April 4, 2007

We are in crunch mode finishing up Poker Smash for the 360. I'm working on dashboard integration, achievements, and the multiplayer game. Ryan is banging out the final few levels, and David is working on the accompanying music. I can't say enough good things about working with the Xbox 360 XDK. It's a dream system to work on: great features, clear documentation, and awesome performance. For a small company like ours developing for the 360 is by far the most financially viable option. We can get by with a small team mainly because MS has done such a great job with their tools, and their community features provide the perfect market for a game like ours. I know I sound like a shill, but I don't care! I love this system!

Drew

January 27, 2007

Ladies and Gentlemen....gamers of all ages, my name is David Sease and I am the sound designer for Void Star Creations. We have been dilligently working on our first title, "Poker Smash", and let me assure you, it is absolutely the most excitingly fun and fast paced puzzle game you will play! I've been busy putting together some of the most interesting and eclectic sounds that I have written in my almost twenty years of music composition! Between the fun and challenging game play, the beautiful and amazing graphics, and the diverse and rocking music, I think you're gonna love what we've created. I can't wait for you to get your hands on the controller and play this game!!!

peace
David

January 4, 2007

Today is our first anniversary here at Void Star! Our debut Xbox 360 title, Poker Smash, is coming out better than I ever dreamed it would. It's chock-full of original music, amazing artwork and super fun gameplay. We're all excited about what the future holds for Void Star, and we are looking forward to a great 2007!

Drew

October 24, 2006

Hello!  Since this is my first dev entry I will start by introducing myself.  My name is Ryan Ellis I have been in the industry almost seven years now.  I was originally working at Oddworld Inhabitants as the lead real-time artist.  From there I went to Zipper Interactive where I was a lead technical artist.  I am currently Art Director/Co Founder here at Void Star. 

Anyways enough with the formalities.  On with the show.

I have to say that the most exciting thing for me (besides being part of a startup) has been the feature turnaround time.  On large games (30+ people) you typically have to have a thousand meetings and approvals before you can move forward with an idea.  What Drew and I have been able to put together here is a system that allows us to add new features or test wacky ideas many times a day.  I believe that this will be essential in allowing us to make the best possible games that we can.  With that much iteration you can burn through the crappy ideas and get to the good stuff quickly.  Also Drew is being very good about making everything an editable pref file.  That allows me to dig around and try crazy stuff without having to bug him.  This also has been great because it allows both of us to tweak game play and hone in on good settings.  Also it means that I can try my really outlandish ideas by myself so if they fail spectacularly Drew will never have to know… :)

October 22, 2006

The new website is up, complete with our new devolopment blog. We will be updating the site often, so please keep checking back for updates.