Z-Machines

“Ben There, Dan That!” and “Time Gentlemen, Please!”

Filed under: Games — Zac North @ 7:12 pm on July 2, 2009

Ben There, Dan That is a freeware adventure game from last year with an incredible sense of humor. It’s a great few hours–and it warms my heart that adventure games are living on.

Especially now that the creators are making money, with their latest release–Time Gentlemen, Please! A sequel to BTDT, TGP is a direct continuation–longer, tighter, and with much better graphics.

These guys really have the indie spirit. I’d love to release a product like this–a game that any adult can enjoy, for a small price.

If you haven’t played BTDT already, I’d recommend it–it’s free and it’s funny. And please, before you complain about the death of the adventure game, go buy TGP, because adventure games live, gentlemen. They will always live.

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Desktop Zombie Defense: The Prototypening Devblog Part 1 - Intro and Basics

Filed under: Authentic Experiences, Inc., Games, Personal — Zac North @ 5:58 pm on May 25, 2009

One of the games I intend to create when I’m a big-time developer who can do whatever they want is a concept I’ve been calling Desktop Zombie Defense. It’s basically the Nazi Zombies mode of Call of Duty: World at War, blown into an entire game. It’d recreate the classic map, Nacht der Untoten, as well as offer new maps to unleash the 4+-player co-op action on.

Now, obviously, this game is a bit beyond my scope at the moment–my vision for DTD involves incredible graphics, flawless netplay, and well-balanced maps. However, it is within my ability to create a series of prototypes that will allow me to refine the gameplay concepts that I one day wish to implement. The first series of these prototypes will be 2D, and I will be documenting every step of work that I do on them.

Nazi Zombies, as a game itself, is a VERY two-dimensional concept. Zombies shamble towards you along a flat plane, and you kill them by shooting them anywhere. Three dimensions aren’t required for fun with this concept, even though the game is executed in that way. That’s why it’s my belief that a perfectly playable, and fun, 2D representation of the game can be created. And that’s my goal right now. To make a fun 2D game.

Will the graphics be good? No. Is netplay feasible? Not particularly. Can I even do this? Only time will tell. But it’s worth a shot. So I give to you, using graphics that are entirely not mine, the first ever screenshot of the Desktop Zombie Defense 2D prototype.