Aaaaand Welcome your Mods!

Um...gratz and welcome, I think are in order?

Someday I just *know* there'll be a banning forum, and I'll get to be mod!

Then all my years of assholery will have paid off!!!!

^_^


In the meantime: congrats to the victors!!!

BTW: This is a great forum. Is it for discussing games in general, or can we talk about the business of writing for games as well? Is there already a writing for games subforum?

Welcome! and I agree, this is a great idea for a forum.

Right now, feel free to chat about whatever you like (game-wise). Your favourites, business, technical, influences, what you hate/what you love etc. Mac suggested it'd be cool to get into the 'why do we play' as much as the what or how often we play but I'm sure that'll find its own way down the line. There may be sub-forums or stickies in future which get a bit more specific but for now, have at it.

I was about to say "What, are you the freakin' mod here or what?" And then I noticed that yes, yes, in fact you are.

Carry on.

Meh, people say that to me all the time.

Then I have 'em whacked.

Interesting! Congrats, Clockwork and jst5150. Looking forward to seeing how this forum plays out!

Snowstorm said:

Interesting! Congrats, Clockwork and jst5150. Looking forward to seeing how this forum plays out!

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We are, too. Have fun!

Very cool idea. I am a game player and look forward to interaction with fellow alter ego types. Congratz......

Just video games or will this room cover pen-and-paper RPGs?

And congrats, new modz!

Scott

MacAllister said:

Clockwork and jst5150, both of whom have written games, or written FOR games.

Thanks, fellas.

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Ah kewl. That sounds like a good gig. How'd you get it? What games?

Crap, sorry Scott. Only just saw this now.

I was story editor on a web-based detective game called Gumshoe. Sadly it's all closed down since but at the time (2003-2005) it was very popular and made quite a bit of money. My best buddy brought me in on it after we both graduated university in 2003. He was lead artist on the game and knew I was a writer so when the job came up, he put in a good word.

You can read bits and pieces about it and see some cool artwork on his website here.

It was mostly puzzle-based point and click stuff. Lots of exploration, collecting clues, putting things together etc. It had a pretty solid fanbase which was great.

It was fun but very difficult. I tried to structure the four episodes I did quite rigidly which was unnecessary really as the thing changed so much between idea and execution. But essentially I came up with story, character, plot and dialogue and then they took over and plugged it all in. It was fun while it lasted though I actually never got around to playing it! How terrible is that?

Congrats guys!

clockwork said:

You can read bits and pieces about it and see some cool artwork on his website here.

It was mostly puzzle-based point and click stuff. Lots of exploration, collecting clues, putting things together etc. It had a pretty solid fanbase which was great.

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No kidding? I played that, a little. I'm not much of a puzzle gamer so I didn't get too far with it. Autograph, pleeze?

clockwork said:

It was fun but very difficult. I tried to structure the four episodes I did quite rigidly which was unnecessary really as the thing changed so much between idea and execution.

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I've heard that. A couple times it crossed my mind to apply for a game programming job, but from what I've heard there's so many applicants for so few jobs that the coders end up putting in INSANE hours for not too much money. Not unlike my current job, come to think of it. Hmmmm.

clockwork said:

But essentially I came up with story, character, plot and dialogue and then they took over and plugged it all in. It was fun while it lasted though I actually never got around to playing it! How terrible is that?

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I totally get that. After X amount of hours it's gotta stop being fun.

shawkins said:

I've heard that. A couple times it crossed my mind to apply for a game programming job, but from what I've heard there's so many applicants for so few jobs that the coders end up putting in INSANE hours for not too much money. Not unlike my current job, come to think of it. Hmmmm.

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I knew a guy who worked for a defunct Dallas-area company the name of which I can no longer recall (and I don't want to guess and get it wrong). He described to me the condition of the office during the development of the last game he did with them.

In those days, they had to walk to work uphill both ways in the snow.

Actually, that's a lie. It doesn't snow much here, and they didn't go home from work except on weekends.

The upshot? A week of tequila, beer, and pizza after the game went gold. And there's supposedly something to be said for the camaraderie.

Edit: I also recall that they allegedly had a makeshift train running through the office. That sort of environment just has to be fun...

SPMiller said:

I knew a guy who worked for a defunct Dallas-area company the name of which I can no longer recall (and I don't want to guess and get it wrong). He described to me the condition of the office during the development of the last game he did with them.

In those days, they had to walk to work uphill both ways in the snow.

Actually, that's a lie. It doesn't snow much here, and they didn't go home from work except on weekends.

The upshot? A week of tequila, beer, and pizza after the game went gold. And there's supposedly something to be said for the camaraderie.

Edit: I also recall that they allegedly had a makeshift train running through the office. That sort of environment just has to be fun...

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Howdy. I'm from Dallas too. (Irving to be specific.)

Ensemble studios (who made Age of Empires) is about the most famous now-defunct Dallas-based game development company. 3D Realms also just closed. Of course, there's a host of other defunct gaming companies as well.

Unfortunately, Dallas doesn't have a large gaming industry. Austin is where it is at for Texas. If I lived in Austin, I'd be working for Bioware right now.