New Page: Pen and Paper Projects!

Today I add an additional page to the site: Pen and Paper Projects

The page is pretty self explanatory, as it will host content i have created for pen and paper games. Specifically all my current work has been created for Pathfinder RPG. I was a big fan of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, but 4.0 really lost my interest. Pathfinder has been called by many (including myself) as D&D 3.75. It offers many improvements to 3.5 while still being easy to convert to. While it doesnt adjust all the flaws of 3.5, (and has a few flaws of it's own) its still an incredibly fun game to play.

So far most of the content on the Pen & Paper page are all still works in progress. Over the next few weeks I plan on finishing at least the Necromantic Scientist base class and the Arashi character race, while still adding additional content to the Nal Tirrun campaign setting, and hopefully adding monsters in the future.

I'll also continue work on Legacies of Mistborn, but currently we've encountered some setbacks and the game isn't picking up steam like i hoped. We should have some good progress soon and i may even post about it.

Besides my work on pen and paper games and LOM, i have once again began working on the game Inevitable Death. ID is a 2D isometric game about a space fighter pilot marooned on an alien planet. It is the player's job to survive as long as possible, creating and improving tools and shelter. As the title implies, there is no win condition, and the player simply tries to survive against increasingly difficult odds.

Inevitable Death was started back in March by my friend and fellow game designer Tyler Coleman. During spring break at UAT, Tyler wanted to do a week long version of a Game Jam. It turned into a group of us all just working on one game, but our scope was simply too big for one week filled with distractions like work, concerts, and St. Patrick's Day.

Either way, we had a good start but after spring break ended, most of us, myself included, let it fall by the wayside. Tyler has been pushing to start work on it again, and since i am currently unemployed, it's a great way to further develop my skills and gain another portfolio piece.

New Horizions

Its been a while since I last updated, so i felt obligated to make a post summing up the past few months.

After GDC the Trade Secret team decided to stop forward development, and instead we began an extensive refining of the content we already had. Our levels, lighting, textures, gui, and art got a major overhaul which it rightly needed. Our game was getting compliments before, and if you can see the before and afters, the game easily looks 5x better. Our lead level designer and project manager Andy Maul led the spearhead on these revisions and our game benefited greatly.

Looks arent everything, though. We also spent that same time reworking our movement system, as well as lots of behind the scenes code to make the game run smoother, and play better. We are still making adjustments and doing our best to make TS the best game it can be.

The most updated build for play is available here, so check it out and leave us some feedback. Let us know if you like the changes if you've played older versions, or if you're new to the game, any and all feedback is deeply appreciated.

Unfortunately, I will no longer be as active with Trade Secret since i have recently moved to Seattle, Washington after the commencement ceremony at UAT. I have loved the experience, and working with all those talented individuals, but the distance will definitely reduce the amount of work i can provide for the team.

Any major updates about Trade Secret i will keep posting, but my future posts will most likely be about Legacies of Mistborn or other projects i am currently working on.

This was a triumph, I'm making a note here...

Huge Success!

Last night I returned from Game Developers Conference 2011 in San Francisco. It was a great experience and it turned out quite differently from how I expected. While we were there, we wound up showing Trade Secret and Tellus off to the people at Unity (both games were built using that engine).They were very supportive and generous, allowing us to show our games off to other people, using the computers they had set up at their pavilion. I spent a majority of my time on the expo floor there, showing off the game to tons of people, receiving a lot of positive feedback.

Words are not enough to convey how grateful the Trade Secret team is to the folks at Unity. They really helped us promote our game to the people we needed to, putting it into the spotlight so it can help us land us jobs. 

I had a lot of fun at the conference itself, and all the parties, meeting a lot of cool people that I hope to see again next year.

The Time is Nigh

Its Sunday night, almost Monday morning, and on Tuesday morning I fly out to San Francisco for the first time in my life for Game Developers Conference 2011.


The Trade Secret website is finally up and our alpha is currently available to play right now. Just follow the link and you can jump right into the action.
(The site is new, so it may break. If so, try the game here!)

We've also been increasing our internet presence to help raise awareness for the game:

Check us out on IndieDB

...And TGISource

...You can also Like us on Facebook

...Or just admire the team 


We've worked really hard to get the game ready for presentation at a major event, all of us putting in a lot of extra hours on top of our schoolwork and other jobs. Despite the amount of effort its taken, I've enjoyed every minute of it. Every day I sit down and work on the game with my team mates I am reminded how much I love game design. I am constantly reassured that I have chosen the right career. This is my passion, and I am glad to be apart of such a great team just as passionate as I.

Our fellow UAT project Tellus: Save the Earth will be accompanying us to GDC, so be sure to check out their game here. They're a bunch of dedicated guys too, and a few of Team Trade Secret are also on Team Tellus.

GDC Aproaches!

10 Days and counting to Game Developers Conference 2011 in San Francisco!

I am growing really excited to finally be able to show of Trade Secret's beta build to the public. We've been making some great progress and everyone on the team has really been putting in extra effort to get as much done as we can. We have the levels themselves virtually completed, and now are just working on the enemies and the boss fights.

This past thursday we had an open play-test at our school, The University of Advancing Technology. We had a lot of favorable feedback, and some scathing critiques that we hope to use to better the game. With the data we gathered, our QA lead has compiled an updated list of bugs and feature fixes that we hope to finish before GDC.

GDC is certain to be a blast this year. The team is looking forward to some R&R while mingling and networking with industry professionals.

The Hunt

GDC is coming up soon, and Trade Secret has big plans for the event. We have specialized business cards being made up, and have quite an effective plan to market ourselves. I am pleasantly surprised with how well thought out our producer is planning things. Hopefully we can really get the word out about TS and get some attention, meeting and networking. While I have already graduated, the rest of the core team has this semester left, and some have just one more after that, so the majority of the team will be entering the workforce and I have no doubt in my mind that my teammates and I will make great additions to any game company.

Like I've already said, I have recently graduated from UAT. It was a bit of work, but it was also a ton of fun. When i first started, i had this idea of what game design was. My teachers did a good job of waking me up quickly to the realities of game design, how it isn't all fun and games. Even so, i discovered that game design was still for me, and over the past few years it went from being an interest to a passion.

I'm still in the beginning stages of my job hunt, and I don't expect to be hired as a junior designer any time soon, especially with the flood of talent from recent layoffs in the industry, but i still have high hopes. Even if i start as a tester, I'll still bring my A-Game and keep working towards my dream. In May I'll be relocating to Seattle, and I'll be physically, as well as metaphorically closer to my dream. Wish me luck!

Trade Secret at GDC 2011!!!

I am very pleased to announce that 2% Collaborative Projects in association with Politically Incorrect Games will be taking Trade Secret to Game Developers Conference 2011, courtesy of the University of Advancing Technology.

Back in early October, the team heard that our school U[A]T was hosting an internal competition for student projects. The winners would be given hotel, airfare, and an expo pass to GDC 2011 in San Francisco. On top of that already considerable investment, the school would also print off marketing materials such as fliers, shirts for the team, and other various marketing tools.

Our team has worked very hard polishing the game as well as preparing a presentation to woo the judges. After a lot of lost sleep, sacrificed weekends, and dedication by the team, we won out over 8 other teams, and will be sent to GDC along with the other winners, Project Tellus, with which we share many Team Members.

I'm very excited to go to GDC San Francisco for the first time and look forward to promoting the game as well as making many contacts this february.

As always Trade Secret can be found and played here: Trade Secret Game