Now I’m not geezer, but I’m also not fresh out of college. My tastes have changed and although I still like an exciting action flick, I need more. Give me a well told story and some character development along side my chase scenes and I’ll probably stick with it. I’m finding the same thing is happening with my game choices.

While my friends like COD and BF for its online battles, I enjoy the campaigns. I love getting sucked into the story, getting to know the characters and finding myself taken aback when something completely unexpected happens. But I had yet to experience that ultimate game until I bought a PS3 a couple of months ago.

It was recommended to me that I buy Uncharted 2 since I was looking for a platform specific game. Never before had I become so caught up in the cut scenes, the dialogue and the development of the characters as I had with Uncharted 2. The game was so gripping and well done, my wife found herself clutching the pillows as I moved from level to level and telling the kids to hush so she could hear what was being said.

This got me thinking back to my recent experience with “Soldier” and how I’m no longer as easily entertained. I’ve been cognitively watching movies about as long as I’ve been playing games (since 1981), so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I’m expecting more for my $60 game. Yet with the exception of Naughty Dog, I don’t think many studios are paying close attention to the story and characters. We’re witnessing Hollywood and the game industry take similar paths – using more CGI, more special effects, better graphics, etc. as a crutch instead of focusing on the actors and the story. Why can’t we have both?

However I think we’re near a paradigm shift as a whole generation of aging gamers will expect something more in their gaming experience. Yes we still want the mind-blowing graphics, hectic gun battles and realistic driving experiences, but please give us a good story too.

If you’d like to be involved, head over to IAAGI’s website and RSVP for the first meeting.

We started Dozer Dash with the full intent of building it all the way out in a timely manner. However business happened, which made us happy, and we found ourselves using all of our resources to keep up with the incoming workload and projects.

Fast forward half a year and things are moving along better than we anticipated. So at this time our internal project, Dozer Dash, is being postponed indefinitely… unless there is a sudden interest from CAT.

Game-Based Marketing
3D Game Art for the iPhone with Unity
Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames
A Theory of Fun for Game Design
Introducing HTML5 (Voices That Matter)
iPhone 3D Game Programming All In One
Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design
Rework
Real World modo: The Authorized Guide: In the Trenches with modo

Cheers,
The Pixel Fish team

Our biggest issue though is that we use Expression Engine as our CMS and want something that integrates nicely. The idea of sending the client to two different CPs to update the site and the store isn’t ideal. This obviously limits the number choices out there to three that we’re aware of. They consist of Foxy Cart with Foxee, brilliantretail and CartThrob. At the time the project was starting we weren’t aware of brilliantretail, so the choice was between Foxee and CartThrob. After doing some research we decided to go with CartThrob because they appeared to be closer to their EE 2.0 compatible cart. Not that this was a deal breaker, but it showed us that the CartThrob team was still actively engaged.

What we found was that CartThrob is extremely flexible. Just as Expression Engine doesn’t tell you how to design, CartThrob doesn’t tell you how to structure your cart. They give some examples and advice, but it really falls on the developer to use the CartThrob tags and mold the store to the client’s liking. CartThrob supports all major payment gateways, looks seamless with the rest of the site and building custom plugins isn’t too difficult (as we found). Plus there is one control panel to rule them all which meets one of our most important criteria.

CartThrob isn’t for everyone as some knowledge of Expression Engine is recommended, but the forums and the tech support team are second to none if you get stuck. Should another ecommerce project come up, we’ll definitely look at CartThrob again.

After a month or so of testing, gathering some feedback and making some tweaks, Dozer Dash is ready for play. The leader board is up and as of this time we are moving forward with level 2 – Catapult Island. Have fun playing!

But when we were hired to do the Alpine Village previsualization project, it was naturally assumed we’d easily go from the architect’s program to Maya for texturing and rendering because after all, Maya is the “best”  (so we’d been told). Except that it wasn’t. Time and time again the file import resulted in mangled meshes, missing UVs and head scratching.

So what does one do when faced with repeated Maya failure? Yep, Lightwave to the rescue. The pipeline plan changed to include both Maya and Lightwave and proved to be incredibly successful. So why do I even bring this up? Because it goes to show that all options should be placed on the table. Pride could have easily gotten in the way on this project. And while I’m sure an all-Maya solution could have been found, the better way was to fall back to an old friend.

If that sounds like your kind of fun, we hope you’ll take the time to try out our game and provide some feedback via the comment form.

About the project:
Dozer Dash will be an ongoing game project with multiple level releases planned throughout the year. The game is being developed with the Unity game engine and all development and aspects of the game are happening inside the walls of Pixel Fish Studios. It has always been the goal to develop a vibrant 3D and independent video game studio here in Boise and we feel this is an important step in seeing that goal come true.

Thanks from the Pixel Fish team!

For the past two months, members of Pixel Fish team have been involved in the locally filmed feature by Greg Green of Abruzzo Productions. Three of a Kind is a dramatic story set in Chicago, but was filmed mostly in Boise using a film crew made up of Salt Lake and Boise area freelancers.

While a large majority of the cast was based out of Los Angeles, several local actors also played small roles. Jesse Cordtz acted as a Second Unit Director and 2nd AD to the team while Pixel Fish supported the efforts of Abruzzo Productions with pre-production, post production and special effects.

Here’s what the Director and owner of Abruzzo Productions had to say about us -

“Working 30 years in this business I have yet to encounter a company that delivers what they say they can deliver…until now.  Not only does Pixel Fish Studios in Boise deliver the goods, they excel in every area including; attention to detail, customer service, on-time delivery and a superb final product.  Jess Cordtz and his group are amazing – I’m surprised they aren’t in LA or New York.  The company is truly a gem.”

Gregory Green
Producer/Director
Abruzzo Productions LLC
Cinema Partners, Inc.

Links to local news stories about the projects below.

http://www.fox12idaho.com/global/story.asp?s=13274930
http://www.ktvb.com/home/Psychological-thriller-film-being-shot-in-Boise-104678659.html
http://www.ktvb.com/home/Seinfeld-star-makes-sure-there-is-soup-for-Boise-homeless-104390699.html