Quick Update

Well, life has exploded.

I am at college 3 days a week, and I work a day a week, leaving me 3 me-days.

On my me-days, I work on balancing Pokemon for Pokemon Universe when my Balance Team is on IRC, I work on The Undeadables (more about that in the next paragraph!), and I write for this blog.

I have also started playtesting for a local company called Convict Interactive, but I can't give out information due to the NDA. Exciting stuff from them, anyway. Visit their site: http://cg.stephenbarnes.net/

Sooo I'm busy with all the design and game-related stuff, but I love it. I've always liked designing games more than playing them - and well, I'm not missing gaming too much.

But yes - The Undeadables is in production as a Warcraft 3 map. It just myself and my friend Alex Hewitt (who made 3D images for the Undeadables video), but we're going okay. We started development on Friday - and we've already hit a couple of snags to do with subterfuge vs. in-game communication, but Alex's knowledge of the Warcraft 3 engine is driving the project. We will likely be working on the game once a week. So, there will be some updates on how we're setting up the balance and sorting out issues in that project.

Anyway, I have 4-5 blog posts planned:

• Pacing (a theoretical post)
• Balance Concerns Across Different Genres (I promised this one a while back)
• Canon vs. Gameplay (the problems with games and their pre-existing universe)
• Setting Up Balance (in depth strategies to starting a balanced game)
• Conservative Game Balancing (how to ensure minimal effects on the entire game when balancing a particular unit)

Pacing is just one I find fun, and Setting Up Balance has a lot to do with The Undeadables - as myself and Alex are trying to find magic balance numbers from scratch.

Conservative Game Balancing and Canon vs. Gameplay are both very much to do with Pokemon Universe. In that project, myself and the other Balance Team member (Gammal) have to isolate problems in Pokemon, so only that Pokemon is affected. We are trying to be as conservative as possible, to ensure we don't cause larger problems in the game.

Canon vs. Gameplay is an issue I've found in the project, as, many members do not want the Pokemon to change at all, as it will interfere with existing canon. As a firm believer of Gameplay > Canon, I will be listing reasons pertaining to why you should try to preserve Canon, but when change is needed for the sake of balance, or in the name of fun, you shouldn't hesitate.