Thursday, August 25, 2011

Off to PAX Prime!

I'm right in the middle of a 12 day stretch where I'm travelling all over the West Coast (and slightly to the right.) Been pretty insane, as soon as I get comfortable it's off we go again. I doubt I could do this all the time, but it's been a pretty fun summer given how busy things are.

Driving to and from Vegas to see old friends was much needed; but just three days at home before turning around to fly up to Seattle for PAX is harrowing at best. Especially with all that's going on at the moment. Heir today, gone tomorrow ay? (Love that game, despite it's unforgiving nature.)

When I have been home, I've been head down working on making room maps and finishing other tasks we have to complete before A Valley Without Wind beta arrives. We're so very close now. It appears public beta is still on target for the first half of September. We'll see how everything goes, but I can say loudly and proudly that the game is gelling together in ways I can't describe and I can't wait for people to finally get a chance to play.

Would love to chat more--in fact I plan to in September once I stop spinning--but I have to get at least a few good hours of sleep before a very odd series of flights to Seattle tomorrow. May have a PAX post here, and we'll be busy over on DIYGamer, Gaming Dead and my YT Channel too. If you're into what's going on at the northwestern nerd mecca, keep an eye on those spots over the next few days!

Monday, August 15, 2011

A Valley Without Wind Updates and Gameplay Video

We've emerged from the Arcen labs to share a new press update for our upcoming game A Valley Without Wind showing off a lot of good (new) stuff. The biggest item has to be the character model updates, where we've totally ditched our previous method and models as they just couldn't match up with these new ones. Pictured is an example, and you can check out 16 new concept art images over on Chris's blog.

On top of that, Chris has put together a solid 17-minute video of pure gameplay, along with an accompanying post. Have a look (or even better head over to YouTube and watch it in 1080p):

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Interview with Rudolf Kremers on DIYGamer

Wanted to direct you to a piece I put together for DIYGamer featuring Rudolf Kremers of Omni Systems. If you're unfamiliar with the name or company, there's a good chance you've at least heard of their title Eufloria. A seamlessly evolving RTS, wrapped in a beautifully ambient package.

It's really blissful stuff, I suggest you at least give the demo a try PC/Mac'ers; and those who own a PS3 can look forward to a PSN port sometime later this year.

Now for the picture break down: Rudolf is wearing a ballin' shirt. My hair is ridiculously long, and I'm representing my hometown with a t-shirt I bought from local awesome-shop Octopus Garden. Modestly priced whats-its and weird crap, stop by if you're ever passing through South-Eastern Washington.

IndieCade Game Jam Video Interviews

I hate to admit it, but my buddy/cameraman Kevin Harland is getting quite good now that he has a pretty, new piece of equipment to back up all the experience. We attended IndieCade's mobile game jam this past weekend and got some excellent interviews and other footage to check out.

My recently started YouTube channel has three new HQ videos to peruse:

IndieCade Mobile 3D Game Jam - Akira Thompson and Chris Bell of IndieCade [Interview]

You can also check out our photo dump of the event over on DIYGamer. That's where I'll be writing up and publishing some written info around the videos, along with some other articles covering the event. I'll probably pass them on here as well.

Welcome to Game Connoisseur!

Hi everyone, and welcome to my personal blog, where I mostly talk about professional things as unprofessionally as possible. This is where I'll be updating all my projects (gaming or otherwise), as well as where I'll publish articles I write that don't fit on my other sites including personal musings and such.

My goal is to update this a couple times a week (or more if there's a lot to share/about.) I'm always frantically busy it seems, but for some reason I yearned to start something like this...so away we go!