Sunday, January 30, 2011



http://www.shatteredcrystal.com/code.php/facebook_credits/~126289 - In this video Fear talks about the best monsters to use in the game and why you should use them. Backyard Monsters.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Gettin' my epic battle on in Eye of the Storm!



This was probably my best battleground encounter ever! I describe all the tactics and information you need for this battleground as a Warlock...

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Bring your video game to the mass market through the user interface.



In this video Fear talks about the importance of the user interface in your games and how you can use that information to attract more people to come play that game. For those of you that prefer to read, I have a basic written version available below.

If you want to help a starving artist/writer out, check out Shattered Crystal's game codes and intagible items out and see if anything interests you.

Keep It Simple, Stupid. (The KISS Principal)

The interface to the game should not be an “afterthought”. You already know what you want in your world and maybe even how it will look. The most important thing is how the user will access it. Work with the interface and make it better over time because you will never know how people will actually play your game when it is released. Don’t get too hung up on your vision. Chances are, you are the only one that will see it the way you intended.

When I hear a game developer say we are writing a game that “We” would play, you are alienating your potential userbase. Make that game an option or “Hard” mode. Most of us don’t have months or years to figure everything out.

Tutorials and help should be active while you are playing your game. Additional tutorials are nice, but hands-on training is always more deserable to players. Having a friendly face pop up and tell you what you are trying to accomplish the best way I have ever encountered.

Make your interface simple to use. If you can’t convince Mom, Dad, your spouce or Grandma that your game is really cool, your interface may need some help.

Interfaces should be the same throughout the entire game. It should look to anyone playing that one geek wrote the whole thing. Not a mish-mash of different menus and designs.

Make your game easy to just jump in and start playing. You can have options to make things more difficult and brain tasking later on, but just let them jump in and start shooting or building or whatever.

Enjoy what you create, and also make it something as many people as possible can actually access, then you will actually create a new vision that both you and your customers enjoy!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

How to install a laptop tripod & 1080p revealed!



The best video of the year award goes to none other then Fear of Battle Vortex. This weeks video solves the problem of my laptop camera being at eye-level. We also reveal the next evolution in BV's video production with 1080p!

Thanks to Marcus and all the SC guys for helping me with producing videos!

If you would like to help me make more videos in the future, then please visit Shattered Crystal and make a purchase of time codes or other special items!

Monday, January 24, 2011

World of Tanks beta - Let's get killed!



I have had a couple of runs in World Of Tanks, and without trying to learn too much, I decided to just jump in a tank and go out there and see what happens. As usual, your first encounter is most likely your toughest, and I promise to deliver a beautiful death.

Click here if you would like to get in the World Of Tanks beta.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Way Back Machine: Ultima Online and Raph Koster...



http://www.shatteredcrystal.com/index.php/~126289 - One Interview To Rule Them All. BV Audio Episode #19 with Raph Koster who was the Lead Designer for Ultima Online when this interview was released on Jan. 25, 1999. This interview was the one that gave us the inspiration to create another 45 more shows before closing down in March 2002.

Thanks to Pete "Sir Adrick" Warner for this opportunity to make a difference in our game.

For additional "old school" audio shows please visit: http://ishare.sphorium.com/fb/link.aspx?id=de584b50-02cf-43e8-9665-3bfd8d19f3ec

Catch the latest from Raph Koster on his website: http://www.raphkoster.com/

"Back in the day" is very subjective, but I am talking about the one interview that made Battle Vortex a part of something larger then my own ramblings. The quality of the interview is not exactly up to par with today's standards. You will have to forgive me since I had to do this stuff before things like YouTube came along with easy to follow steps and built in streaming at your fingertips.

Raph Koster who is now a crazed super-conductor for online games, is really a very nice and gentle person who really wanted to create a "life-simulator" that doesn't get imploded by the people playing it. Maybe that is why he started his Facebook app business.

Raph said something to me once that always stayed in my head and that was the fact that I was playing his game right. That made me feel pretty darn good to know I could experience someone elses vision the way the intended for all of us.

Even though I haven't ever worked in the industry, I have been stalking these super-genious game designers around like glue since 1996. I have one-sided conversations with them on my blog, and up until recently, didn't mind falling off the face of the Internet. Well, maybe some day, Fear's name will return to the light, but for now, please enjoy my remix of Raph Koster as he was over a decade ago...

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

How to defend your base in BYM with the new Monster Bunker!



In this video Fear talks about his defensive layout and how that strategy works with the new Monster Bunker in Backyard Monsters.

This video is best viewed in HD and in Full Screen!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

How to win in World of Warcraft Battlegrounds...



How to win in 5 easy steps is Fear's first in a series of helping people enjoy the battlegrounds in World Of Warcraft. If you are new to World Of Warcraft or a veteran who is not sure how to play outside of raiding or questing, then this video is for you!

Thanks to our sponsors: Shattered Crystal and Karaoke Crew

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Sith Reborn... Video from Lucas Arts on SWTOR...

Check out the latest video from Lucas Arts here: http://www.swtor.com/info/holonet/timeline/rebirth-sith-empire?sourceid=eag2916
Interesting story, although I am a bit confused as to when there were only 2 Sith vs an entire race of them.