Finding Success in Failing Health - A VNgen Post Mortem

VNgen is a visual novel and animation engine for GameMaker Studio. Using a custom scripting syntax, it is designed to produce premium content quickly and easily on a wide variety of platforms. It is currently being used to create both first-party and third-party indie games of multiple genres. If you value my work, please consider supporting me on Patreon. Your support will play a critical role in the ongoing development of these and future projects. Stay tuned to the end of this post for details!

I'll be honest: VNgen had a rough launch. Days turned into weeks, things came up, and I had my head down trying to get through it all without breaking something in haste.

But it did launch, and you can now download VNgen 1.0.2 for both GameMaker Studio 1 and 2 RIGHT NOW! GMS 2 users can even try VNgen for FREE with the trial version, so what are you waiting for?

Reception so far has been extremely positive, and I appreciate everyone's patience as 1.0 and post-launch fixes rolled out a bit slower than I had planned.

Indeed, "slower than planned" has been a theme throughout VNgen's entire development, but not without justifiable cause. Today, I feel it's appropriate to stop a moment, look back on the road behind us, and talk about that development from the start, as well as what it means for the future. I'm not here to share excuses. In fact, VNgen's development is a far more personal story than anything I've shared here before. But it is one I feel is worth sharing, and one which might inspire or at least offer solidarity to other developers who've been through similar trials. So buckle up!

On Steam, Valve, and Indie Developers

For the past year-and-a-half, ThinkBoxly has been exclusively a devblog of my progress on developing original commercial content like VNgen. If you've followed me during that time, you've probably gotten used to the absence of editorial and feature-style posts (if you were ever aware they existed around here at all). But this is my blog, dang it, and I get to write what I want*. And as you can probably guess from the title, today's topic is hardly unrelated.

Valve, it's time we developers had a little talk about Steam.

(*Also, VNgen is out now and I don't have anything newsworthy related to post about its development at the moment—because it's done! If you're a developer, you should totally check it out.)

The Meaning of Work (So long, 2017!)

In every life, there's always that handful of stand-out years that mark events which go on to be catalysts for great change. As I look back on my own, it's not hard to recognize them. In 2011, I hit rock bottom and spontaneously traveled halfway across the world to rethink where my life was going. Seemingly unrelated at the time, I also started a blog which would eventually evolve into the website you're reading right now. In 2014, I pivoted from writing about the creative industry to becoming a creator myself. (And also contracted a chronic illness I'll have to live with for the rest of my life, but that's a story for another time.)

In 2017, I took everything I'd learned, reorganized from the ground up, and published my first new product in over a year: the world's most advanced consumer visual novel engine (yes, really!).

As 2017 draws to a close, I think it's safe to say that this year will be included in that list of pivotal moments in life. Not to imply I've arrived yet—far from it. But the seeds are planted, and I bring with me into 2018 a work ethic that I'm confident will produce a harvest if I keep at it long enough.

GPU Wars: NVIDIA GTX 1070 vs 970 + Unboxing!

It's that time again! A new generation of desktop graphics technology is upon us, and that means more of every PC gamer's favorite pastime: GPU unboxings and head-to-head benchmark battles to see just how much better this year's offering is over last year's and beyond. For Team Green, the new 10-series lineup represents a very important leap forward, crossing the threshold of great VR, high-refresh rate, and ultra-HD performance, but it also marks a step up in MSRP, and—at least for the time being—you'll be lucky to see prices even that low. With everything riding on it, can the sweet-spot GTX 1070 deliver a worthy bang-for-buck? Let's find out.

Tales of Xillia 2 is the Best JRPG You've Never Played

The past year has been something of a lesson for me: a lesson in how little time I have to play videogames these days.

It all started in 2015 when I picked up Tales of Xillia 2 on a sale and started playing it almost on a whim. Tales of Xillia 1 was an experience I remembered enjoying a couple years prior, but its characters and story were largely lost on me. I expected the same of Xillia 2—this was a game I was playing to finish a sub-series I started, not because I was particularly anxious to return to a world I missed.

Little did I know it would not only take me a year to finally reach the credits, but that it would end up being one of the most memorable JRPG experiences I've ever had.

Top 3 E3 2016 Show Floor Games not on Stage

While E3 may be best known to the general public for its high-budget stage presentations, the real show doesn't technically even begin until the press conferences end. And every year there are always a handful of gems to play on the show floor that just didn't get the attention they deserved on-stage. Thus, for the past few years it has been ThinkBoxly's tradition to hunt down and name the top 3 games from E3 that you might've missed. And let me tell you, this year they're big ones.

E3 2016 Roundup - The Calm After the Storm

It has now been three years since the E3 that rocked the gaming space into a rollercoaster ride that has continued throughout the years since. Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One to extreme criticism and Sony the PS4 to extremely positive critical reception. In 2013, the third parties didn't matter. It was all about Xbox vs PS4—and more specifically, how Sony's press conference virtually trounced Microsoft's in every possible way. Harsh, but true. Cue E3 2014, and not much changed. Microsoft decided to play it safe with their press conference and came out looking sheepish for it while Sony steamrolled onward, riding on the market success of the PS4 as a direct result of the previous year's event. And need I even remind you of E3 2015? While Microsoft came back strong with a new controller and backwards compatibility, it's hard to beat a Final Fantasy VII remake, Shenmue 3, and The Last Guardian all making an appearance at once.

But something else happened at E3 2015 besides the ongoing Xbox vs PS4 battle. And this year, for better or worse it appears to have taken center stage. And while it may not be the most exciting press conference material, it just might also be the best thing for gamers themselves.

GPU Wars: GTX 970 vs 2x GTX 960 in SLI

It's almost upon us: after decades of efforts and dreams, consumer virtual reality won't be a thing of science fiction much longer. In just over a month both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive will make their debut, and you'll need a pretty decent PC to power them—your graphics card being of particular importance. Both headset manufacturers are recommending an NVIDIA GTX 970 at minimum, and your time to upgrade before the big launch is fading fast. But what exactly will you get for your money if you decide to take the plunge? Let's find out!

Internet Finds FFVIII's Promo Website is Still Up and Running

Let's face it: the internet is a very fickle place. What's here today could easily be gone tomorrow with the flip of a switch. On a smaller scale, that switch is expected to flip eventually. Products become obsolete, companies go out of business, or for whatever reason traffic dies and leaves behind an empty wasteland of information that's good for nothing but racking up server bills. However, in the past couple of decades a few relics of an era gone by have managed to slip through the cracks and remain online, presumably tucked away in a forgotten folder on some shared server hosting multiple other sites of more present importance. It's long been known that the original Space Jam promotional website is still around (and serving as a living reminder of how hideous '90s internet could be), but a more recent find may be even more impressive.

Destiny 2.0 - It's Nice to be Proven Wrong

In general, nobody likes being contradicted. But sometimes, every once in a while being proven wrong about someone or something can mean the difference between disliking or liking them. Yes, in that order.

Fabled game developer Bungie has been in a bit of an awkward spot pretty much since their latest endeavor, the MMOFPS Destiny, released. It pretty much immediately fell out of favor with reviewers, and while much of the player base initially disagreed with critical opinion, the longer the world spent with the game, the deeper everyone watched its cracks form. While it has never really lacked players, Destiny has long been short on customer satisfaction, and the addition of two $20 expansions more or less failed to swing the drifting ship back onto its course. In fact, the game remained such a mess of a product that at one point I declared there was no fixing it without fundamentally reworking the game from the ground up—something any company would normally be reluctant to do. The amount of resources such an overhaul would require could only make for good business when invested in a sequel, I said. And for most businesses that would be true. But not, apparently, for Bungie.

GPU Wars: GTX 960 vs GTX 770 (Unboxing and Benchmarks)

Not all advances in technology are about being faster or stronger. Sometimes the most interesting developments come in small packages—both literally and figuratively. Such is the case with the NVIDIA GTX 960, a GPU on the low end of the current Maxwell generation that thanks to some aftermarket tinkering might just be able to replace last generation's Kepler mid-range cards despite some rather odd limitations.

Three Things Destiny 2 Desperately Needs

It's May 19, Guardians. You know what that means: Destiny's second expansion, 'The House of Wolves', is finally here. You also probably know by now to expect it to stir up a lot of controversy amongst the gaming community, mixed with avowed professions of dropping the game altogether in protest of one thing or another and those who excitedly took off at least one day of work just to blow through all the new content the expansion offers. Meanwhile, a significant portion of Destiny's reported 16 million registered players continue to log in daily and spend an average 3 hours per session regardless of all the debate. Destiny is nothing if not addicting, even if it isn't really a very good game at its core. It gets a few things really right, like the base gunplay mechanics and atmospheric environments, and it's enough to keep players coming back and even shell out $20 for a package of a little bit more of the same every few months. Destiny is Bungie's first go at something like it, and really there isn't any alternative MMO-shooter mashup out there at all, so we're willing to forgive rookie mistakes for the time being. We all know Destiny is broken and DLC is only a bandaid, not a real solution, but if Bungie moves in the right direction for the rest of Destiny 1's lifespan and then rights its wrongs with Destiny 2, the young series could still be redeemed. So while you're out enjoying either playing The House of Wolves or boycotting it, here are three things Bungie absolutely must get right next time around.

Rocket League Beta is a Blast (Video)

In a day and age when the word 'gaming' generally conjures up images of high-budget story-driven experiences, it's easy to forget that sometimes the simplest ideas are actually the most fun—and that videogames can even be 'fun' in the purest sense of the word at all.

Such is Rocket League from developer Psyonix, slated to release on the Playstation 4 this summer and at an undisclosed later date on PC. In essence it's just a ball in a big box with goals at either end, but it also happens to be some of the most fun I've ever had on my PS4.

New Nintendo 3DS XL Releases Tomorrow – Should you get one?

I suppose we should be used to this by now.

What began as a seemingly one-off venture for Nintendo with the 3DS XL has definitely turned into an almost yearly event. First we had the Nintendo 3DS in 2011, then the 3DS XL in 2012, then the 2DS in 2013, and now—as you probably are aware—Nintendo has yet another new hardware revision in store for us with the New Nintendo 3DS XL, set to hit North American store shelves tomorrow, Friday the 13th (whose big idea was that?). But questionable release date aside, this particular revision has more people more interested than usual because for once we’re not just looking at a change in form factor, but an actual hardware upgrade. No, it’s not enough to class the device as a successor to the original 3DS, but that also begs the question: is it enough to make it a necessary replacement? Let’s find out, for the good of all still sitting on the fence!

Who Needs Microsoft Office Anymore?

I’m not being facetious, that’s a legitimate question. There’s no doubt that Microsoft Office has been king of word processors and slide presentations pretty much since the beginning. Office was what put Microsoft on the map in the early days. However, it’s also well-known to fall a little on the pricey side, so it’s no surprise that as time has gone on and technology has matured we’ve seen more and more cheap or free alternatives crop up. Initially these alternatives weren’t even worth the money you saved, but by now a few true competitors have emerged, such as Google Docs or OpenOffice and its fork, LibreOffice. While in terms of plain feature comparison Microsoft Office still takes the cake hands-down, not everyone uses an office suite the same way, and many consumers end up paying mostly for features they’ll never even use. So I ask the question: who needs Microsoft Office anymore? Well, let’s find out.

Why Videogames are the Ultimate Art Form

It’s long been debated whether videogames count as a legitimate form of art or not. Early on the size and average age of any given game’s audience and the limitations of the hardware it ran on made gaming easy to dismiss as just a line of toys. But today things are a bit different. Gamers have grown up and the games have grown with them. Major new releases eclipse movie premiers. Production budgets number in the tens of millions, and many high-profile actors lend their voices and motion captures to videogame performances. Yet for all its success, the gaming industry still hasn’t been able to definitively end the videogames-are-art debate. Some developers have tried by going ‘cinematic’ and reducing the amount of player involvement in a game and painting everything in a gray color pallette so you know it’s dead serious. But while this approach may take after art in a way, these kinds of mainstream titles are not really what prove gaming’s worth as an art form.

5 Games to Look Forward to in 2015

Why hello there, 2015. It’s nice to meet you. I think we’re going to be great friends.

It’s almost strange to see the number 15 on all the calendars of the world, but not for the usual reason. Sure, it’s hard to believe and a little sobering to think the only Year 2014 the world will ever see has already come and gone, but at least for me 2015 is a little different. Lots of interesting things will be happening around here that directly tie in to my personal life, but besides that, my favorite hobby—gaming—is shaping up to be pretty awesome. This is the year next-gen really becomes current-gen, when we finally get to see what our new consoles are capable of doing and get to experience the awe that comes only once a decade or so when we’re truly blown away by what we see happening on our screens (before the magic fades, the current ceiling of realism becomes the floor, and everyone starts pining for the next wave of consoles while the ‘PC Master Race’ moans about how they’re being held back). But times have also changed—graphical parity on a platform is now a thing of the past with independent and small-budget productions coming into popularity, many of which are every bit as fun to play as their AAA counterparts. And 2015 will have plenty of gems in both categories to offer. Here’s five of them to look forward to.

‘Text Me Merry Christmas’ Brings Holiday Cheer Up-to-Date

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I say ‘Christmas music’? Chances are good that it’s at least half a century old, if not significantly more, even if the particular interpretation you think of happens to be the creation of a contemporary artist. And indeed it’s true—Christmas has become an inconsistent mesh of the old and new over the past decade or so. Various tech products now top the charts as the hottest gift items under the tree, but that tree itself is planted firmly by the river of tradition. One might even get lost just imaging walking in a winter wonderland without Google Maps these days. Well, now Straight No Chaser, creators of the legendary acapella version of the 12 Days of Christmas, are back to make their mark upon the holiday season again with ‘Text Me Merry Christmas’, a new song for a new generation saturated in smartphones. Oh, and Kristen Bell’s in it, too. Because, you know, I’m pretty sure she starred in some little movie about winter a while back, if that had anything to do with it.

Playstation Experience Roundup + PS4 Unboxing!

Remember when CES and E3 were all us tech fanatics had to look forward to every year? Now it seems like every company has their own press conferences and shows. Apple, Google, Samsung, Microsoft, Activision—all throughout the year now we get these smaller displays focused on just one company at a time. But up until now there hasn’t really been anything on the Sony side, or more specifically, the Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) side. Enter Playstation Experience, an annual event which debuted this past weekend doubling as a celebration of PlayStation’s 20th anniversary. And oh boy, what an event it was. Riding high off the unstoppable momentum of the Playstation 4, Playstation fans have never been more proud to be Playstation fans. Heck, there were even a number of former Xbox fans in attendance who were proud to be Playstation fans. Not to say that Microsoft isn’t doing well at all—in fact, the Xbox One has grown into quite the worthy purchase—but with Playstation Experience (or PSX for short) Sony effectively reminded everyone who’s stuck with Playstation over the years what has kept them continually coming back.

Destiny has Become an Exercise in Frustration

Alright, videogame reviewers, fair’s fair: you get to say “I told you so” on this one. In a few days Bungie’s latest console offering, Destiny, will turn three months old, and while it hasn’t lost relevance like Titanfall (arguably the biggest other release this year) it is steadily becoming more and more inaccessible and lackluster as weaknesses that were present from the start are finally coming to bear in some pretty serious strokes. If you recall, I was initially pretty hard on all the folks who couldn’t just sit back and enjoy Destiny, because indeed it was enjoyable…for a while. The game started off strong, dropping me into this vast new universe to explore as a fresh new character to grow and develop as a Guardian. But then not only did it fail outright to exposit on this universe in any meaningful way, after a while my character hit level 20 and the game switched from a pretty enjoyable XP system to one of the worst loot mechanics in modern gaming. Even then Destiny’s fatal flaws weren’t immediately obvious, simply because I got into the game on day one and at the time pretty much everyone playing was in the same boat as me. But now that a few months have gone by, I wonder if anyone who isn’t a day-one player stands any chance of surviving in Destiny at all.