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New Game, Podcast, and Presentations

This is a general update about what’s happening with Grey Alien Games.

On Jan 7th a beta version of my latest game was released and the surveys were very positive, which is good news. The final version will be released on Feb 6th on Big Fish Games. I’m just about to go into crunch mode to cram in loads of last minute features and a cool intro. Of course, as per usual, I still have a huge list of ideas/features that won’t make it into the final game. It’s always a bit sad to release a game that you know you could have made even better, but you can’t just keep on programming a game forever and never release it. The game is still great as is. Besides, often the extra features you want to add in wouldn’t really make any different to sales, they would just push up the development cost.

www.IndustryBroadcast.comhas converted another of my articles about Tips for Finishing a Game into a podcast. It’s funny hearing your own stuff read aloud and interesting how simple changes in inflection or word tweaks by the reader can alter the original meaning. But overall I’m happy with the results. I think it’s a great site packed with great articles. I ought to listen to some on the bus…

Nick Newhard (a designer at BFG Seattle) and I will be speaking at the Vancouver Game Design Expo on Sunday 8th Feb about 10 Secrets to Designing Instantly Enjoyable and Addictive Games. We’ve got a great slideshow lined up but I think we are going to have to talk at light speed to get through it all.

Also in May I’ll be doing a talk at VanDev: Vancouver’s Software Developers Network about Developing Casual Games. It’s a great meetup group that covers many topics. I’ll be discussing Casual Games in general, the technologies involved, and how to get started.

4 Responses to “New Game, Podcast, and Presentations”

  1. Jon Says:

    Wow, congrats! Fairway Solitaire is one of my most favorite games to date. You’ve managed to take a boring genre and turn it into an experience every single person I’ve showed it to loves. Needless to say, I can’t wait.

  2. Grey Alien Games Says:

    Thanks Jon, but it wasn’t just down to me. The original design was an online game by John Cutter at Big Fish Games and then I turned it into a download version and we added in some new features and polish. But yeah, everyone seems to like it, which is great.

  3. Arowx Says:

    Hi the expo presentation sounds cool, will there be online content from the expo?

  4. Grey Alien Games Says:

    The expo presentation is going onto a DVD with all the other presentations apparently. Although it may only be for people who attend. I’ll find out more when I’m there. I’ll also see if we can post the presentation online anywhere.