Some weeks ago I was the code lead working on a little soccer game for iPhone called Flick Kick Football. To my great satisfaction, it’s currently the top selling iPhone application in the UK.
Updated, 17 July 2010:
…Aaand Angry Birds is back on top again. 16 consecutive days in the top spot – we’re pretty happy with that!
Any Nethack player will tell you that RNG doesn’t stand for Random Number Generator, it stands for Random Number God! The RNG’s divine providence influences every aspect of Nethack.
I’ve built a Random Number God of my own (ably assisted by Jeremy Lai). It procedurally generates levels for Bird Strike, PikPok‘s latest iPhone game. Level generators are close to my heart, so I’m thrilled to have worked on it!
I’m inordinately proud of Bird Strike. It’s not the most high-tech project I’ve ever worked on, and not the most ambitious, but it more than makes up for it with quality. The rest of the team have put together a game that’s pure, fun and charming. I really hope the fans enjoy my contribution to it.
Here’s the iTunes link.
I can finally say what I’m working on! It’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes.
Or as I prefer to call it, Craig Timpany’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes: Episode 1: Watch Out For Bears. They still let me master submission discs, so who knows, maybe that’ll be the final title*.
Here’s the press release.
Naturally I’ve got to be pretty careful about what I say about projects in public (Hi employers! It’s good to see I’m developing some Google pagerank), so if you read this post aloud, you should read it in the manner of someone who has a gun held to their head.
If there’s one thing I hate about working in console games, it’s the bullshit secrecy around projects. You spend 75% of the time unable to say anything about your job, and the remaining 25% unable to say anything candid. There’s really only one reason for it: if you ration out information, you gain control over media coverage. Journalists will do terrible things for an exclusive. Never believe anything you read in a preview. Only pay attention to reviews.
* Yes, employers, this is an invitation to take me off build duty. I am clearly not to be trusted and should be assigned to more interesting things.
Interesting news, three of the old hands at Sidhe have left to found their own firm called Wandering Monster. The game they’re developing is a PC-based MMO. Eek! The gods haven’t struck them down for hubris yet, so I’d say it’s off to a good start. 
Very few details are available just yet.
The brass at Sidhe seemed to take it gracefully. After all, damn near everybody in the games industry has some sort of ambition toward starting their own studio.
Much like Origin Systems practically created the game development scene in Austin, Texas, this could be the start of a cluster of Wellington games companies. Origin’s gone now, but its ex-employees have founded Digital Anvil, ION Storm Austin, Destination Games, Titanic, Asylumsoft, Loose Cannon, and the exodus also was heavily involved in Looking Glass and Sony Online Entertainment.
Work has basically been more of the same. It’s a struggle for me; I’m just too much of a n00b to make a good, quick job of rewriting the I/O system.
Around me there’s a team going through submission hell. This is the part of a console game’s development when the developer considers the game ready for release, and hands it off to the publisher and the console manufacturer for final testing. And again. And again. And again, until the game finally stops getting failed.
The publisher is usually pretty reasonable: they have at least a cashflow motivation to get the game out the door. On the other hand, the console company has all the time in the world, and the fear that half-baked games will damage the reputation of their platform. They compile lengthy checklists and are very particular about making sure the game meets them.
If you’ve ever wondered why playstation games always talk about not removing the Memory Card (8MB, PS2) in Memory Card Slot 1 during saving, it’s because of the checklist.
I’m noticing the team go through several emotional phases:
1. Apprehension
2. Disappointment
3. Irritation
4. Anger
5. Cynicism
6. Apathy
7. Laughter
8. Optimism
9. Despair
10. Repeat from #6 till #9
I've been working at Sidhe a week now, and I'm on the R&D team. While some of the other members are doing neato stuff like engine development and extending a level editor, I've been assigned to work on an in-house groupware tool.
As I was expecting, I probably won't get to do anything remotely glamorous until they know what my capabilities and weaknesses are. They did take a risk by hiring me after just a single phone interview. So it's fair enough really — I should stop bitching and give it my best.
Well, I’m finally in the games industry.
I’ve taken a job programming for Sidhe, New Zealand’s largest games development company. They’re based in Wellington, and I’m in the middle of relocating.
All I know at this stage is that I’m programming, I don’t yet know the kind of project I’ll be working on, or which areas I’ll be involved in (i.e. tools, graphics, network, AI, and so on)
I’ve been at Clearfield for 3 years, and while it’s a superb environment for programmers, it wasn’t getting me any closer to writing games for a living. I love games, and I’ve always been keen to see inside “The Sausage Factory”, as Phil Steinmeyer puts it.
Yaay!
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