Block & Chain Game Studios Weekly Newsletter September 21, 2018
Block & Chain Game Studios
Weekly Newsletter
September 21, 2018
I’m happy to report this week that all tracks are in for dragon races and internal testing will begin next week. I can already smell the fetid breath and brimstone as the fiery dragons lace up and take to the track!
News @ Block & Chain
There is so much going on in development right now. We’re excited to share more about our upcoming games soon. In the meantime, let’s talk about Draggin’ Dragons!
Over the past sprint, we have completely revamped the tracks. Why did we do this? Based on our early tests, the original tracks were too narrow, too small and just a little too plain. Our new tracks are wider, more interactive and feel more alive. Each track has a specific theme and amps up the in-race excitement as dragons go over, under and around each track’s environment. We also have limited time, holiday-themed and special event tracks we are going to introduce to enhance these amazing environments even further.
UI polish is also continuing, with dynamic screens designed to match the excitement of the racing experience. Exciting little elements such as dragon trivia are also being added because, hey, you have to know your dragons if you’re going to win, right?
It’s not all fun and games on the Block and Chain team, though. Occasionally, we have to sit down and talk business. Earlier this week, our “Northern California Contingent” met up over hotpot to discuss strategic plans and review our slate of upcoming games.
Game Maker’s Corner
Aya Columbia: Narrative Designer
When someone has a cool idea for a game and wants to talk about story, I’m the person they come to. Together we build worlds and characters for our players to interact with. If there are fun mechanics that make the game challenging or unique, it’s my job to integrate immersive fiction across those mechanics to fit into the world itself.
Have a neat puzzle you want the player to play? No problem, I’ll fill the world with secret underground kingdoms locked away with treasures behind puzzles and traps. Have a monster you’re just DYING to see in game? Nothing a little radiation can’t make happen!
Not everyone can take their ideas and make them reality. Narrative Designers can. They take your ideas, integrate them into the world you want to build. We create history and fiction, and make the mechanical bits all fit together seamlessly into gameplay.
Anything is possible. Great ideas are always a starting point, but crafting an exhilarating, immersive journey of imagination is exactly why I love doing my job!
In the News
What’s hot in gaming, on and off the blockchain? Here’s where you find out!
https://qz.com/quartzy/1396466/fortnite-is-boosting-the-battle-royale-genre-ahead-of-other-video-games/ — According to the SuperData report, viewers watched almost 700 million hours of battle royale content from May 2017 through May 2018.
B&C: Video games have gone from something kids do in their parents’ basement to a full blown, commercially successful spectator sport. Thanks to platforms like Twitch, video games have become mainstream entertainment, with professional gamers beginning to gain celebrity status. eSports are already making themselves known on the blockchain and I expect we will see this segment only continue to grow as a result.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/19/sony-launching-retro-video-game-console-playstation-classic-in-dec.html — Sony’s next video game console is going retro. The electronics giant announced early Wednesday it will sell the PlayStation Classic, a miniature version of its first PlayStation console, on Dec. 3.
B&C: With the explosive success of the NES Classic in 2016, it was only a matter of time before Sony released a Playstation Classic. I myself invested in retro Atari, Intellivision and Colecovision consoles among others (Vectrex anyone?), remembering with great nostalgia games of my youth. It’s no surprise to see the following generation of consoles go “classic” and indeed we can wait with baited breath to see our PS4’s and Xbox One’s achieve the same fate one day. More interesting, though, is that today’s advanced storage capacities and broadband connections allow for a great deal of versatility. We could even create a blockchain game console…
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Originally published at community.haloplatform.tech.
