15 Days: Part 29 – June 16th to June 30th

One Day I Will Share A Photo Of My Testing Shelf

Another day, another blog. Welcome to Part 29. 😁

Part 29 includes:

• Rez AKA Joe Nicolia, Commission #2
• Testing Shelf Addition
• UrbX Warriors Sneak Peek
• Fitness Update

Rez AKA Joe Nicolia, Commission #2: Long-time readers of this blog will know I have always been a fan of Joe’s art. I have more prints than I can count, usually on rotation, and several original pieces permanently on display. A product of our time playing Destiny 2, we struck up a friendship and have kept in touch over the intervening years between then and now.

I’d already commissioned Arcade Defender (see 15 Days: Part 1) as a way to remember and reminisce over my time playing Destiny 2 (I always knew there was going to be a time to say goodbye to the game, long before live service updates ended) and when I started thinking about writing a book, my most immediate and obvious choice for a cover was Joe.

The idea was to create the art and then, via some digital work, create the book cover. The book itself is not for public release or purchase. It’s my practice project, for when I write a book with that in mind. No, this will serve as a personal account of my time playing games, testing games, how I have grown and changed with them, and more. I already have the title; I’ve kept that quiet for a long time, and so it will remain for now.

I think you can probably tell which console was my favourite and what time period I’ll be writing about from the image below. The era of the SNES was a rich and exciting one, and I have incredibly fond memories of that time. The keen-eyed of you will spot the ‘Famicom’ and that is intentional but I’m keeping that for the book. Possibly, as time goes by, I might share some of it on this website. We’ll see.

Also, with this commission, called Virtual King, I win twice. I get another wonderful piece of original art from Joe, and I get the chance to see it as the cover for my book. It fills me with excitement and motivation.

Testing Shelf Addition: Listed near the bottom of my Projects page, is a writing credit for the GCX 2024 Destiny 2 Community Game Manual. It was a limited print run, only available at GCX that year. Being based in the UK, I wasn’t able to get there at the time and I’ve always wanted a physical representation to add to my Testing Shelf. With Joe being part of this project, he very kindly added this to the parcel that arrived with Virtual King. I’m going to get this mounted and framed. It was the very first writing credit I got, and for it to be for Destiny 2 was extra special. My social media tag is no-longer @Kingpapadude, having changed to @pauljamesQA, but that is still me. It’s a personal highlight, and I am very proud to have my name on it.

UrbX Warriors Sneak Peek: With the permission of Tony and Stoo, today I am able to share a screengrab of an area in UrbX Warriors that hasn’t been seen outside of the Brazen Gameplay team.

It gives nothing away, and I remain committed to making sure everything stays that way until release so that whoever plays the game gets that initial hit of excitement and exploration. And, as I keep repeating, I know how much effort goes into making a game so I’m not going to ruin that by revealing something I shouldn’t.

That being said, having played plenty of the test builds, there was one area that I couldn’t stop looking at. So much so that I felt the need to grab this screenshot and let Stoo know how brilliant the detail in the artwork is. We all know he’s an expert in his field; his back catalogue and experience speak for themselves but this, to me, is magnificent work.

Here is your exclusive, UrbX Warriors sneak peek:

I really love the detail in this picture. Forget my testing perspective for a moment and swap it to a player perspective; there’s a real sense of the character being out of his comfort zone here, all alone. With symbols carved into the stone, the dark archway, the gate, the faces in the wall; he’s exploring, stepping deeper into the story that is to be discovered ahead. The detail around the edges and the sense of depth all contribute to the game feeling as real as can be. I am there in that room and, as a player, that’s escapism and adventure at its best.

This is as much as I can share right now but believe me, really do believe me, UrbX Warriors is shaping up to be a fantastic game, and there’s so much more to come.

Fitness Update: I’ve been really happy with my progress over the last month, and I’ve learned a few things about managing my energy levels. I have felt every one of my forty-five years and knowing when to push and when to rest has been a learning experience but I am getting there very quickly.

A few changes since last time include ditching the side planks in favour of hip raises, press-ups, and full body squats. Now my body weight/weights routine includes these plus leg raises and triple set bicep curls. This is a solid improvement and I can be pleased with the effort.

Use of the exercise bike has been steady. Those quarter turns of the resistance dial have slowed but that’s because I’m finding the higher level of resistance harder. The forty-plus minutes sessions have been dropped in favour of twenty minutes, which includes ten minutes at the default, five minutes at a half-turn increase, and then five minutes back to the default. Higher intensity over a shorter period is better for me at the moment.

The UK’s heatwave hasn’t helped though. I’m not complaining; I keep going but I do it smarter. It’s difficult to sleep in these temperatures so the morning and evening sessions have been limited over the last week because of tiredness and energy levels dipping but I have been taking advantage of a free, air-conditioned gym at lunch for twenty minutes, using the treadmill for a light walk and with a slight incline.

However, the most important part of all of this is that I have missed the exercise when I cannot workout, and that means I am fully engaged with my goals. Especially as I am finding ways to keep exercising regardless of the challenges in front of me. It’s been a long time since I looked forward to keeping fit and I aim to keep it going. It’s a lifestyle change to last a lifetime. I will make sure I do my best to stick to it. The health benefits are worth the effort.

Coming up over the next 15 Days, I have a week of testing scheduled for Sleepytime Village, as Lightfoot Bros Games take a significant step towards release and, by the time I write up Part 30, I’ll know the result of the Game Dev Heroes QA category.

An award win for QA would be hugely significant for me, and I really want this.

I guess we’ll find out in the next 15 Days…

Wish me luck, please!

Until next time, as always, stay safe and thank you for reading.

Paul.