The Good

1. Star Hammer Tactics released on Xbox 360

On June 13, after 3 or 4 attempts at getting the game through peer review, Star Hammer Tactics was approved for sale, via Xbox Live Indie Games. This was pretty exciting for a number of reasons. It was the first game of my own design that I’d released for quite a few years, and it was the first console game I’d every released.

2. Star Hammer Tactics released on PlayStation® platforms

On July 14, Star Hammer Tactics was released as a “mini” for PSP and PS3. This was actually more exciting for me than the Xbox 360 release. See, to be “approved” as an Xbox Live Indie Games developer just requires that you pay Microsoft some money – then you can made and release pretty much anything, will little quality control. It’s all very “hands off”. However to release minis requires an application to be submitted to Sony and approved, and for the game(s), once developed, to pass through Sony’s QA process. I feel like minis is a more “professional” platform. So to release a game on this platform, to me at least, felt like I’d leveled up as a game developer.

3. A New Look

Late in the year, I asked a former colleague (from when I was at Interzone Games) to design a new logo for Black Lab Games. The old logo was designed at a time when I was still working out what I wanted Black Lab Games to be – what direction the company would take, and the way it would present itself to the world. I didn’t give Darren much to work with, and he did a fine job considering. A year or so down the track and I’ve got a much better idea, and by working with Simon, was able to get a new look that I think really works well for where I want the company to go.

The Less Good

1. Star Hammer Tactics review scores

A lot of effort was made to get Star Hammer Tactics reviewed widely. None of the larger sites, like IGN or Gamespot picked it up, and in hindsight maybe that’s a good thing. The review scores ranged from 40% to around 70%. Whilst I certainly wouldn’t expect all perfect 10s, 50% and below is disappointing.

I think perhaps I misjudged a few aspects of the game design. Also, I probably underestimated the level that needed to be reached in terms of aesthetics, ever for a handheld, turn-based strategy game.

The silver lining of these reviews is that I’ve got a bullet point list of things to work on for future games.

2. Only One Game

Star Hammer Tactics was the only game that Black Lab Games release in 2010. When it was released mid-year, I had hopes of getting another game out before the end of the year. That didn’t pan out for a number of reasons. One of these was focus – I started several games in the second half of 2010, and none are finished yet. I guess you could call them all prototypes, and say some were aborted when it became apparent they wouldn’t fly.

Lessons Learned

There are a couple of important lessons I’ve learned in 2010 that I’ll be carrying into 2011. In no particular order:

Get more external feedback. I only got feedback from a handful of people during the development of Star Hammer Tactics. It was good feedback, but probably not enough.

Despite what some people say, art is important. I’ve read articles and posts where people say that gameplay is king. It probably is, but art is what sells a game to a potential player. I’ve already taken some steps to ensure that future Black Lab Games games look at a lot better than Star Hammer Tactics did.

Plan better in the early stages of a project. It’s ok to abandon a project that doesn’t look like it’s going to work out, but it’s better to think really carefully before starting it in the first place.

So, 2010 was a year of some cool achievements, and some mild disappointments. I’m pretty excited at the prospects for 2011, but more on that in another post.

L8r, Paul

Last week, I commissioned and received new “box art” for Star Hammer Tactics. I’m really happy with it, and I hope it gets peoples attention when they are browsing through the various Indie games available via Xbox LIVE.

I also started working on a game engine for the PSP. Last year, Black Lab Games applied to be an authorized PSP Minis developer, and was accepted. It’s taken a while to get around to it, but I’m finally starting development. Good times ahead, I’m sure!

Finally, Star Hammer Tactics was submitted for peer review for inclusion in the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. What this means is that other Xbox LIVE Indies Games developers can review the game, and providing they don’t find any objectionable contents (which they won’t, because there is none), or crashes, it will be available for sale.

I’ve had time to review the progress of Black Lab Games. Here’s a list of some of the highlights of the year:

• Started development of Star Hammer. Initially, Star Hammer was meant to be a relatively short project, but as I’ve worked more on the game, the possibilities have opened up, and the scope has grown significantly. Initially a simple mission-based shmup, it’s morphed into an episodic space opera with characters and a storyline. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, though I’d say that aiming high is better than aiming low.
• Contracted to Subversive Games for a serious games project. The project was completed late in the year, and was the first opportunity I’d had to work with gamejam luminary Simon Wittber. Although I’ve known Simon for years, it was the first chance I’ve had to work with him, and was a very positive experience. Simon has also since written some excellent music for Star Hammer.
• Approval to develop PSP Minis. It’s still early days for the Minis “program”, but it’s gratifying to apply and be approved early on.
• Co-Sponsored iParty. iParty was awesome. It was an end-of-year event arranged by Lets Make Games and the Perth IGDA Chapter. It was great to see such a huge turnout, and for the event to be so well supported by the Perth development community.
• Spoke at GCAP. I did a talk at Game Connect Asia Pacific 2009 on “Managed Code in Game Development”. Although the presentation wasn’t as good as I would have liked, presenting at a conference is something I’ve wanted to do for a long while. GCAP was an excellent conference too, btw.
• Announced Star Hammer Tactics. At the risk of over promising and under delivering, I quietly announced a new turn-based strategy game set in the same conflict as the Star Hammer action game. I’ll be saying more about this game in the coming weeks.

There are a few disappointments for the year also. I guess the main one would be not releasing anything. Note to self…beware of scope creep in 2010

Last year was in part of journey of discovery. I’ve worked out what I want Black Lab Games to be, and where I want it to go. This year will be about building on what I’ve done in 2009.

I’m hopeful that 2010 will be an exciting year for Black Lab Games. I hope it will be for you too.