Jamie D

Yeah maybe! Though the constant time pressure might be a detriment. I kinda o picture this like slaving away over a nice meal for yourself - you take the time because you enjoy the process

Like, the Enterprise-E looks less futuristic in my mind (especially in the recontextualization of Discovery era ships)

I find it really fascinating that the Enterprise-D still looks futuristic and that it's design sensibilities were never really continued in Star trek?

I'm very interested in the idea of micro jams, where I carve out an hour or two to make something real nice - a menu, a script that will help in the future, anything that might save me time. This might also just be reading on something that I haven't looked into yet

I want to emphasize that it's less about what is good or bad but what makes it interesting or make it work/not work.

For example, original Tomb raider's jump is considered clunky compared to Super Mario 64 but it does solve certain issues and give a certain puzzle like feel

It's also good to play things that aren't top tier too.
Some of the best things I learned about level design were things I hated in not so great maps in various games.

Play Super Mario world and then play Global gladiators and contrast/compare

How about instead of doing 48 hour game jams, you instead spent 48 hours scrutinizing over one mechanic or 2 weeks on an amazing character controller?

In terms of game design, this isn't just playing games for the sake of it but playing around with mechanics over and over again to understand the nuance.

90 percent of new pixel platformers I see don't even get the jump right despite being "inspired by Mario ".

I don't just mean collate a bunch of images, I mean organize them in a way which gives you visual information. Use them to understand what it is you are building. You should always be able to go back to your reference to answer any questions about how something should look.

The bit of advice I always give and is NEVER listened to is

"Use reference"

The difference between great looking/playing games and not so great looking/playing games is nearly always the use of reference

One thing that really lodged itself in my brain from an indie marketing talk was "Do what the rest aren't doing" & I think you could apply that to making games themselves.

To me, that looks like adding visual things that are somewhat difficult to do & that go beyond what Youtube tutorials cover

a group of fighter jets are flying in the dark in a galaxy . ALT: a group of fighter jets are flying in the dark in a galaxy .

Currently watching Battlestar Galactica (reboot) and they really don't make them like that anymore.

It's hard to feel good about your work when all you see are the flaws but every now and then, I glimpse a quiet moment and think "yeah, you did alright on this one"

Thanks! Appreciate you following me for all these years!

Thank you!

It's hard to feel good about your work when all you see are the flaws but every now and then, I glimpse a quiet moment and think "yeah, you did alright on this one"

YouTube video by NPC's Play VGM Planet Warren [Stage 1]

So turns out that the Bucky O'Hare arcade soundtrack has BIG Gunstar heroes vibes (which makes sense)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7uo...

I saw this! Congratulations!

My head cannon 30 years ago was this was a Star wars thing

GAMESCOM BOOKED Y'ALL

This is a really interesting point because it lead to every indie game then having (not great) stop motion animation styles and is an overused crutch at this point.

I would love to see an indie game with incredible animation o n just one character

All this has happened before and will happen again

We will see.

I talk and I talk but I have no grandma

For me, that looks like art driven, short games that have a theme.
I'm likely going to be looking at different visual styles, weird visual effects or maybe even just doing my take on realism but quickly.

Cool art style + solid gameplay + (slightly) unique mechanics = Win?

These uncommon things to add might be VFX, which are often neglected in indie games.
It might be a really well animated main character that goes above and beyond.
It might be lighting.
Have a look around and see what people commonly struggle with and tackle that. Chances are you might stand out

One thing that really lodged itself in my brain from an indie marketing talk was "Do what the rest aren't doing" & I think you could apply that to making games themselves.

To me, that looks like adding visual things that are somewhat difficult to do & that go beyond what Youtube tutorials cover

Me and my brother call it "BattleStargate Voyager" because that is exactly what it is

Also, shout out to Battlestar Galactica : Deadlock

A video game that really captures the feel of the capital ship combat in the show and it has an *INCREDIBLE* soundtrack.

Sadly, it isn't available to on Steam anymore

If you are finished with Battlestar Galactica, I recommend the following

-Stargate Universe
-Falling skies