The game is almost done cooking. There’s still work to be done, but meeting the self-imposed deadline isn’t making me worry.

The funnest thing about doing something independently (games, too) is this: it gives validation to opinions that otherwise would deserve none. For example, since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to see a video game including at least one of the following:

1. Rooms with nothing in them.

2. Silence in combination with background music.

3. Pan-referential (and otherwise meaningless) images and text as part of the background. Kind of like garnish on a plate.

4. I realize that there are a number of clichéd misperceptions of video games and their relationship with violence, but, uhh, I also wanted to make a game where you don’t have to kill anything. That’s right. And I’m a vegetarian. And I sort my garbage for recycling when I’m not doing push-ups.

As further incentive for Major Software Developers to license this game for distribution, I’ve included references to Goethe, Theodore Roethke, Billy Collins, and Steven Pinker.

[More:]

Here’s what I’m talking about:

There’s this amazing video game called “Metal Gear Solid". When some folks (geeks) think of this game, they also think of the name Hideo Kagima. His name has become associated with the title as sort of a Director is to a movie. Actually, the cinematic parallels are an effective cultural grounding point - the game follows his script, the characters modeled after his designs, etc. He’s in control, conceptually, so he is kind of like a director is to a film.

The idea of one dedicated geek putting together a stylishly intricate, interactive world really intrigued me - but I have to admit, when the credits rolled it was astounding but ultimately unsurprising that teams and teams of people worked on the project. Hundreds of programmers, script checkers, animators, texture artists, lighting system engineers, dialog editors, voice actors, camera controllers, etc.

It was sort-of like a movie crew, only the whole system had to be built from the ground up by virtual hardware engineers before being handed off to the hierarchical directors, actors, and software controllers.

What I felt, reading the names, was real disappointment. Because the game was so intricately crafted and so damned effective, *I* wanted to do something like it. I wanted to make a game like it, only better. …but I knew what Hard Work was like, and seeing all those names made me realize that they spent hours late at the office, at their consoles, sweating over the programming language or the user interface, or compatibility. …and if it took hundreds of these talented folks an unknown number of months to finish this one game, I knew it could never be done by one young man, alone.

But that’s not true! Everything has advanced, since then! One human being with a cheap desktop can accomplish what once took hundreds of paid professionals! …not only that, you don’t have to adhere to commercial standards of game development. You don’t have to follow any guidelines, except the ones imposed by your own creative impulses.

Bottom Line::: This is why independent games are so much more compelling. The best novels weren’t written by subdivided teams of over-worked programmers! The best sonatas not composed by salaried, in-house music consultants. Poetry, for god’s sake, cannot be run through test-audiences and evaluated by marketing departments!

When I’m working for somebody, I’m happy to make something sensational / accessible. I like pop music, chocolate, Stephen King books, and Bruce Willis movies just as much as the next guy. But those, really, are primarily commercial products. I’m not sure I’d want to pay money for a game like “God Came To The Cave” - even though I enjoyed it more than most commercial games I bought (when I still did that).

…but The Jackyard is the game I’ve always wanted to play. And as such, it’s definitely:

Oh, and it’s free.

PS: If you’re familiar, you’ll see a bit of influence from other independent game titles such as “MONDO AGENCY", “CAVE STORY” and “SHIT GAME". I can’t help but think that the single most compelling characteristic shared between these projects is the fact that they were created by SINGLE INDIVIDUALS, who as far as I know, never got paid.