Uncategorized

Entomorph: Plague of the Darkfall was a 90’s action-adventure role-playing game that… I still struggle to describe today. It’s a wildly “all over the map” type of experience somehow pulled through by the very nightmarish storyline. I played it when it first came out so now… I paraphrase the following heavily and try to recall this from memory: I remember the game starting on a beach-side village, the place being swarmed by undead and giant insects. You have to go do something to save the village from this invasion, something dark that’s falling over the world… You eventually do, pretty...

At the beginning of this year I relaunched a brand new Tetrageddon Games (the web version… not to be confused with ARMAGAD, the desktop version). I did this because I waited till basically the absolute last minute to see if Flash emulators would be up to par to be able to run the games. The majority of these games are Actionscript 3 based. The ones that are Actionscript 2 based don’t run well on emulators yet… long story short, emulators aren’t really exactly ready yet. So I went with the alternative plan of releasing all games as desktop apps, and...

This post is about stuff that’s been on my mind lately. I had some game recommendations that I wanted to write about, and then I suppose it grew into more… – image credit and title inspiration go to @moshboy Recently I’ve started playing more AAA open world games because it’s been helping me cope with self-isolation. Stuff like GTA 5 and the new Spider Man game (the Miles Morales one). I don’t really have much to say about these games, and would rather not give them more attention than they need because they are AAA and enough people talk about...

I’m publishing this page so I have an official guide to send to macOS users that have this problem. Thank you for downloading my work! Here is why this happens, and what you can do to open it… This is a Gatekeeper issue. Newer versions of macOS, starting with Catalina, introduced measures to block non-notarized apps from developers. Notarizing an app means that I have to pay Apple a yearly fee of $100 to be able to sign my work with them. I have to keep paying this fee, else the certificate expires. Long answer short, I cannot afford this...

It’s been a while since I shared code of things I’m working on here. Since one of the projects is not yet announced (a secret!), but the code for it is useful, I thought it’s about time that I do one of these again… My last little code project was to FINALLY make a vanilla-javascript based image gallery (just plain javascript, no jquery or anything). I’ve been putting this off for years, and the last one I had was just a hacked together thing. I got around to making one that’s extremely simple, no massive features, and easy to customize!...

Here is a hugely passionate area of creative interest to me: desktop pets, screenmates, screen buddies, desktop buddies, desktop mascots, screen crawlers, virtual pets, virtual companions, screen wanderers, digital pets… (those are all the things they are called, ur welcome!) I love designing them and think they are intrinsically fascinating. I make maybe one a year, and this next project I’m working on will involve one as well. There’s something special about filling the virtual void with warm, silly, supposedly pointless simulated companionship. It’s like having a fireplace lit in the corner of the room. It’s weirdly comforting. Image of...

After today’s news, and because I will probably be getting junk directed at me, I’m writing this to explain what this means for my work, and what I will be doing… First of all, if you want to read more about what this means for AIR (the runtime teams have given their commitment to keep supporting it) then visit these links: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2362234 https://forum.starling-framework.org/topic/air-roadmap-update I have been moving all my stuff to AIR for quite a while now. Tetrageddon has fully transitioned to a desktop app. The games will be playable in the browser for as long as browsers support the...

My new not-a-game game experimental art experience “Everything is going to be OK” was showcasing at IndieCade E3 this week! This was an amazing privilege, and the other indies in the showcase also had amazing games. The overall feedback was encouraging. So many people commented that they had never seen anything like it. This was probably the most common comment. I would love to talk about this more, but I have a pressing announcement & favor to ask… The game is out on early access here: http://gamejolt.com/games/ok/263066 If you would like to support me, my work, or the development of...

As I develop I take lots of notes. I figure I’m due another blog post, so I’m sharing some thoughts I’ve had while making “Everything is going to be OK”… also that’s the official title now. It was a placeholder, and now it’s stuck, and everyone knows it by that so… I’m ok with that. The game is called “Everything is going to be OK”, ok?? (p.s. excuse the grammar, i’m very tired and there’s lots to do) Notes… Talking about personal things is easy, making a game about them is not. It feels almost invasive, but at the same...

I feel like I need to say something. If not to share opinion, then just to get this off my chest… This post is for my own sake. Maybe just for the sake of someday having something to look back at, and be happy that it’s over. I don’t know. Maybe one day I will be able to laugh at this too. I don’t know what to say. The outcome has been shocking and devastating. As a woman I feel like someone just took every sexual assault, every office harassment, every obstacle I’ve ever faced because of my gender… every...

Update: Because GameJolt is going to launch their marketplace soon (I’m told about 2-3 weeks) I’m going to wait for them so I can launch there too. GameJolt has been tremendous for my games (encouraging, supportive, and all the warm-n-fuzzy stuff like that) so being able to launch with them gives me happy feels. …So yeah, I’m waiting for them + that gives me time to add some more stuff. Also, cool comment on this post. Thank u for sharing that. Not too long ago (pre-GDC to be exact), I put out a call on Twitter for beta testers. One...

Ok, so… some really cool news! Some time ago indiegamehunt approached me and asked if I was cool with doing an email interview. Today it went up on GameJolt. Animated .gifs and all. Here: An Interview with Nathalie Lawhead This is so cool! (also because I’m a fan of gamejolt, so you can imagine I am tittering with youthful enthusiasm.) Also, CloneJam: Nathalie Lawhead (#clonejamnathalie) is starting in 7 hours (as of writing this). I am going to participate in this because I think this will take vanity to a whole new level and I like that. Also, just imagine...