A note about logistics: the only thing that has kept me from moving forward and posting this project is a complete inability to figure out how to best link the music for your consumption. There’s no one universal solution that’s going to work for everyone. I could go round up the links to iTunes, Amazon, Zune, Rhapsody, and whatever else, but that’s a lot of work for me and there’s still no guarantee it’d meet everyone’s needs. So instead I’m going to trust that if you care to listen along you’ll figure out how to get the music on your own (and if possible get more than a 30 second sample). I’ll be providing Zune links because that’s what I use, and if you’ve got the app and a Zune Pass this should be a smooth experience. If you do the leg work for another service and want to share in the comments, please feel free to.
Okay, with that out of the way we can get started.
Well, almost. I feel like these the first years demand a little more explanation. Towards the beginning of this timeline the entries will lean more towards memory than music. Like many, my young music tastes were undeveloped and mostly at the mercy of what people around me were listening to. But I’m going to focus on a lot of these early songs because young memories are somewhat of a novelty to me.
I have a terrible memory in general. But there are things that I remember better than others. I forget the details of movies, but I easily remember the intricacies of video games. Clearly there are some things that my brain stores better than others. As I go through this playlist exercise I’m realizing that music is one of the things that I remember well. As I walk back through my musical history I find myself remembering details I hadn’t thought about in a long time. Maybe if I can put together my playlist it will help me remember my life better?
It should be made clear that this isn’t a list of favorites. This is a list of impactful music, some of which I can’t listen to now like I did back then. In a way those are the most interesting pieces - because clearly they represent an older version of me that isn’t compatible with the me of today. That means I’ve changed, and that’s probably good. I have a feeling that this exercise will get less interesting yet easier to listen to as we progress forward in time. We’ll see.
But look, here I am layering on more disclaimers and we’re not even to the depths of adolescence. Enough stalling, let’s talk about some music!
Blueberry Hill - Fats Domino
We begin at the stretches of memory. This is a song that I recognize instantly, but couldn’t place unaided. From what I’ve gathered it’s highly likely that the photo you see here could be from a family jam session to this song. Air guitar be damned; real aspiring musicians use a broom. Never mind the fact that the song barely has any guitar in it at all…
Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
Like many of my generation, it was Marty McFly that introduced me to this song. I have a memory of asking my dad to request it on the radio and eagerly waiting for it to come on. And when it did… dance party.
Much later in life, by which I mean last year, I had the opportunity to play “Power of Love” for Rock Band 3 with some friends and it produced a similar moment of pure glee. That’s some impressive lasting impact for a 25 year span. Oh nostalgia…
Make Me Smile - Chicago
My dad loved his “Chicago Silver” record, aka Chicago II. My mom didn’t so much like it, so in general I think he had to enjoy it in private, but I still managed to get a whiff from time to time.
I like Chicago, but I don’t think I realized how well they align with some of my future musical trajectories until I went back to pick a song for this list. This is an album that’s meant to be listened as an album, where one song blends into the next, and I’m the sort of the person that wants to sit down and listen to a planned musical journey. I’ve long been mourning the atrophy of this standard as a la carte track purchasing has become the norm. It’s also the case that Chicago is often less lyrical and more instrumental. They sing a bit, and then they jam. As someone with a terrible head for lyrics, this has always fit well with me. And then of course there are the horns. I’m such a sucker for a horn section. Take a good song, tactically add some horns, and it becomes a great song.
I picked “Make Me Smile” because it filled that nostalgic criteria. I’ve probably heard “25 or 6 to 4” more over the years, but “Smile” leaps out to me with that older, deeper connection. It’s the more human song to me. I’m also particularly fond of []”Saturday in the Park”](https://open.spotify.com/track/6suCI1pLqqvVVLLvLzjoKc?si=c1e81f5af9dc4ab8) but it’s not on this album, so it doesn’t fit the criteria.
Barbara Ann - The Beach Boys
I’d be remiss if I omitted the Beach Boys from the list of early influences. My dad played blues, jazz, and stuff like Chicago; my mom played the Beach Boys.
When I hear the Beach Boys I think of family road trips. I have this fuzzy memory of us getting a series of cassette tapes they were selling at a gas station chain. It was probably the equivalent of the modern day Now That’s What I Call Music 13“_. But it made stopping to fill up the tank fun because we could get a new tape with new music. I find it hard to imagine my mom not owning her own copy, but those tapes are what I think of.
I had a devil of a time picking a Beach Boys song for this list. I know at that age I enjoyed the fun poppy lyrics. But now, well, not so much. So I went with a song that I remember having that car singing vibe.
Still Around - Robert Cray
On weekends we’d occasionally have a family drive for breakfast or other activities. I’m not sure how long my dad had this album in the car’s cassette player, but it left a lasting impression on me. He’s always had a deep love for blues, which is something I happily adopted.
This song in particular seemed to stick out in my memory. In my head it had more of a storytelling angle, like it was some spooky mystery or something. It’s not, it’s a break up song of sorts, but that was way beyond me. Other songs like []”Nothing But a Woman”](https://open.spotify.com/track/7gPwkSlX7KPNPnfZskHwWO?si=309e4819ff554c86) are more up beat, but “Still Around” crawled its way deeper into some memory pocket as I wondered why the singer could be so upset that this other person was still around. These are the things that would haunt me on the way to swim lessons.
I've had a couple people ask me if I could disseminate the results from my various Windows Phone gaming expeditions. I keep putting it off, but the fact that Fable Coin Golf is on sale this week reminded me to stop procrastinating.
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In Fable Coin Golf you flick a coin from one end to the other of an obstacle course while attempting to accumulate the highest score possible. Each flick subtracts from your score, but there are also pits, ponds, and monsters to avoid. You earn points for most everything else you bump into, especially coins and exploding barrels. Generally the challenge doesn't come from simply completing the level, but rather doing it with enough finesse to achieve a qualifying score.
As that this is Fable Coin Golf, the courses and obstacles are all themed after the big Fable games. It's got a stage-craft vibe that is pretty charming. The fidelity of the visuals may be why the levels take longer to load than I'd like, but at least the end result is quite pleasant.
The controls are accurate enough to get the job done. When going for the higher scores you may curse the imprecision of touch controls, but for the most part it's as accurate as you need it to be.
One of the hooks of the game is that your scores translate directly into currency for Fable III. I played Coin Golf before I was too far into Fable III, and I actually took the time to gold star every single level. So when I transferred the money into my Fable III game I was instantly rich. I was suddenly able to buy every single piece of property I had ever seen, and I never had to perform menial labor ever again. This had the side effect of somewhat ruining the economy-based win condition at the end of the game, but from what I hear that does a fine job of ruining itself even without being preemptively filthy rich. Seen as an alternative to playing Lute Hero or any of the other in-game jobs, Fable Coin Golf is much more entertaining.
I like Fable Coin Golf, and would quickly recommend it to pretty much anyone. It did exactly what I want a phone game to do - short burst entertainment. With it being on sale this week, I'd definitely recommend picking it up if you haven't already.
In the olden days, software was bought in a real physical store, came in a physical box, and was written onto some piece of physical media. If that software had problems with it, or lacked important features, then there was no real way to get an update out to the consumer. I think once or twice I had a game with such bad defects that they mailed out replacement floppy disks, but it was exceedingly rare. In general the mantra was “get it the right the first time, or don’t bother.”
Today’s culture is incredibly different. Digital distribution has become the norm. Even if you bought a box in a store, you’re invariably going to get updates pushed to you from the internet. Software has become a living, breathing thing. And it’s changed both how people develop software and how they consume it. The mantra has shifted to “release early and often.”
Given that my game lives on a internet connected device, I opted for a modern development strategy. I don’t bring any of this up to say that I rushed something unfinished out the door. Not at all - I think my little game is awesome. But I don’t see it as a product that is done - I see it as the beginning of things to come.
For the first release I knew that certain things needed to be established. I needed to solidify a visual style, and I needed to have the core gameplay be tight. As long as it was fun, and looked like something I wanted to play, some details could wait. If I tried to do every thing I wanted in one release then I’d never ever finish.
The point: I am happy to announce that the first update for MustEatBrains is now available!
The game as it exists today is essentially a little action game where you try for a new top score. But without being able to compete with other people there’s not much meaning to that. So it was clear that the first thing I needed to add was online leaderboards. With the new update you’ll be able to submit your scores and see how you compare to the top scores for the day or the top scores of all time.
Of course with this focus on score I wanted to give the player more info on how they got to the score they did. So I implemented a little post-game summary page that breaks down what carnage you inflicted and how you inflicted it. Nothing too fancy, just a little info to satisfy the data nerd in all of us.
I was really happy with the Living game mode at launch. And I thought it was cool that you could turn things around and play as the undead. But the Undead mode suffered from a lack of variety. The living player has multiple weapons at her disposal, and has to keep moving around tactically in order to stay alive. The undead player merely had to keep up an aggressive chase to maintain a steady supply of brains. Compared to the dynamic gameplay of the living player it just wasn’t fun enough.
After sitting on the problem for a while I decided the zombie player needed a better way to close the gap. Less time chasing, more time doing what zombies do best. So I gave the zombie a leap attack.
I wanted to keep the ravenous lust for brains a key part of the game, so I put the leap attack on a stamina system. Leaping takes a lot of stamina, which will slowly regenerate over time; however tasty human parts will refill that meter much faster. So as a zombie player you’re always on the look out for edibles. It adds the slightest bit of resource management, but not too much.
As it stands the undead mode is pretty hard. I’ll likely tweak that with future updates, but on the whole I’m happy with how it feels. As a zombie you’re an underdog, both working with and competing against your undead compatriots for whatever human parts are available. It’s hard, but it’s thematically hard.
So, that’s what’s in the update. It also includes various balance tweaks (especially around the late game) and interface refinements. But the core features are what’s listed above.
What’s next? Well, the feedback is pretty clear. The next features people want to see are:
Sound
More varied environments
So those are definitely in the pipeline. As well as some more fun stuff that I’ll share with you soon enough. Until then, sit back, relax, and eat some brains!
I present to you, my game for Windows Phone: MustEatBrains!
The marketplace description:
Choose either to fight on the side of the living or the undead horde in this handcrafted action game. It’s an all out brawl! How long will you last?
In the UNDEAD mode you play as a ravenous zombie. Chase after those meddlesome warm blooded fools and end their poor excuse for an existence. You score points for each heart stopped by your hand. Whatever fleshy parts you can salvage will bolster your undead endurance. But keep an eye out for tasty morsels of brain. The rush will make you invulnerable for a short time!
In the LIVING mode you stand alone against the undead horde. You score points for each undead soul laid to rest, and lose points for the unintentional death of innocents. You have a firearm at your command to hold back those zombies. But ammunition is limited, so keep an eye out for supplies to keep you blasting. If you run out you’ll have to depend on your other guns…
MustEatBrains features over three hundred frames of hand-drawn animation. Everything was crafted by one person - the art, the code, even the fonts. It is truly an old fashioned labor of love. I hope you enjoy it.
In late 2006 (yes, this story starts five years ago) Microsoft released the first version of XNA, a development platform for writing games on the PC and Xbox. It put all the nitty-gritty details that generally plague game development behind a modern type-safe programming language (C#). It let developers focus on the more interesting aspects of game design. As someone who has dabbled in game development in the past, this simplified platform sounded like a great way for me to get back into it.
I wanted a project that fit me and my personal strengths, so I decided on a 2D game where I could provide the art with old fashioned pen and paper. This would accomplish two things: it would give me an excuse to reconnect with the visual arts, and it would produce a different visual style from most of the other stuff out there. I imagined a sketchy hand-drawn style, like doodles in a notebook come to life. Of course I wasn’t the only one to have this idea, and in fact many games have come out in the years since with this style. Many have fallen short because they fail to embrace the look completely, while others have pulled it off brilliantly (like the enjoyable Parachute Panic). But from my perspective at the time, it wasn’t a look that had been done.
In grade school I used to draw stick figures doing terrible awful violent things to each other. It’s one of those things little boys do to vent their natural homicidal tendencies (medical term: testosterone), similar to throwing rocks and blowing stuff up with firecrackers. The thing that somehow makes this sort of thing vaguely less disturbing is that… well, they’re stick figures. It’s cartoon violence at its most cartoon state. I’m not going to get into a discussion about violence in media right now - I’m just presenting this a data point.
The trick with violence is that you need a morally justifiable sponge to soak it up so that the audience doesn’t feel morally queasy. Very few realistic targets hold up to that job, so we’ve invented all sorts of other options to fill out the ranks. In particular, zombies are somewhat of a violence loophole. They’re almost indistinguishable from their living counterparts, yet for some reason we heartily approve of them meeting their (second) end via a chainsaw. I think it’s the outnumbered survivalist viewpoint that allows us to use a certain “vigor” in our zombie eradication methods. It’s not as simple as the “its your or me!” factor; it’s the “its you or… oh god where did you all come from… must… escape… aaaaarrrrrgh!” factor.
Where am I going with this? Well, when it comes to video games, violence is a common crutch because our brain easily understands “death == losing”. And when it comes to violence, zombies are a generally agreeable adversary. So when I decided to make a game, I decided to make a zombie game. It’s also possible that its just because I had recently rolled off of playing Dead Rising. In going back to unravel the timeline I remembered that I’d actually already posted about the topic of zombie gaming here in 2007. That post was actually a product of me thinking about what sort of game I wanted to make. And that exercise led me down the path of discovering modern designer board games. Which it turns out has turned into quite a hobby for me.
Well, despite the crazy cascade of events that this project kicked off, you’ll notice I never released a game during all those years. In 2008 a version of XNA was released that supported the Zune device. At the time I worked on the Zune team at Microsoft, and developing for our little music player seemed like a fun goal. So I took what I had built before and adapted it for the small screen. I got it pretty far along, but in the end I lost steam because there frankly wasn’t any market to release it to. It was fun as a toy for myself, but it would never be more than that.
A couple years later XNA added its fourth platform: Windows Phone. In the years that had passed, the iPhone had become a great market for indie game developers. And I had software that could run on a phone, more or less ready to go. So I got it up and running as soon as the developer tools were available. But I never quite pushed it out the door and on to the marketplace. Why? Well, full disclosure, I worked on Windows Phone. And I was too busy busting my butt on that product to have any free cycles to work on some programming side project. I code for a living; it’s rare for me to get the capacity for additional coding.
It took me another year to find the time and finish the project. I decided to rework the art style, switch to a female protagonist, streamline the touch controls, build the features you expect of a phone game (e.g. save/resume), and of course polish it all as much as possible. The end product is something that I’m proud of, but it isn’t anywhere near as grand as the ideas that initially got me started. It’s a simple little action game. That’s it. I think it’s a good little action game, and I haven’t played anything quite like it on Windows Phone, but it is a little bit of style over substance. I’m okay with that. This is my first ever release as an independent developer. Now that the hard part is out of the way I can hopefully tinker more and work one some of those deeper ideas.
MustEatBrains is now available for download for Windows Phone here.
