TIGJam 3 is a go!

TIGJam 3 is coming up in two months and it looks like it’s going to be an awesome time. TIGJam is an annual gathering of indie developers who get together and jam on games for a weekend.

I’m still on the fence about making the trip down from Vancouver, but if you’re anywhere near Nor-Cal and want to spend a weekend jamming on games with a bunch of rad developers – TIGJam is for you.

More information here.

Ray Ardent and the art of the Thumbnail image

Ray Ardent is up for bidding on flashgamelicense.com and I was given some very good advice from a total stranger. PJ Baron was nice enough to play Ray, and give me some very valuable feedback.

The crew at Flash Game License has been doing some research on the importance of the thumbnail image. It’s that little picture that tempts you to play the game.

Before seeing the results of the research, I believed that a descriptive image would be the best bet – show people what the game looks like.

The research that Flash Game License had done showed that games with a better quality thumbnail image regularly received more money from sponsors, received better editor reviews and were visited much more frequently. The research also showed that ‘screenshot’ thumbnails didn’t perform as well as a dedicated original thumbnail image.

With PJ’s advice and the research from Flash Game License in mind, I set off to redo Ray Ardent’s thumbnail image.

Before
After

I’m really happy with how the reworked thumbnail worked out – I somehow managed to capture the retro/pulp feel that I’m going for with Ray.

Looking at these now, it’s almost silly that I thought that a screenshot would be sufficient. It’s the little things that matter people.

Teh Hotness – Muro – HTML5 wow!

DeviantArt, a hub for online artists of all skill levels has recently launched Mhttp://muro.deviantart.com/, an online art tool which is much more responsive than any other online art tool I’ve used. Beyond that, it’s the most impressive implementation of HTML 5 I’ve seen.

A quick search for Muro reveals that the community is already experimenting with this tool and getting some amazing results.

It’s also interesting in that they’ve monetized it by letting users purchase additional brushes, which is simple and absolutely brilliant.

As a Flash developer, HTML 5 comes up a lot.

My stance is simple. I use Flash because it lets me reach the largest possible number of people. When HTML5’s install base is close to or surpasses Flash, I’ll be making the switch. With Apple swearing off Flash, likely for life, on their handheld devices, which continue to sell like hotcakes, it’s very likely that 1 year from today I’ll be putting the finishing touches on my first HTML5 game. Who knows, I might switch before the end of the year.

Sadly, Muro doesn’t have an iPhone optimized setting, but if any of you iPad owners out there want to give it a go and let us know what you think in the comments, that’d be great!

Teh Hotness – Yuki 7 and the Gadget Girls

Kevin Dart’s wonderful creation, Yuki 7, finally has her own webpage!

Yuki 7 is a fictional movie franchise – a fictional, female version of James Bond if you will. The Yuki 7 book “Seductive Espionage” is written in a documentary style, chronicling Yuki’s rise to popularity and the careers of her creators.

The pulp style and flavor of Yuki is one of the main influences on Ray Ardent (the original back-ground mock-ups were done in a style similar to Darts) and I’ve been a huge fan of Kevin Dart’s work ever since I stumbled across his table at Comic-Con four years ago.

Absolutely brilliant and inspiring work!