TOM FRANCIS
REGRETS THIS ALREADY

Shopstorm, A Spelunky Story

I’m so amazingly goddamn rich. A string of gold-studded and jewel-encrusted Mine levels led straight into the Jungle, where two levels in a row left a Bone Idol trivially close to the exit. I barely had to nudge them to get out $40,000 richer, long before the ghost they trigger showed up. And now I’ve found the Black Market. Continued

Spelunky Tips

Spelunky is now out on console box, and is awesome and everyone loves it. I’ve played both versions a ridiculous amount, and brother do I got some tips.

Lots of Spelunky’s mechanics are simple in principle but really, really, really hard to reliably master. When figuring out what route is worth taking, factor in the risk you might screw up and get hit by something. Continued

Why Are Stealth Games Cool?

While poaching some eggs, I tried to explain what’s particularly cool about stealth games. Continued

The Newsroom

That leaked Aaron Sorkin script I wrote up a while back is now a show, called The Newsroom. It goes behind the scenes of a nightly news show with a grouchy celebrity anchor, and revolves around him, his new executive producer and the crew. This means I would watch it religiously even if it wasn’t a Sorkin thing – I have no particular interest in the news, but every show or film made about it seems to be great. Continued

An Update About Monetising Videos Of Gunpoint, And Testing

We now have a slightly staggering 5,500 people signed up to test Gunpoint, and I haven’t sent a build out for ages. This means I get more e-mail about it than I can respond to, so here’s a quick FAQ: Continued

Res Gestae

This is my face when coding resolution menus.

And this will probably be the last time I whine about how screen settings stuff is harder than relativity, because I think I’ve done it. Continued

E3’s Violence Overload, Versus Gaming’s Usual Violence Overload

While frying a piece of fish, I wondered why the violence shown at the main conferences at E3 got to me, despite the fact that I play violent games all the time. Continued

The Suspicious Developments manifesto

After eight years as a games journalist and two as a part time developer, I have decided what I think of games: I like them. I’ve also figured out some of the reasons I like them, some of the reasons I sometimes don’t, and which of these things I really care about.

I’m far enough through making my own game, Gunpoint, to get a feel for which of these things I can actually do. But I’m still new at this. A lot of them are things I figured out during development, and Gunpoint itself doesn’t reflect them all. So this is a mission statement: a way for me to be specific and public about what I’d like to do in games, and how I plan to do it. Continued

Suspicious Developments unveils legitimate rebranding exercise

BATH, UNITED KINGDOM – June 8, 2012 – Suspicious Developments, acclaimed developer of nothing so far, today announced a comprehensive overhaul of its brand and image. The centrepiece of the radical new look is a bold logo update that dramatically refreshes its January 2012 predecessor, designed by experimental UK startup m.bezl for a reported £1.3 million. Continued

Huh. That Looks Interesting

I’m hitting a few inconsistencies in where the game predicts your jump will go, and where it actually goes. “Through walls” and “Face-first into a wall” respectively. So to make sure the prediction algorithm was correctly guessing what pose the player would be in at each point on the arc, I made it show me. It looks like this!

I can’t really figure out a way to use this as the prediction visual that isn’t super intrusive and surreal, but I rather like it.

Cinnamon And Nutmeg Iced Coffee

I have to code but it’s hot. So… Continued

Hey, You’re Not Chell

Portal 2’s beautiful and fun level editor just came out, and already there are 1,787 player-built puzzles for it, and already the simple rating system has lifted some incredible ones to the top. My favourite is Gate: very focused, only a few elements, but genuinely baffling for just the right amount of time. And unlike a few of the other tricky ones I’ve tried, you have to ‘get it’ to solve it, giving rise to the familiar “I’m a genius!” moment.

Let PCG’s Chris Thursten talk you through how to make a needlessly complex level for it.

The ‘Tiny World’ Game I Didn’t Make At The Weekend

Another Ludum Dare, the competition to make a game in a weekend! Another weekend I can’t really do so! Instead, I worked on Gunpoint. But as before, I’ll tell you what game I would have made. The theme was Tiny World, and my game idea is called… Launch Craft. Continued

Things I Can Safely Tell You About The Cabin In The Woods Before You See It

• You should see it as soon as conveniently possible. It’s the best film I’ve seen in years.
• Don’t read reviews. I’ve read a bunch that pointlessly pre-empt some fun stuff.
• If you haven’t seen the trailer, don’t.
• If you have seen the trailer, don’t worry. The apparent twist it shows is also made clear right from the start of the film, it’s not much of a spoiler.
• Bradley Whitford (Josh from the West Wing) doing Whedonesque dialogue is something that should have happened sooner.
• I still really like Fran Kranz (Toph from Dollhouse).
• Seriously, it’s almost perfect.

Continued

Gunpoint’s Release Date

I’m going to stop estimating it. I’m always wrong, as you’ll have noticed, and however much I forewarn you about that, I hate having to change the ETA again and again. It feels like I’m artificially creating a constant stream of bad news for you guys, about a project that’s going incredibly well, is fun to do, and that I’m making quickly and efficiently. Continued