Monday 9 November 2009
Monday 2 November 2009
Monday 26 October 2009
Monday 19 October 2009
Monday 12 October 2009
Monday 5 October 2009
Mikael Sandgren`s Review
Monday 28 September 2009
Quote for today
Duane Alan Hahn
Friday 25 September 2009
Quote for today
Bob Whitehead
Thursday 24 September 2009
Wednesday 23 September 2009
Tuesday 22 September 2009
Work And Play: An Updated Peek Inside The Lives Of Gaming’s Greatest
Monday 21 September 2009
Friday 18 September 2009
Thursday 17 September 2009
Wednesday 16 September 2009
What Every Indie Needs to Know Article
Tuesday 15 September 2009
Quote for Today
The necessity for, and creation of, SPECIAL occurred near the planned release date, nearly half a year before the game was actually released. The setting of Fallout was decided on long before those events, being “a dark game, based on the horrors that 1950's science had predicted for a future apocalyptic world. So we balanced that with humour, by poking fun at those same predictions in a way that would amuse a modern player.” (ref)
Chris Taylor explains: "We wanted to make a game that felt different from the 'elves and dragons' games of the time. Part of that was the setting and part of that was the attitude of Fallout. The intro movie, with the execution scene that ended with a happy wave was one of the defining moments for us as developers. Giving over-the-top violence, with sexuality and language, combined with a happy-smiley view of the 1950s was a conscious decision." (ref)
During the earlier stages of development, details about the setting had shifted constantly; remnants of a medieval version of the game could even be found in the ‘Goodies’ folder of the original Fallout release. Eventually a retro-futuristic setting was chosen upon because "the artists just thought that 50's tech looked cool.” The artists "set out to make a future science that looked like what the Golden Era of science fiction thought that future science would look like.” (ref) Leonard Boyarsky, as lead artist/art director, played a large role in this vision, being the one to originally come up with the idea, as well as for the idea for Vault Boy 'cards' in the character screen. (ref)
Besides the “future of the fifties” concept, there were many post-apocalyptic influences. Older science fiction movies and novels such as ‘Them’ and ‘A Canticle for Leibowitz’ proved inspiration, as well as such modern works as ‘Road Warrior,’ ‘Brazil,’ ‘City of Lost children,’ ‘Blade Runner,’ ‘Batman,’ ‘Ghost in the Shell,’ ‘On the Beach,’ and ‘Star Wars.’ (ref), (ref) Even the Roger Zelazny novel “Lord of Light” was influential, because of Sam, the protagonist. Tim Cain would “think ‘What would Sam do?’ when testing an adventure seed that required the player to want to help a town.” (ref)
Monday 14 September 2009
Friday 11 September 2009
Quote for Today
This is important. If you've read some of my other pages you should have already read about how much work making a video game can be. That means it's important you start with something you can actually finish with a reasonable number of resources, in a reasonable amount of time and therefore with a reasonable budget.
The bigger the game you want to make the more important it is you have a very detailed plan.
Just remember that if you find that the 1st level had 100 things to do which was going to take 5000 man hours (about 3 months for 5 people), then if you plan on having 30 levels it's going to take 150000 man hours and if you forgot 25% of the items in the first level then your estimates are going to be way off.
Thursday 10 September 2009
Piotr Koczewski recommend today site
The premier online community for UK music industry professionals seeking jobs in music.
Wednesday 9 September 2009
Tuesday 8 September 2009
Monday 7 September 2009
Friday 4 September 2009
Thursday 3 September 2009
Quote for Today
An RPG is a role-playing game, so you are playing a role - that is, you are making choices about the protagonist. In some RPGs the only choice you make is which stat to increase when you level up. A good RPG, I feel, gives you more meaty choices. To do that, you must do three things:
1. Establish a setting with versimilitude. It doesn't have to be a simulation of reality, but it needs to have enough internal consistency that the player buys into it. Then the player can feel "grounded."
2. Create groups or individuals about whom the player has a sense of investment. In Fo3, you are trying to find your father, and since the entire tutorial section has interactions with your dad, this establishes a tie and a sense of character investment. In Fo1 you are trying to save your entire vault, and later humanity. In Planescape: Torment, you are just trying to figure out who the hell you are. All of these games put you in situations where you make connections with people - or even with just your own protagonist - so you have a sense of investment in what's going on. Your choices matter because their outcomes affect the people that you, the player, have come to know and perhaps care about. Sure, they're ultimately just pictures on a computer screen, but if you even paused for a second and thought about whether it was all right to steal from Killian, or to swipe the water chip from the ghouls, or if you cheered when your character killed the Overseer, you just felt investment in the game.
3. Give the player choices that impact that setting and that investment. The "slideshow" at the end of Fo1 (and now at the end of many an RPG) gives you a sense of closure. It shows you that your actions mattered and that you actually made things happen. Similarly, when you have a choice between helping two good people (but you can only help one of them) or having to work with bad people to fulfill your goals (people who would normally be your enemy, but you can't kill 'em 'cause you need 'em), this creates a real conflict of interests that makes you think about what you're doing. Given enough time, or some cheat codes, you can overcome any fight or problem that a game can throw at you. The question in an RPG is less whether you can pursue an option, and more whether you should and why. In the Fo series, you sort of see this in the sense that you can choose to gain karma by doing heroic things without pay or compensation - "heroism is its own reward," so to speak. A more telling sort of choice would be if you have to decide something where you're not sure what outcome is really best and you make a choice based on your investment in the story and your hope for how things might turn out - like the bit with Harold in the Oasis in Fo3 (I won't spoil any more than that).
Wednesday 2 September 2009
Tuesday 1 September 2009
Thursday 30 July 2009
Wednesday 29 July 2009
Quote for Today
Don't waste money on super expensive software/hardware
Some things not to skimp on.
1) Buy large monitors. Today's software requires lots of screen real estate. 19-21 inch monitors are a must for production.
2) Don't skimp on memory. At least 512Meg per computer or more. In fact if you're used to working with SGIs with 512Meg or more of memory then get that much memory for your PC and run NT and it will feel about the same if not faster.
3) Buy reliable equipment. Remember that time is money. If somebody's machine is not working and they are idle for 3 days, at $30 an hour that's 30*8*3 = $720 dollars in the toilet. Maybe you shouldn't have bought from the garage down the street. This is especially true of the network equipment. I worked at one company were the network went down at least once a week for a few hours. That company had about 45 people. That means one hour cost them at least 45 * 30 or $1350. After a few weeks they already lost more than they saved by using cheap hardware.
Monday 27 July 2009
Thursday 23 July 2009
Wednesday 22 July 2009
Tuesday 21 July 2009
Monday 20 July 2009
Quote for Today
You think you are going to be the next Id. You're going to make a game as good as Quake and right off the bat you'll be driving Ferrari's in no time. Well I'm sorry to inform you but Quake is Id's 5th or 6th game. They started with a smaller game and using the funds and technology from that game they were able to develop the next and so on.
Do the same. Start with a smaller game. If your dream game is to make a 30 level game with every feature known to man and tons of graphics and video and music and ... This time start with something smaller. Try a 3 level game or try a game that re-uses alot of graphics or both. Then, after you shipped it, make your next game a little bigger. Build your way up.
Friday 17 July 2009
Thursday 16 July 2009
Wednesday 15 July 2009
Quote for Today
I think for me, the biggest influences were old science fiction movies and books. Some examples were movies like “Them”, where radiation created giant ants that attacked towns and destroyed buildings and cars. A book example is “A Canticle for Leibowitz”, where monks in a post-nuclear-war abbey try to save civilization by carefully copying and recopying ancient scientific texts in the hopes that some day they would be useful again.
Tuesday 14 July 2009
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Movie Trailer HD
I Can`t wait to see this movie ! Music by Alan Silvestri
Monday 13 July 2009
Quote for Today
At least at the top. As mentioned above, the number one person you need is a good Game Director. Hopefully that is you but remember it will be a full time project. Don't think you are going to have time to do more than manage and design. You won't. Of course you need an experienced lead programmer, and an experienced art director. The rest of the people can probably have less experience assuming the two leads are capable of leading and teaching others. On the other hand it should be fairly obvious that experienced people should in general be able to get things done on time, to spec and give reasonable estimates. (Come to think of it I'm not so sure that's true, check your references before you assume that a particular person's experience is actually all that valuable)
Friday 10 July 2009
Thursday 9 July 2009
Wednesday 8 July 2009
Friday 3 July 2009
Quote for Today
Realize that your team is working their asses off for you and that they are trying to make something great. Support them. Stock the fridge with drinks and snacks (if you figure out the cost for this you'll see it's actually pretty small) If they are staying late to meet a deadline get them dinner. Make sure they have what they need to get the job done. Whether it's software, hardware, a new chair, whatever.
Also, never take credit for other people's work. If the press comes in, show off the team, don't forget anybody. There's no better feeling than getting noticed for doing a good job and no worse feeling than getting overlooked or having somebody else take credit for your work.
Be honest with your team. Don't promise them things you can't deliver on.
Thursday 2 July 2009
Wednesday 1 July 2009
Quote for Today
IMHO, the current future of RPGs is most definitely in MMOs. I believe the MMORPG is still evolving and that it has not yet reached its peak. I am really looking forward to seeing what the future holds for the genre and hopefully being a part of it.
Tuesday 30 June 2009
Monday 29 June 2009
Friday 26 June 2009
Thursday 25 June 2009
Wednesday 24 June 2009
Tuesday 23 June 2009
Monday 22 June 2009
Friday 19 June 2009
Video Games Live in Poland
Piotr Koczewski with partnership William Morris Agency organizing Video Games Live in Poland.More information soon !
www.videogameslive.com
www.wma.com
Thursday 18 June 2009
Quote for Today
GETTING PUBLISHED PART 1: PROCESS OVERVIEW
All developers learn as they go when it comes to the pitching process. Based on his experience, Schubert offers some final advice "Be confident enough to answer any question because you have spent the time to think of every question that could be asked. Let your hard work guide you to the right answer! Be sure you have a good public speaker doing your presenting. Get a solid biz dev guy to handle the busywork of preparation and follow up, so that your developers can focus on the all-important demo"
Wednesday 17 June 2009
Tuesday 16 June 2009
Monday 15 June 2009
Friday 12 June 2009
Quote for today
Finish a level
Make the game playable as soon as possible and then finish the first level of the game. FINISH IT! If its got voice put the voice in. If it supposed to tally your score at the end put that in. If it needs a HUD (Head's Up Display) implement it. If it's supposed to have a map then do it. Dialog, put it in. Video? That too. That first level should be ready to ship before you do the second level. Ready to ship means there is NOTHING LEFT TO DO.
Thursday 11 June 2009
Wednesday 10 June 2009
Tuesday 9 June 2009
Monday 8 June 2009
Friday 5 June 2009
Thursday 4 June 2009
Wednesday 3 June 2009
Tuesday 2 June 2009
Monday 1 June 2009
Friday 29 May 2009
Thursday 28 May 2009
Wednesday 27 May 2009
Tuesday 26 May 2009
Monday 25 May 2009
Friday 22 May 2009
Thursday 21 May 2009
Public Relations Tips part 1
Tuesday 19 May 2009
Monday 18 May 2009
Friday 15 May 2009
Thursday 14 May 2009
Krai Mira Online Progress
We are close to done english version of Krai Mira Online and we are half of way to done polish version of game.
Piotr Koczewski Project Manager
Wednesday 13 May 2009
Tuesday 12 May 2009
Monday 11 May 2009
Friday 8 May 2009
Thursday 7 May 2009
Wednesday 6 May 2009
Tuesday 5 May 2009
Monday 4 May 2009
Saturday 2 May 2009
Quote for Today
Don't do the final mixing of your track on the same day as you've been working on the track for hours. Your ears need a rest to regain their "neutral balance". You've probably been sitting, standing, walking around your studio where you are putting together your track, playing it a bit louder and louder, getting down and digging it.
At the end of a long day/night, your track is done and you feel exhausted, but happy! This is a bad time to create the final mixdown of your track. Save everything, shut down, go home. Have a good nights sleep. The next day, go out and do something different. Watch some TV. Listen to some music (not too loud, and not your own!)
Then come back to your track in the evening. Lower the volume to a normal listening volume, and then start to do your mixdown.
Right after you've been working on your track for hours, your ears and brain are "skewed" and if there are problems in the mix, you might not even hear them. So it's important to give those ears a good long rest, and maybe listen to some other music before you get back to it and do that final mixdown. Trust me, your track will sound better.
Friday 1 May 2009
Thursday 30 April 2009
Wednesday 29 April 2009
Tuesday 28 April 2009
Monday 27 April 2009
Friday 24 April 2009
Thursday 23 April 2009
Wednesday 22 April 2009
Tuesday 21 April 2009
Monday 20 April 2009
Friday 17 April 2009
Wednesday 15 April 2009
Internationl Comics Festival in Łódź
I will be on Internationl Comics Festival in Łódź ( Poland ) in Third October 2009 with crew of Biocosmosis Comics.
Tuesday 14 April 2009
Game Development Tips Part 2
Monday 13 April 2009
Friday 10 April 2009
Thursday 9 April 2009
Game Designer Tip part 1
Wednesday 8 April 2009
Tuesday 7 April 2009
Monday 6 April 2009
Quote for Today
If you are like me (and most other musicians), you'll find that you have your harddisk full of "beginnings", "openings" and first-halves of songs that you have never finished. You work on it for a while, then you run out of ideas, or you get bored with it and start working on something else instead. This is very common, but it is not good. First of all, a song that isn't finished is a wasted song, with wasted ideas, wasted inspiration and wasted time. But more importantly than that, you'll never learn how to build a song from beginning to end, and your music carreer will not go any further until you learn that. Completing a song, buiding the "whole picture" is an art in itself. You've got to learn it, and practice it. By not finishing your songs, you are hindering your progress as a musician.
Be disciplined. Grab yourself by the neck and finish your songs, even if you seem to have lost interest in it. Pull yourself together, and don't work on anything new until you have finished the one you are working on. Even if it means that the song won't be as cool / fantastic as you were hoping. Even if, after 10.000 listens, you are fed up with it, and you don't even thing it's any good any more. Finish it anyway! Just do it. Then, if you still don't like it, put it away, move on and do something else. At least you finished it. And by doing that, the next one will be easier to complete. To have 100 "beginnings" on your hard drive, just leads to more and more and more "beginnings" and you'll never really get anywhere.
Friday 3 April 2009
Tuesday 31 March 2009
Krai Mira Demo Soundtrack
More tracks from Krai Mira for download available in nearest future
Sunday 29 March 2009
Friday 27 March 2009
Game Development Tips Part 1
Thursday 26 March 2009
Tuesday 24 March 2009
Monday 23 March 2009
Friday 20 March 2009
Quote for today
Never do your final mix using only headphones. Even if you have the best headphones in the world, they don't tell the truth and the whole truth of what your mix really sounds like. It may sound completely different on a set of speakers, when the air starts moving. Refer to the headphones now and then to check out what it sounds like, but when it's crunch time and you are going for the final master - put away the headphones and listen to real loudspeakers.
Thursday 19 March 2009
Wednesday 18 March 2009
Tuesday 17 March 2009
Monday 16 March 2009
Sunday 15 March 2009
Saturday 14 March 2009
Quote for Today
From http://uk.music-jobs.com/blog/index.php
Friday 13 March 2009
Quote for Today
Leave the room and close the door!
This is going to sound really stupid, but I swear it works.
When you are adjusting the balance of your mix and the relative volumes of the different instruments... go outside the room, close the door, and listen to the mix through the door! You get a different perspective on things, and this "through the door" monitoring is strangely accurate. If the bass sounds too loud, it probably is too loud. If the snare sounds too loud, it probably is. Of course, you can't do all your mixing from outside the door (you won't hear the hihats, for starters), but it's a valuable extra check. I never mix down a track until I've heard it from outside the room. This is not a joke..!
Thursday 12 March 2009
Wednesday 11 March 2009
Tuesday 10 March 2009
Quote for Today
G-OST: You worked both with TV series and game music - is there a huge difference? Tell us about composing process of yours, please. Which way is easier to control people’s mind, Mr. Morgan?
Mark: I think there is a huge difference. They really are two different mediums, though they are becoming closer. In television, as in film, it’s really all about the dialog and your job as a composer is to support that and hit certain emotional moments. There are exceptions of course, but for the most part, that’s the case. In the video games that I have done, there wasn’t really any picture to speak of, except for a couple of “cut” scenes. So, I am asked to write music to create moods appropriate to where you are in game play. This can be daunting, but it’s also liberating. In television, you are a bit of a slave to timing and dialog. In video games, there is more freedom.
Monday 9 March 2009
Saturday 7 March 2009
Friday 6 March 2009
Thursday 5 March 2009
Wednesday 4 March 2009
Presov Airfield
Unused track for location Presov Airfield in Afterfall.This location will be avaible in Sequel
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