machai-umno

I have a number of game fragment ideas floating around in my head, so I thought I’d blort them out here for future reference. As I mentioned in my GameMarx interview, I had a great conversation with my boy Mark Harvey (CheckMark Games) about a game that involved learning a language.   I had this idea that a player could walk around the world and explore, say, ruins of an aboriginal civilization.   And on those ruins are pictographs, but we don’t know what they mean.   Maybe the player also comes in contact with natives who also use those pictographs (cuniform, hieroglyphics… I don’t know the proper word) in speech bubbles to communicate.   But the player doesn’t know what they mean.   Over the course of the game, the player would make observations and encounter experiences that would reveal the meaning of the foreign language, and then would be able to use the language to complete some quest or task or storyline. At some point in time, I observed that all thes...

I plan to write a year in review post for Purple Duck Games, but I have no idea what to write about. So please leave a comment here or on my G+ page to tell me what you would like to here about.

Admittedly this post should have been up yesterday, but I got distracted (#skyrim). Then this morning I saw an email from Derek about the demilich and awakened demilich in the Bestiary 3. The awakened demilich should have probably gotten a full template write-up but probably was cut for space. As I'm not restricted by space requirements on this site I can flesh out Paizo's awakened demilich. This will not be perfect but it should give you something to work from. To make full use of this entry you should have already bought Paizo's Bestiary 3 for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Mine hardback hasn't arrived but my subscriber digital copy is here. The Awakened Demilich “Demilich” is an acquired template that can be added to any lich. A demilich retains all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here. CR: Same as base lich +3 Size : A demilich is two size categories smaller than its base lich. Alignment: Any evil Senses a demilich gains tru...

Another fan email.  I love it!  Adam, We have literally given your new game dozens of hours of play (thanks to your very generous free download) and here's the verdict: We absolutely love the snipers and runners game with the coins (absolutely hilarious) and our second favorite is the red light/green light style race. The torch touching game is good as well as the other variant of snipers/runners. The only game we didn't really care for was the knights vs. ninjas game (I see where you were going with it but my guests just didnt get it). They always wanted to go back to the aformentioned two favorites. Ow well, ya cant win em' all I guess. I guess what I am trying to say is: You keep making them and I will keep buying them. You have quite the knack for making an enjoyable "pick up and play" game experience that anyone of all skill levels can get into and (pardon my French) laugh their respective asses off. I took HIPS to a friends' holiday party, and we busted ...

So, I think it’s about time for a post-mortem on “Hidden in Plain Sight”. I don’t actually know how to do a proper post-mortem, so I’m just going to make it up as I go along. First, how about some press roundup: Interviews: http://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/02/the-joystiq-indie-pitch-hidden-in-plain-sight/ This Joystiq piece was done quite a while before the game actually game out. It was published in early December, and I could definitely see the effect it had not only on trial downloads, but also on purchases. That is to say, this was a widely-read article, and it clearly said that the game was multiplayer-only. Therefore, people who tried it went into it knowing that, and were more likely to buy it. My conversion rate in December is over 40%. Also, this article made my YouTube video hits jump from around 200 to over 3000 in about 48 hours. Pretty cool. http://www.indiegamemag.com/interview-hidden-in-plain-sight/ A fun interview, but didn’t generate any visible feedback. http://vv...

The Kahrn by Micahel Scotta Monsters Unleashed V.3 should be released this week. This issue features monsters chosen by Sam Hing, Steve Russell and Paul Woods. The monsters for this issue include: Asherake  - a monstrous humanoid race consumed with the need for conquest. Kahrn  - a bizarre magical beast that can only reproduce by engaging in deadly combat with other sentient creatures. Sapphire Golem  - an intelligent golem that acts as a body guard or advisor within the royal courts. If I was using him in the Jade Regent path I would simply rename him to a Jade Golem. Ogrillon  - the bastard offspring of ogre and orc pairings. They are designed to be playable at 1st level. Reaper Falcon  - a extremely dangerous animal companion that can streak through the battlefield leaving a trail of bleeding foes. I've just started finalizing Monsters Unleashed V.4. I should be able to put an art order in on it by the middle of the month.