Image from publicly available images page of the Kerbal Space Program website
That’s one small step for Jebediah Kerman, and one giant leap for Kerbal-kind!
This past Monday, one of the prodigal sons of indie game development has finally left the confines of Early Access and has found its way into the wilds of full release. Kerbal Space Program has launched version 1.0, closing the book on one of the most remarkable examples of a playable beta since Minecraft. With a strong core concept, endless replayability, and a strong community of gamers, modders, and streamers, you have a formula for indie greatness.
So, in honor of Kerbal Space Program’s momentous release, let’s take a look at where it came from, what it is, and to what galaxy it may be going next.
Creating something – no matter what it may be – is a noble endeavor. It takes no small amount of passion, dedication and perseverance to see a project to completion, and games are no exception. I’ve been at the process of making my own games for a while now, and I can truly say that it has been some of the most rewarding work of my life. But it hasn’t come without its fair share of missteps and trials, and I’ve learned an enormous amount along the way. This is what I hope to share with you through this column.
I can’t teach you to make the next Minecraft. I can’t tell you the secret to making a game sell. I can’t guide you to a job in the AAA games industry(because I’ve never had one). But what I can do is share my thoughts and experience with the hope of helping you – even a little – with the process of designing and making your own games. Continue reading So You Want to Make Games: Motivation and Goals→
So over the weekend EGX Rezzed was held at the NEC in Birmingham and i was lucky enough to be able to get myself down to it on the Friday. For those who are unaware of what Rezzed is the way i describe it is like a more indie based Eurogamer, although this year for the first time they did showcase some more ‘Mainstream’ console games, I thought as a little summary of the event i’d talk about a few games that impressed me, and just my general impressions of the event.
The first game that i got to see in action was Hotline Miami 2, a game which is very hard to describe, in it’s most basic form it is a retro shooter which sees you going into buildings and flushing out the bad guys, and by flushing out i mean killing. There were a couple of things that made this game stand out a lot for me, firstly how simple the game was, it’s nice to know that the days of basic gaming aren’t over, there is nothing complicated here, just move around and attack, that’s all there really is to it. The next thing that i liked was the games ‘vibe’ they really have nailed the retro feel and the music matches this, i really did feel like i could have been in an arcade from 25 years ago, and that’s a good thing! The last thing that stood out to me was the unforgiving nature of the game, one shot and you’re dead, although this can be a bit frustrating it’s part of the games charm, and it means that when you do clear a zone it feels very satisfying. After the show when i got home i actually downloaded the first Hotline Miami and i can say that it also has all these qualities, if you’re looking for some old school, fun gaming this may well be a good shout.
