It’s been a while since I posted anything here. I’ve been busy — I’m now writing articles for IndieGames.com regularly. I also went to Tokyo Game Show (the first event of its kind I’ve ever been to). Coming back from Tokyo Game Show, I came down with a cold. It’s caused minimal discomfort but a…
Author: Lena
Final Fantasy XIV: Great, when logging in happens
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (hereafter ARR) officially launched last week. The developers aimed to make a game that was renowned for being terrible into something good. Square Enix didn’t anticipate so many people wanting to play, though. There are not nearly enough servers for us all. There’s been so much demand for the game…
EA Has Surprised Me
My last customer service interaction with EA Games is one of many reasons I’m boycotting their products. I installed Origin today, though, as I already have a couple of games acquired through it. It seemed the easiest way to find out if they ever got ported to Mac (unlikely though that may be). When I…
Candy Crush Saga Review
Last weekend, I got to play some Candy Crush Saga on my friend’s phone. It was interesting enough, and different enough from Bejeweled, that I decided to download it and give it a more thorough try. Here’s the short version: the game isn’t necessarily bad. However, since it’s free-to-play, the designers have made some choices…
Openings in Creative Endeavors
My best friend linked me an article in which Steven King talks about opening sentences to books — how important they are, why that is, and what makes some more memorable than others. He spends a long time crafting the opening sentences to his books. It’s a fascinating read, whether or not you like to…
The Open Bundle
Six years later edit (April 21, 2019): Links to the bundle have been removed. They now lead to a page that seems dangerous. Additionally, I’m no longer convinced bundles are a good thing. That’s another story, though. There are so many game bundles on the internet (thank you, Humble Bundle, for making this a trend)…
Daddy’s Job
This is a story one of the parents in my town posted on his Facebook wall. お父さんの仕事 仕事帰り娘と二人、夜道を家路につく道すがら、娘が唐突に「お父さんはどんなお仕事しているの？」と聞いてきた。 小学3年生の娘に林業をどう説明したらよいかと、一瞬頭は躊躇ったが、気づいたら「お父さんは中川の森を守っているんだよ」と答えていた。 「木を調べたり、植えて育てたり、たまに伐っていたりしているんだよ。森は水や空気をきれいにしたり、動物たちのおうちになるんだよ」と続けたら、娘が「じゃあお父さんは中川を守ってるんだね」と嬉しそうに笑った。 ｶﾞｽ欠間近の心に、力が湧いてきた。 明日もがんばろう。 And here is my translation.
LimbClock’s $1 Drawing
Six years later edit (April 21, 2019): This post needs a bit of extra context. It was migrated from my old blog, Of Crows, Nuts, and Bolts. That’s where my requested elements for the comission came from. One of my Ludum Dare buddies was offering fun, $1 commissioned sketches, so I got one. I asked…
TorqueL, the Rolling Box 2D Platformer
I originally posted this on April 18, 2013 on my blog on Gamasutra. Cross-posting here because this game looks great. It’s on Steam Greenlight Concepts with a demo available, and I urge you to check it out. Overcrowding at BitSummit meant that in the short time we had for looking at game demos, there was…
ALT Resources I Made
I make a lot of stuff for my classes. Some of it is great, some of it sucks, some can be reused, and others are just one-time things. The ones that can be reused aren’t always things I feel others would want. I have come up with a few things, though, I’d like to share…