Excuse for Tardiness: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2

It has been awhile since I've made a post so I must do my duty (HAH) of excusing myself.  This game was the main reason why I haven't posted in awhile, but I have also been busy with other things I will highlight in a future post (soon).  It seems as though I am certainly not the only one who has this excuse.  Just check out this, or that.

Dev Diary: Flash Business

Since starting my flash game at the begining of this week I have been doing a lot of research on how to properly deploy it.  In the process I learned way more then expected.  At first the goal was to find an easy way to distribute the game properly and see what I could bring in from MochiAds.  Little did I know the options that were out there.

Let me take you step by step through my journey (for those of you not interested in my journey you can find all the useful Flash business links below).

Dev Diary: Game Logo Has Begun Production

I've done a lot of thinking over the weekend.  Me and the Mrs. spent the weekend together exploring the city of Boston some more.  Long story short she got her hair did, we saw the blue man group and I got inspired.  It has always been a dream of mine to make a flash game, that time has come.

Game Dev Management Tips: Delegation

I wanted to do another Management focused post so here is another tip (also check out my first post).  Delegation!  If you are new to management and are promoted up to a lead position from being a worker (programmer or whatever) this concept can be hard to put into practice.  Usually the scenario is as follows.  You are a stellar developer and your development manager notices (with a bit of pointing out to some extent :-) ) and they need to fill a spot.  You want the experience and happily accept.

You may should fully understand that those you manage need to be utilized to 100% efficiency and through proper delegation this may be attempted.  The problem is you are so used to being that guy that gets to solve the big/cool problems it can be hard.  Not to mention you loved what you were doing before (that is why you did it so well) so letting go is something you need to come to terms with.

Monthly Rage: Warnings Do Not Stop Me

For an explanation of what a rage is please see the first Rage post. If you do not mind learning as you go then just continue.

Beef:
Warnings do not stop me! Some may think that is a pretty bad ass statement. Someone who lives by that mantra may see a traffic light turn yellow and gun it. They may also be told "NO" when advancing on a woman/man, but still go in for the smooch. Pure bad assess, that is until they get hit by oncoming traffic or slapped and issued a restraining order.

Excuse for Tardiness: Halo 3: ODST

I have a feeling I may be doing more of these posts then I would prefer this fall. Way too many good games are coming out. The wave of new games has begun (for me) with this title. Some of you may hate halo, some of you may not even know what I am talking about and some of you LOVE halo. I am number three, but I like to keep it low key (to prevent additional people from hating it). Maybe I have played all the games (with no sleep release night) and I might have read all of the books. Does that make me completely and utterly bias towards the series? YES!

Goto Shmoto

C++ was my first programming language. When I was going through school I can remember clearly the day that the keyword "goto" came up. The teacher said something along the lines of, "goto will jump to another section of code...just don't use it." At the time I had enough information I was trying to retain so that sounded good to me, just don't use it. My career continued, I never used goto, but it would come up from time to time. While working at my job, I came across code that used it. I just assumed no one told these programmers not to use it, but couldn't help but wonder, "How did goto get such a bad rap?"

Excuse for Tardiness: Plants vs. Zombies

The time block I have set aside to gather my thoughts into this blog is also the only time I can get me some gaming in. In an attempt to keep my blog alive I will make a post like this to tell you about the game I am currently playing that has prevented you from reading something maybe more interesting.

Beer of the Month: Blackberry Witbier

Intro
Okay I'm getting burnt out with the technical writing. What better way to recover then with a refreshing beer. Every month I will mix things up with a quick post about the current brew that I have in the fridge. You may be asking, "What does this have to do with Game Development?" For some it may have nothing to do with it(sorry guys/gals), but for others it is a huge part.

Monthly Rage: Do not recreate what is right under your nose

So I thought it would be great to express some of the things that I constantly complain about to my co-workers and friends. I usually keep my "Rages" private, but it is time to let the world have a piece. Since I rage quiet a bit, I figure I will hold myself to a monthly outlet.

Shout Out

If you're interested in other posts from me, or updates about the company I co-own check out the Binary Solo's development blog.

Game Dev Management Tips: The Power of the "One On One"

Before I tell you what I think about One on Ones I would like to give you some background on myself so you know where I'm coming from. The past year or so I was the lead of game development for the company I work for. I directly managed the development of eight game programmers and worked with all the other departments to get the job done. In addition to that experience I have had formal training from the American Management Association (AMA) and have used the resources over at http://www.manager-tools.com (which I highly recommend you check out if you are interested in that kind of thing).

Ways to Port Other Company's Games

To explain the title a bit more, this post will be specifically focused on a Bad, Good, and an Interesting way (that is also good) that I've experienced when porting other company's games. I have also found it hard to find information online about this topic and that has always frustrated me.

First Post

Hello,

I will be using this blog to express the many thoughts and ideas I have in my head. Too many of these thoughts and ideas get expressed over IMs and impromptu conversation with my friends. while I love to hear their thoughts, I believe I could be getting a larger variety of feedback if the world could give me its 2 cents.

Before I begin I would like to set some things straight. I am no Guru of any sort, but I like to think I am at least a newb++. I will probably say things that are either wrong, right, controversial, mis-spelled or boring, but I will only apologize in advance for the last two. That means if you got Beef, I want to hear it. I like to think Beef (AKA feedback) makes us all stronger if we care to listen and dig into it. I would prefer constructiveness, but to be honest if you just want to take the time to say "you suck", I will be happy you even care.

The content focus of this blog will be in the area of Game Development. Sub-content focus will consist of: Programming, Development Tools, Managing and Misc. I may switch it up with a post here and there about random thoughts about music or life, but they will not be the main focus.

Stay tuned.