Making Casual Games
 
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Im not dead, I just switched blogs

2007-11-13 18:01:28 by Eric in Making Casual Games
 
I just havent been working on casual games recently. Ive gone back to developing MMOs (as a contract consultant and engineer), and so my wife and I made a new blog on that topic. Its at http://www.eldergame.com if youre interested
 
Tags: casual games recently, contract consultant, topic, wife, blog, mmos, engineer, eldergame
 
 
 
 
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Secret Codes for Starcrossed

2007-10-05 22:01:11 by Eric in Making Casual Games
 
Some people have gotten stuck near the end of Starcrossed, when it starts to get pretty hard.If you find yourself getting stuck on a level, try these cheaty cheat codes Refill Energy Refill: while playing, just type moonpower (without the quotes). You wont see any feedback until you type the whole thing then youll see your energy bar instantly...
 
Tags: codes, instantly win level, instantly win, level, type starpower, type, cheaty cheat codes, type moonpower, current level
 
 
 
 
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Licensed Music Woes

2007-09-22 14:57:45 by Eric in Making Casual Games
 
...game developers, I used licensed music in Starcrossed. $50 a track is right in my price range. The better tracks usually arent quite loopable when you download them, so you have to go in and snip bits off of them to make it work, but it typically doesnt take too long. I picked what I thought were some pretty good soothing tracks for...
 
Tags: music, theme music, music vibe, custom music, music track, track, deep sea tycoon, casual game developers, game
 
 
 
 
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Casual games are getting harder

2007-08-23 09:41:27 by Eric in Making Casual Games
 
...games seem to be getting harder. Hes right they really are. In fact, the newest match-3 puzzle games are really tough! In earlier posts, I had suggested that the DS game Puzzle Quest was too difficult to be a casual game. But maybe Im wrong. The newest match-3 games rival Puzzle Quest in difficulty I still think that, in general, casual...
 
Tags: game puzzle quest, game, match-3 game, harder, match-3 skills, players match-3 skills, casual game, skills, significantly harder
 
 
 
 
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Starcrossed now available on iWin

The Article has images
2007-08-16 21:36:01 by Eric in Making Casual Games
...games Starcrossed is a unique new puzzle game with a celestial theme. Help Ione rescue her sisters and restore the heavens! Although it looks at first like just another match-piece game, its actually quite a bit different Once youve gotten the hang of the game, be sure to check out the Challenge Grid. This is (IMO) where the game is at its...
 
Tags: game, puzzle game, match-piece game, challenge, challenge grid, extremely happy, iwin games, celestial theme, neat challenges
 
 
 
 
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In-Game Credits Screens

2007-08-03 04:46:13 by Eric in Making Casual Games
 
...game have a Credits screen? Of the games I have handy, more than 50% have a credit screen. Yet some of the biggest names, such as Luxor 2, dont. Instead, their credits are only in the readme.html file that comes with the game Whats the advantage of having credits in-game? Its unlikely that people are going to be impressed by a list of names...
 
Tags: in-game credits, game, in-game, credits, credits screens, credits in-game, games, games documentation, brand names
 
 
 
 
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When is it okay to be confusing?

2007-07-31 20:01:30 by Eric in Making Casual Games
 
...game DDR Max. Its a little less polished than the newer games, but it does have a couple of very interesting bits at the end. If you get a high score, it lets you enter your name. But it doesnt tell you how to enter your name. Letters just zoom up from the bottom of the screen, and you sort of have to work out whats going on Actually, its...
 
Tags: actual mechanics, mechanics, game mechanics, ddr max credits, ddr max, normal game mechanics, ddr, ddr supernova, game
 
 
 
 
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Why Game Code Sucks

2007-07-25 01:59:28 by Eric in Making Casual Games
 
...game code seems to pick up most of its crap at the end of development (or what you suppose is the end). You start cutting corners because you think youre done, or there isnt much time, and soon enough your objects are pulling triple duty More than that, though, I think game code is just generally less reusable than code in other arenas. The...
 
Tags: game, game code sucks, game mechanics, game code, code, game objects, objects, game features, dead-end code
 
 
 
 
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Game Code Sucks!

2007-07-21 09:36:50 by Eric in Making Casual Games
 
...game development. The actual finished code of most games sucks. Its barely maintainable, often riddled with special cases, and the code authors are often embarrassed to have their code seen in public Ive been a senior engineer for over a decade, Ive mentored new programmers, Ive written long articles about how to write good code. But I have...
 
Tags: game, game code sucks, game functionality, fun game, game code, code, game ships, game development, engine code
 
 
 
 
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Any casual game devs need $20?

2007-07-19 21:15:24 by Eric in Making Casual Games
 
...game for $20 deals I mentioned earlier, and theyre a lot of fun. And I think theyre pretty useful, too not that I had any amazing insights, but a new pair of eyeballs is always handy I wish I could analyze my own game this way, but I cant. Im too close to it. Ive also subjected friends to alpha testing, and Ive even done a full beta-test with...
 
Tags: game, casual game beta-tester, game developer, beta, lots, analyze, lot, time, bit