MacGuffin’s Curse wins Best Game Writing at Freeplay11

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Andrew

After an evening of high nerves and tension, broken by interludes of comedic catharsis, MacGuffin’s Curse took away the award for Best Game Writing at the Freeplay11 awards. Of all the awards on offer, the Best Game Writing award was the one we placed the highest value on. Not only because it’s something that rarely has its own award, which in itself is a shame, but because it’s the one area where Brawsome feels it can compete at the same level with other games, though on a much smaller scale than AAA titles.

The quality of writing is arguably one of the most subjective areas of games, which is especially true when you’re at the coalface knocking out words you hope people will enjoy. To some it is also one of the least necessary areas of game development, which is probably why it’s something that is rarely awarded in mainstream competitions, though this is thankfully changing.

Something that really makes us proud of this award is that MacGuffin’s Curse is a comedy, an area of writing that might not hold the same weight as a more serious drama or even action title. I would argue that comedy is the most difficult area to write in, which is especially so for games; on a broader level I see this as a win for comedy writing in games as a valid and worthwhile pursuit.

Now, as we’ve been told numerous times over the course of Freeplay11, we’ve really got to knuckle down and finish the thing!

Oh and I’ll just take this opportunity quickly to point out the facebook page for MacGuffin’s Cuse. Please show it some Like Love.

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MacGuffin’s Curse Sneaky Peek!

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Andrew

Well with MacGuffin’s Curse up for Best Writing at Freeplay this weekend and the team rushing to hit the Beta milestone some time this side of August you’d think there was plenty going on already right? Wrong!

The team at MMGN have been hounding us (yes, I went there), for a look at MacGuffin’s Curse for weeks now, and this week they finally wore us down enough that we relented, and boy are we glad we did! Becuse they made this awesome little sneak preview video of the game. Check it out now! I’ll wait.

Oh, and if you’re on a non-flash compatible device, check out this direct link to the YouTube video.

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How To Write More Good

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Ben

Erk! Apologies for the gap in bloggy posts. It turns out we weren’t doing much, oh, just GETTING NOMINATED FOR BEST WRITING! Very exciting news, this. Freeplay looks like it’s going to be a hurly-burly hive of activity. Not only will we be up for an award, but you, the terrifying public, will also get to take a look at MacGuffin’s Curse! Exciting, no? (Let me help you along, this is immensely exciting.)

And, AND! Not only that, but we’ll also be at a Freeplay session, where we reminisce about older times (earlier in the year), Andrew acts all professional-like, and I either clam up or have a meltdown on-panel. Fun for all ages!

So come on down and see us! Or don’t. If you don’t, it doesn’t put me out. Because you won’t be there. See? Your plans have failed!

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MacGuffin’s Curse on Steam this Halloween

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Andrew

There were all manner of Steam puns I was considering with this title, but I didn’t want to trivialise the significance of this. MacGuffin’s Curse is going to be on Steam!

If you’ve been following the project, you’ll know that MacGuffin’s Curse is slated for PC, Mac, iPhone and iPad. So of course you’ll be seeing it on the App and Mac App stores, but for PC and Mac digital distribution we think Steam is still the best platform for indies to get their name out there. From experience it’s been hands down the best digitial distribution service for Jolly Rover, and we hope to be even more successful here with MacGuffin’s Curse. As with Jolly Rover, we’re again planning on supporting SteamPlay and the Cloud save feature as well as hooking into their achievement system. We’ve also already got controller support in for PC, and are working on adding it to Mac.

And what of this talk about a date? You heard correct. MacGuffin’s Curse is scheduled for release October 27th, which is just in time for Halloween. Werewolves. Halloween. Anybody?

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I’ve Got a Summer Ticket

Posted on July 3, 2011 by Ben

Oh yes, we kind of had to keep this quiet until it was official, but you can earn yourself a Steam Summer Sale Prize Ticket with Jolly Rover! So if there wasn’t enough of a reason for you to give it a go, now you can win big, big prizes too!

(At least, I keep getting told that they’re big.)

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Summer Sale (in Winter)

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Ben

It’s that time of year again! Steam is having a craaaazeee sale, meaning that bargains are to be had. Lucky it’s online and not a physical store, otherwise you’d be getting those terrible situations where people get crushed to death when they all run for the women’s shoes discount rack.

So sit in the comfort of your own home, move your mouse over to this link here, and click on it, purchasing Jolly Rover for a paltry US$3.40 (that’s SIXTY SIX PERCENT OFF!). Then it’s just a matter of enjoying yourself – but I can’t help you there.

Or, if you’re feeling particularly generous, you could even gift it to a friend, too! Because you’re so nice. I’ve been telling everyone that, don’t make me look bad now – it’d be awkward for all concerned.

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I’m Awesome At This Game!

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Ben

One of the things I learned early on during my game developer career is that it’s always important to reward your player. I’m not just talking about things you’d expect, such as unlockable content, finding new items that help you progress further in the game, and so on. There are also subtle, little things that are important which you can take for granted.

When I was performing QA at one company, we received a list of feedback from Nintendo Japan’s Super Mario Club for a racing game I was working on. This was really exciting and useful for me, as it gave me insight as to what can help the player enjoy the game more. For example: adding confetti to the race results screen, and making the trophy you received look bigger. These changes weren’t hard to make, and meant that the player felt like they’d accomplished something on each race. Giving your player a positive feeling is always important – it seems that sometimes developers can forget that games are meant to be fun!

If you’ve played Super Mario World, you’ll always remember the game’s level completion. Let’s dissect it. In approximately 10 seconds, you get:

  • A star display when you cut the ribbon (with a secret reward if you cut the ribbon at the tip-top)
  • A fadeout to just Mario, to get the spotlight on your success
  • A neat jingle that celebrates your level completion
  • Text that tells you you’ve completed the level, and your level stats
  • A drumroll as your stats convert to score
  • A pose from Mario for a job well done
  • And finally, an iris out as he exits the stage

    • In ten seconds, Nintendo has managed to make you feel like the most amazing person ever for crossing the finish line. And this happens every time you complete a level! Why wouldn’t you want to keep playing when it comes to positive reinforcement like that?

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    Meet Your Landlord

    Posted on June 17, 2011 by Ben

    The MacGuffin’s Curse Characters page has been updated with a new character – Lucas’ slimy, miserable landlord, Harvey Filks. As well as being a foil for Lucas, Harvey runs the local shop where you can purchase a large variety of useless junk, ranging from broken furniture, to ancient records, and other worthless rubbish. Of course, like all pawn shops, there’s some treasure to be found amongst all the trash…

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    Confessions of an indie game developer

    Posted on June 6, 2011 by Andrew

    It can be easy to work all hours every day with total disregard for your health, especially when you’re working on something you love and more so when you work from home, but this can be detrimental to both you and your product. This is something the core MacGuffin team are finding as we’re grinding on to get the game done.

    I’ve got two small children, and I know what’s right for them, eat well, exercise, and go to bed nice and early and you’ll be happier, more stable, and more attentive the next day. But when it comes to me it seems I do almost the opposite, and to what effect? All the opposite traits of those mentioned above. Surprise surprise.

    It can be easy to forget about yourself when developing, it’s all about the product, but I’ve realised the two go hand in hand. So I’ve implemented a few changes to turn this around.

    No email on weekends
    This can be quite hard as because of our timezone I can get emails from the US on Saturday which is their Friday, which won’t be responded to until the following Monday. But without the definite break in activity there’s no time to recharge the creative batteries.

    No gaming before bed
    It doesn’t help if I lie in bed awake for hours thinking about the game I’ve just played. Though I get scant hours to play games now, sleep is more important for another productive day.

    Drink water, eat fruit
    I used to do this, but lately my day has been coffee-coffee-coffee, sandwich, coffee-tea-tea dinner. Which is no way to be at my best, it’s just common sense. I couldn’t imagine allowing my kids to do this, even when they’re older.

    Get out of the house
    While developing I have gone a whole week without stepping out my front door. Yes, really. Going for a short walk at lunchtime can do wonders for the afternoon workload, which is normally filled otherwise by coffee and slouching.

    Get dressed
    I’m not saying I develop games naked, but there can be very little motivation to change out of what you’ve slept in as you roll out of bed to your desk, but surprising as this may seem, this can turn your mindset from hobby to professional. Put on a shirt, have a shave (if you have to) you’d be surprised what a difference it makes.

    Seriously, this stuff is important, and it’s so easy to forget that. I know I did.

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    Quality Feedback

    Posted on May 30, 2011 by Andrew

    We’re at a stage in MacGuffin’s Curse where we’re starting to take down some of the scaffolding to reveal our work in progress, so we’re starting to get some feedback. There are many types of feedback and the difference between them can be quite drastic. People always say you should listen to feedback, but I’m here to say that’s not entirely true.

    For the most part you get positive feedback and negative feedback, which slide on a scale from empty to quality. Whether the feedback is positive of negative doesn’t matter so much, what does matter is whether the feedback is quality.

    Quality feedback comes from someone who has genuinely taken the time to play and understand your game. It is well thought out and useful. Empty feedback is quick and dirty and doesn’t require much thought or time. An example of empty feedback is “I don’t understand what to do.” or “I like it how it’s colourful”. You’ll find most of the time your family, and sometimes friends, will give you this empty feedback. Don’t take it personally. An example of quality feedback is, “I didn’t feel like I had any direction, maybe you need a pop up box, or something in the dialog to prompt me to interact with something in the room.” or even “The path looked like a wall, so I was trying to go around it, maybe make it look flatter, or darken it a bit so it looks like it’s part of the ground.” The quality feedback is well thought out, and sometimes even offers a realistic solution. The realistic solution is important, it’s no good saying “I don’t like reading, you should really add voices”. I tend to find avid gamers, and people in the games industry tend to give the most quality feedback. It also helps if they appear interested in you, or your game.

    When giving feedback, understand that it can be both positive and negative but the important thing is that it’s quality, this will get the respect of the person you’re giving feedback to and make it more likely they’ll want feedback from you in future.

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