XFire – Indie Games Debate

By Shamus Posted Tuesday Jan 29, 2008

Filed under: Video Games 34 comments

Last Friday Xfire held a debate between a number of indie developers about the state of independent game development. I saw that Corvus Elrod and Jay Barnson were both involved, both of whom have great blogs that I read regularly. Amanda Fitch was also there, and I’ve been following her work for a while, even though I haven’t played any of her games. Jenova Chen was also there. I didn’t know him by name, although I did play flOw, the game which brought him a great deal of acclaim and put him on the map as an innovative game developer. The full list of participants is on the debate page. It included people from all over indie development at various levels of funding, success, and autonomy. The complete transcript is available here.

(Aside: How come some people get to have awesome names like “Corvus Elrod” and “Jenova Chen”? It’s not fair. I should change my name to “Shamus McLaser”.)

With a lineup of interesting personalities like that, I couldn’t resist checking it out. I had to download the XFire client to do so. Getting into the debate as an observer was very counter-intuitive and convoluted, which is odd for a site which has a tagline of “Gaming Simplified”. I don’t want to get sidetracked on a rant about the client, so I’m going to skip a four paragraph tangent about how XFire wasn’t fun to use and how it could have been improved.

The very first question was “what is an indie game”? Interesting enough. Good way to start a discussion like this. Except that they spent the next forty minutes of the hour-long debate on the subject. I love clearly defined terms as much as the next guy, but after a while it was a philosophical discussion that was just spinning its wheels. This ate into the questions phase at the end of the debate, which is regrettable.

There was an open chat room where users could suggest questions for the group. I had a lot of questions, but all of them would have been too long and complex to tackle in this format. Still, I’ll post a few of them here as they might make for pretty interesting discussion anyway. I know a couple of indie developers read this site, and if any of these strike their fancy, maybe I’ll get an answer anyway.

Five Questions for Indie Game Developers

1) RPGs seem really over-represented in indie games. (Or, you could say they are under-represented in mainstream games.) Why do you think indie developers favor RPGs so much?

2) Naturally indie games have to use older technology, which is less labor intensive and doesn’t require (as much) expensive software. But I don’t think that’s the only reason to do so. Certainly the older graphics – done right – can have a certain stylistic appeal as well. The other reason to aim low on the tech tree is so that you can hit the widest possible base of users instead of just the fanboys with $3,000 computers. If you could use any graphics technology you wanted – from Infocom to Crysis – where would you choose to go?

3) If you got a million bucks in no-strings-attached funding, how would you use it to make your game more successful?

4) Amanda Fitch and Jay Barnson have both said in the past something along the lines of, “Making the game is one-third of the job.” Or words to that effect. The idea being that once you finish the game, you’re one-third of the way to having it where someone can buy and play the thing. What is the other 66% of effort required after you finish the game, and is this a challenge unique to indie developers?

5) At the end of the XFire interview the mod asked everyone what their favorite game was. I’ll ask this: What game (any game, new, old, mainstream, whatever) do you wish you could have worked on and taken part in?

 


From The Archives:
 

34 thoughts on “XFire – Indie Games Debate

  1. Corvus says:

    Thanks for the mention, Shamus McLaserPants. *kniw*

    Jay and I are contemplating a cross-blog event in which we cover some of the unanswered questions from the debate. Perhaps we should lead off with yours. What do you say, Jay?

  2. ShadoStahker says:

    I can’t answer most of these, not being a developer, but I do believe I can answer #1 pretty well.

    As an indie game developer, you don’t have a huge budget, which limits the types of games you can create. A FPS, for example, requires you to either purchase a 3d engine (which can be expensive), build your own (which takes development time you might not have), or get an open-source one and tweak it to your needs (which can have a steep learning curve, and again takes dev time). And in order to compete against the big names out there, your FPS will need to look and play as good as theirs does.

    But then you have RPGs, which are much less reliant on graphics. It will be easier, quicker, and less expensive to develop a RPG engine, in addition to making the game more accessible to your potential audience. And instead, you can focus on interesting and innovative story and mechanics, which is what sells RPGs in the first place.

    Similarly, puzzle games (which I will drop fl0w into for convenience right now) are strongly represented in the indie games world. While story is not as big for puzzle games, innovative mechanics will win out over fancy graphics all the time.

    Basically, as an indie developer, you have the funding and ability to create innovative mechanics and story, but not always to make amazing next-gen graphics and physics, so you play to those strengths.

  3. Brother None says:

    You really feel indie games are overrepresented, Corvus? I can recall about 3 or 4 strong indie RPG titles last year; Spiderweb’s two games, Eschalon: Book I and Depths of Peril. And that was in a really good year for indie RPGs. Doesn’t seem that overrepresented to me.

    But then again, I’m probably missing out on a vast array of hybridized games that I just don’t care about.

    And yes, I’d say that with the way the mainstream industry has streamlined RPGs, the possibility of exploiting underutilized mechanics and storytelling modes in indie RPGs is tantalizing.

  4. Daemian_Lucifer says:

    1)I guess this is because the most important thing in RPG is the story,and it is much easier to tell a good story(if you have the idea,that is),than it is to make awesome graphics with older engine or something like that.

  5. Corvus says:

    Um… this is Shamus’ blog, Brother None. Not mine.

  6. Samrobb says:

    Shamus – I agree with Shado’s point, in that I think that your #2 question is at least a partial an answer to your #1 question. Why are there so many indie RPGS? In some sense, because that’s what’s easier to develop with the technology available to indie developer.

    There’s another answer, though. The current crop of professionally-produced games has focused very heavily on eye candy and FPS or MMORG play. Simply put, there’s a gaming niche that the professional game developers have ignored, and that niche is being filled by indie developers. You can see something similar happening with Popcap and others who are developing for the “casual” gaming market. I suspect that at least part of the indie game development process is “Wow, I’d like to play a game like X” and then realizing hey, nobody makes those games anymore…

  7. Brother None says:

    Huh…no idea why I wrote “Corvus” their, Corvus, of course I meant Shamus.

  8. I’m all for it. Consider it my next post … after I – UGH – posted Yet More on The Definition of Indie. The topic Will Not Die.

  9. Shamus says:

    Brother None: To be clear, I’m saying that among indie games, a large portion of them are RPG’s, as opposed to mainstream games.

    Now, this is an awesome thing to me, because I’m an RPG player in the fullest sense. I like stories, characters, character progression, exploration, and solving puzzles. You will never hear me complain about there being “too many” RPG’s. Having said that – an awful lot of indie games ARE RPGs, and I wonder why.

  10. Macguffin says:

    Shamus – when you see that over-representation of RPGs, are you talking stuff that rises to the level of being sold and (hopefully) supporting a business, or more freeware amongst-friends style projects?

  11. Actually Shamus – I’m gonna contradict you on this one. While this year was AWESOME for indie RPGs, they are still a teeny-tiny portion of indie games.

    But it’s the section that I am most interested in, so I talk about them the most. But compared to casual games, shooters, breakout-clones, and – this year – tower defense games! – they are still pretty rare.

    And Eschalon: Book 1 did some really excellent marketing this year, which helped it get noticed amongst a lot of non-indie-focused sites. Combine that with the usual talk that always happens when Spiderweb comes out with a new RPG (he came out with two this year), and a sequel to what was perhaps the first ever “casual” RPG success (Aveyond 2), and there was probably more buzz about indie RPGs than most other genres.

    And hey, I did my part to help contribute to all that noise! :)

  12. Amanda Fitch says:

    I was a bit surprised that only one question was asked in the XFire debate as well. I was expecting more. As to your other questions, here are my thoughts…

    1) RGPS are expensive! It’s easy to make a free game because there are loads of resources floating around the web, but if you want to sell something that is unique, you’ll have to purchase the resources… lots of them! My game Grimm’s Hatchery cost a fraction of Aveyond 2, and it took a fraction of the time, and it will probably make 4x the sales. It’s hard to justify making an RPG when you need to make money to survive. I only do it because I love them and it is so much fun. But to survive, I have to mix up the types of games that I’m making.

    2) I’d stay old school. Beautiful 2D. Don’t get me wrong, I like 3D, but the detail and shading in 3D games still isn’t quite accurate. If you took a snapshot from most 3D games and posted it as art on an art forum, you would probably be flamed… the shading usually looks wrong and the polygon count distorts everything… However, I think we will see some major changes in 3D technology in the coming years. Now that the game industry is making more money than Hollywood, I predict that there will be a push for better game technology. I’m not going to harp about 3D creation suites, but I am looking forward to the day when I can build a 3D model using a hologram. I have no idea why we haven't figured out how to do this yet. Oh wait, with all of the patent abuse in this country, a patent pirate probably refuses to release the patent for less then a billion dollars to the highest bidder. I just love the stifling of innovation! Grrrr.

    3) I would freak! Okay, honestly a million dollars isn’t that much anymore. The last small corporation I left with 30 employees easily burned up 3 million dollars a year. If I made a million dollars, I would invest most of it into my Amaranthia Kingdom community that is part of the Amaranth Games site. There are so many things that I would like to do to it… things that I could never afford right now. Neopets, watch out!!!! I’m coming for you!!! *evil grin*

    4) Marketing, marketing, marketing. And administration. If you make a game, you need to learn how to get it out into the world. This requires lots of marketing. Marketing does not = $$$, marketing = your time. Marketing requires researching your industry, making contacts with the players in your industry, going to game conferences and getting connected with publishers, distribution channels and other developers. You’ll need to create press releases (something I’m terrible at), and diligently send them out to the media and everyone else I’ve mentioned above. You’ll spend a lot of time signing contracts and this will require time. You’ll spend a lot of time managing orders, your website, and your community. Community is a powerful tool, and community takes time and work… especially as it grows. All of this requires patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Has anyone here played Fish Tycoon? Look up the history on that game. No one would give it a chance, but eventually one publisher did and that game has become one of the most successful casual indie games ever. Expect to wait for a long time. It may take you six months of marketing, it may take you a year. On top of that, if your product sucks, it could all be in vain. So, when you release your game, make sure to pay attention to your user feedback. If your users says it’s great, market the heck out of it. If your users say they don’t like it, it might not be worth the effort of marketing. Don’t let media outlets determine the worth of your game. Many games that get low reviews do very well and many games that get great reviews do poorly. Marketing is essential!

    5) Kings Quest 8. That game was horrible! If I'd been around, I would have raised the roof and demanded a better product (Er… and I probably would have been fired, lol!)

    Hey everyone, my site is back online! (www.amaranthia.com) One of my next projects is expanding the community. Amaranthian’s can now build cottages, blog, chat while browsing the site, and there will be a General Store added next month. You’ll be able to use virtual gold to buy goodies for your account. :D

  13. Duffy says:

    While I’m no more then a hobby developer, (on paper I’m a Software Engineer so I know something about developing something) I can answer a couple of those easily enough:

    1. As many have said, RPGs are forgiving in the sense that graphics take a back seat to story and mechanics. Not to mention RPG based engines and editors are usually easy as hell to learn, where the same is not always true of FPS games. And since most indie developers will only have access to cheap or free engines, RPGs are a logical choice. However, you could also say that creating an RPG with a great story and fun mechanics would make a bigger overall splash then making one more puzzle game involving bricks/lines of some sort or one more paramilitary FPS. Example: We all played Tetris, but how often do we talk about it’s plot compared to say Fallout or FFVII? (P.S. No offense intended, I still play many variations of simple puzzle games.)

    2. This being a personal question left more to the Indie developers, I’ll answer it as if there goal was to reach the largest audience: They would most likely just use the last-gen graphics, and in cases where they think they have a great game, they may even use last-last gen graphics. It’s somewhat safe to assume that while current and next gen graphics may be too much for the majority of gamers (or just the general indie target gamer), last gen probably runs very well. For example think of StarCraft/Warcraft for RTS games. Aside from resolution scaling issues, the games still look great. They would be ideal for graphics emulation.

    3. Again personal, but assuming that #1 and #2 hold true my guess would be to buy the pretty much non-existent mass marketing that most indie games get. Otherwise it would probably be to add some more development time to the game.

    4. Not that sure on this one, but as others have said, my guess is that 1/3 is marketing/getting the game out there and the other 1/3 is people actually buying and playing the game. And hopefully enjoying it.

    5. Again personal, for amusement I’ll list mine. Fallout, StarCraft(1 or 2), WoW, and Rebellion. The last one has always been a favorite of mine, but I would love to have been a fly on the wall or had a hand in it. Some aspects of that game just make me wonder wtf they were thinking or doing.

  14. Adamantyr says:

    My answers to your questions:

    1) I think part of this is that CRPG’s and RPG’s are a more cerebral form of game. As mentioned above, these are easier to design with less graphic resources, since they involve designing puzzles and writing text, stuff that makes you think, and requires a much more accessible skill-set other than 3D engine creation and modeling.

    I think it’s also a case that because these games were more cerebral, they tended to attract the type of audience who were more likely to pursue game development. It’s rather like how in old MUD’s the “wizards” would eventually become system admins and take control of the metaphysical structure of the game. This is, of course, a generalization, no insult intended to anyone who got their game dev itch from an FPS or something else!

    2) I do like 3D. It’s a great perspective for immersion and sense of placement. It also makes the game appear to a broader audience, as it resembles something closer to real life than many games are.

    What bothers me about modern 3D blockbuster mainstream games is how little they even try to innovate in other ways. Crysis has a graphics engine capable of making your PC bleed, but what can you say it’s engine does that makes it unique? It’s just more and better of the same thing.

    Which is why I really like Portal. The concepts in Portal have been around for years; I remember that Prey, when it was first conceived in 1997, was going to use a unique engine to create TARDIS-like areas. I think in the end they dropped the idea and just faked it.

    With that in mind, I’d go with the Source engine of HL2. It’s a few years old, but it’s seasoned and clearly does a great job making an attractive game and has room for some innovation.

    3) Marketing. Intelligent marketing, that actually sells the product, and doesn’t try and change the product to match some demographic. An all too often occurrence these days.

    4) I would guess that would be testing, marketing, and distribution. Distribution was the worst of it for a long time; apparently the main reason Origin ended up in financial trouble that lead to the acquisition by EA was the high costs of disk replication. Fortunately, nowadays, the Internet offers a much cheaper alternative to obtaining software. But then on the distributing side of things, you need a robust server system that can handle high-bandwidth downloads, offer secure online purchasing, and so forth, so it’s by no means easier, just easier to handle with a few people.

    5) Ultima 9. The finished product is definitely not what they wanted to do, it’s what they COULD do with the time they had. I don’t know if I could have made a difference or not, but I’d would have liked to have been there to try.

  15. Dave says:

    It’s interesting that the answers to question #5 so far have been games that were so bad that the person wishes they’d been there to try to save them. I was expecting people to answer with awesome games that they’d have been excited to be a part of . . . Maybe this says something about the developer mentality?

    (Or possibly we can’t extrapolate from so few examples. Very possibly, in fact.)

  16. guy says:

    not a developer, but here are my thoughts:
    1. again, you don’t need graphics, but you also don’t need added mechanics. depths of peril, which is easily the most fun RPG I’ve seen, has precisely two notable added mechanics. although an FPS can get by on two added mechanics, they are fairly complex mechanics. it’s hard to make an interesting FPS without adding mechanics, but i imagine that if you took the baulder’s gate enigne, changed the story, and shifted some stuff around, you’d have a very good RPG. imagine doing that with doom. you’d have a transparent doom clone no more interesting than the original.
    2. i’d take starcraft/RA2 graphics. they were at the point where you could look at a unit and tell what it was instantly, and they look pretty good to me. Admittedly, they do break immersion, but imagine seeing something wrong-looking in cryis. that would shatter immersion.
    3. marketing. i could advertise on IGN, which is the only major reviewer i really trust, and get mentioned on most major reviewers, which would be major advertising.
    4. marketing, i think.
    5. Xcom. it’s just a great game, and i might have found the INFAMOUS mountain bug.

  17. thvaz says:

    Someone here heard of Dwarf Fortress? It’s an amazing and innovative indie game.

  18. Zerotime says:

    Wait, why am I a “fanboy” just because I have an expensive computer?

  19. stuff says:

    @ Zerotime; no, you’re a fanboy if you have an expensive computer only for gaming purposes.

    As for the questions, I can only answer the last one, not being a game designer. AoM, yes, it’s a cut and past RTS, but those make the best type of games.

  20. As an independent developer currently putting the finishing touches on an RPG (hey, I wouldn’t give a link to my website on a first post, but you asked for our opinions…), let me give a few thoughts.

    “Why do you think indie developers favor RPGs so much?”

    There are three reasons for that:

    The first is the misconception that RPGs are somehow easier to develop. They’re not, but that’s an issue for another discussion. What matters is the perception of wannabe game developers.

    The second reason is that by and large, indie development teams are highly dependent on their programmers, because nothing gets done if the programmer sulks. So programmers get a significant say in what game gets produced. And as Shamus can probably attest, programmers love them fiddly character generation bits.

    The third reason is that RPGs sell quite well. At least, they seem to. Indie game developers should probably look at profits rather than sales, but again, that’s another discussion.

    “If you could use any graphics technology you wanted – from Infocom to Crysis – where would you choose to go?”

    That’s actually a really complicated question. If I could get as many sales from a text adventure than from a next-gen 3d shooter, of course I’d go for the codable-in-basic, twenty-games-a-year product. By the same token, I wish I could think about producing Crysis 2: that means that I could sell my studio for a mint and go on vacation. :)

    But as to game design… I like great visuals. I’ve got hundreds of tales to tell, all of which would benefit from photorealitic graphics. But the reality is that you have a budget. Creating stupendous graphics cost more than creating OK graphics. That means I have less money to put on something else, such as testing, or level design. Getting the right balance of graphics, sounds, and game bits is what makes a great game.

    Now if the console manufacturers would just stop with the ego-based console wars, we might be able to work on dropping our costs, so that we can have both great graphics and gameplay. But that’s another debate.

    “If you got a million bucks in no-strings-attached funding, how would you use it to make your game more successful?”

    Well, Project: Exile is almost out of the door, so at this point I’d say “put it into bonuses for the management team.” Or marketing, for a more serious answer. Or, if you’re talking about the next project, infrastructure development.

    For a generic project, I’d put the money on outsourced stuff. Get someone to build the editors, as many engines as possible, get as much assets done on a freelance basis, etc.

    “What is the other 66% of effort required after you finish the game, and is this a challenge unique to indie developers?”

    Testing is a MASSIVE endeavour. I’m a big advocate of Sid Meyer’s philosophy of getting something playable ASAP, so that the testers can get to work.

    The other big timesink is wrapping the project up. The game can be really advanced, to the point that you want to say “you know what? screw the ending sequence: the game is awesome, the player will be OK with a botched scene and a text conclusion.” Or maybe you’ve got three sidequests left to add in, and you cut them from the product because you’re just so damn tired of the game. That’s the other big showstopper.

    It’s probably a bit easier in larger development houses. The person who bears the brunt of getting the game to completion is not hacking code in the trenches, or playing the same level for the two-hundredth and sixty-five time. It’s a bit easier to keep the project moving when you’re not sick of seeing it.

    “What game (any game, new, old, mainstream, whatever) do you wish you could have worked on and taken part in?”

    Final Fantasy (the first one.) I’d be rich by now. :)

    For game development experience… I would say I don’t know. Perhaps The Legend of Zelda – that game is spectacularly well designed.

  21. Zerotime says:

    Stuff: Well, that’s all I use it for. :) I’ve got a MacBook that I do actual work on.

  22. Dhruin says:

    I disagree RPGs are over-represented. In business terms, indie = casual; Bejeweled and Peggle clones are the ones really driving sales and powering the various portals, probably followed by retro action games like shmups. The strategy sector is likely the area where the “hardcore” gamer is best serviced by indies – enough that some niche publishers like Shrapnel can exist.

    I think RPGs have active communities all looking for good product to buy in the absence of worthwhile “commercial” stuff, so I suppose that raises our profile and makes it look like there is more happening than there is.

    All that said, RPG represent more opportunity than, FPSes. You’d be hard pressed to beat Valve’s of the world as an indie but if your interest is, say, turn-based RPGs, noone else is making them.

  23. MaxEd says:

    #1 – I think RPGs are not overrepresented, because if you take all those indie shoot-em-ups, logic games and adventures, they outweight RPGs 100 to 1. BUT! RPGs get noticed more, because they are more interesting than YetAnotherSHMUP. There is another point to make here, though. There are more and more indie RPGs each year lately. I think that happens because mainstream RPGs drift into Action more and more, and some portion of auditory became dissatisfied. That’s where indies step in and give us what we want (or, at least what we want more than the next action-RPG title).

    #2 As for graphic technology, it highly depends on kind of game. For RPGs, I feel there is noting better than good ol’ sprites & isometry. When it’s done good – it looks better than any 3d. But with racing simulation, for example, I’d go for the best technology I can afford. The trouble here is that better graphic technologies add a lot to cost of development: it’s easier to find an artist to draw 7 8-bit sprites than good 3d-modeller who can make you 7 high detailed models.

    #3 1.000.000$?! I’d place ’em into bank and fund my game with percents :) But really, I’d prefer to spend them on hiring some professional artists/modellers. Programmers can work for free sometimes, but artists always want money, somehow. Also, I’d rent an office in convenient place and make sure the team has all it needs to work happily (good PCs, food etc.)

    #5 Arcanum! It’s my favorite RPG of all times. I’d grab any chance to work for Troika Games, the only team that really understood how to make a good RPG. Unfortunately, they’re closed now :(

  24. GWvsJohn says:

    dude, no complaining about names when yours is Shamus Young. That is a really, really good name and you know it.

  25. Kameron says:

    1) Nothing to add that hasn’t already been said.

    2) Like MaxEd, I’d go isometric sprites, a la Baldur’s Gate or Fallout.

    3) I’d lease office space, hire a full-time artist and a couple programmers, and pay myself and my partners actually salaries so we didn’t have to work 9-5’s on top of our management duties.

    4) If “finished” means bundled and ready to push out the door, there’s distribution and marketing. If “finished” just means a full-featured alpha then QA has to be added. I think the challenge is different for indies, but not unique (i.e., mainstream developers still have to have solutions for QA, distribution and marketing).

    5) I would love to have been involved with Neverwinter Nights as a level designer/writer, and with Morrowind/Oblivion as a designer involved in the development of mechanics behind the game.

  26. Rubes says:

    In response to Vincent, I would argue (quite strongly) that many indie teams are in fact highly dependent on the content generators, namely artists (and in my case animators). I’d be putting a hefty amount of that $1 mill towards them, the rest towards marketing.

  27. Artists are vital, I agree, and they can have serious influence on the direction the game takes. That said, I don’t think they have quite the power to decide on the kind of game as the programmers do, mostly because of the (wrong) perception that the programmer’s work is more important, and the (mostly right, IMO) perception that getting a programmer to work on a project for indie pay (i.e. nothing or so :) ) is harder than finding artists to pitch in a bit of their free time in.

  28. Rubes says:

    Interesting. My experience has been quite the opposite: finding artists to donate their talent and time (or work for indie pay, as you say), particularly animators, has been an extraordinary challenge. But especially when you’re creating a game that has a lot of art content that can’t just use off-the-shelf art content packs.

  29. I’m not really a very experienced game developer, but I’m working on my own RPG, so let me give it a shot :

    1) The simplest possible reason. Because we like them. You have to remember, a large percentage of game developers are geeks. You will find a greater percentage of role-players, fantasy fans and suchlike in game dev than in say accounting. And indie game devs, for the most part, make games they want to play (until they go all commercial ;) ). Its the same reason as why so many of the games made when the game dev industry was in it’s infancy were RPGs. We like em, we want to make em. The mainstream industry would be cranking them out at a far greater rate if the suits didn’t poo-poo those plans in favour of sequels to sports titles.

    2 ) I haven’t got insight into every engine out there, but from the editors I’ve played with…the engine behind Oblivion. Not for it’s graphics but for it’s fantastic and amazingly flexible content creation system. Many people didn’t like Oblivion, myself included, but I’m a professional programmer and I’ve played with it’s editor, it makes me drool. It’s a triumph of tool-design. A tool that powerful and flexible is a fantastic boon to a developer, since content creation is a slow and taxing process, far more than simply adding in a nice shiny new shader.

    3) Admin and marketing, like Amanda said. Also, it’s the field most devs are weakest at.

    4) I’d buy an artist and lock him in a room to churn out art for me. Art/content creation is far more of a challenge for indies than code dev.

    5) VtM : Bloodlines or Thief 2.

  30. Cloud's Tifa says:

    I love cloud he is so handsome!he is so cool i love him i heart him so much!! I even almost pay so much of the game the game rocks i also want to be in the game it is so cool
    vincent is on crack man i saw a video the guy make vincent say the moon is chasing me everywhere i go there it is knock it off mon or i am coming up there! so funy right that guy who is the person who made kadaj sing also that guy i on crack ad made on of the turcks say durka durka muhamajihama hakasurpa surpa a buck of lot and made tifa say candybars witha rough voice

  31. FishyBoy says:

    For #5, I would have loved to have been involved in the creation of Cave Story in some way, mainly so I could see what the methods of Pixel were. That guy is awesome.

  32. Eddie says:

    I know this post is years old, but I feel that it is important to let you know that as soon as I read “Shamus McLaser” I completely forgot what your actualy surname is. This is not a joke; I had to go to the About the Author page to remind myself. You have developed a name of incredible power. You should go into politics with it; you could rule the world within a week.

Thanks for joining the discussion. Be nice, don't post angry, and enjoy yourself. This is supposed to be fun. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked*

You can enclose spoilers in <strike> tags like so:
<strike>Darth Vader is Luke's father!</strike>

You can make things italics like this:
Can you imagine having Darth Vader as your <i>father</i>?

You can make things bold like this:
I'm <b>very</b> glad Darth Vader isn't my father.

You can make links like this:
I'm reading about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darth_Vader">Darth Vader</a> on Wikipedia!

You can quote someone like this:
Darth Vader said <blockquote>Luke, I am your father.</blockquote>

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.