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[[platypus]]

Ahoy!

My name is Antti Seppänen, and I'm from Finland.
I'm 21 years old, and I have a 2,5 years old urchin (who is currently chewing my leg, because I'm not paying attention to him).
I am a steampunk maniac.
I have never finished a game, but started hundreds. I'm not much of a coder, but learning fast.
I enjoy making innovative game ideas. I just never seem to have the self-control to finish one, before a new idea pops into my mind.
However, I am now determined to finish my next project, that goes by the worktitle "A Wistful Delirium".

My hobbies apart from game making are pen-and-paper RPGs (MERP, Vampire, and Shadowrun), drawing, music, and writing a book.

If you wish to know more about me, or just talk about something else, drop me a PM.

[angrygeometry]

hi there!

my name is adam dickinson (but i usually go by the name "dicko", which i'm trying to get out of), i'm 18 and currently studying games design at university in leeds, england.

i'm against capital letters.

i have been making games for about 8 years now (well, technically). i started out in interactive fiction, moved on to the WONDERFUL world of rpg maker 2000 and then on to game maker, which i've stuck with for a while now. although in this time i've only ever finished about 3 games, and none of which are very good.

i'm deeply into indie music, i love arrested development and i have too much time on my hands.

i have a good idea for a game, but i'll need to learn C++/C# to make it properly.

so yeah, hit me up either on my blog (http://teaplusplus.com) or pm.

[Corpus]

I taught myself HTML via one of those for Dummies books

For me, it was Webmonkey for Kids I dunno whether or not it still exists, but it was pretty good.

I'm not sure what "high school junior" translates to in human years, but, regardless, welcome!

[DIT]

Hello everyone,
My name is Marco Di Timoteo, freelance web designer and wannabe game developer from Italy.
I've been lurking this forum for some days, so I decided it was time to show up and introduce myself. 

My absolute love for games begun when I was a little kid, playing with my VIc20 and C64 in my basement; that love never stopped, even now that a lot of retail games are 100% crap.

Love is blind.

Anyway, even my quest to become a game developer has it's root sunken deep into the past, back in 1990 when i was learning the fundamentals of what now we call "pixel art" playing with my Amiga 500 and deluxe paint.

I've grown up with comics, videogames and sci-fi, so it was inevitable for me to become one hell of a nerd. An artwork oriented nerd.

There were a ton of games that i loved, but Turrican 2 and Star Control 2 will always have a special palce in my heart... together with almost every lucas-arts adventure game until The Dig".
Shame on me for never playing Grim Fandango... but I will, one day.
I'm also a quite a Valve and Blizzard fanboy (wow apart).

Turrican 2 by Factor 5

Speaking of indie games, I totally loved Cave Story, Gish, Mr. Robot and Battleships Forever.

As a wannabe game developer I was involved in several projects, such as being the texture artist for the "Holy Wars" mod for Half life back in 2000 and starting in 2002 a small italian community about computer graphics and game development that managed to survive about 4 years.

Last year I've joined forces with a couple of friends to form "STUDIO EVIL"; we build games with XNA during night hours, and we even managed to win the first (2007) "XNA warmup contest" with our mini-game "G".
After G we started building another game for the "official" Dream Build PLay 2007, but we totally missed the deadline, and our incomplete game did not manage to qualify for the contest.
That was quite a failure for us, we really did our best, but this experience taught us a lot in terms of "how much is too much".
After this lesson we moved to other projects, that we are currently developing.

Click here if you are interested to see some of my artwork; it's my incomplete proto-portfolio website, I hope you don't mind broken links and minimal interfaces.

My wildest dream is to make games for a living ... soon ... because I'm getting old.

And I want to visit Mars too.

[Derek]

I feel like I haven't said "welcome" in the welcome thread in a while.  So WELCOME!  I love reading you guys's bios and seeing the games you like.

Still the best introduction thread around.

[Problem Machine]

I feel like I haven't said "welcome" in the welcome thread in a while.  So WELCOME!

What a thing to post on April 1st  :D

Okay, some stuff about me. My name is Ben Taber: I love games, of course, or I wouldn't be here, but I wouldn't say that I love them more than any other medium. Ever since I learned to read I've been an avid reader, and I have a great deal of appreciation for cinema as well. In actuality the first time I played Super Mario Bros. I sucked so bad that it didn't really appeal to me(though I did enjoy watching my brother and father play). However, I tried it again a few years later, and from that point on I was hooked.

I'm not going to write a complete autobiography here to tell you how I got here, but let me sum up basically where I'm at right now. I'm interested in making games, as I have been for 15 years or so. In pursuit of that interest, I've learned the fundamentals of programming and electronic music(in doing so composing many many pieces which may yet someday be used in a game soundtrack). I also began studying game design books and, through them, the games I play; it makes it a lot harder to play a game now, actually, without thinking of all the little design issues I would have done differently. I even gave a technical school(no names!) an unreasonable amount of money to mostly tell me things I already knew or could have figured out myself, but at least I have a degree to show for it. More importantly, the instructors there insisted upon their students picking up some rudimentary art skills, which I have since developed to the point where I can be fairly proud of them (though, of course, much of the work being carried around in binders at GDC put mine to shame... at least in terms of technical merit).

Where I'm going next... hell if I know. I've developed so many branches of talent that I'm actually really confused about where I want to go now. I've got a project in mind that I want to develop, but it's the sort of thing that can't possibly be done in a short period of time, so I'm trying to figure out how to support myself in the interim. What doesn't help is that, though this project was originally conceived to be built in Flash using AS3, I just recently decided that AS was unsatisfactory due to a series of very unusual and unreliable program results and some latent concerns about its ability to handle joystick input. So, I'm planning on going with C++ now, but I'm rusty with it and I need to decide what libraries I'm going to use and all of the tutorials seem to be reliant upon the windows API when my desire to make the whole thing platform independent is why I went with Flash in the first place! Sorry, had to vent a little 

Enough of that. Why don't I do the favorite games thing? Everyone seems to like that.
In no particular order...
Grim Fandango
Silent Hill 1 & 2
These games represent what is IMO some of the best storytelling in games ever... often, unfortunately, to the detriment of gameplay, but that's beside the point. Grim Fandango is outstanding because of the sheer excellence of the story it has to tell, and the SH games because of the way it's told. In the first SH game, the story is mostly told by newspaper clippings and pieces of diary scattered around the town, and multiple theories as to what the hell is going on are presented to the player; when the game ends, we STILL don't know for sure what was going on. SH2 tells its story through the environments, but in a different way, where the world shifts around James in such a way as to represent his state of mind. Even remembering this game, the terrible sorrow that permeates it affects me.

Final Fantasy 6
Chrono Trigger
I believe these two games together jointly define the apex of the traditional JRPG genre. FF6 provided ample character customization while avoiding the trap of making them all functionally identical, and allowed for significant player innovation in the way each character was developed. FF6 was artistically excellent in every way, though limited by the graphics of the time, and because of this and its superior gameplay overshadows the competition even today. Chronotrigger is less impressive in terms of gameplay, but the soundtrack and setting define a slightly detached surreal air that has always captured my imagination. I don't know how the CT team achieved what they did, and to be honest I'm not sure they do either. No game I've ever played has come close to capturing the warm surreal bleakness that defined the world of Chronotrigger.

Half Life 2/Portal
There's basically nothing to say here that hasn't already been said. I honestly can't think of anything  :D

Einhander
I'll be the first to admit that I don't know a lot about shmups, but Einhander is my favorite of this genre I know nothing about. The weapon-switching system and core destruction systems made gameplay fast and dynamic, with a robust level of challenge that wasn't often seen on the PS1. Also, I must say as an electronic composer, Kenichiro Fukui has achieved some things on this soundtrack which AMAZE me, using very unusual time signatures but integrated so well into the tune that I didn't even notice there was anything unusual until several listens later. The Einhander soundtrack will always impress the hell out of me I think.

Final Fantasy Tactics
Job system! FFT manages to completely obsolete FF5, a mediocre game improved by the excellent job system, by including it in a game that would still be excellent without it. Between that, a dark, complex and involving plot(muddied somewhat by the translation), a powerful soundtrack, and some of my favorite character designs ever (I have a gigantic nerd crush on Agrias), this is still the best TRPG I've ever played, despite being the first.

Legend of Zelda: LttP
This game still taps into some primal childlike joy-place for me. Mostly it's the little aesthetic details which most games wouldn't have bothered with... the shadow of the leaves in the forest, the sparkling dew dotting the mountaintops. These details, accompanied by an outstanding soundtrack and absorbing gameplay, make this game unusually involving. I think that, as with CT, the developers stumbled across an unusual and distinct tone which is unlikely to ever be seen in another game, making LttP truly irreplaceable.

Castlevania: SotN
This game has withstood the test of time better than any other I've played. Yes, I can fight the bosses and take note of all the things I would have done differently were I developing the game, and yes it's WAY too easy now, but I still am amazed by the effortless flow of this game and the minimalistic charm of the art style. I can't even describe how much I enjoy this game. Because of this, SotN is the primary influence on me in the design of the project I'm working on now.

Phew. I think I got long winded there. Sorry. Seeing as I mentioned liking other media as well though, why don't I wrap up with mini-lists of books and movies I also think are amazing, though I won't bother typing descriptions this time.

Books
Mother Night, by Kurt Vonnegut
Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
Invisible Monsters, by Chuck Palahniuk
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving

Movies
The Big Lebowski
Dead Man
The Incredibles & Ratatouille
American Beauty
Spirited Away
Fight Club

[Corpus]

Welcome, Kobel!

Lib-wise, I'd recommend either straight SDL (what I'm using atm for cross-platform development), SDL + OpenGL or GLFW + OpenGL.

[Problem Machine]

I'm looking into OpenGL now, which is actually what prompted the complaint about all the tutorials assuming the Win API. SDL is also sort of on the backburner, as I think I want something more robust for graphics but I understand it has pretty good support for input and audio and whatnot. I should probably at least look it over real quick as see basically what SDL can do right out of the box. GLFW I hadn't heard of before, so I'll look into that now.

[dustin]

i'm deeply into indie music, i love arrested development and i have too much time on my hands.

yes

[superflat]

Where I'm going next... hell if I know. I've developed so many branches of talent that I'm actually really confused about where I want to go now. I've got a project in mind that I want to develop, but it's the sort of thing that can't possibly be done in a short period of time, so I'm trying to figure out how to support myself in the interim.

My god I feel you on this.  I'm in exactly the same boat!

Grim Fandango
Silent Hill 1 & 2
These games represent what is IMO some of the best storytelling in games ever... often, unfortunately, to the detriment of gameplay, but that's beside the point. Grim Fandango is outstanding because of the sheer excellence of the story it has to tell, and the SH games because of the way it's told. In the first SH game, the story is mostly told by newspaper clippings and pieces of diary scattered around the town, and multiple theories as to what the hell is going on are presented to the player; when the game ends, we STILL don't know for sure what was going on. SH2 tells its story through the environments, but in a different way, where the world shifts around James in such a way as to represent his state of mind. Even remembering this game, the terrible sorrow that permeates it affects me.

Ah man, someone who feels the same way I do.  I feel SH2 was much more refined though - to me it's still the most coherent use of interactive media as story-telling yet created (in other words, a story that wouldn't work any other way).  That and the Lucasarts adventures are some of my major influences.

Final Fantasy 6
Chrono Trigger
I believe these two games together jointly define the apex of the traditional JRPG genre.

I'm replaying both at the moment, totally in agreement here too!

Legend of Zelda: LttP

Sometimes, when I'm feeling exhausted, I sing the theme from Death Mountain to myself to give me the ounce of strength I need! 

Man, I love your taste in movies, books and games.  Welcome to the board.  I'm a newbie here too, and everyone's been really cool.

[team_q]

Shit my nostalgia is flaring up, I don't want to have to play a link to the past again!

[Headmade]

I joined the forums many moons ago and still enjoy coming here, so I guess it is a good idea to properly introduce myself.

My first encounter with video games was at the age of 4 or so at a friends place. I don't know what system or game it was but it sure left an impression on me (I still remember the gameplay though; it was an shoot'em up, flying a plane, shooting tanks, bombing bridges, great fun).
It was clear that I needed my own machine, so as soon as I got an allowance, I saved every penny of it for 2 years straight to finally get my own Gameboy. I enjoyed games like

Tetris,

Mario, Elevator Action, Motorcross. Actually I think I enjoyed any game I played back then, even the crappy ones like Pitfighter. Getting my hands on a new game was rather hard, so anything new was automatically good.
Later I financially joined forces with my brother so we were able to effort a SNES. Zelda, Secret of Mana and

Rock'n'Roll Racing

are probably the games I have the fondest memories of and that had the biggest impact on me (to this date). In case of Rock'n'Roll Racing it even influenced my musical taste.
Playstation and Dreamcast followed: Final Fantasy 7,

Shenmue,

Vagrant Story... Ah yes those games were great. The console era had reached its peak, but at the same time its end. The PC is to blame for that. Games like

Port Royale

captured my interest and this is a kind of game that consoles do not provide.
I also started to create games. With the little programming knowledge I acquired in school I cloned several games using Turbo Pascal. TicTacToe, Battleship, quizzes, labyrinth games,

Minesweeper,

any turn based game that I could come up with really. All using ASCII art and all turn based, simply because I had no idea how to do it differently. I never released anything, just did it for my personal enjoyment.
My interest in programming remained so I started studying computer science and this is where I still am today. I still program games in my free time, never releasing them though. Maybe I will someday create something I consider worthy sharing. For this case I have already found the right people to share it with: TIGSers *sheds a tear of joy, which turns into a jellybean*

[valentingalea]

Hi, I'm Valentin Galea - and I tried and failed so many times to make games:)

Here is my latest attempts at programming and if not that at least helping fellow coders!
http://narg.eu

[LaughingCrow]

Hiya all! My name is Fernando Escribano, I'm a Spaniard currently studying his final year in his A-levels, which means that since the exams start in a month's time, I'm pretty much loaded with work. But I still try to find time for other stuff.

I started quite young trying to make my own RPGs with RPG maker (long ago), but due to my lack of any sort of drawing/making sprites skill I tended to get frustrated. I never got myself to finish a game, but those unfinished designs have stayed with me, waiting till I finish my exams and have some free time to develop them. Sorry for repeating myself but it really is frustrating. I also made loads of errors while making the games, I once uploaded a game to a RPGMaker community (a beta release) and forgot that I had been testing the animation in a powerfull weapon the night before and uploaded the beta with the main caracter having the most powerfull weapon in the game from the start. That was embarrasing.

I plan on starting a project on Game Maker soon. A week ago I started a blog about Independent Gaming, I usually post profiles of game developers that interest me, or about coming project that really catch my eye. Due to my lack of time I do not post as much as I want to but.... here is the URL: www.lithiumleaf.com

Also, if anyone has done an story-heavy (or heavier than usual) game in English and wants it appearing in Spanish, feel free to contact me, and if I can get hold of the time I can translate it (free of charge, duh).

[IceBone]

Well, my name is Darjan Platinovšek, I'm from Slovenia and a rabid fan of some of the developers here. I can't code for shit, but i do some design, although my biggest passion is photography. I hope it's not against the rules to be registered here and not be a developer, but I thought that any developer appreciates fan input.

<3 Gomez

[Guert]

I hope it's not against the rules to be registered here and not be a developer

This community is for everyone who enjoys indie games so there's nothing to worry about! Also, you could start a photography thread in the art section and show off some of your stuff

Welcome!

[Annabelle Kennedy]

Dear TIG community....

  After making a pretty big fool of myself in a certain thread, I'm now introducing myself in the proper thread.


I haven't written something about myself, in a really long time, im not exactly sure where to start.

Im annabelle, and im a second year character animator at Calarts.  Im still not really sure if its anything i want to do.. which is probably a bad thing.  I dont feel connected to anyone in the program, and the more i find out about the industry the more i begin to hate it.

Coincidentaly though, i love disney.  I love princesses, I love disney princesses. My favorite 'official' disney princess is ariel, but Giselle from enchanted i think i like more.. but they didn't want to pay Amy Adams royalites for using her image for all eternity, so they've decided to not add her to the disney princesses permanently.  This is distressing.  I wish enchanted had more 2d animation in it.

I love 2d animation.  Ever since i grew up its been one of my main true loves,  Theres something magical in the hand-drawn 2d feel, that even with the evolution of the draftmanship in animation, and rigourous focus on sticking to the rigid designs, the 2d animation will always be more meaningful to me.  My love for 2d animation has carried me far, as i wanted to make animated movies

I also been kind of an obsessive nintendophile for a really long time.   My first system was the Super NES and Super Mario world.  My all time favorite snes games (still got the cartriges ohh yess) are Super Mario RPG, Yoshis Island, Terranigma.     The only current gen system i have is a Wii.. and i only have first party nintendo titles for it.. albiet probably only because new games are expensive. I love platformers, i love puzzle games.  Ive always been a huge fan of the puyo puyo series.. if only because its the only game i can truly destroy my friends in.  Theres just something so satisfying when you nail like.. those infinitely long combos, only to drop like a billion of those clear puyos on the other side. oh yes.



my friends dont play puyo games with me anymore...



Sorry collossus fans.. ico was a better game i really thought.  With my brief PS2 love affair.. i got to enjoy both of these games to pretty much their fullest. Granted... theyre both super beautiful and .. are both really really amazing games in the grand scope of things.  But like.. something that irritated my was how much press SoTC got.. but like, literally no mention of ICO at all.  It wasnt as much as ico being far superior.. but like, was played so much more and built up with the press, when probably near half the people who are OMGILOVESOTC havent even heard of ico...  this distresses me. im rambling.



I. Love. This. Game.



Ive always been a huge fan of the sort of, self small group determination, and indie games are really a true testament that it can work.  Its really a big inspiration for me,  and it makes me work harder towards my own individual projects.

I am an animator, but ive also begun to learn basic programming skills on my own.  Ive done some small demos on AS3, which i wont post... becuase albiet being a lot more efficient and powerful then earlier actionscript versions, im still continually disappointed by performance limitations, (and the annyonance of different performance benchmarks for each browser).  Ive been slowly working my way through a C++ primer, if only because its a good thing to know,  and it seems like loads of the concepts are used throughout many languages.  Right now, for me, its at the end of my term and ive been super crunched to finish this film project (which i neglected entirely today, to make this post) but when im done im really interested in sort of like pursuing that.

i also love pixel art.

btw all these crappy illustrations i made entirely for this post in photoshop CS2



and im REALLY looking forward to fez.

[Akhel]

Welcome aboard, Annabelle!

Your drawings are amazing.

[Annabelle Kennedy]

Thank you so much ! (:
You're very kind

[Golds]

Hey annabelle, welcome to tigsource!  i think your art is great too, and also share your love for 2d animation along with probably a lot of other people here. Oh, and while I own and love Ico (with the terrible US Cover art), I still think shadow of the colossus is a more satisfying game.

And welcome LaughingCrow.  Your site is cool.  You're like the spanish investigative journalist of indie games.