Stickieee on the AGS forums posted some spooks fan art. Thanks Stickieee!
Sometime last month, the Adventure Lantern posted another very positive review of Spooks. Erin should be proud of the great world that she conceived, wrote, and drew.
Ever since releasing the game, people have been demanding a sequel. I personally wanted to see something completely new and original from Erin, and it seems like she’s found a way to make everbody happy. In a Critics Lounge thread over on the AGS boards, Erin announced a Spooks sequel and showed the first concepts for the new high(er)-res Mortia. However, she also announced that Mortia will not be the main character of the new game. So it appears that Erin may be taking the story in unexpected directions, giving me the original experience I was hoping for!
The thread with the announcement and character concept can be found here, but it should be considered a spoiler for those who haven’t finished Spooks!
I won’t be taking up the programming duties for her next game because I’m too busy with other projects, but I did offer to help her learn to code it herself. Whether she finds someone else to program or dives in and learns to code, I’m just hoping that it doesn’t take too long. I’m anxiously awaiting whatever she comes up with!
I’ll see if I can’t get her to give some exclusive info here on xiigames.com.
Okay, it’s not really as simple as the title makes it sound.
I love playing poker (poorly). And it’s a dream of mine to someday play in (and quickly lose) the main event at the World Series of Poker. Right now, I don’t have the confidence or skills (or time to hone my confidence or skills) to even take a shot at a thirty dollar satellite tourney. But, when the cost is zero to try… count me in!
Poker Stars is holding the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker. They’re giving away nine WSOP seats, one of them at the main event, a bunch of iPod Nanos, and some other tournament entries. It’s free to play as long as you’re a blogger. And while it’s probably stupid for me to advertise (more bloggers playing equals lower chances of winning), I don’t stand a chance anyways, so I thought other people might enjoy taking a shot.
And besides, it’s not like anyone reads this…
The fourth AGS One Room One Week contest has finished its week of development. The games, ten in total, are now available for download here. If you are a member of the AGS forums you can vote on the games as soon as voting starts (in the next few days). Voting will be announced here when the time comes.
I’ve played all of the games and have finished all but three and I have to say, this is the highest quality OROW yet. It’s amazing what these individuals or small teams managed to accomplish in a week. Anna, which tied for the win of the second OROW, would not have stood a chance among some of these games.
Part three of the Twelve Interviews series focuses on the subject of episodic games. The interviewee of this installment is Francisco “Grundislav” Gonzalez, creator of the extremely popular freeware adventure series, Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator.
The first five games in the series have met considerable praise and adoration. You can download them from Francisco’s site at GrundislavGames.com.
On to the interview:
The following is the second of the Twelve Interviews series. This was originally published August 2nd, 2005. The third interview (and first new interview for almost a year) will be coming along shortly.
This one is, again, very specific to the amateur adventure scene. We focus our discussion on the common mistakes that amateur adventure developers make when creating games.
Oh yeah… and it’s pretty long…
Listen up, game companies: I am an old man gamer.
“But Vince,” you might interject, “aren’t you only 24?” “Yes, Cheryl,” I might answer, “Yes I am.” And it would be true… as long as your name is Cheryl.
So what qualifies me as “old?” (We’ll discuss what qualifies me as “man” in another post… maybe when you’re older.)
I know I’m talking a lot about the Wii lately. But can you blame me. If people would wait six hours in line just to play the thing for 5 to 15 minutes, it must be interesting.
Seriously… The camera is in fast motion and it still takes more than two minutes to walk from the entrance to the Wii-plex to the end of the Wii line. That’s just crazy.
Oh man, did you see that Nintendo E3 conference? They totally stole that motion-sensor controller idea from Sony! Man, Sony must be pissed!
Now that I’ve finally gotten around to introducing both of the current games, I wanted to point out one fun bit of news. Both Anna and Spooks are featured on the cover CD included with the latest issue of Czech gaming rag “Level Magazine” along with a number of other freeware games. So, if you live somewhere where you can pick up that magazine, check it out. It’s issue 138 with the giant Lara Croft face on the cover.
Also, Anna was included on the cover CD of the UK’s “Microsoft® Windows® XP: The Official Magazine.” (what a longwinded magazine title) Here are some scans of the CD sleeve (front and back) and a shot of the CD interface (big thanks to LimpingFish):
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I especially love that on the front of the CD sleeve, the image that they chose to go under “FREE GAMES” was a shot of Anna’s main menu. It has to be the most empty and boring shot of the game you could have possibly taken. The screen has the control GUI and the word “anna” in grey letters on a white background. It shows that the people who made it spent all of 10 seconds to start the game, take a screenie and close the game. Or maybe they were trying to save ink. At least the screenshot they used on the CD interface is interesting… since they swiped that one straight from my site.
Oh, I should also mention that the folks at “Level” were nice enough to email me (in English!) and ask if they could use the games. The boys at “Microsoft® Windows® XP: The Official Magazine” just yoinked it and stuck it on their CD without permission. Not that I really care. The README included with the game specifically allows free re-distribution, but it also asks for notification. I mean, I’m happy that the game is getting some distribution, but c’mon… common courtesy. It would have been a bummer if this had gone out and I never knew (again, big thanks to LimpingFish). Let the hard working game authors enjoy the recognition, giant cash-loaded publishers!
