Bust N Rush trailer

Bust N' Rush is the game we've been developing at Techtonic Games in Santa Barbara. We just finished a 10-day crunch and submitted to the Independent Games Festival. This is the first time we've publicly given out any info on our game.
Soon we will have a playable demo, so keep on the lookout for that.

Spider-Man Games Retrospective pt1

Now that I’m done with school I can play all the games I put off.  I’m going to play through the Spider-Man series starting with the Playstation version.  This Spidey retrospective won’t be comprehensive, but I’ll cover most of the [good] games.
 Spider-Man (2000)

                The year 2000 saw the first 3D Spider-Man game. Since the movies hadn’t come out yet, the style of the game is from the animated series from the 90’s, which I grew up watching. Stan Lee narrates, giving it the comic book vibe too. This game is old school Playstation graphics so it’s got the claw-hands and the static faces (with the exception of venom whose jaw opens and closes).

                The game is geared towards kids and fans of the comics. Even the controls are optionally dumbed down to “kid mode” which simplifies web-slinging. Several bits are for fans, like variant costumes, storyboards, comic covers, and cameos from other Marvel superheroes.

The thing I always enjoyed about this game as a teenager was that the design limitations of the city areas were written into the plot. If Spidey drops below a certain altitude he dies. Fog blocked the player’s view of the streets below, which could not have been done very well at the time.  [SPOILERS] This fog is explained in the plot: it was released by Doc Ock in order to prepare the citizens of New York for being taken over by Symbiotes. Explaining design limitations with plot elements is awesome and neat to me.

Bugs sometimes make the game difficult or easy, such as the boss Scorpion being unable to pass through a doorway and the player can safely take pot shots at him from a distance. There is no control over the camera so the player is often frustrated by attacking enemies off screen and sometimes ends up facing the wrong direction. And then there’s nothing more frustrating than  running around a health pickup in circles because you’re fighting the controls. 3D games were still growing up at this point, so these flaws are somewhat understandable in hindsight, but downright unacceptable by today’s gaming standards.

The ending cutscene is cheesy (even for a comic book game), where Spidey, Capt America, Daredevil, and Punisher are playing cards at a table. First of all, why play cards in costume? I know Spidey has a secret identity, but there’s nothing stopping Frank or Steve from wearing street clothes. Whatever, it’s a game. But Daredevil and Punisher NEVER get along and could not sit at a table peacefully together long enough to play cards. See this fan film as an example: http://www.youtube.com/user/blinky500#p/c/9F50ACB87CCE0908/3/GFoKtT1Qhms

Ps I’m pretty sure that while chasing down Spider-Man, the NY police were straight up destroying buildings using military-grade attack helicopters in this game. That level is kinda awkward in a post 9/11 world.

The Emmys

In the The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards of 2011 I was a Matte Painter. My 'happy' fantasy painting was used as a background for a shot in the opening segment hosted by Jane Lynch. Below you'll see a screenshot with my work in the background. Here is a link to the art: http://thewillowen.com/art_matte_files/Fantasy%20Matte%20Painting_Emmys.jpg

Links

Techtonic Games Inc was in a few local articles which can be found here: the First Noozhawk article
and the Second Noozhawk article
They both have a few errors, like the part where it incorrectly states that we're competing with Zynga. But it's the first press we have received, and it's got a picture of us.
The Techtonic website is under construction. Link will be available soon.
There will be news on the game in September. (Yay!)

Regretfully I still am unable to post work of what I've been doing. However, before my job started at Techtonic, I did some work with the nice guys at Nakai Entertainment on Ninja Hamster Rescue, a mobile game which has a free demo. Check it out and fight some evil samurai cats.

Employed

The previous entries concerning the art test (matte painting, sprites, UI design) went well. I am now employed at Techtonic Games in Santa Barbara.
I'm ten minutes from the beach and I go a couple times a week. The job pays well and provides benefits. I don't say that I'm happy often in my life, mostly I've coasted on neutral/apathetic, but now I truly couldn't ask for more. I have a large room and live in a nice quiet neighborhood. We live right next to a creek. The office is even super close to my apartment.
Everything is settled in and we're all having fun. It's awesome working with powerful machines and the right equipment to develop games in a professional setting.

Relentless Dungeon is still on the To Do List, but Scott and I are just too busy at the moment. It also needs some help from a programmer (nudge nudge programmer buddies).