You must be making a game. This section of my website is dedicated to writing, coding, art, and some assorted other topics.

Why Are Indie Games Popular Now? – The Truth

First of all, indie games are my favorite "genre." I think this is an important cultural phenomenon--and also a fun one--but for argument, let's scrutinize it. So, Indie games usually have fewer details, less polished graphics, and are often focused on the simpler things, so why are indie games popular? And additionally, I might even ask, are they? I've been playing and writing about indie games for a couple of years now and I have seen so many genres and concepts that make the games I used to play seem unnecessarily photorealistic and expensive. Knowing what goes into game development actually helped me realize the simple joys of low-scale projects scattered across Steam and the bizarrely creative ItchIO platforms. I'm going to answer this question, because well, I need to, and it's an important question.

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Some Resources For Using Non-Copyright Music in a GameDev

When I went to learn what was involved in making my visual novel, this surprisingly was not so simple. Do not get me wrong, I'm here to give you the goods, but when it comes to music, graphics, or anything really, the way copyright protection works is stern yet often confusing. So, let me get you going here. Don't fret--or do! I'm here to tell you that things are not hopeless. More specifically: how to obtain copyright-free music. So, let me paint the picture: copyrights. Yes, "copyrights." Copyright is the law that protects the intellectual property of artists, writers, and…

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The Truth About Writing Characters You Love

Making a character seem real is essentially the sport of writing in a nutshell. The irony of it is most people have built into them everything needed to assess the realness of others in the real world. But what you might have in practical people skills, gets filtered into unbalanced gray areas, in the field or on the page. At times, I find myself with a slew of important characters without consistency. Do not worry, that is okay. Or, perhaps, you've mastered this skill. In either case, the aim of this article is to help you apply what you already know with "a character profile." Today, I'll give you the tools you need to make a unique character, in motion if you like!

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The Ultimate Truth on World Building

As a matter of urgency, Mr. Dave Pizza--for as long as I muster it--will bear witness to a fusion of game dev stuff and book/writing stuff. It's already begun really, but I'm scrambling to realize this vision. So anyway, this article is going to be a how-to on "writing about place." You guys are going nuts over some of the How-To's, so Joseph M Tapdancing Kwisatz Haderach, I'm gonna deliver the goods. This article is equally accessible to creative writers, visual novel devs, and game devs. The devs are, of course, in the worldbuilding phase, but perhaps there is even another application I've overlooked, screenplay writing maybe. If you don't even know what I'm talking about? Don't worry! This is a general concept here. So, with that, let's get you started.

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Making a Simple Platformer With Godot

Let's talk about GoDot tilemaps. Have you ever played a 2D platformer or Metroidvania and wanted to know how it is made? Maybe you are already making one. I'm back for another insight into the cryptic, enigmatic, secretive, open-source world of indie game development. Tongue-in-cheek there. But I am reaching out to you devs out there to talk about some very useful primary knowledge in GoDot TileMaps!

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Make Dialogue Sound Effects With Tyranobuilder

Welcome back to another article in my how-to series for gamers and game makers. Today I’ll be talking about making a dialogue blip sound effect in Tyranobuilder free! Sometimes known as dialogue blip. You might be able to use this in Ren’Py or VN Maker, or even other dev projects. Tyranobuilder is where I’ve staked my claim though right now. The sound effect is universally compatible though, just change the part where you actually implement to the protocol for whatever tool you are using. Okay, let’s get started.

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Visual Novel Background Creation Can Be Easy and Free

Welcome, inspired readers, writers, and ambitious game devs to a new tutorial to assist in your personal game dev projects and how to make free visual novel background images at no cost. I've been truly inspired by how many people visited my character generator tutorial, that I'm back for another. I mostly cover indie game highlights with several visual novel reviews. But I am also developing a visual novel in Tyranobuilder, which you can find here. I have taught myself how to try many different techniques in creating background art for visual novels.

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Why I Literally Want to Be James Halliday From Ready Player One

"James Halliday, he was like a god." This is not a review, showcase, or anything, but it is a narrative I feel like rolling with. This topic entered my mind a long time ago when I first saw the film version of Ready Player One, and then later when I read the book. Then when I surrendered the dream in Ready Player Two (it's an acquired taste, no dismissiveness or negativity here!) Ever since... well, ever... ever since I can even remember, I've been compulsively enamored with the idea of digital realities--virtual reality, cyberspace, the Matrix, the Oasis, the Grid, Metaverse, what have you. The thing about the fictional character James Halliday is he made it all seem kind of obtainable. Welcome to virtual pizzality. Read on, should you wish to obtain the egg...

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The Character Creator is a Free Tool For World Building

I talked earlier today about using character creators for game creation, particularly visual novel. I went on a hunt, first on Itch.IO, but then on Google. It took me less than a minute to find a free 2D character creator. I made a video of it being used. I trimmed the video so you didn't have to do a click play to a full Monty scenario. Check it out though, I was able to customize clothing, facial features, facial expressions, and body types.

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