UPDATE: Please see this post for some more clarification on my thoughts on this little experiment.
In response to Ron’s post at Headcase Games, I’d also like to give back to the community a bit with some free game advertising. I don’t get tons of traffic on my site, but it’s pretty steady, and the iDevBlogADay thing is giving it a nice boost.
The catch
The catch is, I don’t like advertising. 
And since I’m giving away the ad space for free, I feel that I can add this one stipulation: I have to like the game being advertised. I’d like to use the ad space as a sort of “I recommend this game” kind of deal. I’m not out to offend anyone, I just want to maintain the integrity of the site. I got the idea from Penny Arcade; they turn down even lucrative ad campaigns for games they don’t like, and I appreciate that.
If you want to send me an ad and your iTunes link, you can do so at mike at weheartgames dot com. If I haven’t already played the game and it’s not free, I might ask for a promo code. Ad size should be 180 x 150, straight up JPG, PNG or GIF. No SWFs or animated GIFs please.
The ads will go in the right sidebar, under “We ♥ these games”. I reserve the right to leave a mini-review in the title tag, which will be visible when you hover the mouse over the ad.
The latest entry in my iDevBlogADay “Photoshop for Devs” series, we’re going to talk about clipping masks in Photoshop and when to use them to make things easier.
Helping iPhone developers hate using Photoshop a little less with simple tricks that make workflows more efficient. View the rest of the screencasts in the “Photoshop for Devs” series.
Part 1:
- Place a photo in a Polaroid border, without having to crop it. Keep its full resolution so you can scale and rotate it as much as you want.
- Texture a chess board. Combine the texture layer with layer effects applied to the base layer.
Part 2:
- Add a reflection to windows in a building and change the colours with a clipped adjustment layer. Add art to a billboard shape with rounded corners and perspective.
- Create perfect silhouettes for your vector art. Mask multiple layers with a single base shape and apply layer effects to the entire group.
I recently heard on the radio that 95% of Canadians don’t love their job.* While sad, that information made me feel pretty good about being in that top 5%. Do you love your job?
It’s tough to quit a full-time job, even a lousy one; I think the above stat alone is proof of that. But how can you get out of that rut and into a job you’re truly passionate about?
The fundraiser idea was a huge success!
This community-driven fundraiser was hobbled together on April 3, a mere 2 days ago, very shortly after I had given up on the dream of attending – and speaking at – 360iDev.
Within 12 hours of posting the fundraiser page, there was $460 pledged. At the end of the second day, $695. At around noon today, it topped out at $1000. Plane tickets were purchased very shortly thereafter; which was a near thing, as they were beginning to sell out already.
You guys… are so awesome.
Many of the donations were from people I’ve never spoken to before, even on Twitter. Many of the donation amounts blew my mind. Your generosity is amazing. I plan to squeeze every drop out of this conference, and I can only hope you can get something valuable out of my session, if you’re attending.
Thanks, thanks, thanks. I am – nearly – speechless.
Here’s to community.
I’m running an experimental fundraiser to see if I can raise enough money to go to 360iDev, a conference I was invited to speak at. See the full story here.
UPDATE: This post is not the end of the story… click here to see a last-ditch community-driven fundraiser effort to remedy the situation…!
I’ve put off making this announcement because there was still hope that things might turn around, but it is now confirmed. I am very sad to say that I will not be attending 360iDev in San Jose on April 11-14.
First let me say that John Wilker and I have been talking, and we are going to see if I can do my session remotely. Thanks to Owen Goss for the inspiration to do that with his remote participation in Denver’s game jam!
How did this happen?
I had been holding out hope that the funding I had applied for in early February would come through. This would have paid for 75% of all land & air travel, and food expenses. Today I found out that with the new provincial budget approved last week, that fund no longer exists.
Upon hearing this, I was generously offered the use of a family member’s Airmiles. The timing is too short now, though, as all Airmiles seats to San Jose and San Francisco are sold out.
So unless some unknown benefactor decides to sponsor me (anyone… anyone…?), I can’t personally afford to make the trip… this year. It makes me very sad to miss out on such an incredible opportunity, especially after being invited to come and speak. Know that I will be with you in spirit. You all better be tweeting about anything interesting that happens! 
And who knows, maybe I’ll make an appearance at the Game Jam, Owen-style. I do have a pretty sweet idea for it…
Well, shucks
I have to extend my sincerest apologies to all the attendees and especially to the organizers, John, Nicole and Tom. I hate to bail on something like this. These guys are doing such an amazing job pulling this conference together, it sucks to be a speed bump along the road.
I’ve been playing ngmoco’s We Rule for iPhone the last few days. While I enjoyed collecting, upgrading and customizing (who doesn’t?), I began to get a feeling that this isn’t the kind of “game” I want to play. This post attempts to articulate the root of that feeling.
Update: I’m aware that We Rule is not the first game of this type, it’s just the first one that I’ve played. This post is more about the development philosophy behind We Rule, rather than about We Rule itself.
Updated Update: Here’s an excellent article on addiction in games. It gives a great picture of things to come. And by great I mean ugly. Click here to continue…
My life has been put on pause for a little while. This week my wife and I welcomed our 2nd son into the world! As we adjust to everything, most We Heart Games development has been put on hold. Once things level off, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled program.
On February 3rd I did a speaker chat for 360iDev. The chat is a really interesting forum for connecting with others. Everyone logs into a chat room and can type their questions and comments. I spoke into my microphone so that I could answer questions verbally. It felt a little one-way at first, but it was a great way to connect with everyone, and a lot of fun! If you haven’t checked one out yet, keep an eye on their site or their twitter stream for announcements of upcoming chats.
On the 11th day of April, 360 gave to me:
A bundle of raffled books
99 dollar discounted hotel
80 minutes to make an improv game (go Owen!)
40 packed sessions
FIVE HANDS FREE TRAINING SESSIONS…
4 awesome days
3 expert panels
2 sessions by Imangi
And an all-night Touch Arca-ade Game JAAAMMM!
(sorry, couldn’t resist)
And if you use the link below to register, I’ll buy you a drink! See you there.
