SOUTH AFRICA’S PREMIER GAME DEVELOPMENT MAGAZINE • ISSUE 22 • JUNE 2008

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INSIDE:
DEV.MAG TIME MACHINE • TRILBY: ART OF THEFT REVIEWED •
PROCEDURAL GENERATION MADE EASY • DESIGN DOCUMENTS:
TECHNIQUES AND VALUES • LATEST NEWS • MUCH MORE ...
 REVIEWS

REGULARS
12 TRILBY: THE ART OF THEFT
One of the top-rated indie games of the year

14 THE FAMILY TREASURE

04 EDITORIAL
ARR, matey! Epic pirate adventure!

15 SUMOTORI DREAMS

05 NETBRIEFS
Sumo wrestling with a hilarious twist

TUTORIALS
FEATURES

16 GAME GRAPHICS WITH PHOTOSHOP

06 A DAY TO REMEMBER
This month’s tut deals with backgrounds for the GUI

We chat with one of SA’s top game development activists

20 PROCEDURAL LEVEL GENERATION
Get the most out of base resources and clever coding

DESIGN

24 DESIGN DOCUMENTS
What you really need to know about game planning

28 TAKING THE HIT

How to deal with criticism for your games

30 A MATTER OF TIME
How to use time limits effectively in your creation

TAILPIECE

34 A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

A brief history of Dev.Mag
 EDITOR Hello again, dear readers!
Rodain “Nandrew” Joubert
Time flies by quickly, it seems. I hope you haven’t grown too impatient
waiting for this edition of the magazine to come out – as you can see,
DEPUTY EDITOR we’ve been rather busy with some things and it has slowed our progress Comp 19: Playing with Death!
Claudio “Chippit” de Sa considerably.
h�p://forums.tidemedia.co.za/nag/showthread.php?t=5633
This edition has been especially pre�ified for three reasons: one, we’ve
SUB EDITOR been hankering for a makeover for a while, and it’s always fun pu�ing on Most games stop when your character’s life meter hits zero. Game.Dev’s nine-
Tarryn “Azimuth” van der Byl a new skin. Two, this mag needed to be presented as a journalistic project teenth competition encourages participants to challenge this standardised view
to some sinister authority, meaning that some polishing up was required of gaming and create a project which blurs the boundaries of life and death, play-
on the looks front. Three, this shall be my final Dev.Mag issue as your ing about with the la�er to create a new and unique gaming experience. If you’re
DESIGNER loyal and ever-humble editor, and I have personally put in the hours to a South African citizen and want to have a go at this comp, high-tail your way to
Brandon “Cyberninja” Rajkumar make sure that the last edition under my control leaves a good impres- the forums and get something going for the July 1st deadline!
sion on you, the reader.

WRITERS I’d like to start by allaying any fears: while I may have fallen casualty to
Simon “Tr00jg” de la Rouviere real-world commitments, the magazine itself will most certainly endure
Ricky “Insomniac” Abell in my absence. Our dear Dep-Ed, Claudio “Chippit” de Sa, has accepted
the mantle and is already making preparations to re-organise the maga- TIG database
William “Cairnswm” Cairns zine and get the next issue ready. From what I hear, he’s being assisted
Bernard “Mushi Mushi” Boshoff by a crack squad of journalists who have been called in especially to help h�p://db.tigsource.com/
Danny “Dislekcia” Day him make his mark, so there’s bound to be some exciting things happen-
ing in the near future. Recently, Derek Yu over at TIGsource decided to
Andre “Fengol” Odendaal
update the affiliated Independent Games Data-
Luke “Coolhand” Lamothe Given that this is possibly my final soapbox opportunity for the maga- base, throwing in filters, doohickeys, whatchama-
Rishal “UntouchableOne” Hurbans zine, I’m going to hit a li�le bit of self-indulgence and wish you all a MochiAds callits and a load of extra games, bringing the da-
proper goodbye. I’ve never really been all that good with farewells (who tabase count to a li�le over 200 hand-crafted indie
James “NightTimeHornets” can honestly say that they practice for such things?) but I want to say that h�p://www.mochiads.com/ games. It’s a humble collection, but still really neat
Etherington-Smith it’s been a great privilege to serve as editor over the years. Dev.Mag has to browse through if you’re looking for some high-
Gareth “Gazza_N” Wilcock grown from a simple concept to a fully-fledged reality, and new oppor- An interesting website which offers devel- quality indie gems to try out.
tunities make themselves known with each passing month, helped along opers a chance to earn money with their
Sven “FuzzYspo0N” Bergstrom by a drastically swelling reader base and one of the most dedicated crews online Flash games, using an in-game
Kyle “SkinkLizzard” van Duffelen I have ever had the fortune of working with. As I walk away from the ad system that allows the game’s creator
proverbial seat of power, I hope that I can allow myself some small credit to get buckazoids on a per-play basis. If
for helping all of this come to pass. you’re an experienced Flash developer and
WEBSITE ADMIN
are craving a bit of cash, have a look here
Robbie “Squid” Fraser Beloved reader, thank you for taking the road with us this far. I hope that and see if the system appeals to you.
you continue to enjoy the magazine in my absence and may you fully
reap the benefits of the fresh hands that are now taking the helm. Your
WEBSITE support has been invaluable – the audience is what we end up writing
www.devmag.org.za for, after all, and without the readers ... well, there wouldn’t be much of
a magazine to talk about!

EMAIL I salute you, and I salute the hard-working staff of Dev.Mag. Goodbye all,
devmag@gmail.com and happy game devving. ;)

This magazine is a project of the South Afri-

RODAIN “NANDREW” JOUBERT

can Game.Dev community. Visit us at:

EDITOR
www.gamedotdev.co.za

All images used in the mag are copyright and

belong to their respective owners.

MMOG business models

h�p://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3688/mmog_business_models_cancel_that_.php

For the business-oriented readers out there, Gamasutra offers a feature comparing the vari-
ous types of online gaming business models. It looks in particular at the subscription vs
microtransaction debate, examining the la�er’s benefits in light of the former’s slackening
hold on marketing minds. Interviews with SOE, Three Rings and EA representatives claim
You admire the layout. You are in awe of
to shed light on the ma�er.

the layout. You are amazed by the layout.

Reward us with hugs and candy.

4 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 5

 DM: Mind telling us a li�le about yourself? the entries that come out of it. There are also the phys-
ical events like workshops, development LANs and
DANNY: My name is Danny Day. I’m 27 years old. the hugeness that is rAge every year. The main goal
I own QCF Design, an independent game develop- is to raise awareness and visibility of game develop-

DEV.MAG PRESENTS ... ment studio. I run Game.Dev, a non-profit commu-

nity of South African game developers. I’ve lectured
ment as both an art form and viable solution to some
of our problems across the country. It’s idealistic, but
it seems to be working so far.
on games at UNISA, given talks all over the country
and consulted on local and international initiatives
on growth and innovation in Information and Com- DM: When did you first become interested in game
munications Technology in South Africa. Generally I design and development?
just answer a ton of questions and try to get people’s
enthusiasm channelled in ways that will show them DANNY: If I look back, I’ve always been ‘designing
results and keep them going. games,’ from drawing mazes by hand for other kids
in primary school, to being the one that always comes
DM: Tell us about the Game.Dev community and the up with new things to play during break. If there was
service it provides, for the benefit of newcomers. any kind of interactivity to something, I wanted to get
in there and make my own.
DANNY: I’ve never really considered Game.Dev as
a service, but I guess we are… If you want to find out DM: What piqued this interest?
about game development, have an idea that you’d like
feedback on, want help learning how to make your DANNY: One day my dad brought home one of
own games, have a skill that you’d like to offer other those ancient folding-keyboard workstations and
game developers or simply have a ton of experience started writing his own games on it. He had all these
that you’d like to share, Game.Dev is the place to go. theories about how people learn and what environ-
ments they learn best under, so my sister and I became
DM: How does the Game.Dev community function? guinea pigs. We got very, very good at mastermind
and mathematics playing Mastery and MathComp re-
DANNY: I spend a ton of time online, as do the rest spectively. To my dad, the games were just a means to
of the Game.Dev regulars, answering questions on an end, but I was hooked on them after that, always
our forums, solving problems and giving feedback on looking for the next game that would challenge me
games. Every two months I come up with a competi- to learn or understand something new. I never really
tion concept that I feel will grow skills and direct in- cared for programming until someone showed me
teresting discussions, run the competition for a month LOGO. I got hooked on its instant results and never
and then spend an inordinate amount of time judging really looked back.

Danny travels all over South Africa to

spread the word of game development.
One of the highlights in his calendar
Danny Day (known in the online realm is the annual rAge expo where he
maintains a Game.Dev stand offering
as dislekcia) will be a name familiar talks, workshops and get-togethers
to most who have dwelled amidst the for keen developers.
Game.Dev community of South Africa.
Everyone’s favourite mentor has now taken
a step towards realising the dream of a
booming South African game development
environment by starting his own company, QCF
design. Writer James “NightTimeHornets”
Etherington-Smith goes to learn a little more
about the man who was instrumental in the
creation of the Game.Dev community.

6 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 7

DM: Tell us about QCF. where to stay… I guess the dream success stage of
QCF would be to have it be big and successful enough
DANNY: QCF officially started life as Squirrel Cube to enable the people working in it to be auteur and
Software in November 2007. The original name was experiment with the games they make without fear of
chosen out of desperation and ended up changing financial ruin.
pre�y quickly because it would confuse people…
QCF stands for Quarter Circle Forward, which is DM: Have you achieved any of these so far?
usually a special move in most games, hence QCF +
Design being a “design special move.” Corny, but us DANNY: Well, QCF is pu�ing food on my table!
gamers like that sort of thing. Plus it’s only been around for about 6 months and I’m
already going to start working on a personal project
DM: What inspired you to start QCF? instead of a title for a client. That’s a big deal in the
industry, if it works out I’ll have another intellectual
DANNY: Mainly the fact that I’d been earning a property that hasn’t used any publisher money which
living without a ‘real job’ for over a year just doing we can then take to market.
game design consulting projects. I realised that I was
turning down job offers and it was finally time to start DM: Have you released any games?
my own company to bring a couple of products I was
working on to market. I’ve always admired the indie DANNY: We’ve just completed QCF’s first game,
studios out there, but it was only once the whole cas- a cellphone game called MathsterMind. We’ve man-
ual games market exploded and digital distribution aged to retain the intellectual property rights and so
really took off and Game.Dev literally grew out of will begin the process of looking for publishers and
nothing that I thought I could manage to earn a living regional distributors soon.
doing what I love.
DM: Do you have any partners in QCF? Any employ-
DM: What are your goals and aims with QCF? ees?

DANNY: I want to build games that people enjoy, DANNY: No partners, the company is mainly me at
make a bit of a mark in the world with them. Hence the moment. I’m building a team up though. Maths-
my pushing for innovation and learning in games. Of terMind employed Robbie “Squid” Fraser as a design-
course, I need to eat along the way and have some- er and programmer as well as Brandon “Cyberninja”

Mathstermind was the first project that Danny got into after
starting QCF. The game has gone through a long and involved
prototyping process, with many revisions needed to get to the
final, polished product.

B U I L D GAMES
TO
“I WANT E N J O Y, MAKE
PL E
THAT PEO M A R K I N THE
A
A BIT OF TH T HEM”
W I
WORLD

8 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 9

Rajkumar as a graphics artist. MathsterMind evolved sation tool I wrote a few years ago called Molecules. DANNY: I think we’ve got a unique opportunity to breath of fresh air in the industry in the next 10 years.
out of Robbie’s Math A�ack game, which made Mind- build capacity as an industry of innovative and crea- Our future is digital distribution and the unique tal-
set bring the project to us. In general, I don’t see any DM: Tell us about Molecules. tive game designers, known for excellent, quirky, ex- ents our country produces. When most of our popula-
problems growing QCF from here, there’s all the tal- citing games in a global games industry that’s crying tion is using computers, we’ll see some huge changes
ent from Game.Dev available. DANNY: It’s a real-time molecular building tool. Re- out for exactly that sort of authorship. Because we to the role that games play in our society, both as tools
places those ball-and-stick kits they flog to school kids don’t have the publisher-driven monolithic structures and as means to earn.
DM: Any information on current projects that you and students. here that govern game development pre�y much eve-
can share? rywhere else, I feel that we have the chance to start DM: Do you have any advice for indie developers
DM: Any previous success stories? from scratch and avoid all the pitfalls that take crea- just ge�ing started?
DANNY: I have a couple of casual games I spend the tivity out of the equation. We’re also fortunate enough
odd few days here and there working on, Drawka- DANNY: I think a lot of people would argue that to be a country with lower-than-average living costs, DANNY: An idea is pre�y much worthless unless
noid and Dream Catcher, both do something unique Game.Dev itself has been an unbridled success. We so we’ve got the chance to sell games globally via the you turn it into a playable game. Start small. You’re
that I need to stop blabbing about and get out there, went from having almost no visible local game devel- internet and make much be�er livings than indie de- not going to make Quake 17 on your own. Work your
lest they stop being unique in a month or two… opment community or information to running work- velopers in Los Angeles or New York. Sure, we’ve got way up from your core idea to the bigger ones. Always
shops and inspiring an entire generation of develop- infrastructure problems but those can be overcome. test your games, the smiles of your players will keep
Our next big project is likely to be a self-funded exper- ers, in less than 3 years. QCF is just starting out, but you going when things get tough. Work with others
iment for Microsoft’s Dream Build Play competition already our first project is doing very well and ge�ing The Eastern European developers are known for tech- whenever you get the chance, but don’t expect to have
– which is an excellent way to get international press great feedback. I feel that’s just the tip of the iceberg. nical wizardry but often flawed gameplay, Japanese people beating a path to your door. Don’t re-invent
and a�ention. You just have to make a great game. developers are known for cultural flashes like bullet- the wheel and don’t accept “you can’t do that” as an
No pressure, y’know? There’s also the marketing of DM: What are your opinions on the South African hell shooters and complex jRPGs. I would like to see answer, there’s always another way. If you keep try-
our current properties. We need to find Mathstermind game development environment? South African game developers famous for being a ing, you’ll get there… I feel like I’ve hardly started.
distribution partners as well as start selling a visuali-

One of Danny’s prototypes, Mol-

ecules, is a simulator and build-
ing tool which he hopes to pro-
mote as an educational tool for
children interested in chemistry.

10 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 11

 by Gareth “Gazza_N” Wilcock

Trilby: Art of Theft is a stealth-platform game created alarm off once too often and Trilby will decide to hot- tual theft portion up a li�le by throwing some extra more tangible rewards than simple bragging rights. A
by Ben “Yah�ee” Croshaw using Adventure Game foot it out of there before the cops show up. Complete challenges into the mix. While lootable items are gen- progressively higher average heist rating will unlock
Studio. Yes, you read correctly - a platformer made in the mission, and you’re presented with a score screen erally placed within relatively easy reach, more valu- special costumes that Trilby can change into, granting
an engine designed for adventure games. As the title that outlines your performance and assigns you a rat- able items and mission objectives are often secured in- him special abilities to aid him in his work. All of this
not-so-subtly suggests, Art of Theft stars ing for the heist, ranging from a pathetic “C” to the side safes or locked rooms, which you must break into works together to make Art of Theft a fantastically re-
Chzo Mythos protagonist Trilby. So elusive “Trilby” rating. by means of simple reflex-based minigames. Wri�en warding game to play through multiple times.
what’s he up to this time? Puzzling As you’ve probably gathered from the above notes are often sca�ered across the levels, contain- I’m going to say it bluntly - Art of Theft is not an
his way through haunted houses? Un- description, the main component of Art of Theft is ing security codes or clues to unlocking hidden loot. easy game. In itself this isn’t a bad thing, but the dif-
covering the secrets of reality-shift- stealth. This is achieved mainly by the best friend of There are also electrical panels in some levels that, ficulty is augmented somewhat by a few unfortunate
ing hotels? Well, no. In this game every burglar since burglary was invented - darkness. when successfully tinkered with via a chance-based quirks. Firstly, the controls tend to alternate between
he’s doing exactly what got him By sticking to dark or dimly-lit areas, Trilby is able “cut the wire” minigame, will do anything from shut- “over-sensitive” and “dead”, which works against the
his reputation to start with – cat to hide himself from view and avoid se�ing off the ting down security systems to bathing the entire level whole split-second-timing part of the game. Nothing
burgling. dreaded alarm. Different light levels offer him dif- in darkness. is more frustrating than whacking the wall-hug key
Art of Theft is comprised of a linear set ferent degrees of invisibility. Completely dark areas Not that any of this is superfluous either – for each to dodge incoming lasers, only to have Trilby bliss-
of missions (or “heists”, as they’re called), allow him to move freely without being seen by any- puzzle you solve and for each bit of loot you steal, you fully ignore your command and set off three alarms in
which are linked together via a simple thing but laser sensors. In dimly lit areas he is visible earn Reputation Points. These can be spent between a row, or wall-hug and then suddenly pop out again
but entertaining storyline. while in the open, but can hide by hugging himself missions on new abilities (such as “sidle”, which al- because you held the key down for one nanosecond
Each heist follows more or to the wall behind him, an action that costs him the lows you to move while wall-hugging), upgrades too long. Secondly, the enemies may follow a predict-
less the same pa�ern. Trilby ability to move (this is also useful for dodging the to existing abilities (such as improved lockpicking able pa�ern, but they have a tendency to go “out of
will first brief you, giving you aforementioned lasers). Slipping in and out of vis- skills), or even such luxuries as “guard amnesia”, phase”. In these cases, at least one enemy in a given
some back story to the mission as ibility without being detected requires careful timing which will gradually replenish your alarm count as area is potentially able to see you, leaving you stand-
well as outlining the victory con- of your movements and actions, but is made easier the level progresses. ing there stupidly for minutes on end waiting for a
ditions. Then it’s then up to you to by the predictable pa�erns that guards, lasers and At this point, it would be pertinent to mention “vision gap” to sneak through.
guide him through the level, snap- cameras follow. Bad timing can be fatal, though, since the influence of Reputation Points on Art of Theft’s That said, Art of Theft is not a bad game either.
ping up whatever swag you can cameras and lasers will trigger the alarm almost im- replay value. You are able to replay any of your com- Despite occasional frustration due to the aforemen-
find while ensuring that you mediately. With human guards, however, Trilby has pleted heists at any point, but any abilities you have tioned niggles, the game has a lot to offer – it’s unique,
don’t get spo�ed by guards, a last-resort tool – a limited-use tazer built into his purchased in later missions will remain available to it’s challenging, it’s highly replayable, and above all,
security cameras, laser trip- “grolly” (a grappling-hook/umbrella hybrid) that he you during those replays. Even the earliest heists are it’s fun. It’s definitely worth checking out just to see
wires or civilians. Should you can use to render them unconscious before they hit designed especially with this in mind, with some ar- how far the AGS engine can be stretched with a li�le
be detected, the alarm will be the panic bu�on. eas made inaccessible until you purchase the neces- skill. Overall, if you’re willing to work past the occa-
raised. This doesn’t cause im- While dodging Security is the core mechanic of sary skills to reach them. In addition, the end-mission sionally finicky controls, there’s a lot to recommend
mediate failure, but set the the game, Yah�ee has made an effort to spice the ac- rating boost that these new areas provide comes with here. Give it a shot.

12 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 13

 S u m o t o r i D re ams
by Simon “Tr00jg” de la Rouviere

What exactly is Sumotori Dreams? Well, it is Sumo-ish The controls aren’t very intuitive, but it is done
and not so much dreamy as it is a perfect example of purposefully like that. The average person can’t throw
“Drunken fighters, lol!” jaw-breaking uppercuts in real life, and it takes prac-
A be�er explanation would be that Sumotori tice to throw a decent hit. Your keys are “push with
Dreams is fighting game, and a very unique one at one hand”, “push with both hands”, “lean forward”
that. Your goal is to simply push the opposite player and “jump”. They could’ve added a “kick with both
so that he falls or steps out of the ring. Yes, that is all. feet”, but that’s just our opinion.
Well, okay, not really. The graphics also aren’t absolutely awe-inducing,
by Simon “Tr00jg” de la Rouviere The average epic, grandiose fight takes a humon- but since when did we worry about that? The charac-
gous 5 seconds. What happens after the 5 seconds is ters are fancifully pieced together by li�le blocks and
what makes Sumotori Dreams the gem it is. the entire game fits into just a few kilobytes.
After you’ve pushed your opponent over, both of Sumotori Dreams is also a really interesting game
you are probably lying on the floor. The AI takes over from a design perspective, considering that the big-
and its job is to simply stand up and take a bow. With gest part of the game takes place long after the player
strategic placing of objects and semi-drunken AI, hi- input has stopped. It is quite a neat idea that could
larity ensues as the AI tries to stand up. The competing perhaps gain some foothold in other potential titles.
wrestlers stumble, break blocks (tsk, tsk) and gener- As a game, Sumotori Dreams is a delight to watch.
ally just fall around like the pair of complete buffoons As a rule of thumb, fetch your roommate, housemate,
that they are. Once they are both standing, they take a grandmother or cat to play it with you. You’ll be gig-
gracious bow and the next match can start. gling like idiots for hours.
You can’t help but smell the whiff of nostalgia that
permeates the air as your eyes fall upon the gorgeous
retro adventure game graphics of The Family Treas-
ure.
This South-African created adventure does not
tread any new ground in terms of plot and story, but
it delivers in clean, fun gameplay.
You play an old bearded pirate named Bloodhook,
and you are tasked to find your family’s lost treas-
ure. The rest of the characters are your average pirate
crew.
The puzzles are quite easy, so the seasoned adven-
turer will probably whizz through this game. Even for
non-experts, it’s not too long. Some of the events are
quite random, though, and at times the game doesn’t
quite make sense. Why a pirate would decide to give
you a magnifying glass, no one knows.
The Family Treasure touches on the world of Mon-
key Island and references to Le Chuck, greatly en-
hancing the game with that special feel and humour.
As mentioned, the graphics are really well done
for an indie project. The place where the game excels
the most, though, is the music. The funky pirate tunes
create the perfect atmosphere as you scavenge the
small island.
If you have time (or a lunch break, even) and just
want to rewind with some standard adventure gam-
ing, then you won’t go wrong with The Family Treas-
ure.

14 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 15

 Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Fig. 4 Fig. 3
This article refers to resources available at the
“Contents” section of the Dev.Mag website
(www.devmag.org.za). It is recommended that
you visit the site and download these resources.

This month, Rishal “TheUntouchableOne” Hurbans shows

us an example of creating a simple GUI graphics set with
the help of Photoshop.
Fig. 5

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create some de- or horribly done menu screen but on the other hand Once you have the blank project opened, open the The opacity of this layer should also be 50%. The im-
cent backgrounds for your game’s GUI. This would no-one wants to deal with an over done cumbersome Moon-light forest.psd photoshop project file. Select all age should now look similar to Figure 3.
apply to things like the menu screens, loading screens menu screen. In this particular type of game, I would the layers of the Moon-light forest.psd project, right- Duplicate the previously created layer and apply
and any other area in the GUI where a background say the menu background should be somewhat hu- click, and duplicate layers to the blank project. the Twirl Distort procedure once again, use an angle
would be required. The techniques used here can also merous or at least, interesting. While all the layers of the Moon-light forest are se- of around 190 and set this layer’s opacity to 30%. We
be used to create in-game backgrounds and add extra At the stage of creating menu screens, loading lected, right-click and select Merge Layers. We don’t are going to give the last distort we created a blue tint.
effects to them. screens etc, a good idea would be to use concept art need all the separate layers, just the forest in full. Select Image>Adjustments>Selective Colour. Choose
The backgrounds created will be raster images so that you have drawn physically or make use of the Firstly we can create the warp portal in the center White and set the Cyan and Magenta values up until
we will need to know the exact size of the image to in-game art already created. The menu backgrounds of the scene. you get a nice looking blue(the colour here can be any
prevent different stretching, which would cause the can also have an abstract look. This can easily make Now, while the forest layer is selected, choose the colour of your choice).The image should look some-
image to look distorted and unprofessional. the image look really amazing if done correctly and Elliptical Marquee tool in the tool bar and select an thing like Figure 4.
As usual we will create a blank Photoshop project. doesn’t take too much effort. By giving the back- elliptical section of the image as shown in Figure 1. Thats the “portal” done for now. We need to put
Choose a good usable size for the canvas. I used a ground an abstract look and giving your bu�ons a Once the desired area is selected, right-click and select Smurfy into the scene now. Open the Photoshop
800x600 pixel canvas. more definite and solid look, the menu should be re- Layer via Copy. project with Smurfy’s front view and duplicate the
Remember, the colour scheme and theme of the ally appealing to the player. The new layer needs to be distorted to give it the layers to the current project that we are working on.
backgrounds in your game should be in sync with the When thinking about the menu screen for “portal” look. I think the default size of the character sprite is just
overall theme of your game. As this tutorial has de- “Smurfy’s Forest Adventures”, many ideas may come So, select the filter option in the task bar, select fine, but if you disagree, resize the vector layer using
veloped, we’ve created the character, “Smurfy” and a to mind. Since Smury is part alien, I thought a warp Distort>Twirl, set the angle to around 50 and apply the Transform, Scale procedure.
“Moon-light forest” backdrop, so it will only be fit if portal would be good. So a portal with Smurfy pop- it, now set the opacity of the layer to 50%. The image I have decided to make the character’s one arm
Smurfy starred in a game that takes place in a forest. ping out in the deep dark forest would be ideal. should look similar to Figure 2. look different to the other by simply, flipping it hori-
A title,“Smurfy’s Forest Adventures” or something It’s pre�y obvious that we will make use of the The image looks a bit blurry and distorted, which zontally rotating it slightly(these options are avail-
along those lines. previous created images, we will use the front view of is what we want. able in the Edit>Transform Menu). After this has been
We will start with the menu screen for the game. the Smurfy vector sprite and the forest backdrop, so Duplicate the portal layer just created. Repeat the done, right-click on the layer in the layers window
The menu screen should be an a�raction of your game. if you don’t already have the resources, it would be a Filter>Distort>Twirl procedure but this time set the and select, merge layers. This will make the vector
No-one wants to start the game looking at a boring good idea to download them. angle to something greater than 50 but less than 120. sprite into a single raster layer (Figure 5) .

16 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 17

 Fig. 11 Fig. 10

Fig. 6 Fig. 7

Fig. 8 Fig. 9

We are going to use the Transform, Warp proce- and smudge tools will also add an extra effect of the por-
dure, so we need the sprite to be in raster image form. tal. Experiment with the tools with different strengths
Select the Smurfy layer and select, Transform>Warp. and see what you can come up with (Figure 10).
Now move the points and “handles” in the warp grid Now remember, your menu background should
to make it seem as if the character is being sucked into be interesting but also not too out there in terms of
or thrown out of the portal as seen in Figure 6. dominance. You need the bu�ons and options to be
Now since all this is happening very fast, we can clear and bold in the menu screen, though in the load-
duplicate the warped character layer, set the opacity ing screens the background should be really interest-
to about 50% and move it slightly to the left or right ing and a�ractive as a player does not want to wait
(Figure 7). for something to happen while looking at something
We can now use the smoke/fog technique as ex- boring. There should also be a space for the bu�ons
plained in tutorial four to give the image a few more where they won’t be obstructing anything interesting
effects. The effect can be applied to the surroundings on the background (Figure 11).
around the character as well as around the portal. Af- The backgrounds can be transformed into many
ter you play around with the effect, your image could different amazing styles, using the Filter>Artistic op-
look similar to Figure 8. tion (Figure 12).
Another effect that would be useful here is Loading bars, bu�ons, checkboxes and the other
the sprayed stroke effect. Select Filter>Brush GUI controls will be discussed in the next tutorial. By
Strokes>Sprayed stroke. Choose suitable values for combining the background and the controls correctly,
the Stroke length and spray radius (Figure 9). a striking GUI can be achieved. A challenge to you
Any other touches can be added to the image as you would be to use the animation techniques discussed
see fit. I have added a small black dot in the center of the in tutorial three to created an animated menu back-
portal to make the portal more definate. Using the blur ground as seen in commercial games. Fig. 12

18 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 19

 We’ve covered procedural generation before in Dev. Eventually, after much experimentation, I came up
Mag (we had an excellent article on Perlin Noise two with a rudimentary but very effective method. I split
issues ago), but before we start it might be pertinent the level into large (512 x 512 pixel) tiles, and built
to refresh your memory. In game development terms, room and corridor tiles that I could plug into this grid.
procedural generation is the creation of game assets This saved me several hassles. For one, it meant that I
on the fly by using code as opposed to standard edit- could always be sure that everything linked together
ing tools. Rather than spending hours upon hours cre- properly (since generating and linking corridors on
ating textures, levels, geometry, music, or whatever the fly can pose several problems). Secondly, it kept
else your game requires, you generate it as the game the actual level generation process simple and fast.
is running according to rules that you specify.
It sounds very complicated and, depending on
what you want to generate, it can be. However, pro-
cedural generation can be a great asset to the aspiring
game developer, and it needn’t be that difficult. Since
it’s best to learn with a working example, I’m going to
cover a simple method for procedural level genera-
tion that I developed for one of my own games.

A simple level generator

gGuardian is a game that I whipped up for one of the

frequent competitions held by Game.Dev, the com-
munity that creates this magazine. The rules of the
competition specified that we had a month to cre-
ate any manner of game we chose – provided that
the gameplay only lasted for ten minutes from start
to finish. I decided to create a siege game where the
player must defend a single key location from a multi-
pronged assault by hostile aliens. Early on in develop-
ment, I realised that unless it had a large variety of
maps to play on, the game’s replay value would be
close to zero. I didn’t have the time to build and test a
whole lot of maps, so the answer was simple: I needed
Ever wanted to make entire worlds on the fly without to procedurally generate them.
having to manually stick in every blade of grass? This Fortunately, the levels that I had in mind were
very simple. I needed a room that would contain the
month, Gareth “Gazza_N” Wilcock offers readers a bit of Cryobay, the object which the player was required to
insight into the process of procedural level generation. protect. I also wanted easily identifiable points from
which the a�acking hordes could spawn, which I de-
cided would also take the form of special rooms. These
two functional room types would be supplemented
by other arbitrary rooms filled with decorative doo-
dads, and the whole lot would be linked by a maze
of corridors. All very straightforward in principle, but
the question was how I could build something like
that on the fly.

20 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 21

 The actual level building takes place over several steps:

1) Place Cryobay room. This room is 2) Place room tiles. These are instanti- 3) Place “generic” path tiles. Each
always staggered around the centre ated randomly across the map. Ran- room fires off eight of these - two in
of the map and, as the name implies, dom objects that serve as decorations each direction (up, down, left, right).
contains the Cryobay, the object that are also instantiated within these If path tiles overlap other paths or
the player must protect. rooms in a way that the algorithm rooms, they are destroyed. The idea
sees fit. is to form a “mishmash” of path tiles
that fills the spaces between rooms
and interlinks everything.

4) The “generic” path tiles scan the

surrounding area to determine the rel-
ative positions of adjacent room and If a generic path tile only has one
path tiles. They then use this informa- neighbour, it becomes a “Dead End”
tion to decide what specific type of tile. Dead End tiles are where I place 4) Once the level layout is created,
path they’ll become (“L” path, T-junc- the alien spawn points/portals. The I randomly sca�er the weapon pods
tion, straight corridor,etc.), and assign number of portals created depends on that the player must collect across the
the correct tile to themselves accord- the difficulty level. If a portal is close map, ensuring that they don’t overlap
ingly. As you can see in the screenshot, enough to the cryobay and there are walls or decorations.
this forms a complex but logically laid sufficient others for the game to play And voila! One complete gGuard-
out network of corridors. properly, that portal is destroyed. ian level! Serve immediately.

22 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 23

 Without sounding too serious or convoluted, it
tells everyone what is needed to be done to accom-
plish the game.
A design document is a very important part of any and
project, but it is more a guide than a rulebook. There c h anges
re
must be someone sensible enough “in charge” of this
e qu ire co ects? time to n?
r l o
document and there must be contribution from all
e c h ange eplay asp additiona his additi ecalibrate
teams and participants in a project. r
The design document should be reviewed and ei- D o es th ajor ga m e require power t time to
1) nce m c hang s to ot of the
influe oes the w system quire a l sc heme? anges to nt?
ther updated or reverted to at all major milestones in
a project. Leaving no space for additions or subtrac-
tions of the design is foolish, but leaving no space for 2) D ement ne c hange re the new nimal c h impleme etion,
complex additions that can break a project and remov- impl oes the k to fit quire mi time to ct compl
ing the need for expensive setbacks is what a design
3) D e artwor c hange re siderable ter proje e ga me? jor
all th oes the quire con added af ck to th t any ma efit
document can do for a project. The document helps to

4) D m but re hange be itional pa n withou hole, ben

remember the idea behind the design, exactly what it
is that was started and where it is going.
If you were ge�ing on a train, and you asked the syste an the c or add slotted i as a w bility?
driver where it was going and his only response was, 5) C as a mod hange be he system es’ play a
“Uh, I don’t know,” or a long complicated explana-
suc h an the c benefit t the ga m
6) C ems and d benefit
tion about the difference between grilled pancakes

probl player, an
and co�on jeans, there would be no motivation or
even desire to get on that train. Without a destination
it is near impossible to know where you are going. the
The thing with a train (and most games) is they have
a starting position (the game idea) and millions of
routes to choose from.
A design document is not meant to inhibit the de-
velopment, or to hinder the changing of any original
or additional ideas for a game. Evaluate each addition
or change on the following set of criteria:

by Sven “FuzzYspo0N” Bergstrom

“Oh that’s right, I remember now, I actually wanted a

cheese gun for Potato Planet Avengers. The game was The idea behind the design
meant to be a top down shooter where you ran around
collecting cheese and shooting spudlings. Now we The design document serves to explain the proposed
have 12 weapon choices, 6 different view ports and ideas in a well-formed, neatly outlined manner. Above
no gameplay. Now we will never finish the project be- all, it is aimed at keeping the project a sane and man-
cause the code is convoluted and doesn’t compile any ageable task, without losing sleep over adding ideas
more. Let’s make a new game.” to a project without remorse.
Sound familiar? This is a horrible occurrence in The design document is not aimed at the end user,
the everyday world of game development. From the it’s not aimed at your friends when you tell them
smallest of projects to the largest of code-monsters, what the game is about, it is a technical reference and
there is nothing worse than yet another failed project. design outline of what your goals were and should
Most (not all) failed projects stem from one simple (within reasonable limits) remain.
fact: there was no real design “system”. This article The document (even if separated into pieces
aims to outline some of the ideas behind a design doc- across multiple documents) should be classed as a
ument, what it is, what it does, and how it can help whole and is considered by each part of the develop-
within a project. Hopefully it can help you churn out ment process. The design document itself is to be a
a complete project at some stage in your pursuit of concise, relevant and complete reference in order to
writing games. accomplish the design.

24 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 25

 Chances are if the addition will make the game a
lot be�er it is worth considering, but if it is going to
hinder development in such a way that the project will
be set back hugely, rather leave it out. Certain features
in a game will make the game incredible: the develop-
ment option is feasible, it will take some time (within
reason) and will need the core to adapt to fit the new
model, but these ideas are not what kill a project. If all
participating members or affected members in a game
design agree that the addition can be done within a
time frame that suits the project manager, the addi-
tion is most likely to make the game be�er and it is ct X to
worth considering. The important part is that there proje
e
must be consistency when sticking to a document, o d escrib the
nt ( t nt in
and there must be wisdom when it comes to changes.
docum
e rese
Always check the document when developing parts
h e o be p b
of the game to see whether you are following what the
o se of ) t
t n eed t
ere all su
p m a h
game was designed for.
1)Pur rtist tea ments th p o
te
int, w d comple tea m
a le
the e key e
h s a large tailed an es of the
2)T me i e d
The document layout le ment n in a d n both si
t c o y e
ou ac h ke ken do etwe w e
n g o r ad-
i
There are millions of opinions, and always ones that 3)E s are bro clarity b loper) any miss ent and
differ. I think design documents change per team, per
point to ensure and deve mpletes he docum
way agement n that co garding t within
project, and per purpose, but I don’t believe a project

(man conclusio ation re irements

can exist without a guideline of what is to be accom-
plished. For example, a game like Monopoly won’t
need a huge design document for the programmers 4)A nal inform the requ
as it is common and well-known, but the game could ditio letion of
be taking a Star Wars twist and include new instruc-
tions for the artists to abide by. Were it a 3D version
comp
and artists had a budget of what technology the game
is able to use, it would be beneficial to state the key
elements of what is allowed or not allowed to be cre-
ated: for example, a poly budget that limits each scene
to a number of polygons in-game.
A few major things a design should contain are a
number of steps you may break down into any and all
aspects of the project. Things you might want to keep
regardless of the project is the following:

In closing
Opinions on formulated design documents are viable,
but there is room to improve. If you have ever used
a design document you will know there is consist-
ency, flow, and usually success in completing tasks
assigned to you. This is especially helpful if you are
not working under your own design, have a couple
of level-headed friends and pass your design along to
them, asking them if it is worth the effort to dive that
deep or whether you should leave out some options
for the sake of actually ge�ing a game complete.
Making complete games is a ma�er of wisdom,
logic and perseverance. Having unrealistic goals or
being too shallow in concept can easily be identified
when a design document is in play.

26 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 27

 So you have just created your masterpiece and now Responding to criticism:
you submit it to the Internet to be praised by your
loving fans. Instead you are met with a rabid herd of It is often the case that when people are met with
people claiming how you wasted their time with your bad criticism, they feel insulted. It won’t help at all
retarded game. to flame someone who went to the trouble of playing
Well, this article is here to help soften that blow. your game. That player won’t come back to play your
Almost everyone’s first game is bad. So, instead of next game, and you will have learned nothing from
going sulking, you should try to always see your first potential helpful criticism.
game as a learning experience and pave forward. However, taking heed to every criticism will most
So, now that you have your first game out of the likely lead you to never finish your game at all. With

TAKING
way, you will most likely start receiving more criti- criticisms like, “add a flamethrower”, “add more
cism for your upcoming games. I like to divide criti- maps”, etc it is best to take it with a pinch of salt. In
cism into 4 categories. the end it is your game, after all. It is your creation
and we all know art is subjective. One can’t really pre-
The 2 extremes first: scribe what you should do, but it’s generally a good
idea to try remain objective about criticisms while tak-
1) “1337 crap” ing your own idea of the game into account.

THE HIT
This criticism is along the lines of “OMG! This Giving criticism:
suxxor. 0/100!”. You can pre�y much treat it the same
as what it is like. Trash. Just ignore it. As mentioned above, your criticism will most likely
fall into those categories. If you have the time and pa-
2) “1337 awesome” tience, it is best to try and give constructive criticism:
add suggestions and give the places where you found
On the other extreme, you have people going, bugs.
“OMG! This is awesome! 10000/10!”. With these you In the end, criticism isn’t there to a�ack you, so
won’t know why it is awesome, so the best is just to take heed to it. Just don’t take it all into account either,
reply with a simple “Thanks for playing. I am glad lest your game becomes something you never actually
you enjoyed it.” wanted it to be.

The next two types of criticism are a bit rarer:

3) “Bad, but here’s what’s bad”

This criticism is bad, followed by a reason why

your game is as bad as it is. This is probably the most
important criticism you can receive and most devel-
opers don’t want to even look at it.
When receiving criticism, it is important to try and
be as objective as possible. If someone did not enjoy
it, there must be a reason. This is why these criticisms
are the best. Most of the times you discover things you
never knew would be detrimental to your game.
Criticism is an important part of
the game development process. 4) “Good, but here’s why it is good”
Simon “Tr00jg” de la Rouviere
This criticism is the same as the above. It is really
gives a crash-course guide on vital for expanding your game development. You will
how to take it, when to heed it know what you did right so that you can re-imple-
and what can be learned from it. ment it the next time around.

28 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 29

 00:20 00:15
00:14

time
a matter of 00:19 We’ve all experienced it: a warning klaxon goes off
and a frantic radio message buzzes in your ears. You
have to get your squad out of the secret weapons facil-
ity before the malfunctioning doomsday device goes
The importance of time

The Game.Dev community (www.gamedotdev.co.za)

recently held a time-based competition that exploited
off and blows everybody inside to smithereens. this particular concept in gameplay. The premise was
At this point, a set of glaring red numbers appears simple: build a game, any game, as long as it was over
on your heads-up display and inexorably begins in less than ten minutes. However, as with all such

00:13
counting down, ticking its way towards your impend- competitions, the execution was a lot more involved
ing destruction. You turn around to take the elevator, than the premise, and it became clear to participants
but an unexpected explosion wrecks the controls and that constructing a game to capitalise on the potential
bathes the corridor in flames. Panicked enemy op- of a time limit was more complicated than it looked.

0:18
eratives run about, firing wildly in all directions and As mentioned already, a time limit provides the
adding to the chaos. The sirens get louder, the evacu- developer with a valuable emotional hook with which
ation messages start booming. But the calamity out- to lure potential players and keep them going until
side barely presents a whisper in comparison to the the end. It’s this sense of urgency which lends a sense
all-too-clear sound of your ragged breathing and the of importance to what may be an otherwise passive

00:12
Think fast and get ready to roll. Rodain “Nandrew” Joubert has pounding of your heart. experience.
an in-depth look at the mechanics of time-based gameplay. Nothing adds to the urgency and the immediacy In terms of functionality, time limits also serve an
of a game quite like a good old-fashioned time limit. important role. Today’s gamers are si�ing in the lap

00:17
One could be tearing through the Green Hill Zone as of luxury: they’re offered more high-quality titles than
Sonic, racing against the clock in Time Crisis or even they can possibly find the time to play, and even the
just dashing for that next checkpoint in that good old obsessed, 16-hour-a-day, twitch-reaction junkie has

00:16
arcade racer. Whatever the situation, players invari- to be very discerning with regards to the games they

00:11
ably find themselves eyeing that steadily decreasing choose to play. In an arena as saturated and competi-
meter. If you as a game designer can capitalise on tive as indie game development, it’s often unwise to
this concept properly, it’s one of the most powerful create an epic that requires any great deal of time or
ways to have the end user emotionally engage with effort on the player’s part. By establishing, say, a ten-
your creation. Think “frantic”. Think “intense”. Think minute time limit, you’re immediately offering the
“awesome”. These words have all been used to pro- consumer two things:

00:10
mote games, and they could apply to yours too if you (1) An assurance that they can complete this game
work at it. within a very specific time interval. Even if they’re

30 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 31

 00:09 00:04
00:03
initially uncertain about picking up your creation, the the cryobay. This was the basic time limit premise. It feedback to the player and thus work on oiling those
fact that they only need to make a small time invest- made sense, too: it was acceptable to players and fit- emotional hinges. Compare a simple ten-minute from the community ...
ment can encourage them to give it a go. ted in well with the game world. deathmatch to one which, after every two minutes,
(2) A clearly defined and well-established goal More importantly, however, the game touched on offers some sort of reminder that your hourglass is
from the start. Short-, medium- and long-term goals one of the great strengths of time-based games: script- running towards empty. This can be done visually Q: “What did you learn from the time-
are an important consideration for any game devel- ed gameplay. While many entries simply a�ached a (your player is poisoned, and as he heads towards based competition held by Game.Dev?”

00:08
oper, as they lend your project structure and give timer and allowed the player to engage in activities death your screen steadily flashes more green), au-
players a sense of purpose. With a timed game, the until their proverbial ba�ery ran flat, the spaceship rally (consider the “10! ... 9! ... 8! ...” counter of Un-
task of goal-se�ing becomes much easier: your long- defender dealt with a clear progression in the game. real Tournament) or through actual game events (the CYBERNINJA: “I learned that there comes a
term goal is to defuse the bomb in the next ten min- The first few minutes were spent scrounging about for building you’re in is collapsing, and the roof starts to point in development where one needs to focus

00:02
utes. Your mid-term goal is to find a schematic of the weapon salvage and useful equipment. After that, the crumble away). on just one good idea/theme and see it through
building as quickly as possible. Your short-term goal player had to move on to establish turrets and prepare to the end.”

00:07
is to clear the current room of enemies. Bam! You have defenses. Then, after a pre-ordained interval, the alien In conclusion
your game structure. portals opened and enemies began charging towards THAUMATURGE: “I think that I learned that
the cryobay. This was obviously the beginning of the A timed game is more complex than one may initially while one can come up with an interesting con-
Timing it right combat phase. In the last few minutes (particularly on think, but the rewards for the player – and thus the cept in a few days, it’s rather li�le time in which
higher difficulty levels) the player was again required developer – are potentially great. As always, there are to flesh out interesting gameplay.”
Simply tacking a countdown timer onto your game to pack up turrets and re-establish defenses in more other design aspects to consider when involving one-
isn’t going to win hearts. It needs to make sense and, heavily-hit areas to eliminate the last of the enemies. self in a timed venture, but this insight comes from FENGOL: “Simple ideas work. Your game
if possible, become an integral part of the gameplay The point? This wasn’t simply ten minutes of the the two most important developer weapons of all: doesn’t need to be filled with different mechanics
itself. same repetitive action. In each gaming session, the de- making mistakes and learning from experience. to be enjoyable.”
For example, one of the top entries in the Game.

00:01
veloper used time as a weapon to create a buildup, a
Dev competition involved guiding a robot to collect climax and a conclusion – in much the same way that Hopefully, this guide will set you off in the right GAZZA_N: “I learned a lot about pacing a game.
material, build turrets and stop waves of aliens from an author would pen a story. The game kept moving direction and help you with any initial time-based Balancing the game so that the player had a fair
reaching a spaceship’s cryobay where the human pas- forward and the timer forced the player to keep head- gameplay projects. From there, it’s all about refining chance, but was still required to plan and act
sengers were hibernating. The key element was that ing towards the next meaningful objective. It worked. your craft, seeing what works and striving to make quickly, was an enlightening exercise.”
this robot had limited fuel: after ten minutes, it would Aside from scripted gameplay, another way to the sweat form on your audience’s brow. And you

00:06
power down and any remaining aliens would overrun make the timing more meaning is to provide regular have plenty of time to figure that out.

00:00
00:05

32 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 33

 By now, you’ve already looked at some of these 40-
plus pages of neatly packaged game development
wisdom from one of South Africa’s most dedicated
and enthusiastic communities. Hopefully, you ap-
preciate the Features section, the lovingly-crafted re-
views, the generous helping of tutorials, the copious
design advice and this edition’s special makeover.
It may be difficult to believe that a li�le over two
In early 2006, Dev.Mag tentatively spread years ago, the concept of Dev.Mag didn’t even exist. It
its wings and went forth into the world, may be a further stretch of the imagination, however,
delivering with it a message from a few to visualise the first edition of the magazine: barely
ten small pages of hacked-together content provided
game development hopefuls with fresh by a few intrepid developers who were both excited
pens and starry eyes. Because nostalgia and uncertain about the project they were embarking
is always fun (and because it’s also cool upon.
From there, the Dev.Mag pages – and fan base –
to give readers some perspective) Rodain have grown significantly. Thousands of readers, both
“Nandrew” Joubert decides to grant some locally and internationally, now enjoy a wide selec-
enlightenment and offer ... tion of game development articles every month and
we hope to continue growing from here.
To put things into perspective, here’s a few pages
dedicated to having a look at where Dev.Mag has
been so far.

r i p do wn
At
MOR Y
M E
A loo
LAN

at
k

he
hist
t

ory
of D
ev.M
a g
E

34 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 35

 EARLY DAYS FOOT IN THE DOOR

The first edition of Dev.Mag was rather creepy. It During our earlier ventures with magazine promo-
looked hideous, the content was much cruder than tion, we did the rounds on various forums including
later offerings and it was, overall, a culmination of that of the Game Maker community. A memorable
everybody’s first a�empt at the deal. point in that endeavour was a comment from one of
The initial Dev.Mag team consisted of about a the members, quite possibly the most encouraging
dozen eager developers si�ing about and scheming thing that I have ever heard in relation to the mag.
on a local forum, headed by one Stuart “GoNzO” Our publication had just hit the fifth issue and this
Botma. The concept of the magazine was introduced individual mentioned that it was noteworthy because
in December 2005, and the first issue was released a most online magazines petered out before they got
li�le over a month later. It enjoyed a modest amount this far. We’d survived the initial whi�ling phase, it
of success, spread by word-of-mouth and a raw bun- seemed, and had moved on to establishing ourselves
dle of enthusiasm. This was an exciting time for the as a young and promising online release.
community – the idea of a magazine was fresh and One of the most impressive things about Dev.Mag
interesting. People were keen for more. Work on the has been its ability to stand firm over time despite nu-
second issue started soon after that. merous upsets and the inevitable staff turnover. After
One of the saving graces of the magazine early the fifth issue, we moved from simply pushing out a
on was the entrance of our first designer, Brandon monthly release to refining the work we sent out, do-
“Cyberninja” Rajkumar. Cyberninja was, as far as we ing our best to expand with new ideas, innovations
could remember, a complete novice to the art of game and content. The magazine changed a great deal dur-
development, and some of us were concerned that his ing this time, undergoing a metamorphosis which
rather sudden appearance combined with his lack of would ultimately prove to be beneficial. Our eyes
experience in the development field would result in were opened to the complexities of running a maga-
an enthusiastic layout monkey who would design an zine, more focus was placed on recruiting writers for
edition or two before burning out and abandoning the extended content and we started securing interviews
project due to boredom. from parties such as Introversion, Jacob Habgood and
We couldn’t have been more wrong. Cyberninja prominent local studio Luma.
soon bullied his way onto the staff through sheer force Within this time frame fell rAge 2006, a South
of talent – even though his work was patched together African gaming and technology expo. Interestingly
in his spare time between numerous other projects, enough, this wasn’t just our first major marketing
his capabilities awed the team. The stuff he produced event: it was also the first time that the Dev.Mag team
was, quite frankly, miles ahead of the work that we’d actually had an opportunity to meet face-to-face. One
generated for Issue 1. He continued to serve on the of the interesting things about an online publication
magazine afterwards, got into game development it- is the fact that team members often correspond across
self and became a solid part of the community. the country – or even the globe – in the course of their
Dev.Mag’s initial online presence was helped work without ever confronting one another. It was
along by Google Pages, which provided a convenient a novel experience to shake hands with individuals
springboard for our publishing ventures. Although it who had hitherto been mere nicknames on a forum
wasn’t the most powerful hosting mechanism, it was board.
free and convenient for our purposes. The site was The rAge edition was also a source of pride for us
humble and no-nonsense – it provided us with a plat- because it was the first issue that we could technically
form from which we could distribute the mag and ad- say weighed in at 40 pages – an achievement at the
vertise our presence to those outside the community. time, although our spreads back then were only about
half the size of later designs. Content was the one of
the aspects of our mag which swelled the most around
this point, due in part to the incredible amount of peo-
ple volunteering as new writers.

36 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 37

 MAKING THE MOVES HERE AND NOW

By the time we’d been active for a year, Dev.Mag had Despite the fact that the release of individual Dev.Mag
undergone numerous redesigns and sections were issues has since slowed down (due in part to addi-
either added or re-organised according to the maga- tional quality control measures and the sheer weight
zine’s needs. The most notable aspect of our develop- of content in each issue), the magazine has become
ment was the establishment of several highly popular more popular than ever and contributors regularly
article series, including those by William “Cairnswm” approach internationally-acclaimed indie and cor-
Cairns and Luke “Coolhand” Lamothe, two active porate game developers for interviews, reviews and
game developers in the South African community. general chit-chat.
Though neither of these individuals are currently Coverage of major projects such as Aquaria, Au-
regular contributors to the magazine, they made an diosurf and H-Craft Championships have become
enormous difference in raw content and article style, Dev.Mag’s bread and bu�er. In addition to the core
raising the bar for Dev.Mag submissions in issues to team of hobbyist developers, the magazine contribu-
come. tor line-up now sports several trained journalists, a
Over the next few issues, Dev.Mag began estab- helping of professional game developers, a handful of
lishing relations with several game development industry evangelists and one or two experts in related
groups and organisations, swapping advertising fields. All of these individuals have approached the
space and expanding the fan base considerably. It magazine with unrivalled passion and enthusiasm,
was during this period that monthly downloads from and to this day the magazine is still built on the en-
the site alone began to climb quite high – practically tirely voluntary efforts of a dedicated and tightly-knit
skyrocketing by the time rAge 2007 arrived. It was game development community.
around this time that Dev.Mag had the privilege of With a new executive team taking the helm of
reporting on the considerable advancement of local the mag, it now only remains to be seen where Dev.
developers such as Luma and Retrotoast, the la�er Mag is taken next. Whatever decisions end up being
having just secured a game publishing deal after their made, one thing is certain: the magazine will continue
success in a local competition. growing and you, dear reader, shall reap the benefits.
During this time, the magazine was still constant- Thanks for coming along on this nostalgia trip with
ly undergoing tweaks and reorganisation, something us, and we hope to see you again next month!
which we were able to do with li�le hassle due to our
publishing medium. Experimentation with new ideas
– such as the open Opinions section, the popular His-
tory pieces and the Blue Pill article series – was com-
mon during this time. Some concepts were retained,
others were discarded and still others were changed
about to become something else.
This era also introduced our resident Dev.Bot
mascot, DB (pronounced “deebee”). Crafted lovingly
by one Geoff “GeometriX” Burrows, DB has since es-
tablished a strong presence on Dev.Mag’s pages and
serves as a valuable beacon for the magazine’s iden-
tity. Further innovations are planned involving the
Dev.Bot, so watch this space ...

38 DEV.MAG ISSUE 22 JUNE 2008 39