New Site and new Game

I've not had much time for game development lately (as I have not had a break from study for almost a year now) but I've done a bit here and there.

I just changed my site URL and moniker to Diacritic Games. I've checked this time, and no one has the name already!

I'm currently working on a new game that I drew the main character for a while back.

Figure 1. BSide in it's current state

It's called BSide, and it's a sort of top down platformer/RPG. Now when I say RPG, I don't mean those games that you spend hours on to make a number go up, I mean a game where you get to play in the role of a character. I'm really excited about making this game, hopefully I can get it done before 'the slump' where you lose all inspiration. If not hopefully I can stay motivated during the 'slump'.

I gave up on Brim because I couldn't get tile-based platformer collisions to behave correctly. I know it sounds like something that someone who has been making flash games for as long as I have shouldn't get stuck on, but I've tried everything. I think I will keep the basic concept and story for Brim until I think of a better way to implement it.

As for Birdy, I've all but gave up trying to find a sponsor...

Birdy Trailer

I have 100% completed Birdy, and I have uploaded a trailer which is available to view on Vimeo.

Birdy Trailer from John Okely on Vimeo.

It's been a year and 2 days since I was at 99% for Birdy, I've recently been focusing on university while waiting for a sponsorship opportunity to arise. Perhaps it's time to retry with the added benefit of a trailer?

Sponsors

I've submitted Birdy to two sponsors, and one responded with some constructive criticism, and I am waiting for a response from the other. After attending to their suggestions and more play testing I just have a few more adjustments to make, then I'll submit it to more sponsors.

I've also uploaded it to FlashGameLicence.com.

My laptop is currently away for repairs and for some reason the replacement computer I am using refuses to export Birdy correctly so progress will be halted my laptop is returns.

Home Stretch

I've completed 30 levels for Birdy, which is the absolute upper end of my goal. As well as that, I've fixed a multitude of bugs, and finally added a preloader. It's looking great and I could almost call it complete. As such, play-testing shall begin soon.

From where I'm standing, all that really remains after that is to add an ending screen/cutscene, and the level code compression system.

1000 lines

I've added another item or two and 7 more levels, a complete menu system, and progress saving. The most exciting addition, though, is a level editor. That's right, you'll be able to create and share your own levels. The editor itself is great (even though I do say so myself), though the "save" and "load" sharing system leaves much to be desired.

A code for a simple level is this long:

0,0.4,0.8,1/0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0/0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0/0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,2/2,2,2,0,2,2,2,0,2,2,0/2,0,2,0,2,0,0,0,2,0,2/2,2,2,0,2,0,0,0,2,0,2/0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0/0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0

I definitely need to develop some sort of compression system.

Anyway, as well as the obvious advantage of having community created levels once the game is finished, the level editor makes it easier and quicker for me to make "official" levels. So, Birdy will probably be reaching that 30 level target in no time.

16 Levels

Progress on Birdy is going well. I have coded not only some more obstacles to overcome, but also some new power ups to keep you going.

As the title says the level count stands at just 16, twice as many as there were 2 weeks ago. But now I'm fairly certain I have enough items to call it finished, I just need to make the remaining 4-14 levels.

In other news, my laptop (on which I make the games) now has a new hard-drive and Windows 7.

A new game on the horizon

Progress on Contention and Switch HD (latest tentative title) has halted temporarily.

I decided to make a loose remake on a old game. It's called Birdy and the original version dates back to September 2005. This game is basically just a test to see how long it takes to make a relatively simple, but complete game.

Sporting some retro graphics, sound and music, this game is designed to look like it's straight out of the early days of games.

I've managed to program this game fairly quickly, no doubt all due to my new organization technique. Nearly every part of this game was planned in advance in a 6-page outline. Practically all that remains is level design. I have 8 levels made so far, I plan to have 20-30.