Back to it

I've been rather quiet here on Levelling the Playing Field, but that's over now. I would love to run you through what I've been up to, what I'm going to be up to, and to explain about a new initiative and the free mea culpa I'd like to offer to each of you that have been supporting the newsletter for the period that I haven't been posting much. Let's start with the last one.

The 101 Courses Program

Over the past years, a lot has happened - but one project has been steadily in development: the Levelling The Playing Field 101 Courses Program. A comprehensive video and article course program created to ensure your most common game development questions get answered, in as timeless a format as possible.

The program will be available at my new Courses page, and contain 8 modules that work independently - Business, Pitching, Marketing, Direction, Production, Teams, Budgeting, and Timelines. The program will launch at a fee of €40 per module. Of course, in line with my equity goals of a fair global games industry, select national associations, universities, or community programs will be able to distribute the program with discounts or fee waivers.

Mea Culpa

This work would not have been possible if part of the expenses hadn't been covered by the subscribers of LTPF - so if you are a paying subscriber to LTPF and have been for over a year at the moment of this post, you will receive the following:

• Supporter (€1,99 per month/€20 per year) - you receive two Levelling The Playing Field 101 Courses vouchers, worth €80.
• Sponsor (€3,99 per month/€40 per year) - you receive four Levelling The Playing Field 101 Courses vouchers, worth €160.
• Champion (€7,99 per month/€75 per year) - you receive a voucher for the entire Levelling The Playing Field 101 Courses, worth €320.

You'll receive these vouchers automatically as the program launches. Please note that becoming a subscriber after this post has gone live will not give you a voucher for the courses, but it will give you access to the Ask Rami articles (which I'll discuss a little bit later!).

What I've been up to

The mailing list didn't go on pause for nothing. It's been an incredibly busy time, and a lot has happened since. I want to at least run you through the highlights.

• I have returned to active development with not one, not two, but three potential projects. I loved the consultancy and the support work, but there's only so often you want to warn people for mistakes before you want to make some of your own.
• My primary upcoming release, "Australia Did It", was announced to overwhelmingly excited reactions. Previews were phenomenal, playtests are trending great, and now my "I wish strategy games were smaller but more blunt" experiment with an incredible group of collaborators and friends, published Mystic Forge, is nearing completion. Of course, a wishlist would really help!
• I have worked on creating a new Taxonomy for interactive and linear storytelling, aiming to bridge the gap between creators of linear storytelling (ie. folks in movies, comics, and such) and interactive storytelling (games, installations, etc.) – but as part of that effort, I accidentally ended up working on a prototype I'm incredible excited about. I'll have more news about both in the future.
• I quietly showcased working title "A Long Day", a narrative horror-esque game about finding your car in a toxic parking garage that hates you. Things don't go as planned, and you'll have to look past the garage's mind-bending antics to escape its influence. Originally started as a Godot practice project, it was received so well at the showcase that I'm considering pitching the game around.
• I launched the "Mike & Rami Are Still Here" podcast with long-time friend-across-the-fence Mike Rose. With Mike's career in journalism and publishing, and my background in making and supporting developers, we discuss the past, current, and future of game development. Particularly check out the "Who Wants To Be A Thousandaire" episode for a more silly episode, or "Lucas Pope Wants Buttering Up" for a wonderful guest episode.
• It was an incredible honour to be a guest of "My Perfect Console", which is arguably among the best games (industry) podcasts out there. Journalist Simon Parkin interviews folks about games, life, and so much more.

A New Levelling The Playing Field

That said, I have continued to travel the world, supporting developers, and consulting with teams globally - and I have much more to talk about with all of you. With this post, I'm recommitting to a Levelling The Playing Field post about game development every two weeks.

Every first Monday of the month will feature a subscriber-access Ask Rami article - a thoughtful and extensive response to a question I got from the audience, whether that is during consultancy, via e-mail, or via the newly launched courses. These were incredibly popular when Levelling The Playing Field paused, and I intend to bring them back.

Every third Monday of the month will feature a free-for-everyone LTPF post as you're used to it with a little bonus content: concise, actionable, and practical information on games development, games business, and industry. It'll generally come mixed in with some recommendations in terms of reading and watching.

As always, efforts like this take real time and effort, and your support makes it possible for Levelling The Playing Field to exist. If you've been a subscriber throughout, please accept my apologies and my thanks - and obviously access to the video courses that you helped bring into reality. If you're new to the site, please browse around a bit and consider subscribing -for free, or with a small contribution- to monthly industry news and advice.