School Visit

When left a day early to go to DreamHack Sthlm since we were asked by another team if we wanted to come with when they visited a school in Stockholm to talk a little about what we do at university and what it is like to study at a higher level. We did not know exactly what to do or why exactly we were there but we just went with it.

After one guy from the other team had a presentation  about studying at Game we set up our games to let the students play during their break. They were a bit shy and mostly watched but a few of them dared to actually test. =)

One student playing Tamarrion

When their break was up they got to present their game concepts that they are working on to us which meant that for the first time ever, after being the one standing up there being roasted for two years, it was now my turn to do the roasting. It was strange at first and we were very cautious as we did not know how hard to be on the poor students, but we had a lot of fun and after a few presentations we started to get into it, asking more and more questions.

Waiting for the first pitch to start

When that was up I was suddenly standing in front of everyone to show one of our pitches for Tamarrion, completely unprepared and not having a clue what to do or say. I went through slide by slide, telling them what we bring up, how we choose to place things in order and why, luckily I felt completely confident in not knowing what I was doing and it went really well and fluid.

Here is me trying to think of what to say

It was definitely a different experience being on the other end for a change and I found it hard to think of good things to ask, would have been good to have a pen and paper to take notes, but it was so much fun.


Pictures belong to LBS Stockholm
https://www.facebook.com/lbsstockholm

Back from DreamHack

The team just got back from DreamHack Sthlm, it has been a long weekend and we were all pretty exhausted. Although we had to share our space with another team, giving us only half of the time to show Tamarrion, and that the expo area was so small, we did have a really good time and we got to see some people really enjoying our game.

Comments that we got were, for instance, that they liked the character design and she looks cool and if the game was available to buy somewhere because it was really fun to play. The feedback we got from those who had the chance to play shows us that there is an interest in the game that we are developing.

Our Lead Designer playing in our booth

Many people did find the game extremely hard, some even thought too hard although they were playing at the beginner level. Some enjoyed it anyway, or because of it being that hard, and some figured out how to play instantly, knowing this kind of games, and moved on to normal difficulty. these last two groups are exactly the people that we are looking for as our target market. In a way you could say that this trip to DreamHack, as well as the GGC earlier this year, is proof that our target audience exists and that they actually like our game.

Up in the expo area of DHSthlm

There were a lot of things that could have been better with this trip, but in the end we had a lot of fun and we got to show at least to a few people that we exist.

Goal Statement for Game Design in Practice

My goals for Tamarrion for the course Game Design in Practice are:

- to create 1 new boss - this must fit the theme and feel consistent with, while creating an interesting contrast from the previous boss as they are supposed to belong to the same wing of the game.

- creating and maintaining a community of players interested in playing Tamarrion - this will include blogs, Twitch, Twitter, events and a landing page for Tamarrion.

- releasing a demo consisting of the old level and the new one to selected players - here the most important thing is that there is clear cohesion in the visual style between both levels.

Tamarrion Logo

With the team continuing to work on Tamarrion and a website in the making, I decided to give the logotype a very quick touch-up. I am not sure if the difference is that obvious but I hope that it will make it more visible and eye-catching. In the future I think I will work on it even more, we have even discussed an animated background, but that will have to wait until I have just a little less on my plate.

Anyway, this is what it used to look like and what it looks like now, i have tried to be a bit more aggressive with the highlights.

DreamHack Stockholm

This Thursday (24th) most of the team will be leaving for Stockholm to show Tamarrion at DreamHack in Globen, so anyone who happens to be there are very welcome to come try it out!

DreamHack Sthlm last year, where we showed Totemic

Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek of one of my new Tamarrion drawings, it is pretty much finished line art and about ready to have some colour applied to it!

Getting Back on Track

With most of our team gathered on the island again we have finally started up the production of Tamarrion again. Yesterday we spent the whole day working together, after a very long time. Until now we have only had shorter group meetings to discuss what direction to take the project, but yesterday we actually started doing some proper work and we are getting really excited! :)

I am working on some graphics for our website that will hopefully be up shortly, both for the page itself and paintings of Tamarrion. While my fellow artist is redesigning the environment, creating a cohesive look and design throughout the entire wing of Lord Valac, I am working on some new character concepts. Our plan is that soon there will be a brand new boss for Tamarrion to take on. :)