Happy New Year, Internet!

It looks like we’re off and running! So far the response to playing the card prototype has been positive, but it’s shown a strong tendency to end unexpectedly, along with a few awkward card interactions that disrupt the flow and pacing of the game.

Still, it’s looking like a project that’s got some legs and would transfer well into the mobile gaming space, so off we go.

After extensive testing using dice to measure randomness in terms of effective strategy and mitigating variance (which is the fancy way of saying dice didn’t feel like a component in a fighting game), we’ve forgone our six sided pals for a less chance/more strategy oriented approach; A ‘Rock/Paper/Scissors inspired combat system. While we were trying to emulate the chaos and unpredictability of a mixed martial arts fight, it seemed a touch unfair to rely solely on the rolling of dice in order to do it.

So what does switching from dice to Rock/Paper/Scissors actually do? Originally we had planned to use the dice to emulate the success of strikes, for example a more consistent, low damage card can roll everything up to 5 on the die and be successful. This would contrast to rolling a high damage, low success card that would have a much smaller (2 or lower) rate of succeeding.

This greatly reduces the degree of ‘Variance’ (or as some would call it, luck) that influences the game, and greatly increases the consistency of most of our attacks while at the same time dissuading the idea of the fight changing with a single move (however true that reality may be).

We’ve also decided to reward the more strategy oriented players by slanting the abilities of the fighters into using a more predictable set of cards. This way, defending players will have a better idea of what to expect in certain match ups, and the more likely it is they will pick a strategy (or, in some cases, counter strategy) accordingly.

While part of me will miss the anticipation and somewhat torturous dice rolling method, it’s more likely that this change (as big as it was to the core mechanics and feel of the game) will result in an overall richer experience for those willing to put the time in to learn the ins and outs of the game.

Ah well, that’s just the way the game rolls, I guess.

-Charlie Ze Newbie

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So, we’re a pretty culturally diverse bunch here at the studio. Now, that might sound like a humble brag, but it is not. It’s an all-out brag.

It’s pretty easy to say a studio like ours needs more “____”, and you might be right, but at the rate that I’ve seen our studio grow and develop I’m proud to say I’m a part of this team. As far as young start-ups are concerned, we’re making progress towards having a total grab-bag of team members (although we could always use a few more to help share the load!)

The holidays are a funny thing. They are often full of panic, uncertainty, and a whole lot of sad bank accounts (let’s be honest here, we’ve all gone diving into the cash hole a little bit this December). They are also, however, packed to the rafters with awkward social interaction between friends and relatives that you potentially haven’t seen a lot of in a very long time.

Offices can be very much the same, but all year round. We, like many, have an open concept office with a few rows of computers lined up with each other. Despite what you may think about communication in these kinds of settings, places like this can be difficult to traverse as the boundaries between the app teams and the gaming development teams are often nebulous. We’re constantly shifting personnel and focus across many different projects on the go, and I like to think it keeps us all mentally fresh and stops the staff from burning out while on a single task.

In simple terms, we share.

That, as well as our communications, relationships and interactions with each other are what make this studio so special.

Over the last few months we’ve gone axe throwing, game-jammed, exchanged presents and participated in much of each other’s workload. We’ve gotten to get to know each other pretty well, to the point now where team deathmatches with dart guns (plastic, thank you very much) have become commonplace between the senior staff and the newbies during the downtime. There’s something to be said about the trust that has to be developed between team members when switching from an in-house cartoon-influenced tower defense game to a high-profile clients’ mobile app, and I think it’s positive.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, this is a wonderful place to work and everyone is happy to be here. While not every employer may be as fortunate as ours, it’s always important to take stock in the holiday season of the people who add a positive influence in your life, whether they’re your friends, family, or game studio.

So spread a little holiday happiness, and tell the people who make you happy that they do so, even if it means hijacking the company blog to say it.

From our family to yours, we wish you the happiest of holidays.

Charlie Ze Holiday Elf

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ZeMind has quite a few ideas brewing, in terms of 2017’s releases. Along with our Tower Defense game (Working title: “Project: Versus”) we’re currently brewing up ideas for a new TCG/CCG mobile game (Yes, we know what it sounds like, but it’s got nothing to do with swords, sandals, sorcery or sandwiches) for you all to enjoy at some point in the future.

That’s right, we’re thinking of jumping into the world of Mobile Card Games.

From a blog standpoint, This is a great opportunity to give you the step by step process of what could be our next mobile title. As opposed to Project: Versus, I’ll have been around for the entire creation of the project, which give me (social media extraordinaire) the opportunity to walk you through exactly what we’re up to, step by step.

So, what is our new game? Where it is at right now is essentially an MMA fighting game played with cards, complete with submissions on the ground, heavy wrestling and great kickboxing/Muay Thai strikes. Currently revolving around a two player (1V1, bruh) combat system, it’s a strategy deckbuilding TCG/CCG that involves reducing your opponent’s HP to zero using card based strikes and submissions that mesh with the player of your choosing.

As with many fighting video games, the first point of order is to select a fighter. Some fighters will excel at striking while standing, others will have an advantage wrestling or grappling on the ground. It’s up to the player to decide what goes into their deck to help take advantage of their fighters’ abilities while covering their weaknesses. The game itself revolves around creating a deck that excels where your opponent does not, and, much like the sport of MMA itself, has several different win conditions that don’t all necessarily favour punching and kicking.

For example:
Fighter A-
Excels at combat on the ground, struggles while standing

Fighter B-
Struggles while on the ground, excellent standing striking

A player using either of these fighters would have to fill their deck with the appropriate cards to get the fight where they need it to go in order to win. That’s not all, however. A crafty player can concoct a strategy that revolves around winning points and making it to a judging decision. Players plan their attacks/defending cards against each other at the same time all the while choosing to either ‘Play it safe’ with high percentage/Low damage cards or ‘Go Big/Go Home’ strategies that can end the fight in a heartbeat but require more luck.

How are we calculating percentages? Dice, at the moment. Will it stay that way? Probably not.

So far it’s in a preliminary ‘Paper Prototype’, wherein we’ve printed out some makeshift cards and played through it a few times. Can’t wait to see where this goes!

-Charlie Ze Newbie

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Hey Nintendo, you’re an awesome company! You almost single handedly raised an entire generation of kids on consoles with less processing power than the worst phone on the market today. It’s hard to be objective– You’re a part of a collectively shared childhood with many of my peers along with myself.

It’s kind of funny when you think about how with the release of the Switch, Nintendo’s undeniable turn to mobile gaming has become apparent. Combine that with the announcement of Mario arrival IOS (It’s about time!) one can only wonder how long it is before even the most uber members of the PC Master Race/Console Peasants begin the jump into your pocket.

The Switch is undeniably shaped and sized to be portable, not much larger than a tablet carried by commuters on a train or person flipping through pages in your local coffee shop. The similarities aren’t uncanny, they’re finely tuned and plotted. It’s no coincidence that the questions and criticism towards the Switch echo those raised at mobile gaming- ‘Where’s all the computing power? What will its processor handle? Why doesn’t it have a more adequate graphics card? What is the battery life?

“I’ll never pick it up!”, “It’s not a real console!” You might be saying to yourself, vehemently denying the inescapable acknowledgement of mobile as gaming platform. Remember when IOS declared the same sentiment their in defiance towards the stylus? They also chanted with a fervor not unlike yourselves. Look where they are now. It’s easy enough to wave a finger at the latest hardware powered elite, but instead of treating this as a detriment to our socket-straddled gaming brethren, let’s actually take a peek as to what this really means for the industry as a whole.

Platform compatibility is already here in some form or another. You can, in many cases, use your console to charge your mobile device, as well as use it as a form of portable hard drive to store all your favourite replays/high scores.

So why not gaming? Gamers have long held their consoles in their pockets- Let’s not forget here that pop starlet Taylor Swift is roughly as old as the original Gameboy (Released in 1989, next to Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, The Little Mermaid and of course the most timeless of albums: Madonna’s Like a Prayer.) Nintendo has always taken huge leaps (for better and for worse) in gaming and (bias fully disclosed) it’s great to finally see where gaming can go once it’s finally free of the cord.

I get that change is hard. However,= without it, innovation becomes impossible. So how about we all just take a second and pump the breaks on our judgements on the Switch at least until it comes out, alright?

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“Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare”
-Mary Shelley

So uh, here’s an announcement: I’ve begun learning to code in Unity! That’s right, in an effort to better understand my partners in crime on the actual development side of the studio, I’ve decided to expand my skills and jump into the masochistic world of C# coding for Unity.

No, seriously.

Thanks to the blessings of our all powerful dachshund Fletcher (all praise be to him), earlier I began the trials by Unity, or as the company itself calls them: “Tutorials”. The last time I tried anything remotely like this was back in the days of HTML2 < img src="“Im_really_old.jpeg”" / > which, yes, I’m aware isn’t really a programming language. Thank you, internet.

The first go round had me creating a lovely ball rolling game in which I rattled my brain over what I did wrong before realizing I failed english on a second grade level, forgetting to end a statement with some punctuation.

I spent the next few moments questioning my life choices before continuing on with the rest of the tutorial, completely refusing to just ‘Copy/Paste’ the end results from underneath the video, semi-colons be damned. I want to learn WHY, instead of just what.

After a few hours I had finally managed to get a bit of the logic- don’t get me wrong, I’m still trying to build a castle out of playing cards but as it stands I’m progressing at a completely normal rate for someone who has > 0 skill when it comes to coding anything further than running MSDOS.

Needless to say, finally coming up with the end product established a great sense accomplishment and I’ll be happy to say that I can see my skill set increasing the further into coding I get. Don’t get me wrong, I’m nowhere near ‘Studio’ game development ready, but it’s honestly like I’ve finally given all the puzzle pieces to make a game and now it’s all just a matter of putting things together.

A horrible, terribly coded puzzle. Seriously, I assume it’s going to resemble what spaghetti looks like after you throw it in a food blender and try to tape it all together.

Via repetition. And trial/error. Mostly trial/error. Actually, just error.
Overall, building the tutorials’ mini rollerball game has got me thinking in a positive direction! I’ve enjoyed what I’ve learned so far and am looking forward to tackling more projects in Unity. Next stop, 2D!

‘Learning code is a tricky thing’ – Everyone who has ever tried it.

Charlie Ze coding Newbie
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eSports? Esports? Osperts? Whatever we’re calling them these days it’s become pretty obvious the gaming community has come bursting into the mainstream along with the immovable  zeitgeist stalwarts of skateboarding and pogs.

Seriously though, take a look over here for what I’m talking about. This December, everyone’s favourite channel (CBS) takes a swing at publicising the wide wacky world of sports, as defined by digital programmers and power sockets.

What a time to be alive! Hang the banners! Throw the parties! Sip the champagne and count all the eggs before they are hatched!  

It appears eSports are quickly cementing themselves as the next big entertainment sensation- primed and ready to pop up into everyone’s news feeds. If we’re not careful, however, it appears the things we’re all so passionate about may fall to the wayside along with the likes of Myspace and Planking.

The danger lies within treating it much like a regular sport, and not respecting the diversity that gaming (both PC/Console/Mobile or otherwise) bring to the table. Yes, ‘Hardcore’ gaming enthusiasts will argue that the console and mobile platforms require less skill since, as frequently stated, the ‘Machine does much of the work for you’, a sentiment i’m sure shared between billiard grandmasters as they watch a symphony of clicks simulating the skills obtained via endless nights spent in pool halls.

Herein lies the strength, does it not? The games are the mostly identical, but platforms were fundamentally built to do different things- whether they were designed to be portable, maximum setting beast-machines or casual entertainment. It’s the diversity that needs celebration.

eSports aren’t like other sport leagues (although they may have a bit more in common than you might think) in that gaming doesn’t just do ONE thing. They aren’t just first person shooters. They aren’t just mobile tap-a-thons. It’s an eclectic mix of genres, styles and personalities to go with them. We’ve all seen fads come in and burn out; Unlike many of the trends in recent memory the best way to keep things fresh and innovative in the public eye is to be exactly those things: Fresh and Innovative, with one’s own personality at the forefront.

You know the cliche of what angry COD players looks like. Don’t be those people. If you’re on the road to taking your game (whatever it may be) to a competitive or semi-competitive level, understand that you carry with you an obligation to the gamers who came before you to represent what game you play, what platform you play it on, and your community as well. It’s not enough that you win, but with eSports beginning its ascent towards the glitz and glamour of the mainstream, it’s important that we, as a community, move in a manner befitting the cream of the crop as if someone were watching our every move. Because trust me, they are.

But that’s not a big deal, right Twitch Fam?
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Recently sent to me was a link detailing an unsubtle ‘Ripoff’ of the immensely popular first person shooter/Moba/Comic book smackdown/Rock-Paper-Scissors simulator from Blizzard called Overwatch. Understandably, from a creative standpoint, it’s easy to think about why this would make developers someone a little upset.

Let’s rewind the clock a second and deliver a quick peek at everyone’s favourite dinosaur film for an accurate summation as to what really irks the gaming development community via Dr. Ian Malcolms’ character portrayed by the timeless Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic park:

“You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn’t earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don’t take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now–

He proceeds to bang on the table before continuing.

–you’re selling it, you wanna sell it. “

via GIPHY

That about ties a bow on things, doesn’t it? Now, regardless of your thoughts as to how deeply cloning titles affects the industry (the debate will rage far past the last star in the universe imploding) nowhere is this more rampant than the mobile games market. One need only throw a rock in any direction before hitting a number of Flappy Bird pastiche programs that still remain in circulation in the play/IOS store. It’s important to note here that we’re not discussing piracy (another topic for another time), but the cloning of mobile titles, specifically ones that do very well.

There are a lot of them.

I urge you to think twice about the negative effects of picking up a cloned title. What do I mean by ‘Clone Title’? Skins. All about the skins. It’s completely fine if the game BUILDS on an existing idea, mechanic or property- such things are necessary for the development of games as a whole (we wouldn’t have the latest Mass Effect series without Link’s adventures throughout 1986’s Legend of Zelda, after all). But if the only difference is an aesthetic, and the rest of the game remains unchanged, please reconsider your purchase.

You might save a buck or two, but the damage this does reaches further than you might think. Games that sell well are, in turn, more likely to be promoted due to their likelihood of being placed on a ‘Best Seller’ list. Games that re-skin titles and offer them up for free are also quite damaging, as their open availability discourages the purchase of actual developers’ game at all. Catching the eyes of the general public means someone else is likely to do the same to them, which starts the entire process over again. As you can probably tell, this leaves the original developer in the dust, having pumped countless hours, weeks or even years of their lives into a title with little-to-no return on investment.

All this can be simply summed up in a request for you to do the right thing and purchase the game proper from the developers you want to support, especially the smaller ones. On the mobile market, it’s almost always a negligible cost bump that goes a long way in securing the financial security many of the smaller developers (or developer, as is often the case). Support your smaller developers. They need you.

-Charlie Ze Soapbox Standing Enthusiast

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“Alas, poor campaigns! I knew them, Gamers; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; they hath borne me on their back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar?” – Everyone playing solo campaigns. Seriously though, it was paraphrased from some dude named ‘Bill Wigglestick’

They are a dying breed, no doubt about it. I, for one, remember the era of times gone by, wherein the word ‘multiplayer’ meant connecting our Gameboys together with nothing but hopes, prayers, tears, and occasionally a link cable. Oh, those were the days!

Alright, so I side a little on the dramatic; How could I not? It seems like the death knells for the solo player campaign are all but upon us. Let’s not pretend you haven’t noticed– It’s incredibly telling of the times when news stories cover the addition of a solo campaign as opposed to just assuming its inclusion like they have in years past. More often than not, our precious solo-handed missions are on their way out with little to no sense of urgency to revive them.

There was a time, not so long ago, where games were essentially a form of interactive film. Their similarities are what attracts a high amount of crossover between the story crafting crowds of both mediums and continuously drives the ‘Video game movie adaptation’ machine (often times to erm, ‘Mixed reviews‘). Games like The Last of Us, Bioshock: Infinite, Fallout and most of the Telltale Games adaptations have provided hours upon hours of well crafted, well executed and character driven stories filled with touching moments, gripping setpieces and many a moral dilemma left long after the final credits roll. If you haven’t figured it out, I’m a story kinda guy. It’s important to me to know why my gaming character does/can do what they do.

At any rate, it seems the reason many of these games stand out is because of their dwindling competition. So what exactly happened here? With the largest developers currently leaning towards a model driven heavily by online interaction with other players, our precious offline ‘alone’ time has taken a back seat to the all mighty micro-transaction.

Here at ZeMind games, we keep it simple. We only ever ask for a transaction if A) Your gameplay experience isn’t going to be interrupted by the request and B) The transaction isn’t necessary for you to complete the game. Easy peasy, lemon squeasy!

However, it would be incredibly remiss to say the shift towards micro-transactions is the only reason we’ve arrived at our current place in gaming. The truth is we we pushed the industry in this direction ourselves. Gamers, as a community, have frequently fought against the awkward/loner stereotype, and it appears many developers have actually listened.

Shocking, right? Despite what the internet may spew, developers can and often do, listen.

It might sound like I’m lamenting the death of single player games, but I’m not. Like the dinosaur, solo campaigns evolved. Not extinct, but adapted to fit in the modern world; In the palms of our hands alongside our numerous social media apps to be exact. If you really do miss a single player experience you should know where to find them- Usually tucked into your front pocket somewhere. There’s nothing wrong with the way the industry is moving, but for those of us who hunt for some unplugged down time, you usually need not look further than your index finger.

-Charlie Ze Newbie

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Well it’s been a minute, hasn’t it?

Where were we? Oh right, you wanted updates on our awesome new game title- Well you came to the right place!

Our lovely top-down RTS influenced Tower Defense mobile game as previously mentioned will feature several hours of story-driven gameplay, and, also as previously mentioned, takes place in a fantasy world where warring kingdoms going to battle over a suspicious packages.

Let’s get to the meat- A few updates:

A) We’ve created much of the story, and backstory, and pre-backstory and post-backstory.
Trust me, it’s there. It’s also a little funny. While the script is isn’t finalized rest assured you’ve got a long campaign to look forward to especially by mobile game standards!

B) For the most part, we’ve created many of the set pieces and laid the foundation for much of the background stages that you’ll see in Versus. Much of it has taken on a cartoony design, which really adds to the whimsical feel of the game and the charming sense of humour (see below).

C) HUZZAH! Have you seen our artwork lately? It’s looking pretty sharp. Many of the minds here at ZeMind Game Studio are notably strong when it comes to the art department of game design (Follow us on our Instagram for more screengrabs and pictures of our adorable dogs!).

E) Oh what’s that? You want MORE? Oh, by all means scroll away. Check out a few of these preliminary animation tests we’ve got going on, both of units you’ll use to blow each other to smithereens. These are pretty early versions, so expect a big change upon release!

“Versus” Test animation 1

Seriously can’t wait to see you playing this game, it is going to be awesome!

Charlie Ze Newbie

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We’ve come a long way in the gaming culture. Recently tuning into an episode of the YouTube Podcast DudeSoup, I was surprised to hear the bluntness of discussion regarding the way video gaming has been viewed over the last few decades– Particularly how it has shifted to the positive; which then got me thinking:

“If video games are mainstream, why are mobile games neglected?”

Used to be: ‘Games were for children’. Eventually, that sentiment evolved into ‘Video games are for children’. Since being amalgamated into the zeitgeist, video games have really come into their own, and then, oddly enough, turned somewhat in on themselves and proclaimed ‘Mobile games are for children, casuals’.

Just in case you were unfamiliar with the world according to ‘Hardcore’ gaming enthusiasts, the hierarchy goes:

1. PC Master Race
2. Console peasants
3. Handheld children
4. Filthy casual mobile gamers

“It’s a matter of gaming hardware power!” You yell, knowing full well that the current day smartphone is more powerful than the entirety of NASA during its premiere trip to the moon, all the while while completely ignoring the fact that a modern day iPhone is lighter and carries more processing speed than the highest selling console of all time. It’s this perspective, this US V. THEM mentality that have kept gamers subjugated to the realms of basement dwelling stereotypes for so very long. Now that gaming has been thrust into the limelight (with its multi-billion dollar eSport leagues, film franchises and television shows etc.) it seems odd to me that we, as a subculture, would discriminate against our own after so recently gaining acceptance.

On some level, I understand it– The borderline petty need for ‘revenge’ against the people who may or may not have bullied gamers in our younger years for our hobbies and interests. It sucks that for much of this generation (average age for a gamer is 31 and almost evenly gender split— Surprisingly not an army of 13 year old boys who tout sultry exploits about being with your mother) many of us have had to spend a chunk of their gaming careers in the closet, afraid to admit what our favourite button-mashing pastimes are.

However, It’s incredibly important to note here that the average ‘casual’ gamer is not your bully, and in all likelihood never was.

It won’t be long before mobile gaming becomes fully accepted as a form of ‘Hardcore’ and posts like this become an awkward relic of the times ‘When people thought playing on your phone was a sign of gaming ineptitude’.  The lines between PC, console and mobile are quickly blurring and it’s about time we throw the homogeneity bias out the window and admit to ourselves that the changes in viewpoints about gamers also need to come from the community itself.

Follow us on social media for updates on our upcoming titles here at ZeMind Games!