#arenafps

Delving into the exciting world of options menus is not something I have done a lot of in the past. But its good to do something new every once in awhile right?

Last night a spent a decent chunk of time looking over how the menu systems work and for the most part it seems pretty straight forward. Basically its a series of buttons that call console commands.

So this will likely be my location for my longer posts about game development, future plans and anything else related to Castle Does. Its a shame that TSU does not allow me to post my content to the public as it would work quite well as a blogging platform.

At least in this case tumblr is designed from the ground up as a blogging page. Perhaps this wont be so bad. I just really liked the idea of having 90% revenue share on my blogs!

Last week, I stumbled upon a Kickstarter campaign for a new Arena-based FPS shooter called Reflex.  A first view through their front-page video might leave you asking what sets it apart from other Arena FPS games we've been playing for more than a decade, and fortunately, the guys behind the scenes have been posting updates that I encourage everyone to read.  Check out the kickstarter campaign here. Their latest update was regarding movement, and I think this is really going to refine the recipe that has made arena FPS so much fun.  This easy-to-learn-but-hard-to-master approach was done for games like TF2.  It's a game that is incredibly easy to pick up and play at a competent level, but in order to get to the next level of play, you really have to spend a lot of time on muscle memory and practice.  I can't tell you how much time I spent in TF2 during my competitive years just rocket jumping off of walls. While I don't have the time to invest 30-40+ hours a week perfecting my skills in a game, I do believe the guys behind Reflex are doing the right things.  They're not re-imagining the Arena FPS; you don't need to.  What they are doing is taking a formula that works well and adding their own spin to it.  Skill jumping is a huge part of it, but after watching streams of their pre-alpha build, there's so much more behind it that I find very compelling. I suggest you go check out their Kickstarter campaign.  They crossed over the $60k mark over the weekend, but their aggressive $360,000 goal is still quite a ways away.  So, consider backing it if that's your thing. They're also on twitter and facebook, so you can at least catch when they're streaming the pre-alpha content.  The other thing that I've grown to expect these days, especially with planning .LAN every year, is that folks typically don't take the time to reply to you.  I send out hundreds of e-mails in the months leading up to .LAN, and I would say that a small percentage is replied to.  These guys have been very candid and up front with my personal messages to them and I give them a ton of credit for it.  Surprisingly, Blizzard and Hi-Rez are the other two that have not grown too big to support this growing event where they can.