With this final blog, I am also releasing my first album! Yay. It is mix and match of ambient electronic tracks with industrial and noise.

For more info on it, please visit my new blog.

I will probably lose RoachToaster.com and create a better page for it on shotbeakgames.za.net.

So, yes. When this revamp will happen, I don’t quite know. That is just my plans at the moment. I’ve also realised I’ve kinda been using the blog incorrectly. I have no tags whatsoever, only categories… D’oh.

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My album is coming along really nicely. Only 3-4 more songs to go.

I like doing anything creative, so I have dabbled in almost every form. Currently my desire to do game dev has been waning and I mused upon it and came to the following conclusion.

Websites:

-Most websites don’t have a finish state. It is constantly in beta and constantly being upgraded and updated. During the development process, you already receive “feedback”. There is constant motivation. With websites you also see the result of your work much greater. You can see people use it by them joining and using your website. Thus with little work, it can be very rewarding! (Note: I am talking about interactive websites, ala web 2.0).

Games:

-Games have 1 finished state (excluding bugs and patches). During the whole development process, it is never quite fully playable until the whole package is finished. Sometimes after the whole process it turns out to be something you did not expect it to be and you have start over (note: Roach Toaster 2). It is actually very unforgiving. The only feedback you receive are “reviews”. When you receive positive feedback it is totally awesome! You get that warm feeling inside. But as you can see, with loads you put in, you don’t get that much feedback.

Music:

-During the creation of music, it is rewarding because of the nature of music.  As you chime out melodies, you revel in its sweet sounds. Music does have a final state. Like games, you don’t really have that much feedback. The feedback is more prevalent than games though. Playing live gigs and hearing your songs being played in various clubs/bars are awesome, but you still miss out on the big slice of pie where people listen to it at home. You don’t get that feedback. Thus with little input, you only get moderate feedback.

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MMO’s are a different puppy though. It combines the web with normal games. Start small, revise and upgrade. You get immediate feedback (via users joining and playing) and satisfaction.

So as you can see, my desire to do game dev is waning. Building websites and making music is much more fun.

But you can’t deny game development. It IS the epitome of creativity. Making a great game (on your own), you must be proficient in music, arts, design and you have to be able to solve the logic puzzles of programming. And that’s why I still like doing it every now and then. I can see it remaining a hobby, but I’ll probably start leaning towards a cactus approach to games. Short, fun, stylish.

Dev.Mag issue 22 is an integral issue due to several reasons. Our beloved editor, Nandrew aka Rodain Joubert, stepped down as ed. He has taken Dev.Mag from strength to strength. Kudos!

Nandrew is replaced by the equally capable dep-ed Claudio “Chippit” de Sa.

Another new thing in issue 22 is the layout redesign! It is now much more net-friendly.

Content:

Feature -> A Day to Remember. We talk to Danny Day, one of South Africa’s top game dev activists.

Reviews -> A Family Treasure, Sumotori Dreams, Trilby: Art of Theft.

Tutorials -> Game Graphics with Photoshop, Procedural Level Generation

Design -> Design Documents, Taking the Hit (criticism),  A Matter of Time (using time effects in your game)

Tailpiece -> History of Dev.Mag

Enjoy! Get it here!

I am also working on a new pet web project, that I plan to launch this holiday (somewhere in July). I am splurging nothing at the moment. The goal behind it is to see if I can do a proper database driven website. It is a bit stupid, but oh well. So far it is coming along nicely, except the CSS issues are destroying my patience. Firefox vs IE. Gawsh. Sooo annoying.

Anyway, let me get back to some game devving.

It turns out they picked up Roach Toaster 1 somewhere and reviewed it. I was surprised to see a 70% beside it. Despite that Roach Toaster 1 was made back in 2005, I couldn’t help but brim with whatever they call it. Pride? Not precisely.

It is that warm fuzzy feeling you get when somebody likes something you made.

It reminds me why I love game development so much.

I am really in the mood for game devving. I kinda miss the whole TIG community. I don’t have time to devote to TIG, but it’s cool. I’ll get back in the game this holiday. yay.

So yeah, that’s all I have to say in this unknown, kinda useless blog that is hidden in the recesses of the web.