McVaffe’s current gig

Quoted from McVaffe’s post on the OCReMix Forums
OK I’m not particularly proud of shameless plugs
but considering all I’ve learned from this site had quite a bit to do
with me actually landing this gig I figured it’d be at least decent of
me to give a heads up to anyone interested.

I’ve been working with a small game development company in downtown NYC
on an Xbox 360 title and it’s almost completed. The name of the game is
Street Trace NYC and I’m not going to promise it’s teh B3ST GAM3
EV4R!!! But considering it’s a completely original Live Arcade game and
is completely 3D, it’s pretty damn impressive. As for the concept, I
guess you could call it a cross between ideas of Tricstyle and Twisted
Metal, but it’s definitely a fun multiplayer game (though I haven’t
gotten particularly good at it yet).

As for my involvement, I worked on some of the sound effects as well as
the in-game music, which, despite the small size of the game, is still
a great accomplishment for me. Even before the game officially comes
out I wanted to give a shout to the site and to its members for giving
me an outlet for my stuff and encouraging me long enough to even get to
this point.

For anyone wanting to check out the game itself the site can be found here:

http://streettrace.com

The pics are a bit dated and right now the game is actully cel- shaded
and looking much better, but you can get the idea. I don’t know what
will happen after this project but I look forward to working on future
projects with this talented group of developers, so please check it
out, especially if you like the whole racing / shooting genre.

And again, thanks guys!! (and gals)

Sakari Competitions and More

I know you all at thasauce just love to get music news, so here is what Sakari is currently up to. This will interest you one way
or another – if you don’t feel like participating then that’s ok,
because you’ll love to listen.
Sakari Music Package
Completion: ~ 51%
Release Date: Not Available
Project Size: Very Large
Description:
This
is a compilation of music aimed at in-game use. This will cover every
type of music that someone using an application such as RPG Maker could
ever want. In fact, it’s completely possible to replace the entire RPG
Maker music RTP with the Sakari Music Package. Anyone and everyone is
encouraged to participate as they like.

Undiscovered Villages
Completion: 12.5%
Release Date: ~ Nov 10, 2006
Project Size: Small-Medium
Description:
This
will be a compilation of music from musicians on the site of music fit
for villages. Again, this is aimed at in-game use. The Package consists
of 8 tracks, added to the package on an as-submitted basis. As with the
Sakari Music Package, everyone who is interested is encouraged to join
in and submit a piece.

Music Competition – October
Completion: Not Applicable
Submission Dates: Oct 25 – Oct 31
Project Size: Medium
Description:
As
in other months, the staff members at Sakari have gotten together to
host a music competition. This month it’s a chilling theme to fit the
time of year. Looks like we’ll have a good number of entries, so finish
your entry up so that you can compete this month!

Doom 2 Project – Taking on new mixers

On October 13th, TO posted an update to the Doom 2 Project on OCRemix, saying:

“The mixerlist has been culled due to inactivity. The mixers that were on those tracks can still be a part of the project, so long as they submit me a final version. I won’t sit anyone on the track unless I’m sure I’ll get a final version from them.”
You can see what tracks are available and how to join the project here: http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=71824.

E-Bison back from the dead!

Yeah, you heard me! E-Bison mentions on his Devil’s Lab OCReMix Work-In-Progress, “Been gone for a long time. 3 years now. Happy to see my CT remix is still being played.”
“I came on here to show off my new videogame themed ska album. After
reading comments about my old tracks I decided to post a WIP track for
old times sake:

It’s a glitch remix of Devil’s lab. As usual, don’t be haitin’ because
I change the melodic material and form around… It’s supposed to be a
remix right?

Let me know what you think. I’ll submit it if you guys think I’ll make it through the gauntlet.

Here is the Link: http://www.myspace.com/118311029

Check out “Princess Mario” at www.myspace.com/tentoomany

for some crazy ska/punk videogame stuff from my band.


http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=93166

http://www.tentoomany.com/

The Corner Store

And welcome once again to the Corner Store. I’m going to have to come up with some good material if I want this to last (honestly I’m still shocked that VGDJ is one episode away from the big 60). This week I’ll talk about some guidelines when looking for an artist to hire on commission.
As far as the second part of that statement goes the best
advice I can give is look within your pricing range. There’s plenty of
good artists out there who’ll work for you and not charge you through
the nose. The main reason for this is because they have jobs and they
are only doing commission work for fun, or to bring in some extra cash.

Depending
on who you are you might like to find someone who can accept payments
through an EFT service like Paypal. But first things first: no matter
who you choose, get into contact with him/her and make sure that
commissions are even open. It would be very time-consuming to send an
awesome idea just to find out that all the slots are full for that
month, or that the artist doesn’t want or need to accept any more.

Browse
the market. Don’t be afraid to contact several artists at once; it’s
important to view several different styles and see which one better
fits what you’d like to have done. Also, artist community sites are a
good place to start looking as, at least according to my experience,
artists will link to others of similar skill or interest in their
profiles, which I think serves a dual purpose in that A) they’re
helping their friends get pageviews and B) they are spreading the work
load, effectively generating revenue for their compatriots and not
hogging the loot all for themselves.

Regardless of who you
choose most artists are perfectly willing to give you a preview sketch
before any money changes hands or work begins; this is so that the
customer (you) can change things if needed and also to guarantee that
the artist is on the same page as you.

Of course a good customer
also needs to be patient: some artists will start on your idea as soon
as payment is received but even so it still takes time so be prepared
to wait several weeks, though it’s perfectly acceptable (though
politeness is highly encouraged) to ask for a progress update if the
wait time exceeds one month.

This is about all I have to say
about the subject of artists and commissions, but likely you can find
someone just by browsing forums. No matter what you do, remember this
one last thing: respect the artist, praise them, it makes them happy
and willing to accept you as a repeat customer.

OC ReMix revises Judges Panel FAQ

For those that ever had a basic inquiry about OverClocked ReMix’s beloved/hated judges panel, your questions may just be answered.
Major revisions were completed this past Friday to the OCR knowledge base‘s Judges Panel article, adapted from years of encoutering various questions and misconceptions about the panel and its procedures.

To learn more about the ins and outs of the judges panel, including criteria for choosing judges and how many submissions are accepted to OC ReMix, visit Judges Panel at the OCR Wiki knowledge base.

BAFTA Announces Winners of the BAVGA

The BAFTA [ed: British Academy of Film and Television Arts] has
announced the winners of this years BAVGA [ed: British Academy Video
Game Awards].

The following is directly quoted from http://www.bafta.org

“All games shortlisted for The British Academy Video Games Awards
should demonstrate excellence in the selected categories across the
broad criteria. Titles which do not excel should not be put forward for
consideration. When judging the Awards, the platform for which the game
has been made will be taken into account.

“When
entering a game for BAFTA consideration, key individuals involved in
the development of each game must be credited, alongside the Publisher
and Developer of that game.”

The winners were announced in a ceremony held at a ceremony Thursday, October 5th, and include Shadow of the Collosus for Artistic Acheivement and Action and Aventure, and Tomb Raider: Legend for Original Score.

The entire list is at http://www.bafta.org/site/page413.html and you can read more at http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=7021