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Countdown to launch!

Greetings, nerds. Thought I'd share a quick update.  Rorasuketo  is getting just a few small tweaks since the last post. We didn't get a lot of takers on beta testing, so we're doing it in-house, which is a drag - but what are you gonna do? We are still planning to launch October 2nd. Steam just sent the "hey bruh, 3 weeks, u good?" email. To that I answer... I think so! Fall semester is in full swing, so instead of doing pixel art, I'm doing this: Mitten Kitten is still on the calendar for October 10, which... appears to be the Saturday before midterms. So feel free to say hello, grab some stickers, play the demo, and ask me about resonance structures. (Because I swear my General Chemistry I instructor said we wouldn't ever see lone electron pairs on carbon, but here we are.) There's a lot of promotion I should probably be doing, but the combination of work and 8 credits has me pretty worn out. I don't know how people manage their even crazier l...
Recent posts

Mash those buttons!

Our story guru Tiffany Van Peenen also happens to be faculty over at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Michigan. When some students in the KCC Tech Club found out that their (very cool) instructor had also made a video game, they offered to put  Rorasuketo  in their arcade cabinet. So word on the street is that this is totally happening . This is just about the coolest thing ever. I've got to compile a "Michigan Edition" demo version of the game, which will be a collection different areas you can explore. Maybe a little derby, maybe a date, maybe a town or two. I think that's what will end up on the cabinet, as well as what we'll have at Mitten Kitten for your enjoyment. Stay tuned! We will be planning a release party at Bardertown Video in Wyoming, Michigan at some point, too.  

Mitten Kitten preparations and the subject of ROI.

Not only will we have a Rorasuketo demo table at Mitten Kitten, but you'll see our glorious logo emblazoned on the volunteers' t-shirts. Turns out there is a queer-owned screenprinting shop right up the street from my home (they also have a storefront if you want to check it out!), so we get to feel cool about keeping things relatively fresh and local. I thought it would be fun to have a little "dialogue" on the front. Completing a project and getting into the promotion side of things (especially when there are deadlines involved) is giving me a lot of opportunities to say "Hey, good enough, let's push the button!". It's uncomfortable for me - a pathological perfectionist - so I'm trying to see it as an opportunity for growth. As plans change and budgets shift (don't they always?), I find myself reflecting more on the concept of ROI (Return On Investment). Forgive me if I've rambled about this before, but it's still true that  Rorasu...

Link: Automaton interview with Kan Gao.

I was happy to come across this article today. In it, the creator of To The Moon , Kan Gao, talks about the process of making games, specifically within the confines of RPG Maker. He even used XP, one of the more "basic" editions. One of the things about using RPG Maker for a commercial title is that there's a huge stigma - this idea that if you are using a certain tool, your creation is bound to, well, suck. I will leave it to the player to determine if Rora  specifically sucks or not, but even if it does, I don't think this stigma is fair. Anyway, here's a piece of the interview that stuck out to me: And one practical advice would be that while you should know where the game’s going – its spine and ending – don’t plan every detail out in advance. Planning and details are fun and creative; if you get all of them done first, what’s left is pure grind. Save some fun for scattering throughout the project, not all upfront. Yes! This happened organically with me, par...

Wait, what?

I was looking at package tracking and noticed an alert that Hurricane Lala was causing delays in shipping to Hawaii.   I'm not even sure what to say except stay safe out there, friends in the Pacific. Sorry if I had anything to do with the manifestation. 

An army of Lalas.

 Observe! Thirteen ghosts who want to lovingly nag you to improve your life.  I'm not sure where they will end up, but I felt the need to bring them into the world.    

It's time for some goodies!

This was a fun day. I got to go to a print shop to pick up the  Rorasuketo  banner that will grace our table at Mitten Kittens . Crop Marks did a lovely job on it. The pixels are, as Strong Bad would say, "As big as hams!" - and sharp enough to shave even the beardiest beardy man. Cat for scale. Next, I stopped by Vidiots, a used video game shop of some reknown, and I asked what available Super Nintendo game I could feel okay defacing if I were to deface one. They actually happened to have a cartridge that was missing its label - requiring no defacing whatsoever! - so this copy of  Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits  now has a little bit of decoration. I used templates found in the description of this YouTube video from John Riggs . Thanks, John! Holding this in my hands makes me happy in a way I can't quite describe. It's not functional, but it looks really cool, and I want to have it out on the demo table to attract nerds like moths to a flame. (It would be...