Telka!

Neglected...

2011-02-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

I find I have a small philosophy about posting things on the internet. If I am going to post in multiple places, I should have something different to say to reward people for checking more than one area.

This makes things a tad tricky sometimes. I don't often feel like posting in all areas all at once - which usually means something gets neglected. This blog tends to be the bearer of non news.

I have my Twitter, which you can find off to the side. I update this semi-often... depending on whether I feel my 140 character limit thought is something that falls more along the G rating.

And quite often, this is not the case.

Which brings me to Facebook. Probably the most consistent and colorful of my postings on the internet. I actually talk a lot about politics, discuss games and game design, post cat videos, and babble on about odd things. I suppose it's the feedback from friends that drives me the most there.

However, I am guarded with my profile because I am more candid there. I have a wide sense of humor and sometimes people are sensitive to that kind of thing. That said, if you are interested in what I post on there, you can find me. Just please send a note introducing yourself. I do not accept requests otherwise.

In the mean time, I highly recommend picking up Scott Roger's "Level Up! A Guide to Great Video Game Design". It's a great refresher if you've been working in the industry and it's an excellent read for aspiring designers to decide if they're willing to commit themselves to do what it takes. I was originally sold on it after seeing him speak at GDC. It's equally as funny as it is important, in my opinion.

Link: Level Up! Amazon Page

It's Science!

2010-06-28T00:10:00.000-07:00

A thought I had today involved Punnett squares.

Flashback can be made here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punnett_square

I loved these. I don’t remember what grade I was in when I was first introduced. It instilled in my mind that as living creatures, it’s really an amazing thing that we come out as well as we do and we don’t have as many problems as we should.

Fast forward, I was reflecting on my current and past work experiences when this came to mind again. I started thinking of the final project as being a living creature and then tried to determine what “genes” make that creature what it is.

It’s not a stretch to think of people as those genes. But it’s the role we play that determines the effect it has.

Right now, in my current position, I consider myself Dd (Lead Designer).

My reporting director… he’s also Dd… but I almost think there’s an asterisk there that gives it a chance to be DD.

And there are some people that are Aa and aa. Others bump heads with PP and Pp and pp.

We also cannot forget MMs -marketers. :P They end up having an influence more than some people would like to admit.

So I wonder… if we put together a chart where everyone’s “alleles” are represented, would the highest percentage actually influence the type of game that gets made regardless of high concepts, first draft design documents, and the creative director?

I’d like to think that some people have control over the situation but is it a matter of they found the right genes for the project… or do we end up with a predestined product full of deformities?

Just something that jumbled around in my brain…

A bit unkempt in here...

2010-06-20T20:58:00.000-07:00

It’s amazing how distracted you can be when it comes to updating everything that is available on the internet. Admittedly, most posts tend to be done through my Facebook so I forget about this venue more often than I should.

Finding Warmth in a New Year

2010-01-16T00:53:00.000-08:00

I thought that now might be a good time to touch bases with my site - as it’s already half way past January and have not touched it since October.

A quick retrospect of 2009 finds me happy to leave behind a year that took away my father and gave me six months of unemployment where it’s easy to second guess your worth. On the other hand, I did meet some fantastic people and half way through I found a job that has kept me entertained and consistently learning.

That’s how these things go though. Amazing stellar years are rare as they are usually balanced out with somber occasions.

My biggest challenge was working with a larger team than I’m used to… 20+ people. The last studio I was at had five (seven at one point with interns) - far less room for game changing (pun intended) plans that have to be adjusted for on the fly.

I’ve really enjoyed the take-a-ways of working in a sports world. There are a lot of great things that can be done and I’d like to see this envelope pushed even more after the site re launches (hoping that people are inspired). After all, I don’t have a problem with competition. I think it’ll be good for the site and I like when people can improve my ideas.

As for what I want out of 2010, I want to continue down my path of learning incredible things and meeting incredible people. I hope to build stronger relationships and have more sympathy, empathy, and purpose in my designs. Perhaps I’ll take on some new projects that make use of this insane noggin attached to my neck. I fell out of drawing near the end of 2009 so I’d like to pick that up again.

I had “update personal site” on that list but I seem to have accomplished that tonight. I have a new template now. Credit for that is at the bottom of this page. The logo at the top, however, is mine. If you’ve received one of my business cards, you’ll notice it looks very familiar.

But on that note, my eyes are starting to feel like a bloodhound’s… so I sign off for now with a promise that the next update will come sooner than the last.

-Telka!

An Update

2009-10-19T23:13:00.000-07:00

Time flies when you are having fun!

I’ve been absent for a while and it’s been mostly due to other obligations going on. Sometimes you forget to talk to that open space known as the internet.

Lately I have been getting my hands dirty messing with an existing virtual world… trying to do what I can to help the site grow and attract more users. Perhaps when I have my own company (or permission from one I am formally employed with) it would be a good exercise to have a mini post mortems on constantly evolving items. While I cannot in this case, I have learned a lot in the past four months and I think I have grown professionally and personally because of it.

So while all of this has been going on, I have continued doing little drawings (found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/telka/ ) and expanding my horizons in other areas. Also, I have a side project that is in an embryo stage that I am excited about.

With that, I will close this post with an image I created a couple of days ago. Hopefully I can get around to posting more design-centric musings in the near future. :)

Post Posting Break

2009-07-10T00:36:00.000-07:00

The break was not intentional... I just happened to have a lot of stuff going on and neglected to let the world know of it through this site.

To save everyone from the details and skip to the now, I've started up an online class on Game Design (focus on non-digital) with 1400 other people.

http://gamedesignconcepts.wordpress.com/

I came up with this idea for the first challenge and thought I would share it.

------------------------------

Title: Ambulance Dogs (Code name: Doggie Bowser M.D.)

Players: 2-4

Time: 20-30 minutes (longer if drunk)

What you need to play it now: Four different tokens of any type, three decks of playing cards

Little backstory to put behind the cards: Ambulance dogs were used to find wounded soldiers in the trenches during WWI. The most popular used were Rottweilers, German Shepards, Labradors, and Bloodhounds (the four tokens). Black cards are for soldiers that the dogs made it to in time. Red ones are soldiers that have already passed on and are therefore lost. On that note...

Objective: Find the most savable soldiers.

Win Condition: Have the most saved soldiers (black cards).

Game over: When you have run out of cards. (Right now I have played around with five rounds - thus the number of cards I have given. First time around I had four decks involved. One play through nipped that in the bud quickly.)

Set up: Open up two of the decks and remove the Jokers. With the third deck you'll need to remove the Kings, Queens, Jacks, Aces, and 10's. You'll want to keep one Joker. You'll want a total of 125 cards total. 62 black cards, 62 red cards, and one Joker. Go ahead and shuffle those bad boys together.

You are going to make a five X five grid with the shuffled cards placed face down.

X X X X X
X X X X X
X X X X X
X X X X X
X X X X X

Movement: Once a player is on the board, on their next turn they may move up, down, right, or left unless that space is blank or occupied by another player. When they move to a new spot that has a card, they flip it over and follow the card rules. If all players are unable to move, remaining cards on the table are moved to the discard pile and the "trenches" are rebuilt with fresh cards from the deck.

Let's break for specific card rules.
Originally I threw this together so that players would be moving their tokens flipping over cards and just collecting black and red. That was pretty boring when I sat down with it. So to spice it up, I added some variables.

Black 2-10 Cards - player keeps this card.
Red 2-10 Cards - players place it in the discard pile.

Red K,Q,J Face Card - in addition to the card you flipped, flip over the card to the South automatically. Keep any black cards turned over, including face cards.
Black K,Q,J Face Card - in addition to the card you flipped, flip over the card to the North automatically. Keep any black cards turned over, including face cards.
(Feel free to just draw a random arrow if you'd like. Since I didn't want to write on my cards at the time, I just used an actual direction I could keep track of that made sense to all players around the board.)

Aces (any color) - in addition to the card you flipped, player chooses one card to flip that is either up, down, left, or right. Keep any black cards turned over, including face cards.
Joker - in addition to the card you flipped, all remaining cards up, down, left, and right are flipped over. Keep any black cards turned over, including face cards.

Playtime!
1 - Each player grabs a "dog" token. (Feel free to fight amongst yourselves who wants to be what dog.)
2 - Player who owns the largest dog goes first and from there go clockwise. If no one owns a dog, then who ever is the oldest goes first.
3 - The player then places their token down anywhere on a card on the grid then flips that card over. If it is a black card, then the player keeps it. If it is one of the special cards, then do as instructed above. The token stays on that spot until their next turn.
4 - The next player places their dog down on the spot of their choice and follows number three.
5 - All players will continue until no one can move because of the constraints of the movement rules.
6 - Then it's time to pick up the remaining cards - if there are any - and move them to the discard pile. When the trenches (card grid) needs to be rebuilt, all tokens will stay in the spot they are at.
7 - The player next to go will automatically flip over the card they ended with the last round since the board had been reset.
8 - Lather, rinse, repeat.
9 - When all the cards have been used up out of the deck (there should be five rounds with enough cards for five full grids), the game is over.
10 - The player with the most saved soldiers (black cards in this case) wins.

Goal of what I would like to see accomplished (besides having a good time):
I want to see players being able to not just leave it to chance cards but also use some strategy with their movement to block off other players from collecting soldiers. However, if they really don't want to think about it, they should have just as good of a time.

----------------------------

I'll have more later. Art pieces I had done during my quiet spell on here - and more news at 11.

Updates

2009-05-28T23:41:00.000-07:00

Shirt Update:
After revising and submitting three times, it seems as if the ducks design is a pain for Spreadshirt’s process. I do not like the results for the digital printing and the vector art is getting rejected because I’m stubborn and I want it to come out a particular way – which they are telling me they can not do. Fair enough. I’ll work on a design later that might be agreeable for the both of us. At least this has been a learning experience.

Where’s the Beef:
Or rather pangolins. Through one of the social networking sites I participate in, I had one of my friends pick an animal and five different places/scenarios for that animal to be in. I’ve managed a cute little series that I have only one more to complete. It is a fun and lite exercise - and a nice thing for one of my good friends. That should be up soon.

Random Thought:
I often hear a good game referred to as being fun. Fun is applied no matter what the experience really is. It could be Super Mario, Resident Evil, or Call of Duty. However, when we tend to watch a movie, we rarely walk away from a drama or a horror movie saying it was fun. Why can’t we skip the fun and just have a different meaningful experience out of it if it fits?

I thought about this while checking out “The Last Express” (the semi-official game of IdleThumbs.net). I’m not too far in but I think my experience is something I don’t quite label as fun. Now, don’t get me wrong – I am enjoying myself and will continue to play it. However, at this point I find it suspenseful… and I’m okay with that in a game. It’s as much of an element of the game as the characters themselves.

Sometimes I think all the fuss about games having to be fun gets lost in focus of what the game is intended to do (besides sell units to pay employees and give back to investors if applicable). Did you intend for people to have a traditional “fun” gaming experience? Does it fit with the overall vision?

If you can be honest with yourself, your goals, and your limitations and create something that is not considered “fun” but fulfills your audience’s palate in a meaningful and entertaining way – I say go for it.

Playing Games & Doodling

2009-05-15T16:38:00.001-07:00

Right now I’m playing Plants vs. Zombies, Musiac Box, The Path, and a bit of WoW here and there. Considering there have been cricket noises coming from my guild lately, I’m going to check into Free Realms this weekend. They’ve gotten a million players in less than a month and that’s pretty impressive. I’m curious to check out what they are doing right.

And in the meantime I’m drafting my own mini-campaign and back to doing wallpapers and doodles. It’s been a rough start to May for me so far and I’m hoping to harness that and turn it into something other than focusing on the loss in my heart.

Testing Out Shirts

2009-05-11T14:15:00.001-07:00

UPDATE 5/20: After reviewing one of the shirts via ordering one, I'm not as happy as I could be with it and I am in the process of simplfying and sending a vector image to be approved. I will keep this area posted on the process.

So I thought I’d try throwing out a shirt or two and see if anyone likes them/wants them. I don’t quite know how this Spreadshirt thing will work, it seems odd that the basic charge is 12.90$ for the shirt but yet they charge you another 4.50$ to use your own design. Then they ask you how much you want to make off each shirt. I capped it off at 7.59$ to bring the total to 24.99$.

I just thought I’d share the math for those who like that kind of thing.

If you are interested in buying one, please go to http://telka.spreadshirt.com/

If there’s a different type of shirt/bag/smock you’d like, let me know and I’ll throw something together for you. I’ll consider art suggestions too.

Random Images (after a long deserved update)

2009-05-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

I could go on and on about things that have happened but instead I’ll just update with some images that I’ve worked on in the meantime. I feel like less is more right now.

Ah yes! The Card Design!

2009-04-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

This MUST be April Fool’s Day - seeing as I am managing to get two post out in one day! This one is not much of an update but for those who have not had a chance to see my new card design, this is it.

I like it.

But you knew that. :)

(And you might notice a trend in the colors I am favoring this time of year.)

This is about keeping it simple.

2009-04-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

I have a hard time with this sometimes. For example, I came up with an idea for a Gamasutra design contest they held. The idea was to create a game that would feasible in the year 2020.

“Therefore, for this competition, devise the name of a game that will be popular or cutting-edge tech in 2020, and write a description of how it is controlled, as well as its chief design concepts and innovations.”

Now, I love researching. I love looking up and reading about all sorts of things – especially when I’m trying to build something. The problem I ran into with this was that I had a really fun idea but I felt I didn’t know enough about the background of sleep studies. So I spent way more time reading about different things and complicating my idea than just doing what I should have done in the beginning – keep it simple.

With that said, I decided to unwind and present my idea the way I should of previously.

Name
Sleep Series Games

What It Is
Customizable downloaded audio tracks that trick the brain into creating specific play environments while the player is sleeping – turning normally random dreams into a playground.

Desired Outcome
People being able to use sleep as a way to become personally immersed in gameplay created either by themselves or by other people’s designs.

Description & Concepts
When the player goes to bed, audio will play that has been enhanced with precise rhythms and keywords that will trigger particular images in the player’s head. This can include playing a game of chess with your grandfather or placing yourself in first person player gameplay.

The player can create these audio tracks via an online service. You can grant it access to your photo albums, social networks, or point it to specific key words and information via Google. You can also choose from professionally designed sleep experiences. In addition, you will be able to use licensed properties that have granted permission.

After you determine what type of game you want to play and all the criteria and conditions have been set, the player can then download the track to the player of their choice. When they are ready to sleep, just hit play and the encoded audio with set up the building blocks for their play experience including a buffering audio to allow the player to achieve REM before starting.

Considering even in 2020 we have yet to figure out everything abut the human brain, it is possible to listen to the same audio and have an entirely different experience. This will allow for replay ability.

Other Notes
This was created with the idea that as we go forward, our time is going to be consumed by more and more things. If we can combine our dreams with the types of experiences we want from our games, it could be a win for all parties involved.

Little Pieces of Paper Meaning So Much

2009-03-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

A lot of thought goes into business cards.

I liked my old one… the goats.

However, after receiving some cards lately have come to three conclusions:

1) It’s rare to find 3D modelers with attractive business cards. Well, except those who are using professionally designed company cards. Even the programmer’s fear of touching the design aspect of things keeps it classic – for the most part.

2) I really should tweak mine. In fact, I should just retire it.

3) I need to pick words like the way you pair wine with cheese.

This process has plagued my brain for a bit and probably took me two weeks to come up with something I was happy with. I had several designs I came up with, one that came to 99% completion before I gave it “the mouth wiggle” and decided I liked it but I should change the path that I am going. Oddly enough it was not until today (when I knew I needed to get the order out or I was not going to see it in time for GDC) that something “cardppropriate” came to my brain.

Because I want to start in the middle, let me introduce the one rejected as a card design.

Now, it’s an odd format for a reason. I was 95% positive I wanted to go the Moo Mini Card route. Link for those unfamiliar: http://www.moo.com/products/minicards.php

When I joined the paid version of Flickr, they offered me a free sample of the mini cards. What they sent back were these awesomely fun little cards that I had put my name and email address on. I fell in love. Cute, wonderful color, matte, and they felt great. They really did win me over in the quality department. So much so that a year later I was still convinced (mostly), that these little guys were it.

So I decided to start designing around the widescreen format.

Fast forward endless mutterings to myself later, when I had it up on the site and I was adjusting the position, a little voice in my head said no. I argued that I had put all this work in and I like the bird tree and I thought it was clever - but that other part of me made a better argument.

Of all the people I hand the card to, I’m going to be the one most impressed with the cleverness and that doesn’t seem to make much sense, does it? And this was what I was dedicating an entire side of the card to.

So a deep sigh later, it was back to the drawing tablet.

Now, I COULD post the new design up here – but I will not. If anyone actually reads this, you will need to find me at either GDC (or Beer Wednesdays) and request one. I will gladly exchange cards and you can tell me whether I was right or wrong. My email address is not too hard to find *cough*profile*cough* and if you want to meet up, let me know.

Couple of things I will share…

1) I still went with Moo.
2) I picked the recycled ones.
3) I finally figured out a good way to display my signature initials.

Mint chocolate is my favorite.

2009-02-27T15:43:00.000-08:00

It is easy to get lost sometimes and forget about updating these things.

It’s been a while and I bounce between either being too busy or not in the right frame of mind to ramble on about things on here. Since December I’ve had trips back home and to New York, headaches and smiles, on and off projects (none of which are full time status changers but they keep me busy), and other domestic chores that sometimes I think lose weight in terms of being productive.

I’ve also been taken with playing games, reading books, and keeping up with the news. Film watching has been on the lighter side but I make it a point to hit something up every once in a while. Coraline was my last outing and I loved it, but since I liked the book, it was a given.

I’ve discovered some new webcomics out there – something I’ve tried opening my mind to a tad more lately. For a while there, there were some gems but most were rubbish (much like podcasts). Well, some seeds have started to grow and I like what they are turning into.

http://www.tinykittenteeth.com/

&

http://www.theblackbloodalliance.com/

Two entirely different styles but I dig them both.

Otherwise, I’ll update more later with a proper subject to carry on about. Till then…

Been busy catching up, getting further, and looking forward.

2008-12-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

Created in Illustrator.

A snippet of a work in progress - Nerd Pickle lamenting his salty watery prison when there is other "more nerdy" things to be done. It’s missing a lot of details at the moment but I’ll move back onto him as soon as I finish a few other items.

There has not been too much to report lately as I have transitioned out of one job and have found myself working on little things for the time being. I’m back to playing World of Warcraft and I am revisiting Chrono Trigger on the DS. I’m also cooking more thanks to an absence of a commute time in the evening.

I am furthering my skills in Illustrator though - which is helping fuel some more research into putting things into Flash. It was something I tinkered with at my last job but never really sat down and pushed at because I was usually too busy doing things related to my job title(s).

I loves me some drop shadow.

2008-11-21T16:27:00.000-08:00

For some people it's lens flair, for me it's drop shadow.

Created this for my desktop at work Illustrator. Photoshop just for sizing.

Been playing with Animal Crossing again - this time on the Wii. It's familiar... possibly TOO familiar. There's not much new, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, I think they could have chose to do much much more with it.

A huge thing could have been the way the townsfolk interact with you. Now, I've only been playing for a week... but so far it's been the same ol' behavior. Why not have them recognize when you are wearing something they gave you, or mention how they saw you at Nooks selling what they gave you, or even aknowledge when you take one animal's gift and gave it to someone else. Simple things like this might actually have a meaningful effect on how the player views these otherwise random animals.

I think they could have introduced small games that you could play against animals and could also be played against friends when they are visiting. I'm thinking checkers, connect four, ect. Hell, just throw the clubhouse games in there, Nintendo! If you couldn't give us the NES games like in the first Animal Crossing... this would have been fun too.

I do like the DS connectivity and the fact that I could download my Wild World catalog. Thumbs up for that. I spent A LOT of time in there.

I'll keep playing though to see how things go in the game (tho I have a pretty good idea). One thing that is nice about A.C. is that it is one of the best games I have that I can just relax with.

You never know when it might come in handy...

2008-11-16T15:11:00.001-08:00

Sometimes you wonder things... such as... what is the word for a fear of nipples. Apparently 2.7 million other people were wondering the same thing. Makes me wonder... how many of these people would buy a game about mammillaphobia?

Fable II

2008-11-12T22:59:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make...

I like Fable II.

I say this coming off of watching the latest Zero Punctuation where Yahtzee tears into the game with his usual zest. Sometimes it's hard to argue things he brings up because he has a point – however, this time I would argue it was more personal. Like a jaded ex-lover tearing into his former's creation... still bitter over promises from the past.

Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating it a little - but there is also some truth.

I've read quite a bit of criticisms about the game and so many of them are from people who listened to Peter and what Peter promised. And even though some of them say they didn't believe him in the first place... I know they hoped... and it lead to disappointment.

Lesson? Don't pull a Peter.

I was fortunate enough to dodge him this round and I think it lead to me enjoying the game more. Also, fair to note that I did not play the first Fable so any expectations of 'x' and 'x' being improved/corrected/whatever were not there. I went in aiming to have a game that I could enjoy at whatever pace I wanted and I walked out with that exact experience.

Maybe I'll address other things later on (such as “holy crap there were a lot of bugs that made it thru but the game had to be such a biatch to test and you have to draw the line somewhere” and “why does my dog have five stars in attacking but he takes more time to smell the flowers than chomp a Hobbe”) but for now I'll leave with this thought.

**Possible Spoiler**

I read someone who had the criticism that the game peeved him off because it was lacking a huge boss battle at the end. I would like to quote T.S. Elliot here...

"This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper."

I can understand if your years of gaming gave you a Pavlovian expectation when you neared the end of a RPG but I welcomed the change that ultimately the choice that came afterwards could be the bigger battle. Unfortunately, I think this was undermined by the fact that not everyone develops the attachment that makes this a meaningful choice. Therefore a Final Fantasy-esque dedication requirement that you can boast to your friends afterwards seems much more like a real accomplishment than “I chose 'x'.”.

In any matter, this is the first game I finished on the 360 in ages and for that I give it a lot of credit. I tend to be married to my DS and make little time to sit in front of my TV religiously and many game's endings suffer because of it.

Lionhead does have an announcement to make in a week or so regarding the game and I'll be interested to hear what they plan on doing. I'll not so secretly hope those of us who ordered the LE can still get our Hobbe.

Feeling wiser...

2008-11-11T15:08:00.000-08:00

... prehaps that why this little guy came into being.
(Photoshop and Illustrator)

Test Puppy...

2008-11-10T23:59:00.000-08:00

(Photoshop)

Currently under construction...

2008-11-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

... more to come. Fiddling with the new format first!

Edit: Alright, think I fixed some bugs in the template. Speaking of, I'd like to mention that I grabbed this layout from http://gosublogger.com/. They did a wonderful job!

Now that I have this sorted, more posts when it is not after Midnight and I have to work in the morning. *chuckles*

Edit #2: I guess construction is now over for the most part. Enjoy!