Won a BAFTA, then.
Nov 282011
All a bit weird, to be honest. Last night, Size Five Games was honoured with a BAFTA for our sex ed shoot-‘em-up romp Privates.
If you go here and click on Learning- Secondary, you can see video footage of my bewildered, flabbergasted form stumble through an acceptance speech and interview. I don’t remember doing any of that.
I had a list of people to thank in my top pocket, but no one else was unprofessional enough to need cheat sheets so I decided to DO IT LIVE, and as a result completely forgot to thank most of the people on my little list. Excusable, I hope; it’s all a complete blur, I’m amazed I even managed to stand up properly.
So then, huge thanks to Chris Simpson and Andy Hodgetts who did all the clever code and stunning art.
Our actors Ryan Hurst, Dan Wheeler and Fiona Sheehan for their hard work and brillo performances.
Khanh Nt who did all our squelchy sound effects and Nik Sideris who did our amazing music.
Everyone at Channel 4, even the lawyers I guess. In particular Gemma Brady and Jo Twist.
And of course Alice Taylor, who commissioned the damned thing in the first place, despite the fact it’s a game about vaginas.
I also forgot to thank BAFTA. Whoops. Sorry, BAFTA! Thank you so much, BAFTA.
There’s probably more still. Thank you, if you did a thing on Privates.
It was an amazing night. Nigel Planer was there! I stormed up to him and told him how The Young Ones and Filthy, Rich & Catflap had such a massive influence on me, and then I told him where the toilets were. I shook John Craven’s Newsround’s hand! Magical!
Back to work, then.
Posted in News, Shilling, Stupid Idiot 13 Comments#indieVisibility End of Year Awards
Nov 212011
HEY INDIE DEVELOPERS: let’s go for a pint and do some hearty back-slapping while we’re at it.
IMPORTANT: please do pay attention to the small print. Places are limited, so don’t book a ticket on the off-chance you might come, you’ll only be stopping someone else from coming.
Tickets go to nominees as a priority, and then first-come-first served. So email if you want to come, I’ll send out invites asap.
Follow @danthat for news and updates and stuff.
Posted in indieVisibility, Legally Dubious, News, Shilling, Stupid Idiot 2 CommentsPRIVATES Nominated for a BAFTA
Oct 242011
I’m very excited and proud to announce that Privates, our sex education romp has been nominated for a BAFTA.
I know.
You can see the full list of nominations here; crumbs, we’re up against some pretty grown-up productions. I’m trying hard to put into words how I feel without succumbing to the sort of clichés unbefitting of someone so very BAFTA-nominated, but it really really is a total honour, and very exciting.
Awards ceremony is on the 27th of November – presumably there’ll be free drink, so I’m going.
Posted in News 3 CommentsDan and Ben DEVELOPMENT EVENT EXTRAVAGANZA
Oct 62011
Ben There, Dan That! and Time Gentlemen, Please! have seen something of a resurgence recently, with loads of new players thanks to the recent Steam Sale and the BTDT: Special Edition. That’s led to more than a few new requests for a third game.
Ben and I have had a lot of trouble working out how best to do a new Dan and Ben adventure. We’ve been keen to do something, but after Revenge of the Balloon-Headed Mexican caved in on itself, we’ve been being ultra-careful and thinking how to do it in a way that feels fresh and different enough not to fall into the same traps.
The good news is: yes, we think we’ve thought of something. The bad news is: no, we’re not announcing a definite new Dan and Ben adventure. Just in case.
We are, however, willing to give it a go. As such, Ben and I are having a ‘development weekend’ this weekend, something we haven’t done since we made Ben There, Dan That!
It all kicks off tomorrow evening (Friday). We’re going to drink a fridge full of fizzy pop, sketch out ideas and start laying down the groundwork for an all-new Dan and Ben adventure. How much of a game do you reckon we can we make in a single weekend?
We need your support. We’ll be tweeting progress throughout the weekend, so follow @danthat and @TimeGentleman and join in. We want to hear your thoughts, we want to hear your ideas, we want to know what you want from a new Dan and Ben game, and we desperately need your encouragement.
What’s the new game about? I’ll give you a clue: it’s SO BAD.
Join us.
Read More…
Steam version of Ben There, Dan That! updated to Special Edition
Sep 262011If you bought Ben There, Dan That! on Steam, your version has been updated free of charge. If you buy it through Steam from now on, you’ll get the Special Edition.
If you absolutely love it to pieces and want to show your support, we always appreciate your money. It’s particularly helpful for rent and biscuits.
Best thing to do is buy a copy as well under the ‘pay what you want’ scheme. We’d be very grateful, and promise to reward you with future gaming excitement and happiness.
Posted in Dan and Ben Adventures, HELP, News, Shilling, Stupid Idiot 2 CommentsAnnouncing Ben There, Dan That! Special Edition
Sep 232011
“We’ve George Lucased it right up”, developer proudly exclaims.
Ben There, Dan That! has always been pleasingly great, but it needed a bit of extra oomph I couldn’t quite afford to do when it was first released. So then, like an AWOL George Lucas, I’ve hand-crafted a scrubbed-up SPECIAL EDITON version of the game.
FEATURES:
>> New swishy graphical enhancements throughout! Ben There, Dan That! is now exponentially more gorgeous and sexy to look at.
>> A stunning jazzy Sam and Max: Hit the Road homage-y soundtrack! Music that will caress your ears and grate infuriatingly as you fail to solve a puzzle.
>> More sound effects!
>> Some better signposting for the puzzles people didn’t get, or the objects they couldn’t see!
> The more-readable font from Time Gentlemen, Please!, enhancing brand synergy across the series.
>> Fixes some boring Windows 7 issue a few people were having.
SPECIAL BONUS MATERIAL:
EXCLUSIVE: A special 16-page eBook candidly telling the whole story of the game’s creation for the first time; “Lowering the Tone”
EXCLUSIVE: An extra special never-before-seen treat: a non-interactive video storybook presentation lifted from Dan and Bens’ diary entries, explaining the backstory as to exactly how Dan wound up dead in a jungle tied to a length of twine in the first place. Hear Dan and Ben speak for the first time in this fully voiced, and expertly illustrated six-and-a-half minute extravaganza.
EXCLUSIVE: All the ‘cut’ music that didn’t make it into the final game. Hear unloved and unused renditions of your favourite Ben There, Dan That! ditties.
EXCLUSIVE: Posters to print out and hang over your living room window, or to slap on your desktop.
EXCLUSIVE: Never-before-heard audio recording of Ben stomping around his flat cheering his own name, for the ending sequence. Truly there has never been a more honest depiction of the lengths indie developers have to go to for their art.
EXCLUSIVE: Dan and Ben ringtones – give your phone the Dan and Ben once-over with these exclusive musical ditties.
>> CLICK HERE TO BUY <<
Because well why not, the game is now NOT FREE. It’s “pay what you want”, from cheap up to expensive. This is because money is nice, and I very much enjoy eating.
HOWEVER: if you bought the game on Steam, your version has been updated free of charge. If you love it to pieces and want to say thank you, we always appreciate your money – please do buy a copy as well.
>> CLICK HERE TO BUY <<
Posted in Dan and Ben Adventures, News, Shilling 11 CommentsHacked Off
Sep 192011
So, how do we tend to feel about hacking minigames, everyone? I suppose generally I’m against them – the two main problems being they’re rarely genuinely fun in their own right, and that they really grate after a while.
That said, it’s nice to feel that you’re in some way involved in the hack, even if it is absurdly extrapolated and interpreted as some preposterous minigame. At the moment, The Swindle’s hacking amounts to pressing a button and watching the player character getting on with it all. I’m aware that it all just feels a little flat.
The nature of the game means I could quite easily drop the minigame once it’s run its course; you’ll be using the cash you steal to upgrade your whizzy techno-gloves throughout the game. So with a quick upgrade it could all then be handled automatically, if the game’s annoying you sufficiently.
If everyone gives hacking minigames an overwhelming no-no vibe from the off, I suppose it can just wind up being a progress bar… but what are your thoughts? Have any games done hacking or minigames really well in your eyes?
Let me know, either here or on Twitter: twitter.com/danthat
Posted in Development, HELP, The Swindle 27 CommentsIntroducing the GiANT Engine
Sep 152011
“If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” – Newton.
You can’t be a developer these days unless you’ve got an engine and it’s got a clever name. That’s where Size Five’s custom GiANT Engine comes in.
The GiANT engine is built on four core technologies, which have allowed me to construct a custom platform game engine capable of all sorts of whizzy graphical treats. So for all you tecchy-nerds out there, here’s what’s chugging along beneath The Swindle:
Grunt Work:
The game itself is written in C#/ XNA, which is great because it’s really easy to make things look pretty and for coding idiots such as myself to cobble together maths and graphics to form bonefide videogame technology. Because it’s XNA, that means it runs on either a PC or Xbox, so a console release is possible… assuming I manage to resist the temptation to put loads and loads of vaginas in it this time.
Physics:
I’m using ‘OH GOD THAT’S CLEVER’ Farseer Physics as the core for the engine, which means there’s all sorts of zany Newtonian bullshit going on. Farseer is a really robust, clever, swishy and impressive physics engine that’s allowed me to add a whole host of brillo game elements, from chains swaying gently in the breeze to rocks you can casually drop on guards’ heads.
Lighting
We’ve also got the lovely little Krypton Engine running on top of the game world, which allows for some stunning 2D lighting/ shadow effects. There’s a full day/ night cycle running, which’ll lead to some clever japes and interesting gameplay based on the time of day.
Krypton also powers stuff like security cameras, meaning you can tell exactly what they can-and-can’t see, and whether or not your oh-so-clever hiding place is working.
Particles
You can’t do Steampunk without lots of steam. So we’re also using the Mercury Particle Engine to render lots of lovely particle effects. Mercury handles everything from steam to smoke and gunfire, and does so beautifully…
Everything else, I’m afraid, is my code. WHICH MEANS IT COULD EXPLODE. Lol just joking it won’t explode.
If and when it doesn’t explode, for the moment I’m largely targeting PC, unless Team Xbox ring me up and start offering me free biscuits, then we’ll have to see…
Posted in Development, News, Shilling, The Swindle 7 Comments