Comments for Gloaming Crackle

Comment on Untamed memories by Scarybug

Scarybug — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:07:23 +0000

I was certainly finding it interesting. At least it might be good discussion fodder cross-posted to Gamasutra. I’m especially curious of what you have to say about the genesis of Asteroids, since I’m currently working on a game heavily inspired by its descendants, Gravitar and Blasteroids.

Comment on Untamed memories by Aderack

Aderack — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:46:08 +0000

Wow, thank you. One more mystery solved! I’ll look into this.

I actually have the Asteroids article half-written somewhere, and the whole rest of the series planned out to a tapering level of detail (clearer the closer it is). The idea was (or perhaps is) to explore down the American arcade thread until it expires, then to retrace and go down the PC thread until it undergoes its dramatic change of personality in the ’90s, then to start bouncing around and examining how all of these ideas have been intermingling since.

I wasn’t aware that anyone was actually reading those articles. Maybe I should continue?

Comment on Untamed memories by Scarybug

Scarybug — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:04:57 +0000

The movie is a 1981 horror spoof called “Student Bodies”. I caught it on late night TV when I was a teenager, though I missed the scene you’re describing, the tone reminded me of the one bit of dialogue I remembered “Did you hang up?” “No, I just said ‘click’”. I just found a copy and watched the beginning, the scene you’re describing is the second scene in the film, about 14 and a half minutes in.

Incidentally, I read this post because I was hoping you would have continued with your Phantom Fingers series, despite GSW ending. Do you have plans to do that article on Asteroids you talked about at the end of the last one?

Comment on The History of A-J Games: Part Two by The History of A-J Games: Part Seven :: Gloaming Crackle

The History of A-J Games: Part Seven :: Gloaming Crackle — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:40:50 +0000

[...] to backtrack a bit. So far we’ve been looking at character games. Some of the characters are fictional; others are based on people I knew or who I didn’t know were fictional. Whatever the origin, [...]

Comment on The History of A-J Games: Part Four by The History of A-J Games: Part Eight :: Gloaming Crackle

The History of A-J Games: Part Eight :: Gloaming Crackle — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 21:21:58 +0000

[...] up, and racked my brain for games that I could spare. I figured I wasn’t too attached to Cireneg’s Rings or Linear Volume, so I offered those. There was a pause. “Okay,” they said, “but we were hoping [...]

Comment on The History of A-J Games: Part One by The History of A-J Games: Part Eight :: Gloaming Crackle

The History of A-J Games: Part Eight :: Gloaming Crackle — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 19:26:46 +0000

[...] with RSD goes back almost to the moment I received Game-Maker in fall of 1992. I soon finished my first game, and as solicited by a box insert I sent the game in for comment. After some awkwardness I struck [...]

Comment on Rules by The History of A-J Games: Part Eight :: Gloaming Crackle

The History of A-J Games: Part Eight :: Gloaming Crackle — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 19:26:11 +0000

[...] been on a roll. Instead, I think I just fell into a pattern too early. Much as with Nintendo or the game industry as a whole, I thought I knew what I was doing and so I was designing on cruise control. Every shortcut that I [...]

Comment on The History of A-J Games: Part Seven by The History of A-J Games: Part Eight :: Gloaming Crackle

The History of A-J Games: Part Eight :: Gloaming Crackle — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 19:25:55 +0000

[...] reflection, I remember why I put Rōdïp aside. It’s because in the summer of 1994, I went [...]

Comment on The History of A-J Games: Part Four by The History of A-J Games: Part Three :: Gloaming Crackle

The History of A-J Games: Part Three :: Gloaming Crackle — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 03:10:11 +0000

[...] The story continues in Part Four… [...]

Comment on The Coot Theory by Aderack

Aderack — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:14:58 +0000

You’re right; the tools could use a few simple tweaks like an undo feature, but otherwise I’ve yet to see a scheme as immediately intuitive. It’s almost like building a game out of Lego — complete with the weird limits and the just as strange tweaks and unofficial uses. Other tools attempt a sort of visual drag-and-drop thing, but as you say they’re so concerned with addressing a priori demands that they become too cluttered to leap straight into.

Comment on The Coot Theory by Adam Tyner

Adam Tyner — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:12:34 +0000

I’m right there with you. Part of what I loved so much about Game Maker is that all the pieces were right there in front of you. The learning curve for creating *something* was pretty much nil, and once you first got your fingers in it, I could so easily see how to manipulate those pieces and parts to do something completely different. I think the engine’s limitations encourage creativity and imagination in a way other packages I’ve tried haven’t.

I mean, I’ve toyed around with more powerful game creation tools, but that flexibility comes at the cost of accessibility. That immediate get-up-and-go of Game Maker hasn’t been rivaled in the couple of decades since, at least not in any package I’ve tried.

Comment on The History of A-J Games: Part Three by The History of A-J Games: Part Six :: Gloaming Crackle

The History of A-J Games: Part Six :: Gloaming Crackle — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:56:49 +0000

[...] few of the background tiles also made their way into Sign of the Hedgehog, which perhaps justifies this prank a little further. Also as my second attempt at a platformer, [...]

Comment on The History of A-J Games: Part Four by The History of A-J Games: Part Five :: Gloaming Crackle

The History of A-J Games: Part Five :: Gloaming Crackle — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:56:29 +0000

[...] the background grid may have left over from Explorer Jacko. Perhaps the tiles were meant for a dungeon level that I never [...]

Comment on The History of A-J Games: Part Five by The History of A-J Games: Part Four :: Gloaming Crackle

The History of A-J Games: Part Four :: Gloaming Crackle — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:56:01 +0000

[...] The story continues in Part Five… [...]

Comment on The History of A-J Games: Part Two by The History of A-J Games: Part Three :: Gloaming Crackle

The History of A-J Games: Part Three :: Gloaming Crackle — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:53:40 +0000

[...] To catch up on the story to date, you can read the first two parts here and here. [...]