Posts tagged future games
Screenshots from my latest oddity…
Jul 3rd
Presented out of context and cropped! The game is slowly emerging, like some kind of slimy, bug-eyed thing out of a primordial ooze. Thus far it is chock full of cacti, catmoose, airplane-riding cowboys, laser dinghies, and angry yeti.
What should I do?
May 2nd
Whoa. It’s already May… It seems like forever ago that I was releasing Wholesale Hero to the public (okay, so it’s only been 3 months, but it seems like forever.) I’d love to say that I have a whole bunch of new and exciting projects in the works, but that would be a blatant lie. I’ve been up to my giblets in work – because of school and freelance BS – and for once I don’t have a million projects in the works, waiting to be unleashed on an uninterested public. So I need a little guidance folks, a smidgen of public input to figure out what crappy project I spend my free time on for the next few months…
1) I have a working iPhone version of the shipping game from Wholesale Hero – it functions just peachy and is nearly ready to go, but I have my own personal doubts about it: The regular version of Wholesale Hero has been well-received thus far, but isn’t exactly the most popular download from Mojiferous Industries (that would be Desktop Cigarette, followed closely by Atomic Combat.) Oddly, convoluted number matching games aren’t wildly popular! Who would’ve guessed?
2) I can finish Increase Speed, Drop Down, Reverse Direction – which I have been meaning to do ever since I last posted about it in January, before school got in the way. The game is pretty much done, it would just need some soundtrack love from King Thor and a little gameplay tweaking. It would be nice to get this game out of the laboratory…
3) I have an inane idea forming in my head for a new game, it’s nothing more than bits and pieces right now, but it could easily form into something magical. Right now it involves lots of drinking, talking birds, cacti, and abstract expressionist level design… It could be magical, or it could end up being a Mojiferous Industries project!
My options, therefore are:
1) I can spend another month or so testing and deploying WH iPhone so it can rot in the far reaches of the App Store.
2) Finish Increase Speed, Drop Down, Reverse Direction
OR
3) I can start up a new Quixotic quest for something else that isn’t even completely fleshed out yet!
I’m leaning towards #3, surprisingly enough. Anyone have any input out there?
Updates, Videos, and a beard
Jan 18th
A few things late on a Sunday night:
1) I updated Wholesale Hero yet again, the link is the same (here). Build 286 fixes a few bugs, adds some boring features, blah blah. Here’s a breakdown:
Bug Fixes:
~ Fixed issue with shipping round not responding to clicks after second round
~ Fixed issue with saved games not opening correctly
~ Long company names now display more gracefully
New Features:
~ Added a preference option to turn off Growl
~ Added preference for news display time
Changes:
~ Disabled Sparkle to allow for easier Windows integration
~ Added date and version number to internal error reporting
Exciting, no? By disabling Sparkle it will allow me to start testing for Windows (which I am already doing right now — a few more bugs need to be worked out before I’ll make the beta public, but at that time the builds for Windows and Mac will be in sync) so the current auto-update scheme won’t work, you’ll have to download again. And a big thanks to all of you who have been playing WH and sending me feedback!
2) I have uploaded a gameplay video of my latest project (the Space Invaders project) which is now more than far enough along to spill the beans about and not have to worry about someone shitting out a flash version before I can even start coding. Basic synopsis: inverse space invaders, you play as the invaders and the computer tries to destroy you, etc. This whole concept came out of a strange, feverish dream, and after consulting with King Thor, we determined that no one had actually made a Space Invaders game from the point of view of the invaders… This was not only surprising, but lead me to start development right away. So here is the video — Right now the game is called “Increase Speed, Drop Down, Reverse Direction,” because I am, as my girlfriend so quickly pointed out, a complete dork and Futurama is still funny. So enjoy some unfiltered gameplay, complete with accidental Albert Ayler soundtrack (didn’t realize I had Screenflick’s sound recording turned on) and mid-movie tweet Growl. The algorithm isn’t perfect yet, and I’m no good at being the aliens (as a side note, this is the first level, so you can only have 2 shots on screen at any one time — I did this to make the game more difficult on early levels. For you, that is, not the computer.)
3) I’m growing a beard for a charity mustache festival and look like a homeless guy. Oh, and I’m going to GDC/IGF this year in San Francisco, without a game in the festival but with full intention of mingling with the other developer weirdos. Hopefully I’ll have shaved and gotten a haircut by then.
Concept sketches from space invaders game
Jan 7th
King Thor and I have begun work on a new game, born from a concept I dreamt up late one night (quite literally — I had a dream about it). While I won’t reveal all the details quite yet, it is a Space Invaders-like game and I’ve been making some progress on the inner workings… So here’s a quick shot of some (tiny scans) of the art I’ve shat out so far.
The invaders (and their lasers)
The defender and some explosions:
And finally, the bunker and some more explosions:
You might be asking yourself “what the hell are those oddly shaped cracked things?” Those may be the chunks taken out of the bunker… possibly. Obviously this is still in the design phase and nothing is set in stone yet, but I’m really happy with the way things have turned out thus far — stay tuned for more!