I'm making a video game

You may know that I am an aspiring writer, with a goal of selling a novel to an actual publishing house. This is a long and nearly impossible task, but it's one I really enjoy working toward achieving. 

I read that the average literary agent (the people who sell books on your behalf to publishers) gets about 20,000 submissions for books a year. So, it's not crazy to say that a non-famous person like myself needs a little bit of luck to get noticed. 

Of course, I've continued to write other things. More novels to query out. Short stories and poetry. But, lately, I've had an idea that almost seems like too perfect of a fit: make a video game. 

Stardew Valley is a farming and life simulation game that uses old-school pixel art. It was originally made by one person, Eric Barone, known professionally as ConcernedApe.

Although he partnered with a studio later, he made most of this by his lonesome. He taught himself how to code and make pixel art. He also had musical talents. Pull that all together, and you have the perfect storm. 

As of this writing, Stardew, released in 2016, has sold somewhere above 30 million copies (noted in Feb 2024). 

For perspective, Dark Souls 3, which also released in 2016 and is often noted as a "Game of the Year" contender, sold about 13.8 million. That game was developed at a studio with about 400 employees and probably cost 20 million to make. 

There are factors, of course, like DS3 was probably a 60 dollar game at launch, whereas Stardew costs $15 on Steam. But still, 30 million times only $5 is still $150,000,000. 

If one guy can create Stardew, then why can't I create something like that too?

Let's look at a couple of others...

Original series of games made by ONE guy.

Games spawned toys, movies, clothes, book series… hey, that's interesting. The guy who created Five Nights at Freddy's now also co-authors a number of books. He basically has the same kind of hold as the Goosebumps books I remember as a kid. FNAF is one of the biggest video games series going right now. Also, his marketing methods are genius. He stirs up mystery within the lore. His secrets keep the fanbase talking.

Minecraft is, with no hyperbole, the biggest selling video game of all time. (300+ MILLION sold, wow!). Yes, that's bigger than any Mario or Pokemon game.

Originally, made by ONE guy. Went on to open his own gaming studio then selling it all off to Microsoft for 2.4 BILLION dollars. 

All of these games have a few things in common other than being started as a solo project. 

The biggest thing and #1: they all have heart.

These inspiring video game developers didn't just make games to sell. They made games that went extra. Amazing, perfected gameplay. Unique ideas. Extra, quirky humor embedded within. Storytelling that is deep and mysterious. 

You can always tell the difference between an artist who cares and one that doesn't. As someone who has played each of these games, I can tell you, they CARED!

#2: None of these games are super HD, realistic glowing graphical triumphs. They are all simplistic. They go for style over luxurious visuals. Minecraft uses blocks. Stardew, pixels. FNAF has mostly-unmoving animatronics. 

#3: The games are all wildly fun to play. This may be the most important. These guys know what makes gameplay fun. That's not someone everyone understands. 

So, back to me. 

I teach several novels at the high school I work at, and I've gamified them into what I call the Inter-Class Competition. There's a map with several locations from the books and lessons we go over throughout the semester. They have to solve puzzles and challenges and one of the classes is then dubbed the winner.

Anyway, the students LOVE it. Some tell me it's the reason they come to school on some days. They've gathered together to try to break codes I've threaded into the games. Sometimes they try to "spy" and find intel from other classes to get the edge.

Well, one day at the end of last school year, one of my students said something like, "Mr. Aye, why are you doing this for us? We don't deserve it! Your talents are going to waste! You should be selling this!"

And it struck me, that yes I should be making a game to sell [also, students DO deserve to enjoy school and have teachers care about them!]. After all, I've been doing this kind of thing nearly all my life. I can't say I didn't already have a whole game idea outlined before that. 

And I'm a musician. I make art. I write stories. I create interactive experiences. I have some coding experience. 

I have the tools, the perfect storm of skills to make a game all by myself. 

One of the buildings
in my game's town!

My game is set in the world of my novel, and guess what? I'm going to use this game as a platform to try and sell my novel too. If my game were to blow up, then I bet I would have a better chance to get noticed! I could even put that on the login screen of my game. 

This is not a declaration of my beginnings; I've already been working hard at it. I've been working on code and gameplay, as well as art and music. Right now, you can walk around the town and do a few basic things. It's 2D sprite-style art, all made by me of course. 

I have some awesome plans! Perhaps I'll share more about my development as I go here on my blog!

The Sandbox Storytelling Success of Minecraft, Dungeons & Dragons, and Me...

2016’s Stranger Things kicked off a resurgence in the popularity of Dungeons & Dragons, and I am a part of that resurgence. My D&D group began in 2017, a collection of longtime friends and theatre peeps.

art by my friend Casey

 Man, there were phenomenal actors in that group. I was the “backstage” guy, so it was a bit intimidating trying to roleplay with that crowd. I think I found my niche with a studious little gnome wizard named Jor R.R. Molkien. He was a bit self-centered with tunnel vision, but he did the right thing when it came down to it. We played together for four years.

 

My friend who ran the campaign (the dungeon master) allowed us to create our own mini-quests and have character goals outside of the story he had been planning. He had created a vibrant collective sandbox world for the players to play in.

 

In videogames, I think sometimes the concepts of “sandbox” and “open” world get mixed up, usually, I think, because many sandbox games are open worlds and vice versa. But, I’d like to give a quick definition: “Open worlds” are games where there are minimal limits to a player’s decisions about where to go on the map. Players are encouraged to roam, search, explore, and select the tasks they wish to complete. “Sandboxes” are games which give the player the tools to be creative and then sets them free to employ their imaginations. There’s a bigger emphasis on players being able to change and control the gameplay.

 

By my definitions, it’s pretty hard to think of a game that is a sandbox without being an open world. The one I’ve come up with is The Sims. Back when I was a teen, this game gave you a plot of land. You built a house, created a family, and then you got to watch your Sims play out their lives. You got the tools to enjoy messing with (or sometimes torturing) your Sims in a million creative ways, but it was contained to the house you built. There wasn’t a huge open world to explore.

 

On the flip side, a game that rests in an open world but is not really a sandbox might be Marvel's Spider-Man for the PS4. You can go anywhere you want in the world, but you can’t really creatively manipulate and control the world within all that much. For example, when you web a citizen, nothing really happens and they run away. There’s not much experimentation.

 

A more sandbox-level game like GTA would allow you to do what you want to the citizens (however, there are consequences, such as the police chasing you down). Actions get reactions, sometimes unexpected. Often generative of the moment. And, of course, there are varying degrees to which a game can employ the elements of open world and/or sandbox gameplay.

 

My DM would often say, “Tell me what you want to do, and I’ll tell you what to roll to see if you can do it.”

 

I think that’s what made my longtime D&D campaign so great. My DM understood how to properly balance open world and sandbox elements, which allowed the players to collectively be a part of the shape and direction of the story.

“The path is never a straight line.”

 

Minecraft came at me during a whirlwind time of my life. I got swept up and carried away by major life decisions and transitions, and I think this is where my virtual life became a bigger sandbox than my real life.

 

I joined during the Alpha. The first time I played Minecraft, it was just block madness. I remember my first time logging into a game. I played in-browser. You could place blocks or destroy them in an instant, and it was all creative mode. This was after summer, 2010. I had just graduated college with my English Education degree. I had no job prospects. I had no idea what to do next.

 

But I did have a girlfriend of two years. She set her heart on moving as far away from Belleville as possible, and to that, and my choice became either get married and go with her or end it and enter the unknown of adulthood by myself.  

 

I scrolled back through my social media during that time... interestingly, my reading choices then were Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves and Stephen King’s It. Both of those books are mind-bending cornerstones of my reading life. The end of It struck me from the inside out. <Spoilers> the town caves in on itself. Derry was the monster, or one aspect of it. With the death of Pennywise, the city could not maintain itself. I remember reading that, but I was there.

I was in Belleville, Illinois, but walking down the same streets as the Loser’s Club. Would I always be here? Or would I ever leave? My friends had moved on already, to live and work across the map of the USA. The prospects of becoming a “townie” were growing. I was Mike Hanlon, the only one to stay. My rock-and-roll bandmates left. My theatre company was nearing the end. Everyone else was finding success across the map.

 

Meanwhile, my digital life took off. I started a Minecraft server of my very own. It was a java server, meaning, I could update it with mods or whatever I wanted. I posted the link on a Minecraft forum and people started trickling onto my server from all over the world. We built cities on one map, which I titled “Otherside.” As the owner of the server, I played god. I could cultivate the community and set goals. I could destroy. I could create. I could fly around and make others take the train.

My escape into Minecraft was perpetuated, I realize, from my real life’s lack of sandbox and open world elements. I couldn’t go anywhere. I couldn’t do anything. In fact, I barely knew what to do next, other than go to work each day at the Home Depot, watching old ladies choose between swatches of carmine to crimson (don’t paint your living room red, yo, you’ll regret it) and blending it for them in the cheapest bucket they could find (but do we really need primer?).

 

So, when my girlfriend decided she was going to leave, move far away from Belleville with or without me, I chose what looked like the path of adventure. I got married in October of 2010. Minecraft went into Beta in December. My new wife and I moved to Seattle in July of 2011.

At a rest stop driving from Belleville to Seattle

Leaving Southern Illinois felt like my first true “open world” reality moment. I quit my job. I sold my car (my wife’s was better). I got rid of any possession that I couldn’t deem as essential. I even remembering telling my Minecraft server to expect a hiatus while I got settled in a new city. We packed a car and drove off across America. She had a job lined up, but I didn’t. We didn’t have an apartment, either. Nobody told me what I needed to do next.

 

All my life, there was a track. School, mostly. Elementary, middle, high school, university. I remember seeing the giant wind turbines in Wyoming, thinking, I was as free as could be. Not sure if I really was, but the feeling was there. We stopped and bought cherries, fresh from a farm, ate them while viewing the mountain ranges of the State of Washington for the first time.

 

Landing in Seattle had some beautiful chaos to it. We stayed in a hostel for a few week as we sorted out the details. Our stay was in the International District, and during the Chinese Dragon Festival. The streets each day were fun to be on. I explored this new world, doing whatever I wished. Of course, I also spent time job hunting. I got hired after about 2 weeks to one the hardest places I’ve ever had to work, which was at KinderCare Learning Center. We did get an apartment, too. Our first year in Seattle had many fun things: starting-over, making all new friends, seeing completely new sights... etc. After that year, I think the open world elements scaled back quickly. I don’t think either of us were happy. What had been refreshing—not knowing anyone and starting over—became isolating and lonesome.

 

I dove deeper into my Minecraft server. Back to my escape. My server grew. I had hundreds of different people on each day. People built entire cities. Entire worlds.

 

That marriage didn’t work out. I moved back to Belleville after two years, and my perspective was fresh. Seattle was different but not that different. Belleville wasn’t Derry. A few of my friends moved back, too. As my life lost direction, my need for Minecraft slowly faded. I enjoyed having a sandbox of reality again, and wild things happened constantly.

 

Minecraft.

 

I think what makes it easily one of the greatest games of all time is that it is not a story, but it is a platform for storytelling. It’s a reality, where storytelling elements are baked in. Secrets are threaded throughout, but the mysteries are what the players make of them. Imagine being teleported to the world of Sherlock Holmes—the atmosphere is ready, the world is populated, everything is randomly generated, and the clues have been hidden throughout. But—the clues direct the players to the mysteries the players they themselves generate. I think of this as sandbox storytelling. Minecraft is a platform, the game is whatever the players decide.

 

I have more to say about this, but I think I’ll end with this: My goal is to author a platform, not just a story. I want to figure out the magic that can turn a book I write into a sandbox where readers can take the lead and go wherever they want to. That’s the secret ingredient I’m working on discovering. 

2016 Game of the Year

So, this list isn’t a list of my favorite games that released in 2016… this is a list of my favorite games I played this year. Some are old games that I just finally got around to, some are new games.

Want to know who won in other years? Here’s the 2018, 2017, 2015, 2014, and 2013 lists.

2016 is THE YEAR OF DOWNLOADABLES!

Every single game on my list this year is one I downloaded. I suppose this will be pretty much the same, going forward, but it’s still crazy. I love buying physical copies of games, but some, notably ones with collectables, I usually want on my system without any disk or cartridge to worry about. 

 

So, without further ado, my 2016 list of favorite plays (in no particular order):

Fallout 4: Nuka World

I love Bethesda. When I wrote this list of DLC improvements I wanted for Fallout 4, I was surprised how many of them I actually got. Build-your-own robots, concrete and glass workshop parts, ways to initiate attacks on your settlements, more pets, mannequins, and even a new radio station… and so much more that I wanted!

But Nuka World was way more than that. It was everything I could have ever dreamed. It is 100% the best DLC ever in a Fallout game, and in fact in almost any game ever. This was probably my number 2 GOTY. Nuka World surprised me with working roller coasters, fun Mickey Mouse inspired characters, functioning games, and a million other happy-go-lucky things draped in Fallout’s sense of something’s wrong-style.

Pokémon Y

When Pokémon Go first came out, I was without a phone (well, a phone powerful enough to play any games—I had an older iPhone model). So, I missed out on the craze as it unfolded… so I bought Y for 3DS and played through it. Pokémon is fun, at its core. I’ve missed out on so many generations, simply because I became disinterested, but this one hit the spot for me during the Go phenomena. I enjoyed it.

Fallout Shelter

When I finally got a phone, this was the first game I downloaded. I love Fallout. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT, and so this was a no brainer. My vault, 444, is at about 150 dwellers currently, and I still play every day. I’m hoping that there’s more DLC soon, and I blogged about my ideas for new high-level rooms they could add. This game feels like the original Fallout in some ways, especially during missions. I could see them expanding Shelter into a full out AAA game if they wanted. Allow for the building of settlements, etc. Better missions.

Witcher 3 DLC

Two huge DLC expansions came out and I played the heck out of them. The first one, Heart of Stone, was possibly the best mission in all of Witcher 3. The second one, Blood and Wine, I like less but it’s still great. I have yet to beat the second one, but I’m taking my time because I want to get all the trophies and end up with 100% on my list for the game.

Journey

What a weird game. I won’t spoil anything, but it’s very much worth playing. I replayed a few levels, but I don’t think it really needs much replaying. The game sticks with you. There’s something very special about it. I got it for free on PS+, which was awesome. Great game!

Honorable mentions: (still just games I played in 2015, not necessarily released)

No Man’s Sky – There is a lot to enjoy about this game, even if they did not deliver everything they promised. It’s like the Alpha build of Minecraft… if they had marketed it as such this game would be crazy popular. TIPS

Pokémon Go – I like catching Pokémon at the mall. This game is a fun toy, and ‘member berries make the nostalgia come out while catching the first 150.

Minecraft – I kicked up my server early this year and had fun with the old Otherside gang. Although my server is down again, you never know when it will come back for another round…

Super Mario Maker – Building levels was fun, but I wish they would have had better DLC. Costumes are stupid.
Batman: Arkham Knight’s DLC – I platinum’d this game, and I don’t want to say how long it took to unlock the Brutality 101 trophy. Review here!

LittleBIGPlanet 3 – I picked up and played through ¼ of this game when I got bored. It’s fun, but lacks the charm of the original.
Tuber Simulator – this game has that mobile-addition quality. It was fun during Halloween to get the seasonal stuff.

Simpsons: Tapped Out – What a sweet little gem. I still play this every day, and seeing the huge cast of the Simpsons and rebuilding my own Springfield is a great time.

Plants Vs. Zombies/PvZ Heroes – With my new phone, I had to play PvZ games. I replayed the original on my PS3 this year, and then the new games on my phone. Heroes surprised me with a fun card game.

The Oxyborb Blog Game Of The Year for 2016

Rocket League

I first played this game on a Gamestop demo unit, and I knew right there I would go home and buy this. The gameplay core is SOOO fun. It’s car soccer, and you get jetboosters to fly around and make crazy jumps. I’m now a veteran in rank, and I have to say that I’m pretty friggin good at RL.

I picked this as my GOTY because through every other game I’ve played this year, every month that went by, I always came back to play around round of Rocket League. Finished with Witcher 3 DLC? Play some RL. Beat Nuka World? Play some RL. Have a crappy day at work and need to get it off my mind? Play RL. Rocket League is always the right game. Always fun.

I have to give the developer credit:  They’ve been adding paid and FREE DLC like crazy all year. They even think to change up the music in the title screen to make you feel energized. Rocket League is an awesome game and it is by far my favorite game of 2016.  More thoughts about RL from me can be found here!

 

So, I guess that’s it for 2016. Thanks for a great year on my blog! Let me know what you think in the comments, in fact, tell me what your personal GOTY was!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!
UNRAVELSPACE UNRAVELTIME

My List of Favorite Games I Played in 2013 (and my GOTY)

So, this list isn’t a list of my favorite games that came out in 2013… this is a list of my favorite games I played this year. This year has been…

Want to know who won in other years? Here’s the 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014 list.

THE YEAR OF CATCHING UP!!!

My gaming backlog was pretty heavy coming into 2013, and so I mostly worked on finishing and playing games from before this year. Actually, there weren’t too many games from 2013 I wanted to play, which was sort of nice with so many old games I had yet to beat.

So, without further ado, my 2013 list of favorite plays (in no particular order):

Project M – Smash Bros Brawl

Project M is a mod for Brawl that changes how the game is played. It rebalances characters and speeds them up to be more like Melee for Gamecube. It adds costumes, tournament-ready stages, and extra options. It also added back awesome characters like Mewtwo and Roy. Finally, with 3.0, I can now play as my main, which are the Ice Climbers, so now Project M has become relevant to me. It’s fantastic. The best way to play Smash. You don't even need to install any mods to play it. Find it here: http://projectmgame.com

Infamous 1 + 2 + Festival of Blood

Right after I knew I was getting a divorce, I blasted through the three Infamous games for PS3. I have to say, they were very special to me, because of the difficulty I was going through in my life at that moment. Because of the divorce, I was forced to move away from Seattle back to a cornfield in the middle of Southern Illinois. I missed the city very badly, but the cities from the Infamous games brought me back. That developer is from Seattle-area, and so the worlds in those games feel like walking the streets of Seattle. I got all of the trophies on those games, I loved them so much. Anyway, thank you, Sucker Punch, for making such special, meaningful games. I cannot wait to play Second Son for PS4. It’s the reason why I want PS4 over Xbox One.

Skyrim

I’ve put nearly 200 hours into Skyrim. Let me tell you, when you get divorced, nothing is more satisfying than immersing yourself into a fantasy world with nothing to think about but killing giants and leveling up your blacksmithing. I believe that Bethesda is the best game developer in the world, hands down. I cannot believe how deep I fell into this game. The music. The landscape. The creatures… Everything just comes together to feel like fantasy is reality. I still have so much to do in this game, but I get distracted just running around killing deer. Sometimes I just walk around and explore the fields, no particular mission to do. It’s just so much fun. I haven’t even beaten it yet. I plan on putting another hundred hours into it soon.

Mario 3D Land for 3DS

Note, I do not mean the new Mario 3D World for Wii U. That game looks awesome, but I don’t own a Wii U. I had already beaten 3D Land coming into 2013. In fact, I’m pretty sure I had beaten it in 2011 when it was released, but it’s such an amazing game that I replayed the entire thing again this year. Honestly, I believe that 3D Land is the perfect Mario game. I liked it better than Mario Galaxy, even. Just the way that the foundational mechanics work (shrinking and growing instead of a life meter, flagpole grabbing instead of touching the star, shorter levels rather than giant worlds to explore) makes the game better, overall.

Minecraft

How much did I pay for Minecraft again? 13 bucks? I got it during alpha. This is the one game I’ve spent the most time with more than any other. It’s the best money I’ve ever spent on a game. I used to run a sever, and I made tons of friends with random players from around the world. I can’t even begin to say the amount of crap I’ve built. It’s almost embarrassing. I’m still loving Minecraft in 2014, though less than I used to, it’s still fun. I just love the “go out and do anything” mentality in games like these.

Honorable mentions: (still just games I played in 2013, not necessarily released)

Batman: Arkham City - Great fun, but the hand-to-hand combat is not fun. When your stealth is given up, you lose the fun factor.
Diablo 3 for PS3 - The best Gauntlet Legends-type game, but not the greatest Diablo game
Kid Icarus: Uprising - Hilarious voice acting, amazing Sakurai-style gameplay. Controls aren't the best, though

Little Big Planet 2 - Still the best logic-game toy out there. I hope they make a 3D version so I can make my own Banjo-Kazooie!
Red Dead Redemption - Fantastic western. Best horseback riding ever. I'll probably go back and finish it, but I stopped playing at Mexico.

My Game of the Year for 2013

This is my choice for the best game I played that was released in 2013. This has nothing to do with the list above, since hardly any of those were released in 2013. This is just the best game that was released this year, in my opinion:

Streetpass Mii Plaza’s DLC

No, I’m not joking. In 2013, Nintendo came out with new games for Mii Plaza for 3DS. As someone who frequents conventions and nerdy events, new Streetpass games were exactly what I was craving. The original Puzzle Swap and Find Mii were excellent, and the new games (Mii Force, Warrior’s Way, and Monster Manor) are awesome, too. I love getting “hits” on my 3DS, which get me fun puzzle pieces and fighters for my games. Out of all the games released in 2013 that I played, Mii Plaza’s DLC is my favorite. It doesn’t beat Infamous, but for a Game of the Year, you’ve got to pick one released in the actual year, so Mii Plaza’s DLC gets the gold from me. The one exception is Flower Town. That game is awful. I tried to get into it, but I ended up skipping the dialogue as quickly as possible.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!
UNRAVELSPACE UNRAVELTIME

Animal Crossing: An In-Depth Wealth of Constructive Criticism and Suggestions After Having Played New Leaf

This is not my first post about Animal Crossing, and it probably won’t be the last. You see, something sparks a fire in me about this game. The premise is so seductive. The idea of a game about collecting EVERYTHING sounds like so much fun. Build a house; live a new life. This intrigues me.

I enjoyed the Gamecube version of Animal Crossing. The DS version, called Wild World, was slightly more fun. The Wii version was so atrocious that I resold it (the only Wii game I ever traded in). Now, we have the 3DS version, called New Leaf.

The one big problem I have had with ALL of these games comes right after paying off my final loan. At that moment, I lose all interest, because I felt like I had nothing to work for. I thought New Leaf would be different, with the new public works projects, but it wasn’t. I think, in the case of this new game, it’s because the only way to make money efficiently is by selling beetles caught at the island. Doing the beetle routine every night gets old after a month. Each public works project was just another estimation of beetles I would have to catch to see an object that is already in all of my friend’s towns anyway. If there were more optimal and varied ways to make money, I might still be playing consistently.

As of this moment, it’s been three days since I’ve last checked in on my town. The only reason I’m considering looking at my town right now is because I’m afraid that all my black roses have wilted. “NOOOOO!” I said. In the middle of writing this paragraph, I checked. Eleven out of fourteen of my black roses are dead. I should have put them in my refrigerator storage unit. Man…

Should I buy Animal Crossing?

I will answer that question in the end. For now, I will ask another: Is Animal Crossing obsolete? Is there a better game with similar game mechanics?

Yes, Minecraft.

Hear me out. Minecraft has caused Animal Crossing to become obsolete.

Why?

On the surface, these two games seem like they are very different. However, that’s not the case. There’s no real purpose to Animal Crossing, and, you know what? There’s no real purpose to Minecraft.

They both put you out there with nothing in your pockets and no goals more intricate than simply: gather stuff. They both allow you to do as you wish. You can choose where you want to go and how you want to spend your time. You can move into a house, upgrade it, add stuff to it, and live out a virtual life.

But Minecraft does everything better. Hit the jump for the full article!