Lawrie Russell is making Trash TV, which is really close to being finished. It started life as a clone of Super Crate Box, but he took it in such a different direction that it’s now only really obvious once it’s pointed out. Lawrie talks through all of the steps of that process, as well as the feedback and abuse he got on the way, ultimately ending up with a game that has Vlambeer’s blessing. It’s not vengeance on the people who tried to exploit them so badly, but it is probably the best possible story that can come out of cloning:
Feral Vector 2014: Tim Hunkin
We’re very pleased indeed that Tim Hunkin will be speaking at Feral Vector on July the 4th. Tim is an engineer and cartoonist who’s spent decades building incredible machines, sculptures, installations and things for museums, galleries, and his own Under the Pier Show. He also made a TV series in the 80’s, titled The Secret Life of Machines. It was made largely in his own garden and workshop, at a time when when risk assessments weren’t such a thing; Here are Tim and Rex doing a glorious demonstration of how a light bulb works.
Now he runs the Under The Pier Show in Southwold, which is full of home built and hacked mechanical arcade machines. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but Mobility Masterclass and My Nuke are definitely up there.
As well as the things he’s built, Tim will have something really exciting to talk about on the 4th.
Video: George Buckenham, Building Custom Hardware
George Buckenham, from Wild Rumpus/Die Gute Fabrik, talks about building things, occasionally failing to build things, and how electronics are easy but carpentry is hard. Making custom hardware for your game is really not as difficult as you might think; there’s a lot of stuff out there that makes it easier, such as