Hey guys,

I'm taking last calls for beta testers. If you'd like to help test for Don't Forget the Bard, please let me know ASAP.

Concept Sketch for 'Don't Forget the Bard'

Looking for Beta Testers!

Hey guys. I've been working on a gamebook (in online game form) and it's almost time for beta testers! The game is called Don't Forget the Bard and it is a comedy about a former scribe for the king who loses his job when the kingdom runs into financial difficulties. Your options are to seek employment, search for treasure, or even become an evil satirist and make lots of enemies along whatever adventure you choose. It's a mature game recommended for players 17+ due to explicit text, sexual situations, etc. The game has stats, choices, inventory, and medals.

If you're interested, just comment or PM me. Testing should begin around December 1st. You can play a similar text-based game that I made called Unlikable Us here here on Newgrounds until then.

Thanks!

~Hotdogtopus

There's a new Japanese theme song out for Pokemon the Movie XY&Z (Volcanion to Karakuri no Magearna) titled Post ni Koe wo Nageirete by Yuki. They made a really cool puppet show for it and you can see it on Youtube here.

I noticed that there weren't lyrics nor translations online, so I thought I would post the first part here so people could see what the song is actually about. If people want the full lyrics and translation, I'll go ahead and upload this post if I get requests. You can feel free to repost the information, but please link back to this page as the original source because I may need to make edits. I did the best I could with the translation in this format. I always find poems and songs difficult to translate, so feel free to contribute for a better translation.

Post ni Koe wo Nageirete by Yuki Translation and Lyrics (first few minutes):

真面目な顔して笑わせてよ.

Majimena kao shite warawasete yo.

Laughing with a serious face.

いつでもそう

Itsudemosou

At any time

君が教えてくれたんだ.

Kimi ga oshietekuretanda.

You told me.

しカめっつら

Shikamettsura

Grimace

けんカしても仲直り

Kenka shite mo nakanaori

Even though we fought, it was reconciled

風に疲れて歩く

Kaze ni tsukarete aruku

Walking tiredly through the wind

夕焼け 遊歩道.

Yuuyake yuuhodou.

A sunset promenade.

足跡の後ろをついていけば,

Ashiato no ushiro wo tsuite ikeba,

If we followed the footprints back,

君の哀しいみに辿い着いた

Kimino kanashii mi ni tadori tsuita

we would have only arrived in your sorrow.

空を見上げた.

Sora wo miageta.

I looked up at the sky.

ちぎれ雲がひとつ.

Chigire kumo ga hitotsu.

There was one scattered cloud.

君んちのポストに

Kimi nchi no posutoni

To your home post office

投げ入れた.

Nageireta.

We are able to throw into.

そうやって

Souyatte

In this way

僕らは声を届けよう.

Bokura wa koe o todokeyou.

Our voices will reach it.

ラ, ラ, ラ

ra, ra, ra

la, la, la

まぶたに書いた宛先

Mabuta ni kaita Atesaki

Destination written in the eyelid

希望のよう歌を

Kibou no you uta wo

The song of hope

花のような願いを

Hana no youna negai wo

A wish like a flower

涙で濡れてるさようならを

Namida de nureteru sayōnara wo

Our goodbye is wet from tears

君は荒野を駆け巡る風.

Kimi wa kouya o kake meguru kaze.

You are the wind traveling through the wilderness.

ラ, ラ, ラ

ra, ra, ra

la, la, la

旅人の髮を撫でて ...

Tabibito no kami wo nadete ...

Stroke the hair of travelers...

Wretched Teacher Kinkle by Hotdogtopus

Hey guys!

I decided to participate in Animation Jam 3 because I've been wanting to experiment with one of my new animation tools. I think it came out okay, but I'd like to avoid tweening so much in the future episodes. You can check out the video here. Let me know what you thought!

Hey guys,

Finding Fish Dough by Hotdogtopus

So, I submitted this game I made to the Gadget-music section on Newgrounds. I thought it would be fun for people to click around on it and try to match the music by ear. I made it out of some generic brand children's clay and used my ukelele for the keys and the chords.
 

                         Finding Fish Dough Game Screenshot by Hotdogtopus

I've always wanted to make an underwater game out of clay. Finding Fish Dough follows a dumbo octopus through a sea of clay models as he looks for friends to help him defeat various sea creatures. Puzzle, maze, and side-scrolling shooter.

Coming soon! Follow me for updates on this project.

So, I finished the background for the stop motion animation that I'm working on. All I need now is a couple of octopi and away I'll go! Very excited because it's my first stop motion animation. I might end up using my game engine to make the animation instead because it has physics tools and other things that may make the whole thing easier. Also, I am worried that my camera will not produce consistent enough pictures to do a real stop motion animation.

Click here for my previous post for Day 1 (Part 1).

Joseph Peter McGinn's 30-minute talk 10 Lessons From AAA Franchise Game Design covered lessons he learned from working on The Simpsons and Shrek titles. The main takeaway for me was that if you can't afford the most expensive brand names, a popular enough license can be sufficient. He also talked about how some lower quality games with popular IPs tanked and that sales are not guaranteed when securing the most popular brand names.

Joseph Peter McGinn at Taipei Game Developers Forum 2016 by Hotdogtopus

The cost for using The Simpsons' voice actors was exorbitantly high. He also talked about how not having direct relationships with IP holders can be particularly devastating.

The Simpsons characters having four fingers is problematic for the Japanese market. In the past, I've heard about people adding fingers to four-fingered characters when localizing games for Japan. Some people actually go and add an extra finger to all characters, but Mcginn suggested cutting off an extra finger – leaving the characters with three. This may be an easier solution for some developers.

Dilun Ho at Taipei Games Developer Forum 2016 by Hotdogtopus

After that, I sat in on Dilun Ho's talk Hit the Ground Running: Year One Working With VR. His advice was to play every VR demo that you can get your hands on – good and bad. He also suggested working on really small projects, asking experts for advice, and completing game jams. Ultimately, he said that VR is new for most people right now, so it's really hard to judge the quality of VR games. He also did not state a preference for Unity over Unreal, stating that each engine has pros and cons.

Attendees Raiding the Snack Bar During 'Tea Time' by Hotdogtopus

Unfortunately, I did not make it to Day 2 of the Taipei Game Developer Forum due to a headache, stomach illness, fatigue, and the worst thunderstorm that I have ever seen in my life. The English talks were mostly earlier and if I had gone in the afternoon, I just would have had about one and a half hours of conference time. I missed a few conferences, but hopefully they'll get archived like the talks from last year.

The Taipei Game Developers Forum had an impressive showing today. Howard Tsao and Johnson Lin posted on Gamasutra that TGDF was expecting more than 800 attendees for 2016 and the venue was packed. I attended four different English talks on the first day and had a chance to try out a few games by Taiwanese developers and a few other foreign devs as well.

Taipei Game Developers Forum 2016 by Hotdogtopus

The first talk that I attended was by Dan Adelman: Assessing the Western Market for Video Games. I ended up 10 minutes late because I should have gone straight, but I ended up taking a left turn at Albuquerque. The standout advice from the session was to consider how your game could be interesting to watch and fun to play for let's players and their viewers on Youtube and Twitch. He also addressed the current issues of market saturation and games sales – specifically, the Steam Summer Sale with over 12,000 games currently on sale. Adelman stated that 12,000 games on sale was scary to him as a developer.

Adelman talk at TGDF by Hotdogtopus

Adelman's talk also covered how genres vary in popularity across international markets – often, in unexpected ways. I did manage to ask whether he had any advice for indie developers in terms of genres to pursue, but I got nervous unexpectedly and forgot most of what he said other than that pursuing specific genres because they are popular isn't necessarily the best strategy for developing a hit title.

People Playing Super Phantom Cat by Hotdogtopus

During the break, I stopped by Veewo and watched people playing Super Phantom Cat. I also had a chance to meet Win from WTH Studio and checked out his new game DiD (pronounced 'D.I.D.'). The abstract horror pixel art really helped DiD to stand out from the other games.

DiD Setup from WTH Studio by Hotdogtopus

I stopped and took a couple of business cards from Ching-Heng Chen and Henry Wang from Red Candle. They are currently working on a Japanese horror game called Detention. It was creepy and really stood out as well, yet also fit in well with the other games in the horror section of the booths.

Red Candle Devs Displaying Detention at TGDF by Hotdogtopus

Part 2 of Day 1 is coming soon. Please follow me at http://hotdogtopus.newgrounds.com/follow to get updates as soon as it posts.

Hey guys! Testing for Unlikable Us has been going swimmingly. Thanks for all of your e-mails. I'll be posting soon about a few games that I currently have in development. Make sure to fav me so that you get an update in your feed automatically when I post.