MrPhil Makes Games</h1> <article> <h1>Game Dev Contest: Domestic Violence</h1> <p>Philip J. Ludington — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:33:00 GMT</p> <p>I participating in the Mini Ludum Dare #10 (MLD10) this weekend. Ludum Dare is a website the organizes game development contests which are usually 48 hours long. The mini's are practice contests and the rules are usually more informal.</p><p>MLD10's theme is Domestic Violence. I found this to be a very hard theme. Where is the fun in it? But, I got to brainstorming and something struck me. Games are often about real life, even the unpleasant sides of life, like war. Games like Doom, Company of Heroes etc., these all deal with the theme of War, but are still able to be fun. So, I'm moving forward and starting to get somewhere.</p><p><a href="http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/category/minild/minild-10/" mce_href="http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/category/minild/minild-10/">See what other developers are doing</a> or <a href="http://www.ludumdare.com/" mce_href="http://www.ludumdare.com/">Learn more about Ludum Dare</a> or <a href="http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/tag/mrphil-mld10/" mce_href="http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/tag/mrphil-mld10/" target="" title="" rel="nofollow" class="">Follow my posts for MLD10 on Ludum Dare</a></p><p>I'll keep this area update with progress: <br></p><h3>Prototypes</h3><ul><li> <a href="http://www.mrphilgames.com/DomesticViolence/MLD10TestPage.aspx">Configuration and Setup Test</a><br> </li><li> <a href="http://www.mrphilgames.com/DomesticViolence/SkillScreenPrototypeTestPage.aspx">Talent Level-up Screen Prototype</a><br> </li><li><a href="http://www.mrphilgames.com/DomesticViolence/RoomNavPrototypeTestPage.aspx">Room Navigation Prototype</a></li><br></ul> </article> <article> <h1>New logo for Mr. Phil Games Blog</h1> <p>Philip J. Ludington — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:34:00 GMT</p> <p>I've created a new logo for the blog part of the site. What do you think? I think it looks pretty good. I guess my programmer art skills are improving. I wonder if one day I'll graduate to the next level? I wonder what it is call?</p><p>You might also have noticed that I moved the 3rd party games I sell to there own subdomain: games.mrphilgames.com. Changes in the market place have reduced the reward of running that part of the site and so I'll be deemphasizing it over the next few months. This is good because my energy is going into Iron Roads instead (and hopefully other strategy games titles down the road.)</p><p>I've also decided to use SilverLight for Iron Roads, which means you'll be able to play it in the browser. There are two main reasons I choose this. One, is I wanted to work in C#. It is a language I know well, enjoy working in and has the benefit of all the smart people at Microsoft continually improving it and its’ tools. Second, I want the Mac People to be able to play. That's right! SilverLight works on Apple's browser too!</p><p>There is a sort third thing that was in the back of my mind when I made this decision. SilverLight 3.0 will have an offline mode, that will let applications install to the Start menu. So down the road people will be able to play even if they aren’t connected to the internet!</p><p>pw2k8z4h73</p> </article> <article> <h1>No Progress on Iron Roads</h1> <p>Philip J. Ludington — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:08:00 GMT</p> <p>It has been a while since I'm made any posts because I've been so busy with the move. On April 1st (no fooling) I drove a U-Haul with all my possessions to my new home in Northern Virignia (that's part of the Washington, DC Metro Area.) The hardest part is now over and I'm about halfway through the unpacking the boxes. Soon my computer will be back in action and I'll be able to continue work on Iron Roads.</p><p> </p><p>PS Notice the new blog tool? You can comment now! <br></p> </article> <article> <h1>More wiggly coasts</h1> <p>Philip Ludington — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:05:00 GMT</p> <p></p><p>The top image is an older screen shot so you can better see my progress and the second one I took today. You have to look hard to see the progress I've made lately but it is there! I've been working on the map editor so I can more easily add cities and adjust thier position. If you look closely you can see a lot more city dots on the map than before. I also updated the map so the coast lines and borders are more detailed and therefore more wiggly.</p> <p>Sorry, this post is such a mess. I'm planning to move to a better platform soon.</p> <br> </article> <article> <h1>BANNED! Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!</h1> <p>Philip Ludington — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:41:00 GMT</p> Ironically, the award winning <a href="http://www.mousechief.com/dhsg/index.html">Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble</a> has been banned by Big Fish Games. Apparently, there are some adult scenes that have offend many of Big Fish Games customers. Oddly enough, they are using the <a href="http://www.tigrs.org/rating.php?data=21200000121110">Teen rating from TIGRS</a> so I am not sure why they are surprised.<p>This is a difficult development for <a href="http://www.mousechief.com/">Mousecheif</a> and I encourage everyone to please support this truly independent and creative game. Don't let the message be that developers need to "dumb down" their stories.</p><br> </article> <article> <h1>Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!</h1> <p>Philip Ludington — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:44:00 GMT</p> <a href="http://www.mrphilgames.com/index.php?AID=1235&PAGE=Download" mce_href="http://www.mrphilgames.com/index.php?AID=1235&PAGE=Download" target="_self" rel="nofollow"></a>Congratulations to Mousechief! <a href="http://www.mousechief.com/dhsg/dg_press.html" mce_href="http://www.mousechief.com/dhsg/dg_press.html" target="_self">Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! has been nominated by the Writer's Guild of America as a 2009 Video Game Writing Award Nominee!</a><p> That is out of this world fantastic!</p><i>The marketing blurb:</i><br><blockquote>Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! - Fib, flirt and taunt in the game where good girls get better by being bad! You start by gathering a gang of girls to investigate suspicious accidents that have been happening at your high school, but little did you know that you were on your way to discovering your town's destructive secret! Confront oppressive adults and malicious peers with naughty little games, where each victory gives you more talent to face tougher foes! Well-behaved women seldom make history, so what are you waiting for?</blockquote>More Details About <a href="http://www.mrphilgames.com/index.php?AID=1235&PAGE=Game" mce_href="http://www.mrphilgames.com/index.php?AID=1235&PAGE=Game" target="_self">Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!</a> </article> <article> <h1>New Project: Iron Roads</h1> <p>Philip Ludington — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:47:00 GMT</p> <p> </p><p>The holidays have kept me so busy I haven't talked any about my new project. Another <a href="http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/about-ludum-dare/">Ludum Dare 48 Hour</a> game development contest occurred the weekend of December 5th. It was my fourth time to play and the 13th contest to date. This time the theme was "Roads." Roads turned out to be a very difficult theme. I brainstormed all night Friday before bed (the contests started at 11 pm my time) and then again in the morning for a total of two to three hours. I couldn't come up with anything I liked and also seemed simple enough to finish in the 48 hour time limit. So I went with the idea I liked the most, a Railroad Tycoon type business simulator. I confidently and correctly judge I would not finish it in time, but I've got a wonderful start on a game I'm really excited about. I call it Iron Roads. You can read the few and short posts I made during the contest on the Ludum Dare website: <a href="http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/?category_name=ld13&author_name=mrphil" target="_self">MrPhil's Iron Roads.</a></p><br> </article> <article> <h1>Bootstraps Vs Tall Shoulders</h1> <p>Philip Ludington — Tue, 04 Nov 2003 19:37:00 GMT</p> Should I use a game engine or not? Initially my gut reaction is to resist. I don't want to use someone else's work. It is the seductive calling of the American work ethic. An opportunity to grab my bootstraps and pull myself up, to make something out of myself, to learn how everything works and becoming a true master. The sweat, tears, and blood every great achievement requires. A grand achievement filling me with pride.<p>Only one problem: time. If I am going to make a living doing this I can't spend ten-year getting ready. I need a jump-start. I have to use every advantage I can find. I need to stand on as many tall shoulders as I can find. A game engine is clearly the smart move.</p><p>But what do I need from an engine? I definitely need something cheap. Ideally it would be free, but I could probably afford to spend a couple grand. You've got to spend money to make money, right? I also need resources for learning and troubleshooting. An engine with good support and a large user group is a must. The track record will have to be good, one that includes upgrades and improvements. I don't need cutting edge technology per say, but I also don't want my games to look like they where built in the 80s.</p><p>There are a lot of engines out there but most won't work for me. I'm in this to make a living and many make that more difficult, especially the open source ones. I like the open source community but all the licenses' require that I distribute the source code. This sounds like a potential distraction and time waster. Sure the time and energy is probably small, but time is precious and I want all of it focused on making games.</p><p>Open source also forces you to relinquish control over any modifications you make. If I developed some clever trick, process or technique I would have to give it up to the public domain. This does not sound like a formula for self-employment.</p><p>My final objection is the devil in the details. Many of the contracts are unclear to a layman like myself and have me worried that I'd be giving up my copyrights to the art, music, and characters. If I know anything, it's that a clear right to my characters is very important, can you say Laura Craft?</p><p>One engine that I really like is Garage Games's Torque Engine. The license doesn't have the negatives of open source plus some great benefits. You get the source code with only a few restrictions all for $100. If you are a big success down the road you'll have to pay $10,000 a title but that is after you hit the $500,000 revenue mark! Sounds good to me!</p><p>Unfortunately, there is a fly in ointment. I would be responsible for keeping the engine up to date. I couldn't count on future releases and updates to work well with any modifications I made. This defeats the point! I need a tool that is going to stay up to date without sucking up my time.</p><p>So I've settled on 3D GameStudio from Conitec. It has a cheap $49 starting fee and the bells and whistles version with a super flexible license is $899. It has been updated several times and offered for a modest upgrade fee. It has a proven track record with a large user group and many released professional titles including the 3D Hunting series by MacMillan. My favorite part is all the tools you need are included. So I don't have to learn or buy any 3rd parties tools in order to finish my games.</p><p>What is the downside? It only supports DirectX. This means locking into the Windows world with no porting potential. But in reality I'm just starting out and if this gets me selling games on Windows it will be one more platform than I have now!</p> </article> <article> <h1>(INSERT BIG BANG SOUND)</h1> <p>Philip Ludington — Fri, 03 Oct 2003 19:31:00 GMT</p> <p>And so MrPhil makes his first blog entry. The purpose of this blog is to create a record of my struggle against procastination and other gastly inner demons with the hopes of making computer games that people will actually pay me money to play! </p><p> What is the vision for Mr. Phil Games?</p><p>It boils down to this:<br>1. I want to make computer games<br>2. I want to make a living doing it<br>3. I want them to be fun, exciting, and creative<br>4. I want to support others with similar dreams, and goals</p><p>Lofty or simplistic I can't quite tell, but it is the bare bones essence of my dream.</p><p>But how did I get here? Well, somewhere in elementary school I got the idea in my head that I would one-day run my own computer software company. Of course at that time it was visions of being the next Bill Gates with piles of money and servants. I have spent the best part of my life overcoming that idea. Grand plans are comforting and are very good at stroking your ego, but they are also wickedly dangerous and in my case led to despair. I didn't work hard at it, I simply dreamt, procrastinated and drifted years away. I could give explanations and excuses till 2050, but the short of it is I didn't take action.</p><p>That may sound like I'm lazy or lack any ambition but I don't think that is the reason (I'm mean, hey, a lazy guy won't be doing this now would he?) I had two problems: "Where I was going?" and "How I was going to get there?" Being the next Bill Gates for a goal is like buying a pair of shoes and saying you want to see something important. The possibilities are infinite and ambiguous.</p><p>Eventually (and luckily), I ended up in a job I hated. It wasn't a grueling job, or a hard job. It didn't demand lots of overtime, it wasn't high-pressure and it didn't stress me out. I liked the people I worked with a lot, and got along well with my boss. None the less I could feel it slowly sucking every ounce of happiness out of me. I simply found no joy, no excitement and no outlet for my talents. It ate away at my spirit. Deep down I knew that I was meant for something else.</p><p>Now this wasn't something I realized all at once one day. It was a slow process, a transformation. Five months ago it really picked up steam while I was on vacation. I found myself watching Dr. Phil. It was probably one of the first times I ever watched. During the show he challenged his guest with, "How's that working for you?" Those words struck me like lighting. I immediate answered "This is NOT working for me! This is not the life I want to lead!"</p><p>With in two months I found a job I could better endure and even found some fulfillment. I also began to really soul search and answer the question, "What is the life I want to lead?" This company is the number one want on my list. I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm happier now than any time in my life. My only regret is it took this long to get here.</p><p>Philip Ludington aka MrPhil is a computer programmer who dreams of making computer games for a living, but is highly prone to procastination.</p> </article> </main></body></html>