I still have to come up with a good title..

..give ‘em hell..!

..What a better way to wake up than thinking about a new game concept?

Here is a very simple idea, that could use humor to help spread awareness about a very serious issue: Shark Finning.

Now there are two possibilities.. or you know exactly what am I talking about, or you have no idea.

Until few months ago I fell into the second category, so here a brief overview about the problem. (If you do not care/are already aware/have to catch a bus, jump directly to the line marked by * )

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..and finally, here the first game completely homemade, with pure genuine brainz effort and no step-by-step guidance..!

The purpose of this minigame is simply to get to know Unity’s scripting, in a crash course style.

Click to test your skills as ferocious fisherman!

..my highest score, 135! ..anybody willing to challenge me?!

..Taaantaatarataantaantaaaaa… (ad libidum, it should be a literal representation of the Imperial March, Star Wars style baby!)

Ouu yeah, it’s finally ready to go!

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..Just came across an interesting article about Harpooned, a game that embedded an anti-whaling message, and that i “studied” when facing my advergaming exam.

It’s an interesting article in game development perspective, lots of inspiring thoughts.

In particular, you can read about the public reaction to the game.

The public response to the game fell into 4 basic categories:

1. People who played the game, got the message and approved. This made up around 90% of the responses.
2. People who were appalled by the blood and didn’t play the game. These were often the most vocal responses, and invariably they were opposed to whaling, but didn’t realise that the game was satirical. These were a very small, but vocal minority.
3. Young males who were attracted to the game because it was violent. Often they didn’t notice or care about the message within the game at first. However this group are internet-savvy. They like to post their impressions online and read other people’s comments. I was delighted to see many in this group who started to engage in serious discussion about whaling, after at first only being attracted to the game because of the blood and gore.
4. Pro-whaling responses from English speaking Japanese people. Usually these were along the lines of “Australians kill kangaroos, so you can’t tell us what we can or can’t kill”, “Whaling is our traditional right” or “If we don’t kill the whales they will eat all our fish”. I have had some very interesting discussions with these people and I’m grateful for those who have taken the time to present their side of the story.

Read more: Link to the article.

..the Chosen One, the only survivor from today’s lunch.

..So, here some update on the situation..!

I finally started diving into the noble art of game development..

This time, instead of relying on the good ol’ Actionscript 3, I decided to test what game engines have to offer.. And damn, they do have something to offer!

After an initial period of vague testing of different engines, I found a mentor that gave me some invaluable guidelines to kickstart me in the right direction.

Right now I’m learning to use the Unity game engine, following the very well written Unity Game Development Essentials book. For all of ye pirates, you can probably find the eBook out there.. I’ll save you the fun of the hunt..

The book offers some very detailed tutorials about the creation of a simple First Person (argh!) game. So far it’s simply a guy walking on an island, collecting batteries and throwing coconuts.. wohoo!

..but the show must go on! ..just wait for it!

I just came across this really interesting game, developed in Unity.

It’s a 2.5D sidescroller.

Yes, not 2 eller 3.

2.5.. play it and you will get what i mean..

The graphic style of the game is lovely, and the sound really adds that little extra that makes this game different from what i would have expected..

Give it a try, it’s worth your time..!

Further reading:

• Infinite Ammo (developers): http://infiniteammo.ca/about-2/

*deep breath (very deep)*

Ladies (and yea.. gentlemen too), the last version of the prototype is coded.

What’s new in this version?..Mainly the control mode, once again. User testing proved that the players found the game too difficult, so this is the last attempt of making the application playable, before having to face the evil eye of the examinators.

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