels.
I think there is a niche out there for my games, but it's a tough job getting the games in front of the people who will enjoy them. -
Re:So nothing's changed then?
Puzzle games seems to be a bit of a misnomer in the casual arena. The puzzles are often at the stimulus/response level of Bejeweled and its kin.
I got it wrong and made Drippy which is more in the Tetris vein. If you look at most of the Casual game portals you won't find many games like this. There is too much decision making involved in where to put things.
With my other games Fitznik and Fitznik 2 I made really hard puzzles.
They also don't do so well on the casual portals. For Fitznik, by far the bigggest feedback I have received is that people haven't been able to complete the free demo levels.
I think there is a niche out there for my games, but it's a tough job getting the games in front of the people who will enjoy them. -
Re:But what are they wanting?
Th problem with game ideas such as Tempest, Zaxxon and Dig-Dug is that they can't be built into a big game arc like most retail titles. I'm not pointing out a promlem with your argument here, I'm pointing out a problem with the industry.
I miss the Pick-it-up-and-play-it games. More cheaper small, original titles please.
Here's a shameless plug for one of my own games (hey, it's feeware). You probably won't play it for more than a week, but you'll have a bit of quick easy (and I think, Original) fun.
http://www.screamingduck.com/dvl.php