Posts by tofu

  • Al Anselmo - Game Designer and Level Designer

    Hey Al,

    You have some nice work - but it's difficult to know it at first as it's scattered throughout different pages and in PDF's.

    Your illustrations in your Innsmouth PDF for example, are really quite good for a level designer but they're not on your main page. Additionally, the visual presentation in that PDF alone is substantially better than your website (the same goes for your blog, both PDF and blog come across better presented and more passionate than your website). I always go by the motto that "presentation is everything", the amount of time and effort you put behind presenting your work is just as valuable as the work itself - if not more so.

    So I would start by looking at the theme of your website and then categorising it all a little better. Separate GD and LD and under both, show your best examples.

    Innsmouth: PDF is great, nice theme and presentation and as mentioned, some excellent illustrations. I would personally remove the majority of the screenshots on that page and leave just one or two you're really happy with. Regarding your illustrations: try and show the players direction through a scene in those rather than your screenshots/photoshop. It proves you were thinking about such things in the illustration/drafting stage and they weren't an after thought.

    Get Salt: There's no content in here yet, I'd remove the link altogether or instead have a brief description of what Get Salt is all about, until the GDD is complete. If you really want to show it - still add some details of what Get Salt -as a game- would be.

    Homens De Negocios: Again some great presentation in here! Looks like a lot of effort went into it, but there are no details at all about what rules and mechanics are in place to make the game fun - just a bunch of nice looking photos. Presentation wise I would have one of the photos as the main image instead of the cover as the photos look really nice!

    Design Docs: Remove the links that have no content (i.e. Diablo), they're clutter and there's no useful information there.

    Thats about it for now. Reduce clutter, separate GD from LD, promote your best stuff and present it as good as your PDF's and blog!. Also, promote those unity whitebox videos! Thats good content man!

  • Tribes Ascend

    Quote from Thrik

    Hopefully T:A has generous limits on turrets like T2!

    Ahh those turrets, yeah they're still in also. I thought you were talking about the stationary base ones, which I find more effective on some maps than others.

    The game is playing very similar to KZ2 in that the more you level up/unlock, the more you begin to play with players who have different combinations. I'm seeing all kinds of groovy grenades, force fields and lock-on missiles lately.

  • Tribes Ascend

    Quote from Thrik

    although I'm waiting until the final product is released as I'm past my days of dealing with alphas/betas.

    Can't hurt to try it out It's free and does feel quite complete already.

    Quote

    Are there still turrets and stuff like that?

    Yep, turrets/vehicles/generators/target strikes etc. Turrets don't seem too effective to me, especially investing in their upgrades. I'd like to see a bit of homing technology coming along with the upgrades - but then again, I have died to them a few times also.

    I played quite a bit of CTF today and have to say, it's pretty damn cool skiing straight towards the enemies flag and snatching it at 180km/h then fleeing back to your base under pursuit One of the more enjoyable experiences an FPS has delivered in a long time.

  • Tribes Ascend

    Currently in closed beta, you can obtain a beta key simply by liking their FB page: http://www.facebook.com/tribesascend

    I went about installing it yesterday and became rather hooked. It is F2P so you have some typical complaints from users about other players having advantages etc, but straight out of the digital box, it's pretty damn fun.

    Fast paced action but with limited classes and weapon scope to begin with. It reminds me of Killzone 2 MP actually and that's not a bad thing. You can unlock any class at any time with a few $'s, or via XP points over time - insuring that you learn the ropes before you jump into some of the more involved classes.

    The learning curve is quite small if you start off with Team DM (which has a nice twist from the typical TDM modes: there's one flag, whatever team is carrying it gets 2x the kill count on the opposing team). I haven't dabbled much in CTF yet, I feel it supports a wider range of classes to begin with. There's also "Rabbit" which I haven't checked out.

    Anyway, it's free and feels like a complete game already - so if you want some fast paced action, check it out

    [Blocked Image: http://www.bagofgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/TrCTF-Drydock-PC-13-05.57.460.jpg]

    It also has some of my favourite HUD Damage indicators of any game - gels so well with narrative and beats the hell out of the boring ass "BLOOD IN MY EYES " You see everywhere.

    [Blocked Image: http://www.mugaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/TribesAscendBetaComing2.jpg]

  • Hawken

    Quote from Jetsetlemming

    Man, it really bugs me that they're doing this skeevy linksharing setup to get in the beta. I don't want to trick my friends into clicking a particular link!

    The way I understand it is that it only reserves your username. It doesn't guarantee you a spot in the beta.

  • Dust 514

    Quote from arhurt

    Anyone knows if this is being developed in their HQ? Is there any development of this in Atlanta or is that solely for World of Darkness?

    Their Shanghai studio is doing the brunt of it.

  • My best friend died..

    Sorry for your loss, I hope you might find something to take from the below. It helped me immensely not long after my Mum passed:

    Quote

    Alright, here goes. I'm old. What that means is that I've survived (so far) and a lot of people I've known and loved did not. I've lost friends, best friends, acquaintances, co-workers, grandparents, mom, relatives, teachers, mentors, students, neighbors, and a host of other folks. I have no children, and I can't imagine the pain it must be to lose a child. But here's my two cents.I wish I could say you get used to people dying. I never did. I don't want to. It tears a hole through me whenever somebody I love dies, no matter the circumstances. But I don't want it to "not matter". I don't want it to be something that just passes. My scars are a testament to the love and the relationship that I had for and with that person. And if the scar is deep, so was the love. So be it. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are a testament that I can love deeply and live deeply and be cut, or even gorged, and that I can heal and continue to live and continue to love. And the scar tissue is stronger than the original flesh ever was. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are only ugly to people who can't see.

    As for grief, you'll find it comes in waves. When the ship is first wrecked, you're drowning, with wreckage all around you. Everything floating around you reminds you of the beauty and the magnificence of the ship that was, and is no more. And all you can do is float. You find some piece of the wreckage and you hang on for a while. Maybe it's some physical thing. Maybe it's a happy memory or a photograph. Maybe it's a person who is also floating. For a while, all you can do is float. Stay alive.

    In the beginning, the waves are 100 feet tall and crash over you without mercy. They come 10 seconds apart and don't even give you time to catch your breath. All you can do is hang on and float. After a while, maybe weeks, maybe months, you'll find the waves are still 100 feet tall, but they come further apart. When they come, they still crash all over you and wipe you out. But in between, you can breathe, you can function. You never know what's going to trigger the grief. It might be a song, a picture, a street intersection, the smell of a cup of coffee. It can be just about anything...and the wave comes crashing. But in between waves, there is life.

    Somewhere down the line, and it's different for everybody, you find that the waves are only 80 feet tall. Or 50 feet tall. And while they still come, they come further apart. You can see them coming. An anniversary, a birthday, or Christmas, or landing at O'Hare. You can see it coming, for the most part, and prepare yourself. And when it washes over you, you know that somehow you will, again, come out the other side. Soaking wet, sputtering, still hanging on to some tiny piece of the wreckage, but you'll come out.

    Take it from an old guy. The waves never stop coming, and somehow you don't really want them to. But you learn that you'll survive them. And other waves will come. And you'll survive them too. If you're lucky, you'll have lots of scars from lots of loves. And lots of shipwrecks.

  • The Natural Selection 2 Thread

    Quote from Puddy

    Being slightly hyped by the trailer I gave the game a try

    I also jumped on the hype wagon and picked it up. As someone new to NS it has a bit of a learning curve as to what one should be doing, which can result in a pretty slow game. The game would benefit from a little more on-screen help and information, especially in the form of separating tutorial text updates from current game updates

    Even though it's early access, if you intend to attract and retain new players then a stronger emphasis should be placed on training them up and giving them as much info as possible.

  • [Crysis] Storm

    Wow, nice work man! I felt the silhouette on the enemies was a little immersion breaking, for a stealth type setup like the one you have I think it'd add a lot more tension if you were to remove it. Especially as your objective and general theme seems to be light/visibility orientated. That thought of being spotted by someone you didn't quite see carries a lot of weight.

    Speaking of objectives, given how much you were creeping around, it seemed like you would have been able to creep past the base regardless of the generator. Perhaps it's just not portrayed in the video how/why this isn't possible, but have you thought about hooking the generator up to something else, such as a gate that opens up, or some electric fences that get powered down?

  • Songs that put you in a good mood

    Anything from Little Big Planet Or even just loading up the game itself...

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