His latest offering is fun to play with, but not really fun to play. It promises to be the first of a weekly set of prototypes. It’s a great window into the creative process, great inspiration, and I feel worth your time.

If unfinished prototypes aren’t your thing, first of all why are you here, secondly here’s a list of my favorite of his games of the past suitable for blowing an hour on:

Game 2 – StarGrazing -  My favorite but only play the boss rusI love the “collect their power and throw it back at them” mechanic.

Game 39 – Snake Oil – The “close but no touch” aspect of needing to round up the oil blobs and compress them without contact really works in this game. Great pacing.

Game 6 – Dragon Dot with revised flash version  – Everyone’s favorite and for good reason. You play a dragon on a quest, tho that’s hard to tell because you’re just a dot. But a ton of fun and very beatable.

Game 28 – Vex – A really cool twist. You can’t attack, but you can annoy a giant into doing your attacking for you.

Game 18 – Dragondot’s Sky – Not a rousing success in my opinion because it’s so hard to play. But even hard to play it’s worth the time to try to master and very satisfying to.

SOPA and PIPA must be allowed to pass. The world needs the technological infrastructure that American business will bring when these laws pass. As a decent citizen of the world I demand we pass these legislations.

While it seems that this PIPA and SOPA put too much power in the hands of chuckleheads who’s only concern is recouping the losses of the latest Big Mama movie what’s really going on here is the undermining of their power and handing it over to the world. See, SOPA and PIPA are American legislation, meaning they can only dictate what American DNS providers, American financial services, American search engines, American web sites, and American ad services do. But they can not dictate what foreign providers do and there’s no reason you, as an internet user, can’t use a foreign DNS resolver. In fact according to the language of PIPA and SOPA your website can still be hosted domestically so long as a foreign DNS provides the link.

Here’s what’s going to happen. Every website which hosts user generated content, even text comments, will be liable not only for copyrighted violations but for facilitating copyright violation. This means all you have to do is find one place where you can post a comment and put up a mention of how to rip a BluRay and the whole site is blacklisted. No American DNS can resolve to them, no American ad provider can service them, no American search engine can refer to them, and no other site can legally link to them, meaning every site on the internet will be required, to remain in compliance with the law, to be ready at a moments notice to scour any mention of any blacklisted site from their pages or they too will be liable to prosecution. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the internet is kinda connected. There is no way every site will be able to comply. The ban hammer will spread like wild fire.

Soon, to avoid prosecution every DNS provider, ad generator, online financial service, and search engine will either move to foreign shores or foreign services will pop up to take their place free from fear of this evil legislation. With this deAmericanization of the internet will come a building up of the technological infrastructure of the rest of the world. And the chuckleheads who have worked to pass this legislation will watch as their power slips through their clenched fingers.

Sure it’ll be a rough couple of months, maybe couple of years, and some sites won’t make it. Chances are your favorite site won’t survive the transition since most of the internet is physically hosted in America. But hey, that’s the price of progress. Can’t make a worldwide omelet without breaking a few eggs.

Still think this is a bad idea? Good. So do I. Want something you can do about it?

Watch this video. (wish I could embed it)

Sign this petition.

Spread the word.

We had a local talent show so, to be different, I decided to bring a video game. Set up my laptop and put on “Rover Wars“, a personal favorite of mine. Getting someone to play to play your game really makes you realize how bad a job you did the first time in making your game playable. But I got a few kids into it and they played it the whole time. Loved it. They even had some suggestions. Together with some idea of my own for making it more playable, I decided it was time to update Rover Wars.

The problem is my poor old laptop had been reformatted and reinstalled since I made any game in Allegro. A couple of times, actually. So of course I haven’t reloaded allegro yet. Hit the allegro website and… oh wait, they’ve changed things. The old install instructions don’t work. Now I need CMake. Well, I’ve got CMake, but the instructions on the allegro wiki aren’t very clear about making Allegro work with MinGW and Code::Blocks. No problem, I’m a professional, I can handle this. Setting up CMake and building the libraries only took me a weekend, hampered somewhat because it relies specific DirectX binaries that you can only get off their website but for some reason aren’t included in the download. This seems like an odd choice, but I persist because it’ll be worth it in the end.

While CMake and mingw32-make were running I perused the SDL documentation and noticed that lazyfoo’s instructions which are super clear, super easy, broken down for whatever IDE you prefer, still work for the current version of SDL. I’ve actually already installed SDL a few months back so I could work on ASCIIpOrtal a bit and it went like butter. Way different than the trouble I’m going through now. Still, I reason, allegro is easier to use. Then again, what’s the point of being easier to use if you’re behind a wall that no one can get to?

Oh, the compile is done. I’m finally I’m able to edit my own game. But it’s late so I’ll take care of it another time.

That other time never came. A nasty bit of malware sneaked past Microsoft Security Essentials and the process of removing it somehow broke my network drivers. I was incapable of finding any wireless networks at home, work, or school. I had no choice. I have to reformat and reinstall again (poor old laptop). The good news? The reformat and reinstall worked and I have a functional, if barren, poor old laptop again. The bad news? I have decided I’m not going through that Allegro install ever again. I’m so upset I can’t even bring myself to link to them. Allegro is dead to me which is a shame because I have a number of games on the site that use it. But it is just not worth it to me.

The allegro team has made some nerdy, elitest choices lately that took their easy-for-beginners library and ruined it. I am not going back and if I want to make an edit to any of my allegro games I’m just going to have to rewrite them. I hate that that’s the case, but there it is.

So the humble indie bundle. Ever heard of it? Started when a bunch of indie developers got together and offered up their wares, which often was half or all of their available library, DRM free, with the promise that they’d be cool with whatever you gave them and, even more, would hand over whatever you specified to charity. Very humble. Very indie. We saw incarnations 2 and 3 of this and while no one really talked about the numbers I don’t think anyone suffered too badly for what might have been seen as a bad business decision by anyone else.

I make the assumption that the participants did well enough for themselves because between 2 and 3 we saw the “FrozenByte” Humble Indie Bundle. Just one developer saying “We got this whole thing covered, stand back you little guys.” Not quite as humble but I guess they’re still indie. And it was for charity so no one really said anything about the lack of humility. At least it was still a bundle.

Today we have a brand new Humble Indie Bundle and… it’s not even a bundle. It’s one game. By one developer. Humble, out. Bundle, out. Technically if you beat the average you get the bundle from the not-so-humble FrozenByte bundle, so I guess it might technically still be a bundle, but just barely.

But it’s for charity, right? That means I’m going to be the bad guy if I call this what it is: a marketing ploy. Gasp, I’m a bad person. To even suggest that Frozen Synapse has anything but the children in mind is unthinkable.

I don’t mind a company trying to do something for a good cause, but let’s have a little honesty here. This is not humble and it’s not a bundle and the only reason they want to use those words is because they know their game won’t sell as well if they don’t. They’re using a pale imitation of other people’s noble intents to line their pockets and heaven help me if I can figure out why the people behind the humble indie bundle website are supporting them. If EA wants to sell Madden 2013 and call it a humble indie bundle, so long as they’re donating to charity, is everyone going to be okay with that?

Short version: Follow this link and use your facebook, twitter, or LinkedIn to vote for my 2D6 spinner box.

Long version: Have you heard of 3D printing? The possibility of owning a replicator in your home is quickly becoming a reality. And while it’s a still a fledgling technology recent ventures like Makerbot and Ultimaker and projects like RepRap are bringing the technology within the reach of more people. One day a 3D printer in your home will be as ubiquitous as 2D printers.

I would love to get in to the ground level of this new technology. Ever since I’ve seen what was possible I’ve got the 3D printing goggles on, seeing opportunities where this technology would be very useful.  Unfortunately even at it’s cheapest I have a long list of expenses that come first. However there have recently come up a ton of opportunities to WIN one, and you had better believe I’m gonna try my best every chance I get.

I need your votes!

Follow this link and use your facebook, twitter, or LinkedIn to vote for my 2D6 spinner box. The 3DPrintingEvent.com contest ends in October and so far I’m the only entrant, but that just means I can get a headstart on the popular vote.

Now in reality this is just them trying to spread the word because the winning entry will be picked by a jury, but hey, they deserve the free advertising and I’m sure I can leverage an early relationship. So give them what they want, vote for me, and leave a note in the comments suggesting what I could do for your guys in remuneration if I win.

PS. There’s also a contest where Makerbot wants a mascot? Well How about a mascot that helps you make stuff? A maker-Bot of sorts. But you’re votes won’t help there but you can send positive vibes my way.

PPS. Ooh, there’s another one. If I don’t win at least one of these I’m gonna be ticked.

PPPS. Feel free to enter any of these contests yourself, by the way.

The new guy at work has been running weekly Banqi games and I must admit I’m hooked. For such a simple rule set there’s a lot of depth. Occasionally you get the throw-away one sided game and often times the end is a forgone conclusion fairly early on, but it’s the journey that’s the fun bit.

So how do you play this marvelous new old game? Let me show you:

Rules for Banqi do vary. The rules presented here have been found by our group to have the best balance of luck and strategy. If you have a favorite variation comment below.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:10500 – Print your own iconified Chinese Chess set (by me).
http://woodpress.org/banqi/ – Typed rules and board with key for beginners.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banqi – Some alternate rules.

In the past I have toyed with the idea of entering the ludum dare competition. I have even made a game in 48 hours to see if I could. But now the prospect of having my game lost in a sea of games is just not that appealing now. Well, that and finishing my masters.

Still, 599 games for you to play, gotta be something in there you can enjoy. Naturally the “playable in browser” games are going to get more attention, but there are some gems that are worth the download too. But before I list the ones I’ve enjoyed so far here’s a funny review of a fraction of the games:

Stratus (Richard Edwards) – I’m going to keep an eye out for this guy in the future. Not a word spoken, but a story told. Beautifully simple graphics. A bit fiddly on the puzzles, but I got it on my second play through and enjoyed the experience. Found myself writing the rest of the story in my head the next day.

Prelude of the Chambered (Notch) – The indies turn up their nose at the press this one has been recieving, but I would like to point out 3 things. One, I’ve been a fan of Marcus since before Minecraft (exhibit A),he’s been doing compos like this since before Minecraft, and this one is better than most, so shut it and play. I still haven’t beat the section at the end with the ghost, but it’s a fun, well rounded experience.

I know I’ve been impressed by others, but I just can’t find them right now. And I’m still playing them so expect this list to be updated with comments. Also put your suggestions in the comments so we can find the gems together.

Anyways, I love how Mark from the Indie Games Searchlight makes everyone around him look good. He invited me for a roundtable chat. You may have caught the first one either because Mark or Anthony Carboni or Daniel Kaplan or Michael Rose are all awesome and you’re staking any of all of them unhealthily. Like I do. Well his latest round table features the awesome… me, as well as Chris DeLeon who I’ve mentioned before and William McDonald who’s pretty cool too.

Check it out here: http://indiegamessearchlight.buzzsprout.com/4149/30375-making-your-own-game

Often times it’s not until after I finish one of these rants that I realize I’ve missed some major detail, something that could have summed the whole thing up nicely. And while an anthology of Blizzards past successes to contrast their modern failings against is good, I entirely missed out detailing why Diabalo 3 is gonna suck. So let me break it down.

When I played Lost Vikings, WarCraft 1/2, Diabalo, Starcraft and the rest I was inspired. I felt like they were these cool dudes trying something new then putting it out there and saying “I hope you enjoy this”, like they were on my level. And I wanted to be like them. But then World of Warcraft drew in the business men and Blizzard was gutted. Starcraft 2 was basically a cash grab, replacing imitation with it’s predecessors innovation, and as I illustrated at least starting the conversation that leads to innovation is incredibly easy to do. But the subtext of the Diabalo 3 announcement makes that pale in comparison. Let’s look at what they’re saying:

Always on internet required – “This game isn’t for everyone, just the affluent.” Granted it’s not that big a deal for most of the people complaining about it, but the point is they’re intentionally setting the bar higher than “everyone.” Contrast this with Starcraft which ran on 6 year old specs when it came out. But alright, so they only want people who enjoy a certian level of technology. What are they going to offer this techno elite?

Mods Prohibited – “We own this game, you don’t.” And you’re going to play their game like it or not. Well that’s real nice. I’m the sort of person that when I get a new toy takes it apart and puts it back together again. I don’t feel like I own something if I can’t.

In Game Auction House for Real World Money – “If you think you can make back some money on this game, don’t forget we get a cut.” Never mind that, as I said, you don’t really own the game you paid for, that’s not enough for them. Actually, Paul Saunders may have summed it up the best. (Jump to 1:21 in that video.)

What Blizzard is doing is turning every single player into a gold farmer. Apparently someone in Blizzard’s Business Development department decided ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’ and then appended ‘then devour their business model and use the flowing profits to add to your already glorious horde of gold and jewels.’ That person may possibly have been a dragon….

…You pay Blizzard a fee when you buy the item and they pay Blizzard a fee when they post the item. They’re also paying Blizzard to extract the money from their system. So really in the end Blizzard is making more money from these transactions than you are…. Any profits you take home is just what Blizzard is paying you to gold farm on their behalf. See my previous comments regarding glorious hordes, gold, jewels and dragons.

Naturally this statement was a funny slant on things for the lulz, but it’s not far from correct.

Now compare with my previous statement about how I felt Blizzard “were these cool dudes” when I was a wide eyed and innocent youngster and I hope I’ve managed to justify my repeated expressions of disappointment. In fact I hope I’ve encouraged you to be equally disappointed with the way the money grubbers have ruined things.

Play it here: http://ded.increpare.com/~locus/linebender/