Inspiration Through the Blue Portal

Many of us are working on our own gaming projects that keep us up at night.  Maybe it's developing/porting a game, or in some cases a brand/IP - maybe you're making strides on the journalistic side of things or developing a YouTube following to watch your game footage. Whatever it may be, we're all trying to carve out a little piece of cake to call our own, taste the delicious frosting of success, and raise the cake over our heads exclaiming, "This is my cake, eat some!"

But it sure is easy to get sidetracked.   And by sidetracked I don't mean the heavy hand of the procrastination or utter laziness.  I don't mean the little red Netflix envelope, Twitter banter, or figuring out what the hell Reddit is (okay I get it now, and I am a little hooked).

I am talking about losing sight of your original goals while you wallow in the inter-drama.  I am talking about questioning your motives and falling off course, swayed by the opinions and rhetoric of others.  I am talking about flocking to mindless controversy because it's seems exciting.  Some examples:

• Community disputes over other game's worth/value/success (or lack of). 
• A debacle over Xbox ratings exploits. 
• Aggressive marketing techniques that ride the unethical gray area. 
• Forums and comment threads locked in endless and often pointless debate. 

Now I am not proposing that discussion or involvement in the above happenings is completely avoidable, or that it needs to be.   For many, there's personal stake to varying degrees - and so be it, get involved.   Get on your soapbox when it really calls for it. (just remember not to feed the trolls)

But I just played Portal 2.  And holy shit it refocused me - like a slap in the face.   Here's why:

As I poured through this game and it got it's grips on me, I was carried away.   I was reminded of what makes games the mental vacation that we all crave.   It reminded me of what I am attempting to do and why I spend hours of my free time doing it.   

I am not going to talk about Portal 2 or why it's such a wonderful game - it just is, and that's fairly widely agreed upon at this point.   The point is, Portal 2 did for me what I have always wanted to create for others - it's a lesson book for game design, or interactive media for that matter.   It highlighted my favorite elements of gaming, and what I need to regather focus on accomplishing within my own project. 

Better yet, the gaming high felt from Portal 2 contrasted so heavily with the swamp of eternal stench listed in the bullet points above, that it was a moment of clarity.   I believe it hit me when I was looking through a blue portal and realized I was about to launch myself like a cannonball across a gaping pit to the exit, while being mocked by a vindictive and sarcastic A.I (and what I consider a top 5 video game villain of all time). 

So I would encourage anyone reading this, to take a step back from the daily shitstorm and remember why you dove in headfirst to begin with.  Get back on that path and beware the tempting sirens of controversy, opinion-blasting, and so forth.   Ignore them, grab your drug of choice, and work on something special to you.  Sometimes it take a great game to remind you what you set out to do. 

Some screenshots of our work in progress, Ophidian Wars: The Legend of Kilflame: 

Fun Fact

Pomp Spectrals were the first Spectrals to make peace with the Avagarsians. The Avagarsian emblem features the foot of a Pomp Spectral.

Game Thoughts 1 - Pon Spectral

It's always a great feeling when a concept gets successfully translated from the brain, to paper, to a model, to an in-game living character. Lot's of people seem to like the Pon Spectral, and I am confident that the team nailed this one from start to finish. (seems like a good place to start for my first ramblings!)

As I was developing the Spectral races, I knew I wanted one that adapted a mercantile status as a result of Avagarsian expansion. With travel, comes exploration, and exploration leads to discovery of new goods and crafts. The Pon Spectrals would step in as collectors and distributors of these goods, giving them a neutral/friendly status among other species.

And what if someone wanted to cross the line and betray a Pon to steal all of their goods? Well first, they are nearly impossible to kill, as they are comprised of incredibly hard gold material. And second, you'd then be blacklisted on the network of Pon trading, which means you probably won't be able to sell or buy good ever again.

When I was talking with Craig, he came up with the cool idea of having these sturdy mo for carrying goods in their oversized hats. This way, you might see them traversing the desert, or on a city corner, or in a cave, and they 'd still have something to offer a weary traveler (like Maya, let's say). Thus, the friendly little bugger was born on paper - an unimposing merchant with turtle-like durability.

From there it was up to Valri to transfer this concept to a 3D model (with a poly limit), and as you can see, she got it done nicely:

Adorable right? Well he also can dance, and his own soundtrack to get busy to. So we look forward to showing you a Pon Spectral in game. Let us know your thoughts.

First Things First

Small Cave Games is first a foremost a new indie game company working on it's first title for Xbox Community Games. That project is called Ophidian Wars (http://ophidianwars.com/) - some early shots are below, and you can go check out the official website for more info.

From here, you'll hear some ramblings on the development process of Ophidian Wars, as well as some reviews of notable XBCGs, and reports/links regarding other cool indie projects that we stumble across.