A usable 3D world for a casual game

Posted on Sat 25 March 2017 in Gamedev

"Hallway usability testing" means doing a quick usability test with somebody you found in the hallway, or in this context, my little nephews during a family visit. Let them play and observe how they cope with your software. Can they figure out the game without instructions? Do they get stuck …


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Usagi No Yuki: What's in a name?

Posted on Sat 18 March 2017 in Gamedev

As you know, I'm working on a game titled Happy Usagi No Yuki Fortress. The other day a colleague remarked that this sounds a lot like Usagi Yojimbo, also of  Commodore 64 fame:

Well that makes a lot of sense! Usagi is simply the Japanese word for rabbit. Yuki means …


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Pixel bunnies

Posted on Sun 12 March 2017 in Gamedev

For the next version of Happy Usagi, we are giving each bunny its own look. I say "we", but actually most of the hard work is done by Olivia, graphic designer and source of inspiration for many helixsoft games.

Would you like to hear details on how we draw the …


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Indie Quest

Posted on Wed 01 March 2017 in Gamedev

Come and join me on my quest for the holy grail! Or in this case, my quest to develop and independently publish computer games! Ni!

Developing games is my passion. When I was a kid I already wrote my own version of tetris on a ZX spectrum. In more recent …


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