BX Games Blog
Blog # 1 You got to start somewhere. So keep it simple!
By Jose Otero 11/15/2018
No matter how big the dream, we all have to start somewhere. I typically have big dreams and aspirations of becoming a well known developer creating amazing games. It is a great deal of importance to always have this vision in mind as it drives you every day to pursue ones desires.The problem much like with most people, is not knowing where to start. If you’re like me, then you immediately want to make a big hit and work feverishly to create something until you realize it is way over your head.
This can discourage anyone and make you want to quit. This choice clearly presented itself to me, but I did not give in. What I simply did was remind myself of the reasons why I love games to begin with and took a step back to see what all the great developers did when they were starting out. Here is what I got out of it and hope this can help you in your journey as it has helped me.
- Discipline yourself to code and understand coding of any particular form. This requires time and effort. Be patient.
- Set realistic goals and create small games that you can handle and challenge yourself from there.
- Align yourself with community of coders via internet, or take a course online and even look into some colleges.
- Game development communities are diverse in talent. You will need artist, animators, audio engineers, coders and more than you can imagine. So be prepared to mingle and make friends.
- Enjoy your failures as they will lead to success, especially if you’re a coder.
- Have fun with the process and as you progress, break the bounds of what is typically created and make it your own.
- Don’t be afraid to use third party assets to make your games. Believe it or not they are quite useful, inexpensive, and reusable!
- If you are struggling, don’t be afraid and find someone who can help. Step away during frustrating times and relax your brain, sometimes the answer is right in front of you.
- Try if possible to build a team, there is great power in numbers.
So at the moment, I am making a traditional space shooter game with 80’s inspired elements. The work for the past 3 and half weeks has been quite challenging, but we have been carving out some amazing designs as well as making use of some great purchased assets. The content “Coral” has been doing amazing work with the art. It is important to find someone who can take your ideas and put it into a canvas. Most importantly, Coral and I are enjoying every second of this process simply because we followed the steps listed. Check out what Coral and I are currently working on below as well as a code snippet.
Yes I still have big dreams, but now I’m enjoying the journey even more because I’m keeping it simple. I’m creating challenges that myself and Coral can handle and we are both seeing results as you can see above. We are super excited and can’t wait to release this game for mobile on late December. In the mean time, Have a Happy Holiday Season!
God speed!
Jose Otero
BX Games Blog
Blog # 2 The Art Behind Games
By Coralys ("Coral") Otero 05/31/2019
Evolving and creating such wonderful things is the greatest gift in life. But often times, people find themselves stuck and feeling unmotivated. It’s important to take a step back, take a breath and stay positive. Sometimes you need that break to see things a little more clearly. If you think you’re the only one who goes through these struggles, well guess again. I’m a self-taught artist. Everything I know, I’ve learn from T.V, books, and the internet. I joined BXgamestudio not knowing what obstacle lies ahead, but was ready to dive on in.
When I was introduced to the idea of the game, The Last Earth, I was excited to be in charge of the art. I panicked when I found myself facing a new challenge, which was to create sprites and compile them into sprite sheets. Never having done this before, I still needed to find a way to accomplish this for the game. I researched how to create sprites and found examples of all types. After trying some of these examples out, certain sprites worked fine and others worked a lot better. Once I got comfortable, I was able to make sprite sheets and continue moving forward at an even faster pace. Here is an example below for our next game.
After completing something challenging, I was able to also do something I enjoy, the coloring. Coloring is fun because you’re able to play with so many colors, highlights, and shadows. I started off by looking at what colors were used in retro gaming for the 80’s. It seemed like bright and neon colors were mainly used in this era.
One of the requirements for the game was to make the player’s and enemies distinguishable from each other. I decided that green was a good base color for the zombies. Green was one of the main colors often associated with the “bad” guys in this case. I also added a touch of pink and blue in various areas instead of red to highlight the zombies decay. These complementary colors added definition to the enemy. See cover art below.
When we had all the assets completed, we were able to incorporate them into the code and BOOM we had a game. Now we did run into a few problems after the initial test run. Some problems were simple to fix and some took a lot longer. But we didn’t give up and were able to push through with each critical problem. Finally, the game was ready to launch. It is an arduous task but, an enjoyable on as well.
These may be a small games, simple to many, but for me and Jose its much more then that. We created something out of nothing. Being able to research about the 80’s game style and bringing it to the present day was a tough journey. I enjoyed exploring retro gaming which has inspired many other games today. As we create more games, we will continue to learn along the way. We will keep growing and I hope that you will grow with us. See a picture of our next game coming soon. It is a runner game that takes place in the Bronx.
Take care !
Coral
