DaveSapien

Low Spec Gamer just dropped a brilliant (and entertaining) wee video on the beginnings of the ZX Spectrum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKYOjDz_RT8

This is so much up my street its practically in my house!

A few days ago, I just released a mobile game focused very much on the wellbeing of the player.

It's called Kanso, And I'll be submitting it here for sure. Thank you very much for posting!!!!

This is brilliant!!

I made a game quite similar that took me years to complete. And I feel this is much more immediately engaging, could just be me being hyper critical of my own work...but its always amazing to see how other designers approach similar ideas.

Either way I love it!!!!

Wow, I haven't seen this before, Some interesting things here.

I wonder what he would make of VideoGames...well points 5 through 12 some up a good chunk of video games. But I wonder about more indie/experimental games?

Particularly 'Zen' or wellness games, as the "cause for negligence" rang a bell for me. What if a game is more of an aid, or inspirational story, or other uplifting experience?

I'm making one right now, so this is a great list to have come across. My game is an abstraction of the Zen calligraphy practice of Ensô, where every day you paint an uninhibited ink circle on a blank sheet of paper.

I spent some time breaking down what the daily discipline was for me, and then translate these elements into a game. Theres a lot more to it than that but that's the (very) basic starting point. As I'm nearing release I can see there are definite places it falls short. Though I started with the intent of it NOT being a "cause for negligence", hopefully my intent shines through.

Thats my understanding also, but I never know with how terms change quickly. So willing to be corrected!

I've heard it used to describe professionally multi-skilled people in significantly different domains.

Unicorn type person working in games here.

Engineering, design, art, music, etc. I started my career as an abstract painter and sculptor. Then transitioned into 3d animation, then web design, then into back-end web engineering. Found I was decent at that, then moved into web games(flash). I've been making games and interesting public interactive projects ever since.

Nothing you've probably heard of, maybe the ZX Plectrum (if you are British), a musical toy for android and iOS that is fairly popular.

If I would call my self anything it would be artist.

A sad day indeed. A true democratising force in computing, without his work I wouldn't have ever thought someone like me could write software. Even If I was too young to write at the time, the ZX Spectrum was my first/only video game experience, small games made by one or two people that my family could afford or borrow.

This led me into making indie games and software dev, it gave me the idea of 'why not me?', the ZX Spectrum might not have been the door, but is sure was the key into a much wider world for me.

It also led me to recreate my favorite thing about the ZX Spectrum, the loading sounds as a musical instrument. The ZX Plectrum.

Well done, I'm with you. I've being doing similar in the games industry for years. If we, the actual makers stand against immoral action it will both build pressure and incentive for alternative ways of doing business.

Yes, this!

I am by no means an expert, but I have spent time and experience enough with chronic pain to state that this rather one dimensional. Meaning their group although big was narrow in scope. For example, no chronic head pain? We have been working on a VR body mapping app(https://www.hatsumivr.com/), I'm the art lead on it. And you quickly find that there is an ocean if different experiences out there, and thats probably the biggest obstacle to helping people with chronic pain. Its is often treated (at the policy level) as one condition with a select few options for treatment. Studies with conclusion like this reinforce a reductionism in medical spaces and leave the people that don't fit into their pidgin holes out in the cold, alone, and in pain.

Amazing, thank you so much!

Thanks for the encouragement! Its comments like this that help me keep going. Good luck with your game, I'd love to know more when you are ready.

Oh wow, thank you very much. If you have any feedback, I'd very much like to hear it.

Thanks, I don't want to seem like I'm shilling with any of my comments. This is Kanso, a relaxing game that invites the player to slowdown and find a moment of Zen:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1454650/Kanso/

These numbers are actually promising. 400 sales in early access for a 'niche' game would open the door for a few publishers out there. And as it stands this game has momentum behind it, NOT an easy thing to accomplish.

And further more, the steam page has quite a few problems that are easily fixed and would drives sales in a positive direction. Add some streamer outreach to the mix and this could do well enough to fund their next game. Just perhaps not well enough to satisfy the developers ambitions. Yet.

I would love to have this momentum on my own (very) niche game. Its is also on early access, interesting premise, zero marketing budget, and so on. Its numbers are nowhere near as promising as Yerba Mate Tycoon. Its a rare thing to click with an audience and YMT has done so.

To the Developer, keep going. Keep that mindset of honouring your customers its rare in games and of value to the gamers. Spend more time on you store page and promoting, and release it. It will be worth it.

A nice wee gameplay trick I really liked was the text path projected in the direction the player is moving. I know it doesn't seem like much but it could easily be overlooked and really adds to the flow of the game. Love it.

I'm a games designer/developer and I work freelance for other studios. I say NO way more often than I say yes, precisely because of that particular problem. Money is nice and all that, but I've seen first hand the damage that these predatory practices can do to people. AND the attitudes of the people working at these game studios ands its frankly disgusting.

Could you elaborate? I am nearing the release of my game on PC and would appreciate some tips, thanks.

Thank goodness, tape loading is supported. There would be no point without that sound otherwise. (I'm the ZXPlectrum guy)

This is fantastic! I had no idea about Iyashikei as a genre, I knew it existed but had no idea that it had a name. I am particularly happy about this as I am just finishing my own Iyashikei game called Kanso. Does anyone know of any good resources for Iyashikei? I'd like to dig deeper.

For those interested in a (very good) overview of Terry and TempleOS in a video documentary format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCgoxQCf5Jg

Just to chime in here on point on there being no normal classic pubs. It is the case many pubs have become family friendly, but only where families are going. Places where families dont go, the old man pubs still exist in great numbers. The classic no windows 'bunker' as it where.

Its easy to see the extinction of the classic pub, but in more poverty stricken areas in the UK the bunker is still prevalent.

Indeed, not to be too pessimistic but I have seen radical changes in company attitudes that came with only age, success, and/or failure. Same people, evolving circumstances.

I'm finishing up a game I've been working on solo for the last few years.

It's a mindfulness game that aims to bring its players to a meditative state of flow. (through casual gameplay)

Its looking good so far :D

I got stung buying some midrange earphones. I got my money back no problem, but the hassle was far from worth the $10 saving. When the prices of the fake items aren't obviously too cheap, its impossible to tell the difference until its too late.

That said, I left a review warning other customers. I hope I helped them.

"Home-cooked" software is such a perfect analogy to indie game development.

It resonates with me much more that other terms like "full stack", "Dev ops", and so on. It nicely removes the guilt of not writing the perfect codebase, as we often have to sacrifice that in order to ship a game.

For me indie games might not be the michelin star earners some of the time, but they warm the stomach. With imperfect charm they offer the delightful experiences just like home cooked patisserie. (edit formatting)

I'm going to miss Turbo Boost Switcher Pro, when apple kills it...

Maybe a good product for someone. Only if they dropped the hdmi mini port in favour of both a full sized hdmi, and a USBC (power and display) port.

His quote (my favourite) may help understand this value: “If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery--isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you'll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is.”

Until there is an 128bit cpu architecture and I cant republish because Unity has went out of business or there is a change in there licensing agreement...