rufusdufus0.bsky.social
@rufusdufus0.bsky.social
I'll be live at 3pm PDT today with a (definitely not belated) birthday stream! I'm building a Framework PC and a 32TB NAS device!

Stream is #sponsored by Factor75! Last day to use my link to get 50% off your first Factor box and 20% off your next month of orders!

strms.net/factor75_ruf...
July 25, 2024 at 2:03 PM
And here's a more recent version of the sword controller! It's still a work in progress, but it's already surprisingly fun and functional. We're still considering how exactly to place the sheath buttons and what type of sensors to use, and I plan to 3D a proper housing once the design is finalized
June 22, 2024 at 5:32 AM
Here are some stills from a more recent version of Sashimi Slayer!

Hardware by me! 🤓

Programming by doublebrackets: doublebrackets.itch.io

Music by birdbard: youtube.com/@birdbard?si...

Art by Ambird:
ambirdoodles.carrd.co
June 22, 2024 at 5:28 AM
This is a prototype of the controller for Sashimi Slayer! It uses capacitive touch sensors to sense your hand on the sheath, limit switches to sense the sword's position, a haptic motor for feedback, and a gyroscope for aiming! The sensors are connected to an Arduino that relays serial data to Unity
June 22, 2024 at 5:17 AM
Another alternative controller we considered developing for was this Tech Deck version I made of the game Scrapeboard, which uses a full size skateboard as an input for a DDR-like experience. You can learn more about the original game and even make your own controller here:

scrape.nugget.fun
June 22, 2024 at 5:10 AM
Here are some stills from an early prototype of Sashimi Slayer, an alternative controller rhythm game that uses a real sword as an input device while you fend off an onslaught of seafood to make sushi! The most recent version is playable on mouse and keyboard:

doublebrackets.itch.io/sashimi-slayer
June 22, 2024 at 5:07 AM
Producing Moogie's Valorant Throwdown for Esports at UC Davis was one of my more complex events this quarter, but it went quite well given how many elements came together for our first in-person tournament. Thanks to Valhallan Esports, Rally Cry, and CDM faculty for helping us put on the event!
June 22, 2024 at 5:01 AM
Video Game Orchestra concerts are always fun to produce! We arrange and perform pieces from game soundtracks, and this was our biggest year yet, with over 100 members and over 2,000 tickets sold. It's a unique opportunity to apply my game, music, theater, and video production skills all at once!
June 22, 2024 at 4:52 AM
The Game Development and Arts Club at UC Davis (GDAC) was honored to be invited to showcase at the Manetti Shrem Museum! Several of our developers got to show off their projects, and we even had a station for playing the fighting game Aggie Throwdown, our collaboration with the Aggiemation Eggheads
June 22, 2024 at 4:45 AM
One of the panels at Connections was about the creation of games canon, a far from exhaustive list of influential titles worthy of inclusion in games curricula. It was interesting to see how factors like nostalgia played into the selection of games, and many hard decisions were made in process
June 22, 2024 at 4:42 AM
Another games event I attended recently was Connections 2024, a conference put on by Critical Hit!, a UC Davis DHI research cluster. As someone relatively new to the field of games studies, it was fascinating to hear about practice and research in the field! Hope to see it again next year!
June 22, 2024 at 4:35 AM
Listen to my chiptune EP of originals and covers at the link below! We used the LSDJ tracker in emulation and on actual Game Boys to learn about and make chiptune. I've previously done a little chiptune in PICO-8, and I enjoyed working the limitations of each

soundcloud.com/rufusdufus0/...
June 22, 2024 at 4:31 AM
I also got to work on the soundtrack of Nautical Horizons, developed by @mkfraas.bsky.social! The brief musical themes were inspired by seafaring/piratey music and games such as Return of the Obra Dinn. Visit islands at different times of day to amass doubloons!

mkfraas.itch.io/nautical-hor...
June 22, 2024 at 4:23 AM
We also did a shell swap and backlight replacement alongside a biverter chip to try to increase contrast (to varying degrees of success). During my commencement, I made a cover of pomp and circumstance for my chiptune EP!
June 22, 2024 at 4:17 AM
Apologies for the radio silence, it's been a busy month of events and commencements! Here are some updates on some game projects and events I've been working on. We've been repairing and modding Game Boys for making chiptune music using a pro audio mod to bypass the (somewhat noisy) stock amplifier
June 22, 2024 at 4:07 AM
untitled (the flower game) was another stunning visual experience combined with a surprisingly mechanically interesting game. The soundscape matched the tone quite nicely, and the simple color scheme gave the game a captivating stark contrast.

withering-systems.itch.io/flower-game
#smallgamestudio
May 14, 2024 at 12:39 PM
Another abstract game I tried was Do You Love the Color of the Sky? by a friend called devirtualized. The environment changes colors and sometimes reacts to your presence as you create new galaxies. It seems I may have broken the game though...

devirtualized.itch.io/do-you-love-...
#smallgamestudio
May 14, 2024 at 12:26 PM
This week we'll be looking at some abstract art games, one of which was BECOME A GREAT ARTIST IN JUST 10 SECONDS. It lives up to its title, as you can see from my artwork, and it's very intuitive and somewhat addictive.

dryad.technology/artist/
#smallgamestudio
May 14, 2024 at 12:17 PM
Good Hospital was another fun #smallgamestudio game from this week with some fun details like a stylized itch.io page, some music and sound effects, and an amusing tone throughout. Here's the link to try it yourself! Careful to not kill your patient like I did...

cliffordclub.itch.io/good-hospital
May 7, 2024 at 6:20 AM
Another #smallgamestudio game from this week was Dungeon Madness, which had a great and cohesive aesthetic reminiscent of old CD-ROM games. Some other nice details were the music, font choice, and background images.

leumbonothesecond.itch.io/dungeon-madn...
May 7, 2024 at 6:17 AM
Other #smallgamestudio devs exhibited some great work on their text-based games this week, and it was impressive how polished several of the games were. Signal Unknown had some nice touches like scrolling text, an animated cover image, and a banner.

mkfraas.itch.io/unkn0wn-s1gn4l
May 7, 2024 at 6:15 AM
I also attended HackDavis this weekend, a 24-hour hackathon on creating for social good! I was mostly working on my text-based game and chiptune music but also worked on an alternative controller project and helped introduce other hackers to hardware hacking with microcontrollers!

#smallgamestudio
April 30, 2024 at 6:30 AM
This weekend, I attended Connections 2024, an interdisciplinary conference at UC Davis! I enjoyed hearing from games scholars and developers throughout the day. Thanks to the Critical Hit! Research Cluster and the Digital Humanities Institute for putting on an insightful conference

#smallgamestudio
April 30, 2024 at 6:25 AM
We played several text-based games this week as inspiration for our own text games. One of my favorites was the classic Universal Paperclips! It's surprising how engaging building your paper clip empire can be with such a minimal interface. Play to the end for a special surprise 👀

#smallgamestudio
April 30, 2024 at 6:17 AM
Looking forward to continuing the development of a text-based game this week! I don't often lean into text when working on games, so it'll be an interesting challenge. This was a draft from the first project I made using Twine, which is a great place to start for text-based work!

#smallgamestudio
April 23, 2024 at 6:34 AM