Captain’s Log 09.30.2018 : Upgrading Unity

The latest change that has hit us is Unity 2018. I’d heard lots of good things about the new version, but the thought of possibly blowing up the game we’d been working on for the past 5 years nauseated me. I forced the team to procrastinate it until we knew exactly what would happen and had a plan in place. For an indie game design team, updating software can be risky because if it breaks the game, then the time it will take to fix it can be daunting. We were going from version 5.6.2f1 all the way up to version 2018, so it was a significant upgrade. We finally felt that the updates Unity made to the software merited taking the risk. It would put us on better footing for future releases when we serialize DANIKA DIRE, anyway. Sometimes, you just have to take the leap knowing that you have version control in place if everything goes nips up.

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Captain’s Log 9.21.2018 : Striving

Today, I’m feeling a shift in the air. I recently did an evaluation of the work we have left to do on Chapter 01 to get it ready for Launch (capital L intentional), and I did what I do best: I made a spreadsheet. This kind of task management is at the core of Agile game design. We estimated the time it would take to do each task and divvied them up among the teammates. With this, I was able to make a ballpark guesstimate at when we might be finished.

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Captain’s Log: 09.23.2017

My thoughts for today… When you’re working on an indie game, in your spare time, progress can sometimes seem to crawl. But, I spent some time today looking back on where we started four years ago, and how much we’ve accomplished since then. We began with nothing more than a dream and some chutzpah. There […]

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Development In Progress!

Since its inception Games Omniverse has been growing. We would like to share that growth with you as we continue with our development. Come in, have a look at what we are doing. Then tell us what you think. We would really love to hear your thoughts on the work we are doing. It is […]

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Sponge Toad Painted Final

Dev Diary: The Sponge Toad

Hi there! It’s Steeven Labeau, Concept Artist at Games Omniverse. In a previous development diary, you discovered the inner workings behind the design and development of the Mud Puppy for the Danika Dire series. Among the other creatures lying inside the Dire Mansion, I have recently completed this one, affectionately called the Sponge Toad: Today, I’m […]

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Art in Progress!

Here at Games Omniverse we have been moving right along with the Danika Dire series and we wanted to share with you some of the stuff we have had our team working on recently. We have many talented people who help in so many ways that we cannot pass up a chance to share the […]

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It Begins and Ends With A Story

As an avid gamer, the first thing I look for in a game is a compelling story. And I’m not alone. Most gamers are drawn to the overall experience a game can give them—one that’s immersive, emotional, as well as entertaining. It’s not enough to have stunning visuals and flawless mechanics. Game developers must blend […]

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Behind the Screen

Do you often wonder what magic is going on behind the screen when you are playing your games? If you are then, like us, you probably have a passion for games and their inner workings. Daniel B. King here for Games Omniverse and I would like to share with you a few looks behind the […]

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The Sound of Games, Part 1/2

The Sound of Games Part 1: Composing the Score From creating atmosphere to driving tension, it takes skill to create a musical score that both compliments and enhances the game without breaking the gameplay immersion. Games Omniverse Composer and Sound Designer, Andre Bissonnette, is doing just that. I had the pleasure of asking Andre about […]

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Steeven Labeau’s Art

Steeven credits his early creative development to an artistic family. His grandfather sculpted wooden figures, his mother wrote books, and his father liked to draw. Likewise, his sister painted and his brother aspired to be a comic book artist. As an aspiring paleontologist, Steeven spent a lot of time hunting for fossils in his parents’ garden. As an aspiring game designer, he spent a lot of time playing his Game Boy. And as an aspiring comic book artist, he spent a lot of time reading comics. You could say Steeven had big dreams.

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Dev Diary: From Paper to Pixels

by Curtis Bisbee There comes a time in the development of every artist when they have to drastically change-up the way they’ve been doing things for years, decades even, either because what they’ve been doing up to that point won’t or doesn’t work anymore… or just because they need to try something new. Sometimes… it […]

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Puzzle Design

From classic adventure puzzle video games like Myst, The 7th Guest, or Alone in the Dark, inventive and challenging puzzles have been an intricate part of the gaming experience. We’ve all been there– alone in a dark crypt or trapped in a decrepit room. You shine a flashlight and see runes carved on the wall. […]

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Dev Diary: Designing the Mud Puppy

Hello everyone, Steeven Labeau of Games Omniverse here. In this Design Development Diary we will be taking a look at the design and development of the Mud Puppy. The Mud Puppy is a tiny monster that you will encounter during your stay at the Dire Mansion in the upcoming Danika Dire© game series. My entire […]

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Everything Means Something

Many games and game development teams explore the “how” of game development. They’ll show new screenshots and videos of work in progress, talk about it with the press, and go over tools and tactics. We at Games Omniverse fully intend to do that. However, we’re asking you to join us on a journey and we […]

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Progress – Concept Milestone

We hit a milestone today. A small one, but an encouraging one, nevertheless. We are more than halfway done with the concept art for our environments. This means we’re ready to begin applying line art to the concepts, breaking them out into layered PSDs, and planning exactly what we want to see in each room.

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A Renaissance of Story

I’ve begun researching interactive fiction because a little voice inside my game designer’s brain is telling me that what I really want to make is interactive fiction. This kind of fiction has a long history and an underground community of followers.

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No Pain, No Game

The games industry is unlike any other I’ve ever worked in. There are unspoken laws of quality, teamwork, and dedication that drive a studio. Although the studio may not ask you to, most game developers work more than 40 hours a week, often late into the night and on weekends—because they care so much about doing a good job. This is the competition you’re up against when you attempt to launch a career in game development.

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Recording Temp Audio

One of the phases of design for a game like ours is the Temp Audio phase. We brought in voice talent Folly Blaine to provide life to our main character’s lines. We did the recording in my office, with the equipment I use for the WilyWriters.com audio stories I do. Why do temp audio? We […]

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Dev Diary — New Guy

Being a new team member on any team can present certain challenges, especially if it’s your first real project dealing with what you’ve wanted to do for as long as you can remember. Little long winded first sentence, but it sums up my feeling as I jump aboard the Games Omniverse team.

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