Cocos Games

I am an independent game developer with big dreams

As with most indie developers, that one line pretty much sums up who I am and what I have set out to accomplish. But as most developers already know, it's easier said than done. Making it big as an indie developer in this era is more difficult than searching for a black cat in a coal cellar. In the indie world there are far more factors and recipes that end up in failure rather than success.

I started this blog mainly to share my experiences as an indie. I also need a place to express my thoughts and vent out my frustrations which I hope will not be much haha. Having said that, being a successful game designer and developer has always been my dream and I will do everything I can to (try and) realize that. Yet as hopes abound, it's the sheer passion in creating games that will keep me going. Hopefully, other developers who are in the same boat as I am will learn from these experiences, and I, from there's.

The bully

I consider myself a gamer. My first encounter with such was way back in grade school - that was some 100 years ago. It was with an electronic handheld game that a rich bully at school happened to own called the Digital Derby by Tomy.

 

Video courtesy of DaRetroGate

He was proudly showing it off during recess while I watched with envy from a distance. I heard that he got it from Santa for Christmas, which got me thinking: Why is it that every year I would only find chocolates or candy bars inside the stocking? Did I mention bully? I really wanted to try out his super-duper-awesome-hi-tech-game so I timidly walked up to him and asked if I could borrow it. But he just ignored me. Then an opportunity presented itself. A wimpy student walked past him and the bully's first instinct was to harass the poor kid. He stood up and left the derby game on the hallway floor as he walked towards the kid some 10 meters away. Slowly, I inched closer to the game until it was within reach. As I sat down beside it my eyes widened with delight. The bully was still going about his business so I managed to tinker with the game for a few seconds, then he caught me playing with it. With a loud and resounding "Hey you!" he walked towards me and I swear the ground shook with his every stride! That was the last thing I remember of the incident haha.

My video games saga

Years passed and I consider myself lucky for having parents who were frugal but knew how important video games were to a child's development (yeah right). My first console was the Atari 2600 way back in the late 70's, followed by a couple of Nintendo Game and Watches, a Nintendo Family Computer, Gameboy, Sega 16-bit, and SNES. When I was already earning a living I bought a Playstation, then a PS2 a few years later. I currently own a Wii and PS3 and contemplating whether to get an Xbox Kinect. Video games rock!

I was also exposed to computers at an early age when my Mom purchased an IBM PC. I took a liking to programming and made my first computer game in high school using the Basic Programming Language. It was a simple space invaders type of game using ascii characters, but I found it really cool! Unfortunately I lost the file when I inadvertently took out the floppy disk while it was still writing. If you have no idea what a floppy disk is, go Google it :P

Fast forward I am now working full time as a UI/UX/Web producer in a software company while using my spare time (which is not a lot) to do iPhone games. I am a husband and a father, and my dear wife and kids are my play testers and inspiration. My youngest daughter just turned 1 and she takes up most of my spare time these days lol.

Whew! This is my first blog post ever and it's time consuming and gratifying at the same time! Next time I will talk about my first experience in designing/developing an iPhone game that never saw the light of day ;)

Thanks for reading!